Cafe Liz

Chocolate Passover biscotti

These biscotti have a tendency to vanish. Biscotti are twice-baked cookies, once into a loaf, and the second time after being sliced, and until crunchy. Something about the denseness means they don’t lose much — if anything — from being made with matzo meal instead of flour, and thus kosher for Passover.

I got the recipe from my mother, who explained to me that she never bakes the full batch at once, because however much you bake, it immediately disappears. I baked mine before the holiday officially began, and thus kept myself from eating them — no Passover food until it’s Passover.

So first thing after getting home from the seder, I made a beeline for the cookies — yes, after a four-course meal and all. And it’s only been downhill from there.
Continue reading Chocolate Passover biscotti…

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Matzo balls in Persian fruit soup

I had a particular Persian meatball dish in mind when I made this — meatballs stewed in a broth of dried fruit. Fruit plays a central role in savory cooking in Persian cuisine. While dried fruit is more commonly associated with another holiday, Tu Bishvat, Passover also happens to fall in the spring, and thus fruit is still appropriate.

In this dish, it gives Ashkenazi matzo balls an unusual twist. The matzo balls provide firm texture in place of meatballs, and the fruit soup — well, it speaks for itself, a mix of sweet and savory thanks to some onions and garlic.

In terms of the fruit you use, you could follow my lead, or improvise. Continue reading Matzo balls in Persian fruit soup…

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Cranberry charoset

This is a play on a classic charoset — a Sephardi-style nut/date spread with a decidedly new-world twist. Cranberries are a new-world fruit, so it’s highly unlikely that they started appearing in any traditional Jewish cuisine too many centuries ago. But hey, it’s been 500 years since Columbus sailed the ocean blue and the world is increasingly globalized, so there’s no reason not to give our holiday “mortar” an extra cranberry tang.

Beyond the cranberries, there are the pears and the pecans, which give the charoset a decidedly upscale taste. What better way to deck out the seder table? Continue reading Cranberry charoset…

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Passover mushroom croquettes

Pork-obsessed Spanish cuisine is not known for being kosher friendly, but classic croquettes can easily be made not only kosher and vegetarian, but kosher for Passover, to boot.

Croquettes are breaded dumplings filled with a bechamel cream, flavored with any number of things. I learned the technique from my friend Arturo, who threw himself a croquette birthday party with seven different kinds of dumplings — including ham, shrimp, ham and shrimp … and then for the vegetarians, mushroom and spinach. Arturo was nice enough to invite me over during his three (!!) days of preparations, so after watching seven batches of croquette fillings come off the flame, I felt confident enough to give it a go myself. Continue reading Passover mushroom croquettes…

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Passover 2010 on Cafe Liz

Passover is rapidly approaching. The stores have already stopped stocking my favorite cookies and chocolates (no baker’s chocolate for Passover? really guys?) You, like us, are preparing for the week of unleavened bread, whether that means planning a seder, or just coming up with things to eat for the week.

I’m not one of those people who feels Passover equals starvation. I love the holiday, and all its food. Hopefully, I have some recipes that can make that process easier and more enjoyable. I’ll be posting new recipes over the next two weeks, but until then, you can check out my Passover-specific recipes from last year:

• Sweet bimuelos, a Turkish staple that aroused a surprising amount of interest as expressed by the commenters from around the world
• Mina de espinaka, a Sephardic spinach-cheese pie
• My mother’s charoset recipe, in traditional Sephardi Mediterranean style
• Matzo ball soup with Middle Eastern spices

Plus, my posts from the rest of the year are categorized based on those that suit Passover: Everything free of chametz (grains) appears in my Sephardi Passover recipes list, while everything free of chametz and kitniyot (legumes) appears in my Ashkenazi Passover recipes. (Let me know if I’ve mislabled anything …)

Have a happy Passover, from Cafe Liz. Let the cooking begin.

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Matzo balls with vegetable soup and Middle Eastern spices

Sorry Maneschevitz, but I see no reason to make matzo balls from a mix — they’re pretty simple to make from scratch. I also think that the whole search for the perfect matzo ball recipe is a bit overrated. Matzo (matzah) balls are basically matzo meal mixed with egg, and everything else is simply a matter of taste. Maybe I’m saying this because I haven’t tried the world’s best matzo ball yet, but until that time comes, I’m happy with my own modest version.

Since there’s no chicken in our kitchen, this soup’s flavor had to come from something else. I put a bit of hot paprika in my matzo balls, and made a vegetable-intensive soup with Middle Eastern spices to go with them. There’s something to be said for matzo balls with a spicy kick. Continue reading Matzo balls with vegetable soup and Middle Eastern spices…

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Mina (Passover spinach pie)

This is another family recipe that simply means Passover to me. My mother learned this recipe from her Turkish grandmother and aunts growing up in Brooklyn. Apparently the word mina means pie in Judeo-Spanish (commonly known as Ladino), and the proper name for this recipe is actually mina de espinaka — spinach pie. My family seems to have shortened the name to mina, since we don’t really make any other kinds of traditional Turkish pies.

Believe it or not, my mother’s recipe calls for canned spinach — by the time my mother was a child, her grandmother had already switched to prepackaged convenience. I’m lucky enough to have an easy supply of fresh spinach, which I use instead — I get no strange flavors from the can or the freezer, and this is probably closer to how this recipe was made back in Turkey for generations (or so I’d like to believe).

Like all family recipes, this one was handed down to me without any actual measurements. So these are the quantities I use, and my preparation style. Continue reading Mina (Passover spinach pie)…

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Bimuelos (sweet Passover dumplings)

My mother learned to make bimuelos from her maternal grandmother, who brought the recipe with her from Istanbul, along with her special bimuelo pan. I don’t know anyone else who makes bimuelos for Passover, beyond my immediate family. And it’s a pity. They’re quite good. The word bimuelo merely means a fried dough delicacy in Judeo-Spanish. You could consider my family’s version a kind of Sephardi matzo ball — the batter is similar, but instead of being cooked in chicken broth, we fry ours, boil them in honey-sugar syrup, and then serve them doused in sweet cream. We eat them for breakfast every day of Passover. How could you go wrong?

Passover bimuelos have made the holiday for me ever since I can remember, yet they seem to be a lost art. Over the years, I’ve tried searching for the word on Google. In 2003 I turned up a whopping three hits. By last year things had slightly improved, up to about 20, including a Judeo-Spanish dictionary, a lecture in Ladino, a few articles about Hanukkah sweets, and a dozen photos I’d posted over the past few years. This leads me to think the world is in need of a bimuelo revival. Continue reading Bimuelos (sweet Passover dumplings)…

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My mom’s charoset

This is charoset like my mother makes it. It’s not so pretty, but then again, she says it’s supposed to look like the mortar that was used to build the pyramids (although some would argue that there was no mortar involved, only well-cut stones). Historical accuracy aside, this charoset is pleasantly sweet without being cloying.

There are hundreds of ways of making this traditional Passover spread, one of the key elements on the Seder plate. It can include a wide range of fruits, nuts, spices and wine; mine contains apples, walnuts, dates and raisins. Dates are a staple of Sephardi-style charoset, and this recipe is traditionally Turkish, although it may resemble charoset from other communities as well. Continue reading My mom’s charoset…

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Cafe Liz goes kosher for Passover

Cafe Liz is going kosher for Passover: I’ve cleaned the kitchen and thrown out last year’s matzo. Oh, and I’ve also gone through all my recipes, and pulled out the ones that suit the holiday, based on both Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions.

And, for more Passover-specific content:

If you keep Sephardi Passover like my family, you’re probably used to a vibrant, vegetable- and rice-filled Passover (I’m thanking my Turkish and Greek ancestors as we speak). In fact, I usually find that I have more things to eat over Passover, not less, because I cook more. Continue reading Cafe Liz goes kosher for Passover…

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