Preparing for Passover (From Times Series)

Preparing for Passover

3:32pm Monday 22nd March 2010

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For many Jewish people this time of the year is one of the busiest. Monday 29th March is the first night of Passover, the celebration of when the Jews made their exodus out of Egypt.

In their hurry to leave, they could not wait for their bread to rise and to remember this, for eight days we eat Matzo, unleavened bread-like crackers. We also have to give our homes, cars, offices and possessions a complete and thorough clean in order to ensure they are clear of ‘chometz’, which means any form of leavened food such as bread, biscuits, cakes etc.

In fact we have to switch to buying completely new sets of most foods, and even things such as drinks or jams need to have a special sticker on them to say that they have be made Kosher for Passover, that is supervised to certify that they have not touched any chometz.

All rooms need to be cleaned, but the kitchen is obviously the priority. Sinks, work surfaces, ovens, floor, kitchen cupboards need a thorough clean. Sinks and work surfaces made of formica, china, porcelain and corian cannot be cleaned sufficiently well to pass the test and so must be covered and we then use plastic washing up bowls.

However stainless and granite sinks can be koshered for Passover and Stone, metal and wood surfaces can be all be kashered as long as they are not composites and have a smooth surface.

Planning is essential as there is so much to do. My plan for this week : Tuesday: I will clean out my freezer to make space for the Passover food and I will prepare my food lists and menus for Seder night, (the first two evenings of the festival.) Food shopping will have different levels, for preparation and those menus that can be frozen or prepared in advance and those that need to be made fresh.

In addition, I have booked my window cleaner and the carpet cleaner. Ovens can be a pain and many people use a specialist oven-cleaning company to do the job, but fortunately my NEFF oven has an excellent self-cleaning facility.

On Wednesday, my Passover collection of utensils and equipment will all need to be washed, as they have spent a year in the garage. I will also undertake meticulous cleaning of a section of the kitchen so that cooking can commence.

Then on Thursday the fun will start – going shopping for all the new foods we need to buy. The shops will be busy the prices, well we will see………….

Chag Sameach – Happy Kosher Pesach to all my readers.

Below are two of my favourites recipes for Pesach.

TURKEY GOULASH

Choosing the Seder night main course is always a great dilemma and I know that more people than normal will read this cookery blog, all looking for a good new idea.

Well this year, I have yet another great creation for your Seder table. Turkey is not only economical, but this recipe is easy to prepare and above all straightforward to serve. It will keep well on the hot plate, so if you spend more time than expected discussing the delights of the Haggadah story, it will not spoil.

I like to serve it on a bed of curly kale or stir-fried shredded Savoy cabbage. All the vegetables are in the goulash and the cabbage just gives the dish some extra colour.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes Serves: 10

Ingredients 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 garlic cloves – peeled and crushed

4 large onions – peeled and roughly chopped

3 tablespoons potato flour

1kg boneless turkey, cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons sweet paprika

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

750g mushrooms – sliced 10 medium carrots –peeled and cut into chunks

6 stalks of sliced celery

1 kg or 5 medium potatoes- peeled and cubed 450ml chicken stock

200ml red wine 4 tablespoons ketchup Salt and pepper – to taste

Garnish: Sprigs of parsley Paprika – to dust the plate #

Method

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until for about 4 minutes or until the onion is no longer transparent.

2. Add turkey cubes, salt, pepper, cinnamon and paprika, and cook gently on all sides for approximately 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the potato flour and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add the potato, mushrooms, carrots, celery and tomato ketchup.

5. Pour in the chicken stock and red wine.

6. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer over low heat for 1 hour.

7. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.

To serve the stylish way: Dust the plate with paprika. Make a circle of cooked cabbage and place a large helping of turkey goulash into the centre.

Chocolate Pavlova with raspberries

This recipe has been in my family for years, although not a true traditional Jewish recipe, it has been adapted over time as a result of changes in modern cooking and readily available ingredients.

Other fruits like strawberries, blueberries, peaches, nectarines and the like can be combined with the whipping cream, but my favourite is fresh raspberries. Even frozen berries that are well-drained or tinned fruit can be substituted.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 2 hours Serves: 8 – 10 people

Ingredients: 6 egg whites 350g caster sugar 2 tablespoons potato flour for Passover

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar Kosher for Passover 125g plain chocolate – grated

150g fresh raspberries

300ml non-dairy whipping cream or ice cream Garnish: Cocoa powder 3 tablespoons plain chocolate

Method:

1) Line a large oven tray with non stick baking parchment paper.

2) Pre-heat the oven to 110 C/ 225 F/ Gas mark 1 /2.

3) Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Gradually add two-thirds of the sugar a tablespoon at a time.

4) Sift in the potato flour and remaining sugar. Continue to whisk the egg whites. Stir in the vanilla essence and white wine vinegar and whisk again.

5) Fold in the grated chocolate. Spoon or pipe the mixture into a 22 cm/ 9 inch circle onto the line baking tray.

6) Bake for 2 hours. Turn the light off the oven and let it cool gently so that it does not crack.

7) Once completely cooled, transfer the meringue to a serving plate. 8) Whisk the cream so it is stiff. Fold in the raspberries and spoon on to the meringue or add scoops of ice cream.

9) For the garnish, melt the plain chocolate either in the microwave or in a dish over a pan of boiling water.

To serve the stylish way: Drizzle the melted chocolate over the raspberry cream mixture. Serve in wedges dusted with cocoa powder.