Tradish-AHHHHn!!

     Tuesday evening brought this year’s Passover holiday to a close. The favorite meal to mark the return of leavened foods to our homes is pizza. Or out for Chinese.

     But it is the traditional foods of the holiday that hold such significance intrinsically and for me. The Passover Seder meal tells from where we have come, who we are, and where we are now. The Seder plate itself is laden with gastronomic symbols that lead us to the story of our ancestry: The matzoh bread of oppression and liberation, the wine of sublimation and sanctity, the bitter herbs of suffering, the charoseth of labor, the salty water or our lamentations, the green herbs of spring, the roasted egg of rebirth and the Eternal, and the lamb roasted in sacrifice and bounty and remembrance.
     These symbols lead the ceremony, and the dinner itself is the halfway point of its observance. Our meal, like many Jews of Eastern-European descent, was comprised of those foods traditionally eaten by our great-grandparents and their elders in their diaspora homes. Potato kugel, braised brisket, carrot tzimmus, rolled cabbage, matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish with horseradish, roasted fowl, and fermented beet russel or a borscht are the foods that grace our tables. While not a year goes by that Martha Stewart or Light Gourmet or whomever else doesn’t offer their ‘inspired’ twists on this cannon of American Ashkenazi cookery (Lemon Zest Matzoh Balls or Tri-Colored Gefilte Fish anyone?) most of our lot would generally be appalled if most of these dishes didn’t take their place beside Elijah’s cup at the table. I for one lament this, but wouldn’t change it. For though the cuisine of the Sephardic Jews from the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions is far more sophisticated and celebratory, it’s not mine.
      My Bubbie’s Passover cooking was among the first to have really penetrated my psyche as a person and ultimately as a cook. I can vividly remember the smell of her chicken soup, the flavor of the sweet, earthy russel, and the meaty tang, and slight crunch of my favorite – the rolled cabbage. Though my parents took us, from young ages, to into the great ethnic hubs of our melting-pot metropolises and their accompanying eateries, it was Bubbie’s cooking that really convinced me that cooking was something great; something alchemical and mysterious and attainable and important to my being. So, our Passover meals this year were not only a solution to the challenge of Passover cooking, but they were an homage, and a personal journey, and I was happy to be able to share it with you.
     Maybe next year we will try something even more traditional.
     Braised udder anyone?

Spinach and Chevre Agnolotti & Moraccan Chic Pea Stew

The Food Nanny
April 26& 27 2011

 Meal 1: Spinach and Chevre Agnolotti with Chard and Sun Dried Tomato, Ciabatta, Mixed Greens

• Boil some salted water. Plunge the agnolotti when the water boils. Boil 1-2 minutes.

• Heat the chard mixture in a sauté pan. When hot, add the drained agnolotti and toss to coat. Serve.

• Dress the greens and serve with the warmed rolls.

Meal 2: Moroccan Chic Pea Stew over Two Spiced Rices with Sweet Sultana Noodle Kugel

• Heat the kugel at 350° in the oven for 15 minutes or until warm.

• Warm the stew on the stovetop and allow it to simmer.

• Heat the rice in a sauté pan with a little oil and a splash of water to heat it through. Serve beneath the stew.

The Food Nanny
Passover 2011

Meal 1: Bubbie’s Stuffed Cabbage, Carrot Tzimmes, Twice Baked Potato Casserole.
• Add a couple ounces of water to the tzimmus and heat in the oven at 350 until bubbling 10-15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning before serving.
• At the same time/temp as above heat the cabbage and potato in the oven. The cabbage will need to bubble, the potato casserole should brown up on top.

Meal 2: Matzoh Ball Soup, Blue Moon Mixed Greens, Half-Moon Macaroon
• Warm the soup on the stovetop and allow it to simmer for a few minutes to ensure the matzoh balls heat through.
• Dress the salad and then enjoy your dessert!

Season of the Onion

Barbara Kingsolver noted that, historically, February is called ‘Hungry Month’ in about a hundred different tongues. But, for us April is the month that challenges our kitchen. What is the cuisine of earliest spring? Everyone is ready for a change from the steadfast but stodgy roots of winter, yet the hearty fruits of summer are months away, and there is only so much heft you can put into a green leaf.

Let the Earth tell us what to eat: the earliest shoots popping up from winter’s nap are the alliums. The onions, garlics, and their kin. Chives, garlic chives, leeks, walking onions, scallions, the wild onions and the aristocrat of them all – the ramp Allium tricoccum.

These vegetables have both the brightness of color to uplift your spring meals, as well as the strength of character to lend themselves to some richer preparations. Classic onions are themselves at the end of their dormancy but still good for roasting or sautéing as the body of a main dish. But, as green onions become more available do yourself a favor and replace those big sprouting bulbs with scallions. The big professionally grown ones from the market are particularly good. Buy some extra and dress them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and grill or broil them whole for a great side to steak, atop burgers, or with a grilled fish.

If your pantry’s supply of garlic is running low or gone, that’s OK, because you planted the extra, small cloves of garlic last fall, right? Well, it’s time to start digging those shoots and eating them as green garlic. I also plant each fall some of the bulbils from my hardneck garlic to also harvest as green garlic each spring. These thinner plants are cut and used like herbs. Green garlic makes a smashing soup, great stir fry, or can be chopped from top to bottom and used as you would garlic cloves.

Chives are hands down the classiest of all the herbs. Use them by the heavy handful in eggs, savory custards, pasta salads, mashed or buttered potatoes, or in grain salads while they are at their quality peak during these cool days. Chives are rare at the market; they are a reward for the home gardener, so plant lots.

But it is ramps that capture the imagination of the palate more than any other allium. They are wild, ephemeral treats and you should learn how to hunt them or where to buy them. If you buy them it is a sound investment to go ahead and transplant some (or many) of them. You will need to plant them in moist, shady places, and in clumps. They are forest plants and will not thank you for favoring them with a little extra light. They grow beautifully at the base of mature trees. Over time they will self divide and self seed. Their flavor is a perfect blend of garlic and leek; aromatic without being fiery. To cook them, do little. A fast sauté in hot fat or a flash on the grill is all they need to accompany asparagus, morels, and meats divinely. You can certainly also use them to infuse eggs and custards, but generally treat them more as a vegetable than an herb.

Savory Bread Pudding and Tortilla Soup

Meal 1: Savory Bread Pudding, Spinach Soup, Blue Moon Mixed Greens

• Cover the pudding with foil and warm in the oven at 350° for at least 20 minutes. Remove the lid and heat for 5 more minutes.

• Warm the soup, or even enjoy it chilled.

• Dress the greens and thank the heavens, and Jon, that they are back!

Meal 2: Tortilla Soup, Refried Beans, Annatto Rice with Pepitas

• Warm the soup on the stovetop. Garnish with a little yogurt if you like.

• Warm the beans in a microwave or in a saucepan. You can also try steaming them in their dish if you are inclined.

• Serve the rice at room temp, or sauté quickly with some oil and a splash of oil.

NOTES:

• The bread pudding is made with leeks, onions, green garlic, and our own log-grown shiitake mushrooms.
• After some middling attempts I really got the spinach soup this week.  The key to keeping it brightly colored was cooling the broth to 150 degrees before pureeing in batches with the spinach and then cooling it quickly in wide food pans in the fridge.

Carrot Soup and Pasta Primavera

Meal 1: Spiced Carrot Soup, Lentil Salad, Sweet and Sour Bulgur
• Warm the soup. Garnish with a little yogurt if you like.
• Serve the lentils and bulgur at room temp.

Meal 2: Pasta Shells Primavera, Roasted Cauliflower Salad, Semolina Rolls
• Warm the pasta in the oven – 350° for 10-15 minutes.
• Serve the cauliflower at room temp or warm it briefly in the oven.
• Warm the rolls in the oven for about 5 minutes.

NOTES:

• Yep, a little bit of heat in the soup.  A little ginger too.
• Primavera mix: spinach, chevre, fennel, and some roasted reds for color.
• Try a dash of lemon juice on the cauliflower - I didn't want it to get 'soggy' in transport.