Thursday, March 25, 2010

Matzah and Jelly Again? Passover Recipes

Throughout the 2000 years of exile, the Jewish nation has dwelled in almost every corner of the world. England, Syria, As Passover approaches, Jews all over the world begin to tremble at the thought of eating matzoh and jelly for 8 days straight! Thankfully, this horrific nightmare does not have to become a reality. There is a delightful array of special Passover recipes to create tasty meals and deserts; and, today's market boasts a variety of Kosher for Passover packaged foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are also important to the Passover diet, to counteract the binding effect of all that matzoh! The following recipes were taken from "The Kosher Collection", a cookbook produced by the Yeshiva of Hudson County, today called the Yeshiva of North Jersey. They are basic, tried and true recipes, and are a great way to get your feet wet- or shall we say your spoon?

Recipes are labeled Meat, Dairy or Pareve (neither meat or dairy).
Be sure to check that all products purchased have Kosher for Passover certification.

Chremslach (Latkes) Traditional

Yield 10 to 12 Servings

6 to 8 Cooked Potatoes, grated
1 Raw Onion, grated
8 Eggs
2 to 3 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)

Mix all Ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl. (Fries better if left for 1/2 hour to 1 hour in refrigerator.) Heat 1/4 inch deep oil on high heat. Drop batter by rounded tablespoon into hot oil. When starting to cook, lower heat to medium. Flatten latkes with a fork. Fry for 2 minutes on one side until light brown; turn and brown on other side.

Charoset (Pareve) Rosalind Rosenbaum

This delicious combination of wine, nuts, and apples is eaten at the Seder to commemorate the mortar which the Jews were forced to build with in Egypt. You can spread it on Matzoh, or eat it straight from the jar. (No double dipping!) There are many variations, here is a basic one.

1 C. nuts (finely chopped) cinnamon to taste

1 apple (grated) sweet red wine

dash of ginger 1 tablespoon of brown or white sugar


Mix together nuts, apple, cinnamon, ginger and sugar. Add wine slowly until the mixture has reached a paste-like consistency. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Passover Rolls (Pareve) Estelle Kushner

3/4 cup of water 1 pinch of salt

1/4 cup of oil 3 eggs

1 cup of matzah meal 1 tablespoon of sugar

Boil water and oil, pour immediately over matzah meal, salt, and sugar. Cool. Add eggs one at a time. Mix. Grease baking sheet very well. Form small balls, making a hole in the middle. Bake for 15 minutes in 375 oven. Yields 12 rolls.

Passover Squash Kugel (Pareve) Debby Goldman

1 ½ green squash, peeled 1 cup of potato starch

1 med. onion Salt and pepper to taste

4 eggs (separated)

Grate the squash and onion; there should be approximately 1 to 1 ½ cups of grated squash. Add squash to beaten egg yolks, and stir in potato starch. Beat egg whites until stiff and add to squash mixture. Season with salt and pepper, bake in greased 8x8 pan at 350 for 50 minutes.

Passover Crepes With Mushroom Sauce (pareve) Rachel Goldberg

5 eggs

1/2 cup of potato starch

Pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons of water

Mix all ingredients. Heat a small circular skillet with a bit of oil. Pour in some of the batter. Pick up the pan and rotate it, so the crepe leaf is thin. Once it has cooked through (about 40 seconds to 1 min) pick up the pan and bang the leaf out on to a clean dish towel. Repeat until all batter is used up.

Filling: Boil 4 potatoes, mash with fried onions and salt. Fill leaves with potato mixture, fry.

Mushroom Sauce:

2 onions 1 teaspoon of sugar

2 cups of diced mushrooms 1 cup Water

salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup of dry white wine

2 heaping tablespoons of potato starch

Saute 2 onions, add 2 cups of diced mushrooms. Add salt and pepper to taste + 1 teaspoon of sugar. Slowly stir in 3/4 cup of water + 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Add 2 Tablespoons of potato starch mixed with 1/4 cup of cold water. Stir constantly until mixture thickens (about 2 minutes). Pour over crepes and serve immediately. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Matzo Brei (pareve)

4 matzot salt and pepper

warm water 1 onion

4 eggs

Soak Matzot in warm water. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Beat eggs and seasonings, mix well with matzot. Heat oil, dice & saute onion, mix with matzoh mixture, form into patties, fry in oil. For a lower fat version, bake the patties.

Passover Apple Cake (Pareve)

3/4 c. of cake meal ½ teaspoon of salt

3/4 c. of potato starch 4 apples (peeled and thinly sliced)

2 1/3 c. of sugar 2 teaspoons of cinnamon

5 eggs (separated) 1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 c. of orange juice


Preheat oven to 325. Mix cake meal, potato starch and 1 ½ cups of sugar in one bowl. Make a well in the center, and drop in the egg yolks. Add orange juice and vanilla, beat until smooth.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff. Gradually beat in ½ cup of sugar, and continue beating until very stiff. Fold into batter and pour into greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange apple slices on top. Combine the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle over apples, bake 45 min-1hr or until done.

Passover Sponge Cake (pareve) Shirley Sobel

9 large eggs 3/4 cup of mazoh cake meal

1 cup sugar 1/4 cup of potato starch

3/4 cup of orange juice Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Beat egg yolks; add sugar, beating until thick and lemon colored. Gradually add the orange and lemon juice. Add the matzah cake meal, potato starch and salt. Beat for 5 to 8 minutes on low speed.

In a second bowl, beat egg whites until they stand in peaks. Gently fold in the egg yolk mixture.

Bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour using a tube pan. Do not grease pan or cake will not rise.

When the cake is done, remove immediately, turn upside down on a soda bottle to cool. When cake is completely cooled, cut around the edges with a knife and remove the inner pan. Using knife loosen bottom and slice.

Copyright © 2010 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.

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