Turkey Zucchini Sliders (aka Jerusalem Burgers)

Adapted from The Jerusalem Cookbook

Ingredients

Burgers
1 lb ground turkey
1 large zucchini, coarsely grated (scant 2 cups)
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 large egg
2 tbsp chopped mint
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
½ tsp cayenne pepper
6 tbsp sunflower oil, for searing

Sour cream and Sumac Sauce
scant ½ cup sour cream
scant ⅔ cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1½ tsp olive oil
1 tbsp sumac
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper

Instructions
Combine the ingredient for the sour cream sauce in a small bowl. Stir well. Refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs except the sunflower oil.
Mix with your hands and then shape into 18 burgers (sliders).
Pour sunflower oil in a large frying pan. Heat over medium heat until hot, then sear the meatballs in batches on all sides. Cook each batch for about 4 minutes per side, until golden brown.
Transfer the seared meatballs to a baking sheet lined with waxed paper, tin foil, or a silicone pad. Place in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve warm or at room temperature, with sauce spooned over on on the side.

Note: Yummy served in pita with sliced tomatoes and spring mix lettuce, though obviously not at Passover!

Gnocchi for Passover

Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes
1/3 cup matzah cake meal
1/2 cup potato starch
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper or about 5 twists of the pepper grinder
5 tsp. olive oil

Directions:
1. Wash the potatoes and pare away dark spots.
2. Boil, whole, or cut in half, until tender.
3. Drain the potatoes and, keeping them in their cooking pot, shake them over a low flame till they are very dry.
4. Allow them to cool slightly, and peel them as soon as you can handle them. The hotter they are at this stage, the better. I put on latex gloves to pick them up and peel.
5. Mash the potatoes. Make a well in the center and add the rest of the ingredients.
Mix and knead till you have a cohesive dough.
6. Cover the dough and let it sit for at least half an hour in the fridge.
7. Cut the dough into four pieces.
8. On a flat surface well dusted with potato starch, roll each piece out into a snake about 3/4 of an inch thick.
9. Start plenty of salted water boiling in a large pot.
10. Cut out pieces about 1/2 inch long. I used a dessert fork to do this, and imprinted each piece with the tines as I cut along. The reason gnocchi have these impressions is to allow the accompanying sauce to cling to them all the better. It takes only a few minutes to get the hang of it; then the work goes quickly.
11. Boil the gnocchi, giving them one more minute after all have risen to the water’s surface. The whole thing takes only 2-3 minutes.
12. Drain the gnocchi, and if not dressing them with sauce right away, drizzle and coat with olive oil or melted butter.

Orange Passover Poundcake with Raspberry Sauce

From WW; makes 16

3/4 cup(s) matzo cake meal
1/4 cup(s) Manischewitz Potato Starch, or other brand
12 large egg(s), separated (yes, that almost made me faint...)
1 1/2 cup(s) sugar
1/4 cup(s) fresh orange juice
2 tsp orange zest, finely chopped
1/3 cup(s) preserves, raspberry-variety
1 cup(s) unsweetened frozen raspberries, or fresh raspberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Sift matzo cake meal with potato starch over a large bowl; sift again and set aside.
3. In a large bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer on high power, whip egg whites until stiff and glossy; set aside.
4. In a large bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer on high power, whip egg yolks with sugar until light and satiny; add orange juice and zest and blend well.
5. Fold egg whites into yolk mixture until just blended. Sift in matzo cake meal mixture; fold delicately to combine. Carefully pour batter into a 10-inch, 2-piece ungreased angel food cake pan with feet or a sponge cake pan.
6. Bake until center of cake springs back to the touch, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and immediately invert pan onto a wire rack; cool cake completely in pan. (If you do not have a pan with feet, invert pan over a wine or beer bottle.)
7. Meanwhile, to make topping, heat raspberry preserves in a small saucepan over low heat and toss in raspberries; mix well.
8. When cake is completely cool, run a sharp knife around the outside and inside rings of the tube pan to loosen cake; transfer to a serving plate.

Slice into 16 pieces and drizzle each slice with sauce just before serving. Yields 1 slice of cake and about 1 tablespoon of sauce per serving. 4 WW points per slice w/sauce.

Vegetable Kugel (aka Kugel Cake)

My boys love this so much they will eat it 4x a day during Passover (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert...). The original recipe uses more margarine, but I find it tastier with a reduced quantity (as shown below). Enjoy!

Adapted from The Jewish Holiday Kitchen

Ingredients:
(note: using a food processor makes this really easy to prepare, given all the grating...)
1 C grated raw apple (1/2 lb)
1 C grated raw sweet potato (1/4 lb)
1 C grated raw carrot (1/4 lb)
1 C matzah meal (or ~2 C flour)
1/4 C margarine (or butter)
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/2 C sugar (optional, or use Splenda)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 10-inch casserole or muffin tins.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Pour into baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 45 minutes. If using muffin tins, bake 30 minutes.
4. Raise oven to 350F, remove cover, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Slice and eat hot as a vegetable, or for breakfast or lunch in place of Matzoh during Passover. Tastes like unfrosted carrot cake—yum!

Note: if you make a double, triple, or quad recipe (which we often do) and bake in a larger casserole, you will need to bake for an hour or more, depending on size.

Flourless Banana Chiffon Passover Cake

Serves 12 to 14. If serving the cake within 24 hours, wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap with aluminum foil and freeze for up to 10 days. To thaw, remove foil and leave at room temperature for about 3 hours.

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp matza cake meal
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp potato starch
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 small or 1 large)
6 large eggs, separated
1 large egg
1/4 cup plus 2 TBs canola oil
2 tsps finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325°F. Have ready an ungreased 10 x 4 1/4-inch tube pan, preferably with a removable bottom, and a long-necked bottle or large heat-resistant funnel for cooling the cake.

2. Sift together the cake meal, potato starch, 3/4 cup of the sugar and the salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the bananas, egg yolks, egg, oil, lemon zest and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, incorporate the banana mixture with the dry ingredients, stirring until smooth, thick and well blended.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-low speed until soft peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Continue whipping until glossy-white, stiff-but-not-dry peaks form, about 2 minutes. Using a clean rubber spatula, fold 1 cup of the whipped whites into the cake batter to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whites just until combined. Spoon the batter into the tube pan, spreading it evenly with the spatula.

4. Bake the cake until just golden, the top springs back when touched lightly and a round wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately invert it over the long-necked bottle. Let cool completely, about 2 hours.

5. To remove the cake from a pan without a removable bottom, slip just the tip of a thin metal spatula or paring knife between the cake sides and the pan, slowly tracing the perimeter. Tilt the cake pan on its side and gently tap the bottom against a counter to loosen the cake. Rotate the pan, tapping it a few more times as you turn it, until the cake appears free from the sides of the pan. Place a wire rack on top of the cake, invert the pan and tap firmly on its bottom. Lift the pan from the cake.

(Note: I used a regular 9" springform cake pan, and the center was a bit mushy but it was still OK. A real springform tube pan would be preferable.)

Passover Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Maida Heatter

 Countess Toulouse-Lautrec’s French Chocolate Cake

from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts
by Maida Heatter, 1995, Random House

10 portions
Note: It is best to make it a day before serving or at least 6 to 8 hours before, or make it way ahead of time and freeze it. (Thaw before serving.)

Cake ingredients:
1 pound semisweet chocolate
5 ounces (1 1/4 sticks) sweet [unsalted] butter, at room temperature
4 eggs (graded large or extra-large), separated
1 Tbsp unsifted all-purpose flour (or matzo cake meal, for Passover)
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar

 

1.     Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees [F.] Separate the bottom and the sides of an 8-inch spring-form pan. Cut a round of baking-pan liner paper or wax paper to fit the bottom of the pan, and butter it on one side. Butter the sides (not the bottom) of the pan. Put the bottom of the pan in place, close the clamp on the side, and place the buttered paper in the pan, buttered side up. Set aside.

2.     Break up or coarsely chop the chocolate and place it in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir with a rubber spatula until completely melted. Remove the top of the double boiler from the hot water.

3.     Add about one-third of the butter at a time and stir it into the chocolate with the rubber spatula. Each addition of butter should be completely melted and incorporated before the next is added. Set aside to cool slightly.

4.     In the small bowl of an electric mixer beat the egg yolks at high speed for 5 to 7 minutes until they are pale-colored and thick. Add the Tbsp of flour and beat on low speed for only a moment to incorporate the flour. Add the beaten yolks to the chocolate (which may still be slightly warm but should not be hot) and fold and stir gently to mix.

5.     In a clean, small bowl, with clean beaters, beat the egg whites and the salt until the whites hold a soft shape. Add the granulated sugar and continue to beat only until the whites hold a definite shape but not until they are stiff or dry. Fold about one-half of the beaten whites into the chocolate – do not be too thorough. Then fold the chocolate into the remaining whites, handling gently and folding only until both mixtures are blended.

6.     Turn into the prepared pan. Rotate the pan a bit, first in one direction, then the other, to level the batter.

7.     Bake for 15 minutes and remove it from the oven. With a small, sharp knife, carefully cut around the side of the hot cake, but do not remove the sides of the pan. Let the cake stand in the pan until it cools to room temperature. Then refrigerate it for at least several hours or overnight. The cake must be firm when it is removed from the pan.

8.     To remove the cake, cut around the sides again with a small, sharp knife. Remove the sides of the pan. Cover the cake with a small cookie sheet or the bottom of a quiche pan or anything flat, and invert. Then carefully insert a narrow spatula or a table knife between the bottom of the pan and the paper lining; move it just enough to release the bottom of the pan. Remove the bottom and peel off the paper lining. Invert a serving plate over the cake and invert the plate and the cake, leaving the cake right side up.

 

Optional ways of serving:

·      Cover the top generously (excluding the rim) with whipped cream. (If you do not plan to serve it all at once and you might want to freeze the leftovers, that is not the best plan.)

·      Cover the top generously with large, loose, free-form chocolate shavings made with a vegetable peeler and a thick piece of milk chocolate, and sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top of the shavings.

·      Cover the top of the cake with a generous amount of fresh raspberries or strawberries or Chocolate-Covered Strawberries, and, if you wish, pass soft whipped cream as a sauce.

·      Cover the top with peeled and sliced kiwi fruit and strawberries.

·      Cover the cake with whipped cream, cover the cream generously with chocolate shavings, and pass brandied cherries separately to be spooned alongside each portion.

·      Mound about two-thirds of the cream on top of the cake. Cover the cream generously with chocolate shavings, or dot it with candied violets or rose petals. Fit a pastry bag with a star-shaped tube and use the remaining cream to form a border of rosettes around the rim of the cake.

·      One final option: Cut the top of the firm, chilled cake, removing the raised rim and making the top smooth. Then serve the cake upside down, either just as it is or with confectioners’ sugar on top.

 

Whipped Cream recipe:
2 cups heavy cream
3 Tbsps confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract, or 2 Tbsps framboise or kirsch

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters whip the above ingredients until they reach the stiffness you want, depending on how you will use the cream.

Serve the cake cold, in small portions – this is rich!

Cottage Cheese Pie aka Souffle

From Rebecca Hertzman

Serves 8

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C milk
1 1/2 lb cottage cheese
3 eggs
3/4 C flour (or matzo meal, for Passover)
3 T sour cream or plain vanilla yogurt
4 T melted margarine
4 T sugar (or Splenda)
1-2 tsp vanilla
1/8 - 1/4 t cinnamon

additional cinnamon to sprinkle on top

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F; grease and lightly flour 9"x13" pan.
2. Mix all ingredients together (beat or whisk or stir lightly)
3. Place in pan, sprinkle top with more cinnamon, and cook 1 hr 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Notes: As main dish, this is like a blintz without the crepe and can be low-fat and low-cal if you use nonfat milk, nonfat cottage cheese, nonfat yogurt, and lowfat margarine. Works equally well as lowfat or regular (good meal for toddlers if you use full-fat options). If you use sour cream, you may want to use a little extra vanilla to avoid a mildly sour taste.

(Note: tastes really good with apple sauce)

Nutrition Info:

Calories	200	Sodium	400 mg
Total Fat	9 g	Potassium	0 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	15 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	0 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	7 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	15 g
Cholesterol	110 mg