Macaroons are a Passover standard. You’ve gotta have ’em. I have eaten so many of these tasty treats in the last few days that I might pop. I’ve had them for breakfast all week. Don’t laugh, coconut is healthy! Right!? Healthy or not these are super easy (and delicious) treats. One might say stupid easy (and stupid tasty). You probably have your own well warn recipe for these Passover delights, but I’ve got a new recipe that’ll give your macaroons a little punch.
What?
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 /8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 (14 oz) bag shredded coconut
How?
Preheat the oven to 300 degree F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white and salt until frothy, about 2 minutes. Stir in the condensed milk, zest, and extracts. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the coconut until well combined. Using a small spring-loaded scoop and your hands, shape the mixture into 1 1/2-inch mounds. Place the macaroons about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool completely. You’re really going to want to use the parchment paper…otherwise your macaroons will stick to the pan (no matter how well you grease it)…they’ll break and end up ugly. Nobody wants an ugly macaroon.
I have been hungry for some good old-fashioned soul food lately. Let’s be honest, I’m always hungry for good Soul Food. I could eat my weight in white beans and cornbread and a whole truck load of other Southern treats that I grew up with. Don’t get me started! I love love LOVE Southern food! The trouble is most good old-fashioned soul food isn’t so Kosher, let alone Kosher for Passover. I’ve been on a quiet mission for a while to get brave and make some of my favorite Southern treats in a Kosh way. Recently I gathered my cookbooks and courage and got to work. I made what we’ll call Jewish Chicken ‘n Dumplings AND collard greens. It doesn’t look like the doughy, sweet and salty treat that my Mamaw makes but it sure tastes good. Wanna know what else? It’s KFP! These recipes will definitely spice up your Passover eating…
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
2.5 pounds collard or mustard greens (2 large bunches)
Cider vinegar
3 smashed whole garlic cloves
How?
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sliced onion and let cook for a few minutes. Once the onion starts to cook down add the paprika, cayenne and season with salt and pepper stirring occasionally until the onion is softened (about 5 minutes). Add 1/2 cup of water to the pot; once the water is simmering, add the greens and your smashed garlic…you’ll have to pack them in. Season generously with salt and pepper and cover with a lid for about 10 minutes. Now things become a little tricky. You’ll want to add a couple of splashes of the cider vinegar to the greens. Not too much. Not too little. Be your own judge here. You can’t hurt them. Toss the greens around in the pot. Give them a taste. If they aren’t tender enough keep cooking them. If the water gets low…add a little more water. Repeat this process until they’re tender.
Next come the Chicken ‘n Dumplings. This one was a little tricky. I was looking through Gwyneth Paltrow’s new cookbook and noticed that she has her own recipe for Chicken ‘n Dumplings. The recipe looks amazing. The only trouble is that it’s far from Kosher. No problem there. I just switched some things around and came up with my own version of her recipe. I hope you enjoy!
Chicken and Dumplings:
What?
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 table spoons margarine (KFP)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 celery stalks roughly chopped
4 carrots peeled and roughly chopped
1 small leek roughly chopped
1 medium onion sliced
1 dried bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
How?
Preheat the oven to 400. Wash and dry your chicken. Gwyneth wanted me to use the whole chicken, which I was open to until I read the words DISCARD THE BACK AND CUT THE CHICKEN. I got nervous and nauseous. So…I went for chicken breasts. They’re cheap at Wal-Mart. Whew. ALRIGHT! So! Wash your chicken. I cut my four breasts in to small bite size pieces. That’s the way I like it. Do what you want. Season the chicken pieces with Kosher salt and pepper. Heat the margarine and olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Thoroughly brown the chicken pieces (in batches if necessary) for about 7-8 minutes per side and remove to a plate leaving the fat in the pot. Add your vegetables, bay leaf and thyme and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat until tender. Return the chicken to your pot. Add the wine, bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock and water, bring to a boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and cook in your 400 degree oven for 1 hour.
Meanwhile? Make your dumplings. Now, my grandmother made dumpling using milk and flour and a whole bunch of stuff that would render this recipe treif. The next best thing? Matzoh balls. Now don’t start groaning just yet. I’m not finished. If you make small, hard matzoh balls they’ll have a texture that is very similar to dumplings. When I say it’s life changing I mean it, y’all. Give it a try.
Dumplings:
What?
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup matzoh meal
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup onion small rough chop
How?
In a bowl beat your eggs. Blend eggs with oil, meal, onions and water. Let set in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. If you leave the bowl uncovered you’ll achieve a thicker mixture and thus a harder ball. If you want to spice up your balls? Add a dash or 4 of Louisiana Hot Sauce and a tablespoon of black pepper. Really wanna spice it up? Throw in a tablespoon of Cajun spice. I did. I don’t regret it for a second. I made two batches of these for our chicken and dumplings.
When your oven alarm goes off after your chicken has cooked for an hour? Take your dumpling’ mix out of the fridge. Grab a spoon and scoop spoonfuls of the dumpling mixture into your chicken mixture. Cover the pot and put it back into the oven for about 10 minutes. You’re ready for dinner. There are a lot of steps here. Sure. BUT! I promise that you’ll enjoy this dish and it’s really not as hard as it sounds.
I wasn’t raised in a particularly observant household. I love my childhood connection to Judaism and appreciate the entire journey of life that has brought me to Pesach in Teaneck for the last several years. First night Seder goes well into the late night hours and four full glasses of wine are always enjoyed. I have incredibly fond memories of my mom’s perfectly boiled eggs sitting in just the right amount of salt water and that perfectly formed matzoh ball swimming in harmony with carrots and chicken. I carry these memories with me as I join the Seder at my in-law’s table and though observance level might be a bit stricter, I think I’m finding a comfortable place at each table.
Living a more observant life tends to naturally call for a stricter observance of holidays and really, well, everything. For the past 2.5 years, as Pesach looms nears, I get a little panicky at the thought of all the cleaning and prep our observance level calls for and don’t even get me started on the dread of saying good-bye to wheat, beans, peanuts, corn, etc. for a week. It’s not just because my love for pasta rivals that of any full-blooded Italian or the fact that kosher for Pesach food is more expensive than regular kosher food (I’m saving my rant on the high cost of kosher food for another day), but it’s also the fact that I don’t have a cadre of kosher for Pesach recipes in my head like my mother-in-law or a woman who was raised in this kind of observance level. It’s a bit intimidating actually. But then my very thoughtful and thought-provoking brother-in-law said something that completely changed my mind about Pesach (and was also one more bit of proof as to why he is such a great Jewish educator). See, we were talking about how folks run out and by some of the more disgusting, laboratory-enhanced kosher for Pesach (heretofore known as KFP) foods like KFP Oreos or KFP soy sauce (which is imitation since soy isn’t eaten on Pesach) and fake cereals when he made the statement, “if only people could realize it’s not about what you’re limited to or what you can’t bring into the house but rather what you can bring into the house—fresh fruits, vegetables, pure, whole foods.” Genius, right? So while we remember that we were once slaves and now we are free, let’s really BE FREE, no? Let’s free ourselves from overly processed imitation foods that have that ever-coveted P deeming it KFP. Let’s free ourselves from the junk that we put in our body in the name of Pesach and instead choose to honor the memory of Moshe and our ancestors who were once slaves in Egypt by eating foods from the earth, not a lab, and allowing ourselves the privilege MOST of us have to be creative, think outside the culinary box and truly be free.
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Macaroons are a Passover standard. You’ve gotta have ’em. I have eaten so many of these tasty treats in the last few days that I might pop. I’ve had them for breakfast all week. Don’t laugh, coconut is healthy! Right!? Healthy or not these are super easy (and delicious) treats. One might say stupid easy (and stupid tasty). You probably have your own well warn recipe for these Passover delights, but I’ve got a new recipe that’ll give your macaroons a little punch.
