Category Archives: Kosher Food

Passover Chocolate Covered Matzo with Hazelnuts, Cranberries and Ginger

14 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Chocolate, Dessert, Gluten Free, Holidays, Kosher Food

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Cover Title Passover Chocolate Covered Matzo with Hazelnuts, Cranberries and Ginger09

Passover starts tonight.  This year I have decided to follow the no-gluten rule as a way to show my solidarity and test my will power.  To lessen the blow of giving up bread and cookies, I made this sweet Passover Chocolate Covered Matzo with Hazelnuts, Cranberries and Candied Ginger. I used the chocolate-covered-strawberry method, where I melted the chocolate with a little bit of butter and spread it over oven-toasted matzo crackers before topping them with chopped hazelnuts, cranberries and candied ginger.  This is in my opinion a much easier and faster way and gives you a splendid result.

Let’s give it a try!

Passover Chocolate Covered Matzo with Hazelnuts, Cranberries and Candied Ginger

Ingredients

9 matzo crackers

24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter

3 cups roasted hazelnuts, chopped

2 cups dried cranberries, chopped

1 cup candied ginger, chopped

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 3 baking sheets with aluminum foil and arrange matzo evenly among the sheets.  You might need to break a few crackers in half.

Passover Chocolate Covered Matzo with Hazelnuts, Cranberries and Ginger

2.  Toast matzo in the oven for 10 minutes.

3.  Place chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between with a spatula.  Once melted, stir in butter.

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4.  Spread chocolate evenly over matzo crackers and sprinkle with hazelnuts, cranberries and candied ginger, lightly pressing the toppings into the chocolate.

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5.  Set the matzo crackers at room temperature or refrigerator before breaking into individual pieces.

Now that you know the basic method and proportions, it’s time to play.  Try this with sea salt, candied orange, different types of nuts, or a drizzle of white chocolate over the top.

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I wish you all a happy Passover.  May you have a sweet year.

Back to Snacking in the Kitchen

How to Make Matzo Ball Soup ~ Recipe

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Holidays, Kosher Food, Lunch, Soup, Vegetables

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I wonder how many families sat down to a bowl of Matzo Ball Soup this Monday as they celebrated the first night of Passover.  You could count my family as one.  The Artist and I celebrated at home with my parents. 

This Matzo Ball Soup however was prepared a few weeks earlier, as I was battling a cold and allergy attack.  I did feel better as I bit into light, airy balls of matzo and herbs and sipped on a delicate chicken broth with vegetables.

Matzo Ball Soup with Vegetables

Ingredients

1 packet of matzo ball mix

2 eggs

olive oil

2 scallions, minced

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon Szechuan pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and ground black pepper to
taste

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 head of cabbage, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

water, as needed

4 cloves of garlic, halved

Garnish: lime juice, dill

 
Directions
 
1.  Prepare the matzo ball mix according to the directions, using 2 eggs, olive oil, and adding the scallions, spices, salt and pepper.
 

 
 
2.  Form matzo balls, transfer to a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  I made the balls small and got 18 out of the packet.  You could make them bigger if you wish.

3.  Place the vegetables in a large soup pot.  Add chicken broth and enough water to cover the vegetables completely.  Bring the liquid to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook the vegetables for 15 minutes.

 
4.  Gently lower the matzo balls into the soup and cook for 15 minutes.
 

The soup is ready!  I added a healthy squeeze of lime juice and a sprig of dill.  Taste the soup and adjust as needed. 

Kosher Chef Challenge in Seattle

15 Saturday May 2010

Posted by in Hillel, Kosher Food, Seattle

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Pictures are up! Write up to come soon.

Phillip Klitzner, Owner/Director of Operations, Nosh Away Inc. Catering

Dairy-Free Clam Chowders (Traditional and Manhattan).

Dairy-Free Flan with Spun Sugar.  Secret?  Phillip uses non-dairy creamer and you would never know the difference.  The flan was rich and smooth.  All it needed was a cup of coffee.

Next contestant, Rod Lapasin, Director of Catering & Conference Services at Olympic Hotel.

Potato planks getting ready for the oven.  Think of dairy-free version of scalloped potatoes, but better!  Thin layers of potatoes are cut into rectangular shapes.  Caramelized onions are sandwiched between the layers of potatoes acting as glue, while adding sweetness.

Salmon skewers awaiting the oven. Honestly, I’d be probably happy to eat them as is.  Baked with herbs and lemon zest, they are still delicious.  A garnish of pickled onions adds a nice acidity against the rich and fatty salmon.

Ready for main course?  Yes!  Lamb chops coated with mustard and herb bread crumb crust.  Served with potato planks and roasted asparagus.  Not the easiest thing to eat while standing up, but worth every bite.

Dessert time.  I call this a Twice-Baked-Almond Brittle.  This brittle was my favorite part of dessert.  Next with it, chef made raspberry granita and macerated strawberries (probably with balsamic vinegar an some sugar).

Last but not least was Leah Jaffee, of Leah’s Catering of Seattle.

Hamantaschen – Take II: Same Dough, Different Filling

03 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by in Cooking, Kosher Food, Purim, Recipe

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What happens when you double the recipe?  You have twice as many Hamantaschen to make!  Honestly, I got a tad tired rolling out, cutting out, filling, and shaping the first night, so I left the rest of the dough for the next day.

The dough remained the same but the filling changed.
Number one, I ran out of the chocolate chips.  And to be perfectly honest, I didn’t like the chocolate chips too much in the first batch – they were delicious while the Hamantaschen were warm – still gooye and oozing the rich, chocolate goodness.  However, once the Hamantschen cooled, the chocolate chips completely hardened, and didn’t add much to the filling.

What to do?  I mixed 2 parts blueberry jam, 1 part toasted chopped walnuts, and 1 part raisins.  It’s a miracle!!!  A truly delicious combination with great texture and thick enough to hold within the dough.  Still have that glass of milk handy?  Drink up!

One more thing, this time around, I held the batches of the formed Hamantaschen in the refrigerator prior to baking and I do think it helped them to retain the shape.  I also found that buttering the cookie sheet was unnecessary.

Happy Purim – Black Currant, Walnut & Chocolate Hamantaschen

01 Monday Mar 2010

Posted by in Cooking, Dessert, Kosher Food, Purim, Recipe

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Happy Purim! Purim is often referred to as the Jewish Halloween or the Jewish Madri Gras. It’s the time to put on your costumes, celebrate Esther and eat Hamantaschen!

To the kitchen I went, armed with a Hamantaschen recipe by Joan Nathan, a very well known author of many Jewish cookbooks, and someone I had a pleasure of meeting at the Hazon Food Conference.

Never one to follow the recipe to the t, I added a zest of one lemon. By mistake, I used baking soda instead of baking powder. I realized this after the dough was already chilling in the refrigerator. On top of using the wrong ingredient, I used only half the soda amount. With fingers crossed, I kneaded the baking powder into the dough, and let it chill for another few hours.

Usually, Hamantaschen are made with a poppy seed filling. I decided to go a different route. My filling was a combination of my mom’s homemade black currant jam, toasted chopped walnuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Once the cookies were filled and formed, I lightly brushed the outside with milk and sprinkled poppy seeds.

Make sure to pinch the edges of the cookies tightly to prevent the filling from spilling out and forming lovely pools on your baking sheet. Chilling the formed cookies in the refrigerator prior to baking will also help them to keep the shape and spread out less.

As hard as it might be, do wait for the cookies to cool slightly before eating. Pour a glass of milk, and enjoy!