JewliciousEats: Annual Passover Recipe Roundup 2020 (KISS: Keep It Simple, Seder)

This year, on planet Earth, with so many households in quarantine, it will be difficult or risky to obtain the ingredients necessary to prepare some of the items listed below in this year’s recipe roundup, but if you can get them, you can enliven your seders with some innovative ideas.

As in year’s passed by, we begin with JOAN NATHAN, who in THE NEW YORK TIMES, shares a Pesach dish rooted in Morocco. The dish is “Chicken Thighs and Fresh Artichokes with Cinnamon and Saffron” and is from the recipe box of Esther Soussan Berman who passed away in 2010.

Ms. Berman was born in Casablanca and settled in Silver Spring, Maryland. The recipe can be found HERE. You can use fresh or frozen artichokes, though, Ms. @Joan_Nathan writes, “trimming fresh artichokes is worth the effort for their delicate texture.” She adds, “To save waste, boil the trimmed artichoke leaves about 15 minutes until tender in water with a lemon, then enjoy them for lunch, dipping them into an easy sauce of yogurt spiked with a spoonful of Dijon mustard.”

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As I wrote in an earlier post last week, you can’t join an online meeting or ZOOM Class without someone mentioning a recipe they prepared from Chef Alison Roman. CHEF (Can I have your parsley) ROMAN was tapped in March to prepare a seder menu for THE NEW YORK TIMES. It can be found HERE

Given the pandemic, @AlisonRoman tried to leverage simple ingredients you can find in your pantry. If you have a pantry. She does not follow the laws of kashrut, and writes, “Please know going in that the dishes here are inspired by tradition, not bound to it. (Yes, I may suggest melted butter as a substitution for chicken fat because this is not a kosher menu, and hey, we are all just doing our best.)… This piece was always going to be less about the ritual of Passover, and more about the ritual of cooking a celebratory meal, period. (My memories of Seder growing up are fuzzy at best — I grew up half-Jewish, and while we celebrated some years, it wasn’t until I moved to New York and started attending the annual Seders of my friends and their families that I became attached to the holiday.)…”

Her recipes includes ones for:

(Here is the video… (the coat is from Everlane))

Matzo Ball Soup With Celery and Lots of Dill

Chopped Liver with Shallots or Onions and reduced wine on Matzo

Apples With Honey and Crushed Walnuts (Alison’s version of Haroset)

Parsley Salad With Fennel and Horseradish (Alison writes, “… I have always been the one at the Seder table to finish my sprigs of parsley dipped in salt water (done during the Seder to represent tears shed), and then ask my neighbor to the left, “You going to finish that?””

Spicy, Garlicky Carrots cooked in schmaltz, olive oil, or butter and sprinkled with red-pepper flakes, cayenne, or hot paprika

Crispy Potato Kugel (casserole.. but that make it sounds soooo mid western instead of mid eastern). Also includes a trick for reducing moisture if you use a food processor instead of a box grater.

Tangy Braised Short Ribs in browned onions and garlic, vinegar, or a touch of soy sauce

Black-and-White Sundae Bar (hmmmm… ice cream for Passover??)

MELISSA CLARK, writing for her NEW YORK TIMES’ A GOOD APPETITE (B’TAY AVON) column, focused on MATZO. “THE BEST MATZO? IT’S HOMEMADE, she wrote. Sadly, though, her version is NOT Kosher for Passover. See @MelissaClark’s CLASSIC MATZO BREI recipe HERE. Clark just published a new cookbook focused on FRENCH RECIPES HERE.

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MARGAUX LASKEY compiled and posted the BEST New York Times Passover recipes HERE It includes half a dozen briskets and the famed Matza Lasagna of Melissa Clark.

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Also in light of the pandemic, the LOS ANGELES TIMES shares 14 recipes for Passover then rely on pantry staples.

Compiled by Cooking Editor, @GenevieveKO, the recipes include ones for
Matzo Ball Soup with Chard and Leek;
Matzo Ball Soup Sephardic;
Beef Brisket marinated in coffee and chipotle;
Braised Lamb;
Roast Chicken with Thyme and Honey;
Roast Chicken with Cauliflower;
Gefilte Fish;
3 version of Artichokes, and more.

Genevieve Ko is the author and co-author of many books, including one on MASTERING SPICE (2019) .

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LEA KOENIG writing for THE WALL STREET JOURNAL also says to Keep It Simple. @LeahBKoenig shares creative ways different families have come up with to connect and celebrate, plus recipes for a manageable meal. Koenig tells the story of Yehuda Kirschenbaum and Debra Kamin and their kids in San Marcos, California and how their Passover / seder trip to Mexico with his parents was cancelled. They need to make new plans. Same for Jeffrey Yoskowitz (of GEFILTERIA, and author of The Gefilta Manifesto cookbook) of Brooklyn and his NJ parents. Same for Tel Aviv based Adeena Sussman, the author of Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen, and also Rabbi Andy Bachman, who is the executive director of the Jewish Community Project in Manhattan.

Lea features three recipes her own cookbook: The Jewish Cookbook, Phaidon, Fall 2019 for:

Braised Shredded Red Cabbage With Apples and Onion (RotKraut)
Potato Kugel – hearty style (use 5 pounds of russet baking potatoes to 8 eggs ratio)
Roast Chicken With Thyme and Honey (see LA TIMES also)

Also in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, ADAM KIRSCH (the poet and literary critic) writes an essay on why Passover is different in 2020 But more importantly, check out the nifty illustration to the left by RUTH GWILY the Israel-based artist, sculptor and illustrator.

Kirsch writes, “…However people connect on Passover this year, they will likely find new resonances in the Seder. Everyone is thinking about the importance of handwashing these days, as a way to prevent transmission of the coronavirus, but washing your hands has been one of the first steps in the Seder for many centuries, as a preliminary to handling food. One Passover meme making the rounds lately rewrites the order of the Seder so that instead of handwashing occurring once, it’s repeated between every stage of the meal… Covid-19 also gives new concreteness to the section of the Seder dealing with the ten plagues… the worst plague of all, when every firstborn child in Egypt died on the same night. In this way God requited the genocidal decree of Pharaoh, who had ordered all Israelite boys to be killed at birth. But the Israelites were spared, since God had sent them into a kind of quarantine: “None of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning,” he instructed Moses and Aaron. The name of the holiday commemorates this event, as the Haggadah explains: “It is a Passover offering to the Lord, because He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians with a plague, and He saved our houses…..”

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THE WASHINGTON POST, too, writes of a more intimate Passover seder, this year. It is titled “A Passover Like No Other, Embrace A More Intimate Celebration” by Susan Barocas. @SHBarocas helped launch the Jewish Food Experience as its first project director following several years as director of the Washington Jewish Film Festival. You probably remember her famous almond macaroons recipe from 2018 HERE.

She recommends blending traditions with new tastes and shares recipes for:

VEGAN MATZO BALL SOUP (lots of green Spring onions and dill)
KUKU, a Persian entree with a cauliflower base (it freezes well)
NUT-FREE HAROSET, TURKISH STYLE (actually Susan recommends you make several styles and taste test)

@Ellie_Krieger for THE WASHINGTON POST writes, Taking Over The Seder Can Mean Breaking Traditions and Hearts. It is a heartfelt essay on the time she took over the seder meal from her mother, and heard the stress in her mother’s voice when she put the brisket in the oven instead of in a pot on the stove and, in her mother’s words, “thumbed her nose at tradition.” But the brisket was just a symbol… a symbol of generations, of mortality, and family.

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The community site for Scarsdale, NY in Westchester County compiled half a dozen recipe HERE, for

Haroset Sephardic Style (1 quart, dates and walnuts)
Brisket with Apricots (Serves 6)
Tzimmes (Serves 6-8)
Grammy’s Passover Stuffing (Serves 12)
Individual Matzo Kugel (12 count)
Pecan Meringues
Passover Brownies

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i WAS WONDERING why I wasn’t seeing any recipes/stories from the newly published Bay Area Wise Sons’ Deli: Eat Something: A Wise Sons Cookbook for Jews Who Like Food and Food Lovers Who Like Jews by Evan Bloom, Rachel Levin, and Illustrator George McCalman.

I finally found it. For a Santa Cruz/Bay Area, California publication JESSICA YADEGARAN shares their “Really Good Matzo” recipe

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THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER reprints Stacy Zarin Goldberg and recipes for Paula Shoyer’s TRADITIONAL BRISKET (uses coconut flour instead of potato starch); Roasted Mushroom, Tomato and Herb Salad (Adapted from Perfect Flavors: Creative, Easy-to-Prepare Recipes Inspired by My Family and Travels, by Naomi Nachman (Mesorah Publications, 2018)); and Lemon Quinoa Cake. The Cake is the cousin of the Chocolate Quinoa Cake from The Healthy Jewish Kitchen cookbook, made famous by Food52, and is also based on the lemon pound cake in Paula Shoyer’s The Kosher Baker. Paula will publish a KOSHER INSTANT POT Cookbook in September 2020

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EMILY PASTER for the JTA: Jewish Telegraphic Agency and THE NOSHER, shares a recipe of Passover chocolate crepes. They are made using TEFF instead of matzah meal.

THE JEWISH EXPONENT in Philadelphia shares the JTA’s suggestion of what to do with chicken and leftover Haroset HERE

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TANYA FLINK for VEG NEWS shares seven essential “foods” but not recipes HERE.

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Gretchen McKay for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette She calls on Brandon Blumenfeld, grandson of the artist RRochelle Blumenfeld, who recalls his Aunt Estelle’s raisin-studded matzo pancakes and cousin Cookie’s chicken soup. And contacts Amy Perilstein, a pharmacy technician. They share recipes for:

Amy’s Passover Fruit Pudding
Pickled Salmon
Aunt Estelle’s Matzo Pancakes With Wine Sauce
Matzo Brei a la Blumenfeld

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The Jewish News (Detroit) published a story of Annabel Cohen’s Passover Recipes for Small But Mighty Groups.

Recipes shared include those for:

Simple Savory Brisket
Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
Pineapple Farfel Kugel
Salmon Gefilte FIsh Loaf
Red Pepper and Garlic Quinoa
Carrot Pudding (uses Matzoh cake meal)

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Sharon Klein for the Arizona Jewish Post shares recipes for

Marcoude, a Potato and egg cake
Lemon Aioli

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THE BOSTON GLOBE focuses on a Flourless Almond Kosher for Passover Cake from Karoline Boehm Goodnick. They also share a recipe of cauliflower rice and cabbage Rolls, HERE

The Globe also explores the quarantined seder HERE In past years, the Zimman’s have at least 55 at their seders. So many, that they use their store as the location, since no home could fit so many people. The the 2020 Pandemic Passover will be different.

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In D, as in Big D, as in DALLAS MAGAZINE, Kathy Wise asks, Ken Horwitz, a Dallas CPA and tax attorney, about his Passover pantry and plans during the pandemic. He published a cookbook titled Deep Flavors: A Celebration of Recipes for Foodies in a Kosher Style. (Ken… change the color/tone of the book cover and you will double your sales)

Horwitz generously shared recipes for

Kenneth Horwitz’s Chicken Stock
Kenneth Horwitz’s Coconut Macaroons
The Lemon and Orange Macaroons Variation
The Chocolate Macaroon Variation:

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GITTA BIXENSPANNER for THE JEWISH VOICE shares the following recipes:

Salmon with sweet and sour leek sauce.
Chuck Eye Roast
Chicken Soup with Matzah Balls
Chicken Nuggets with Sweet and Sour Sauce
Passover Specialty Layered Salad

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Haaretz taps chef/author Claudia Roden from her London quarantine. In ” a href=”https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-from-her-self-quarantine-in-london-claudia-roden-shares-beloved-seder-recipes-1.8741446″>From Her Self-quarantine in London, Claudia Roden Shares Beloved Passover Recipes: For the first time in her life, the famed food researcher and cookbook writer will be celebrating Passover alone. Roden talks about preserving the routine during an epidemic and offers simple home recipes for the seder> Roden is the author of The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York: A Cookbook as well as The New Book of Middle Eastern Food: The Classic Cookbook, Expanded and Updated, with New Recipes and Contemporary Variations on Old Themes

In the Haaretz article, she shares recipes for Lamb with Apricots and Olives

Here is a link to more Haaretz Passover recipes.

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Jamie Ballard, writing for Good Housekeeping, shares 25 recipes HERE She asks, “Who needs bagels when you’ve got cheesy matzo sandwiches?” She shares Beet Latkes, Slow Cooker Brisket, Matzo Stuffing, Matzo Tiramisu, and a Matzo Egg and SHeese Breakfast sandwich from I WILL NOT EAT OYSTERS (but they do eat pork)

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HANNAH DOOLIN for DELISH.COM shares a few recipes for Passover HERE.

She includes Brisket; Gefilte Fish; Matzo Ball Soup; Slow-Cooker Brisket; Charoset (but as a condiment); Ultimate Macaroons; Turkey Roulade (skip the panko bread crumbs); and Matzo Icebox Cake.

Hannah, a Newhouse grad, hails from Detroit and resides in Seattle

SPEAKING Of DELISH… Sarah Weinberg, Deputy Editor shares four backgrounds for your ZOOM SEDER HERE

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Over at BON APPETiT magazine, ADAM (I’m not) RAPOPORT writes that he is making Matzo Ball Soup for his first time. ADAM might be the magazines EDITOR IN CHIEF, but he is a soup virgin, a 50 year old virgin. The soup was the turf of his mother, Maxine. He writes, “The key to success, as my mom will tell you—or, as will Molly Baz, who developed BA’s Best Matzo Ball Soup recipe—is to not get too clever. This is not a dish that needs futzing with.” His mother, 85, will facetime the seder with her glass of scotch close by, You may also like their recipe for Tangy Brisket With Fennel and Herbs

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TORI AVEY shares her 2020 recipes index HERE. It includes suggestions for all diets and all flavours of Jewish heritage, including Vegan.

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Over at FOOD&WINE magazine, they have compiled their Passover recipes HERE. Sure most date back three years, but they are still great.

Same is true for SAVEUR

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THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS shares easy recipes for SMALL SEDERS under quarantine; Passover Matzo Taco Tuesday, and more. They also have the recipe for Amy Stopnicki’s (@amyskoshertaste) Potato Schnitzel (from her cookbook, Kosher Taste: Plan Prepare Plate.)

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At the bottom of Susan Schwartz’s story on Passover under quarantine in THE MONTREAL GAZETTE, there is a recipe for a cream of red bell pepper soup made with coconut “milk.”

Over at the GLOBE AND MAIL, they didnt post any recipes online yet, but they did post this loving portrait of Norene Gilletz, awho passed away last month. She was the Julia Child of kosher cuisine in Canada.

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PASCALE PEREZ RUBIN for THE JERUSALEM POST shares RECIPES for STRANGE TIMES.

Recipes include those for
USBAN (Stuffed intestine)
USBAN POCKETS FOR PASSOVER (Stuffed sheep’s stomach)
COOKED VEGETABLE STEW

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MORE TO COME…..