1 large apple or 2 small apples peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon or to taste
1 tablespoon ground ginger or to taste
½ cup walnuts
¼ cup sweet red Passover wine
Yield: 2 cups.
Charoset from Black Jews of Cochin, India
½ pound dark raisins
½ pound baking dates
¼ cup blanched almonds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1cup sugar
¼ cup wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon salt
1cup water
Process everything into paste. Simmer over low heat for half an hour. Cool
2 cups dry red wine
½ cup sugar
grated rind and juice of ½ orange
1 pound dried figs
1 ½ teaspoon ground cardamon.
In saucepan bring wine, sugar and orange rind and juice to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered. Add figs, cover and simmer until softened about 30 minutes, remove from heat, cool to room temperature. Place figs cooking liquid and cardamon in food processor and blend until well ground. About 2 cups.
24 dried figs
24 pitted dates
4 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Grind figs and dates to a sticky paste in the food processor. Place in bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Cover and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Serve at room temperature. Yield: about 2 ½ cups.
1 cup dark raisins, plumped in hot water and drained
1 pound dates, pitted, preferably Medjool
1 orange, peeled, sliced and seeded
1 apple, cored and sliced
2 Tablespoons sweet wine
Grind all fruits together. Add wine to make a thick paste.
Main courses
(from Annie Weidman)
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lb. Stew meat (lamb, veal, or beef) cut into one inch cubes, or 2 lbs. Chicken thighs
1/3 cup oil
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp turmeric
3 cups chopped fresh parsley
½ cup chopped fresh mint
¼ tsp saffron (crush it with a mortar and pestle or back of a spoon) dissolved in
1 Tbs hot water
1Tbs tomato paste
2Tbs fresh lime juice
1 lb. Fresh rhubarb, cut into 1inch pieces
In a dutch oven, brown the onions and meat or chicken in 3 T of the oil. Add salt, pepper, and turmeric. Pour in water-2 ½ cups for meat and 1 ½ cups for chicken. Cover and cook for about 1 hour for meat and 15 minutes for chicken, over low heat, stirring occasionally.
In a skillet, fry parsley and mint in remaining oil for about 10 minutes. Add this, along with the saffron water, tomato paste and lime juice to the meat. Cover and simmer 45 minutes over low heat.
Place the rhubarb on top of the stew, and cover and continue cooking until rhubarb is tender. Be careful not to cook it too long, or the rhubarb falls apart. This can take from 10 to 20 minutes.
If this dish seems too sour, (it did to me) add 1 Tablespoon of sugar at a time, until it seems pleasantly tart. Be careful not to break up the rhubarb.
This dish is served over Chelo (Persian rice). Recipe to follow.
2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 lb stew meat (lamb veal or beef) or 2 lbs chicken thighs
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp advieh (Persian spice mix)
½ cup fresh lime juice
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp saffron (crushed in mortar and pestle) dissolved in 1 T hot water
5 firm semi ripe peaches (frozen worked pretty well as a substitute)
In a dutch oven, brown the onions and meat in 3 T of the oil. Add salt, pepper, and advieh. Pour in 2 cups of water for meat, 1 cup for chicken. Cover and simmer over low heat for one hour, or 30 minutes for chicken.
Mix together the lime juice, sugar, and saffron water and stir it into the meat. Cover and simmer 45 minutes over low heat.
Wash peaches well to remove the fuzz. Cut into ½ inch wedges. Add the peaches to the meat and simmer 15 or so minutes until the peaches are tender.
Serve with Chelo. (Persian rice)
For the Advieh, mix together:
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground ginger
A note from Annie: this recipe seems like a huge ordeal. Read through the steps a few times, and you will see that it is really a few quick things to do, and it is really just timing. This is the best rice you will ever eat. The crust that forms on the bottom of the pot, the Tadiq, is served in a separate bowl, and passed to the company first. It is crunchy and wonderful.
2 cups raw basmati rice, rinsed several times, and soaked in lightly salted water
4 cups water
4 Tbs corn oil
1/8 tsp turmeric
2 Tbs water
Let the rice soak for a half hour. Pour off all but about ½ cup of the water.
Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil in a 4 qt. pot over moderate heat. Add the rice with the salt water, and cook for 8 minutes only, drain, and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
Put 3 tablespoons of the oil in the pot, with 2 tablespoons water, and the turmeric. Shake the pan briskly to mix. Pour the rice back into the pot, and shape with a spatula into a pyramid or cone shape. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and cover the pan with a folded kitchen towel, and replace the lid. (Fold up the edges of the towel, so they don’t burn.)
Keep cooking over low heat for another 20 minutes, to allow the crisp crust to form on the bottom.
To serve, gently spoon out the rice into a bowl, and when you start seeing the yellow turmeric, you know you have gotten to the Tadiq. A metal spatula is my tool of choice to remove it from the bottom of the pan. It will come out in small chunks. Serve this separately from a small dish or plate.
If the timing of your dinner is not quite right for the rice, I have let it cook over the lowest possible heat for at least 10 more minutes without adverse effect.
Desserts
(from Ruth Reidbord)
Use Passover crust, bought, or use graham crackers (4) with gingersnaps (10), ¼ cup butter melted, 2 T. sugar. Mix press into 9- inch pie plate. Bake at 375 for 4/5 minutes
3 eggs separated, 3 lemons, strained, 2 t. lemon peel. 12 can Borden’s Eagle Brand Milk, 1 t. vanilla, ¼ t. cream of tartar., ¼ cup sugar. Beat yolks well, slowly beat in lemon juice and rind. Add milk, beat egg whites until almost stiff, add sugar and cream of tartar. Combine with egg yolk mixture. Pour into prepared pie pan. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes.
10 eggs, separated and at room temperature or slightly warmer
14 T. sugar (about 1 cup)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate melted slowly over hot water and cooled
2 cups finely chopped not ground walnuts
Preheat oven to 350. Beat egg yolks and sugar until very thick and lemon colored. Stir in the chocolate. Fold in the nuts. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry and fold into the chocolate nut mixture. Turn into a greased 10 inch spring form pan and bake 1 hour or until the center springs back when lightly touched with finger tips Cool in the pan.
12 eggs separated and at room temperature or a little warmer
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cup Passover Cake Meal
1/3cup potato starch
juice and grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the yolks and sugar together until very thick and lemon colored. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold into the yolk mixture. Fold in the cake meal and potato starch alternately with the juice. Fold in the rind. Turn into a lightly oiled 10 by 3 inch angel food cake pan which is lined on bottom with wax paper. Bake 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out dry. Cool upside down in the pan.
Mississippi Praline Macaroons
3 large egg whites
24 pecan halves
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 275. Beat egg whites to form peaks. Gradually add sugar and beat until the whites are stiff. Stir in chopped nuts. Spoon heaping teaspoon of macaroon mixture onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press down to shape into a macaroon. Place a pecan half on top. Bake for 30 minutes checking occasionally until cookies are hard but still shiny. Makes 2 dozen cookies (From New York Times Passover Cookbook)
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