Passover Eats: Part 1

Last year at this time, things were crazy and I didn't post anything for Passover! This year, things are equally crazy but I am setting aside time to prepare for Passover and think about the upcoming holiday. Passover starts on Monday night, April 18th. That means there is still time to work on your menus and stock up your house with Passover treats.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was thrilled to partner with The Urban Grape (a fantastic wine shop), Robin from Doves and Figs and Sara from Whole Foods Market in Brighton to put on a Passover Wine and Food Tasting. You can check out a recap of the event on their website. One of my contributions to the event was a write up of recipes to include in a booklet for all attendees to take home. I had fun putting together the recipes and want to share them with you as well. I hope you enjoy!

For Passover celebration, I focus on both honoring tradition and bringing a modern interpretation to the holiday celebration. For me, that means keeping the basic structure and menu that my family had at their Seder, but changing it to reflect where I am now. For example, keeping the same menu, but using ingredients from the local farmers market. That gives a sense of place, and community to the meal.

The recipes below take familiar Passover ingredients and put a new twist on them!

Roasted Beets & Asparagus Appetizer
Serves 6

Roasted beets and asparagus are bright, fresh spring flavors. Bright orange golden beets and the addition of orange infused olive oil ties the dish to the modern practice of including an orange on the Seder plate, to represent Miriam.

2 medium golden beets, unpeeled
6-8 spears of asparagus
1/8 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 inch slice of fresh goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons Orange infused olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Line a baking sheet with foil and cover the foil with a thin layer of kosher salt
Place the unpeeled beets on the salt and put in the oven for 45 minutes
After 45 minutes, place the asparagus spear on top of the salt on the baking sheet
Return beets and asparagus to the oven for 15 additional minutes
After 15 minutes, remove from oven
Place asparagus in a small bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt from the baking sheet
Allow beets to cool for a few minutes and then peel
Slice beets into 1/8 inch thick slices
Arrange beets and asparagus on a serving platter
Evenly distribute toasted pecans and crumbled goat cheese on top
Drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar and remaining tablespoon of olive oil
This dish is best served at room temperature

Passover Deviled Eggs with Horseradish and Parsley
This appetizer combines familiar items from the Seder plate in a new way. The bright red color of beet-horseradish contrasts beautifully with the bright green parsley and white hard boiled egg.

12 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2-3 tablespoons red horseradish
3-4 tablespoons juice from red horseradish (to add color & additional flavor)
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Slice eggs lengthwise, remove yolks carefully and place in a mixing bowl
Add mayonnaise, horseradish, and horseradish juice
Mash the yolks and ingredients until smooth
Season with salt and pepper
Using a spoon & spatula fill each egg white (or fill a plastic sandwich bag and cut the corner to pipe the filling into the eggs)
Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top as garnish
Serve chilled

I plan to serve these eggs with the contrasting Beet Pickled Deviled Eggs that I made for Thanksgiving. I think the opposite colors will look great!

And don't forget dessert!

Maple-Chocolate Matzo Crunch
This dessert is a standard offering for many families during Passover. Taking advantage of local maple syrup, this is a new take on an old favorite. Maple sugar can be found from local Maple Houses and is increasingly becoming available at grocery stores.

3-4 matzos (you may need more)
1 cup of butter
1 cup maple sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup (Grade A Dark Amber or Grade B)
2 oz. chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk-chocolate)
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

*For the spice lovers, I made a few pieces of green chili maple chocolate matzo. I sprinkled green chili powder on the melted chocolate before sprinkling with nuts. It was delicious and I am thinking about making a full batch of spicy chocolate matzo crunch for next week!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange matzo pieces in a single layer
In a medium saucepan, combine butter, maple sugar, and maple syrup
Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula
Remove from heat and pour evenly over matzo
Bake maple covered matzo for 4 minutes
Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the matzo pieces
Return to oven for 1-2 minutes, until chocolate is melted (the chips will still hold their shape)
Using a spatula, spread the chocolate on the matzo, creating a smooth layer
Sprinkle toasted nuts on top of the chocolate
Allow to cool completely and break into smaller pieces
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator

What's your favorite twist on a traditional Passover food or family recipe? I'm always on the lookout for new ideas!

Countdown to Passover: Event, Recipes, and More!

This year, Passover starts on Monday, April 18. That's good news for all the Boston Marathon runners - they can still enjoy a pre-race pasta dinner and hydrate with Gatorade along the way. For the rest of us, that means that we have a day off from work to watch the race and cook up our Seder feasts.

With about two weeks until Passover, it's the perfect time to start planning menus. Everyone has their favorite holiday foods but its always fun to put a new twist on your old favorites. I enjoy using local and seasonal ingredients in my Passover dishes, and also taking traditional ingredients and using them in new ways.

Are you looking for new recipes and new wines to add to your celebration? I'm excited to be partnering with the lovely folks at The Urban Grape for a fun Passover food and wine tasting that will give you both!  On Sunday, April 10 from 7-9 PM, come by The Urban Grape for a fun-filled Passover Food and Wine tasting! The tasting at The Urban Grape is a collaboration with with Whole Foods Market Brighton, Robin from Doves and Figs and me! Here's the event blurb:

"We’ll take a walk down memory lane as we pair traditional Passover treats like your Grandmother used to make – think chocolate covered Matzo, Charoset and Jelly Roll – with cutting edge Kosher wines from around the world. While we eat, our local farm-to-table experts will be on hand to help you think of ways to incorporate local foods and updated recipes into your passover meal. With an eye turned toward tradition, we’ll give you the tools to pull off an inspired Passover meal.  RSVP necessary for admittance – events@theurbangrape.com. SPACE IS LIMITED!"

An added bonus, if you attend the event you'll get to take home recipes for new Passover dishes! My recipes include chocolate maple matzo crunch and hard boiled eggs with horseradish and parsley (just to name a few). Hope to see you there!

Here's a look at some of the Passover dishes I've blogged about over the past two years. I'll be adding to the collection this year, stay tuned!

Passover Eats Part 1: Brisket with Concord Grape Wine

Passover Eats Part 2: Chocolate Toffee Matzo Crunch
Passover Eats Part 4: Roasted Beets & Asparagus

Here's a preview of this year's updated beets & asparagus recipe:

Passover Eats Part 5: Roasted Turkey Breast

Passover Eats Part 7: Fresh Horseradish

Here are some great Passover friendly dishes:
Quick and Easy Frittata

Beet Pickled Deviled Eggs (just make sure your mustard & mayo are Kosher for Passover)
Farmers Market Bounty Salad (skip the garbanzos and corn)

There are a lot to choose from, just remember to have fun! There's no need to panic, just plan to enjoy fresh fruits, vegetables, and sustainable meat and seafood. Think about it - it's a good way to focus on healthy eating!

What are your favorite Passover foods - traditional and new? I'd love to hear about them!

Atlanta Eats: The Varsity, Flip Burger Boutique, and CamiCakes

This past week I had a reprieve from the cool spring air in Boston. I headed south to Atlanta for a work conference. The conference was held at Georgia Tech and we stayed right by campus in Midtown. My day job is spent doing marketing and admissions for an executive MBA program. The conference brought together marketing and admissions professionals from schools across the world to learn about current trends, share best practices, and do a lot of networking. Even though the conference schedule was packed, there was still time to check out some Atlanta eateries. To make room for the less-than-healthy eats I spent my lunch breaks walking around the Georgia Tech campus.

With limited time available, I had to pare down my list of suggested restaurants. @JustinCanCook and @25Lifestyle had tweeted me some fantastic looking culinary options. Now I'll have a list for the next time!

I was fully prepared to venture out on my own for these dining adventures. Luckily I found like-minded conference attendees and had dining companions during the trip.

One spot that I've had on my list for a long time is an old Atlanta stand-by - The Varsity!

The "world's largest drive-in" has been serving hungry visitors for the past 83 years. You've probably seen them on the Food Network or heard about their long-standing presence in Atlanta. The can fit 600 cars in the parking lot and 800 people inside. Now that is a big place! According to their website they make a lot of food too:

"Two miles of hot dogs, a ton of onions, 2500 pounds of potatoes, 5000 fried pies and 300 gallons of chili are made from scratch daily."

When dining out with new people, I find that it's helpful to explain up front that there will be excess ordering (to make sure to try everything) and picture taking before eating. My dining companion was understanding and I snapped a shot of her food first so she could eat a hot meal. After deciding on our orders, we approached a cashier calling out "What'll ya have? What'll ya have", and ordered up what we thought was a reasonable amount of food.

I picked out a chili slaw dog, a grilled pimento cheese sandwich on white bread, and a frosted Varsity Orange to wash it all down.

When I went back up to order a fried apple pie, I found out that we ordered a lot less food than everyone else. The man in front of me (clearly alone) ordered 5 chili dogs, fries and rings. The family to my right ordered almost two register screens worth of food.  Even though we didn't sample as much as them we still had a great time. I picked up two cans of chili to take home along with some magnets and postcards.  

We took a walk past the GA Tech Football Stadium and tried to burn off a few calories from our meal.

The next night we had an opportunity to try another Atlanta hot spot after a long day of conference sessions. If you are a Top Chef watcher, you'll know that Richard Blais is the culinary director for Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta. Since I've been on a streak of visiting Top Chef related restaurants on vacation, I knew I needed to try this out.

The menu offered a variety of burgers, sides, drinks, and liquid nitrogen milkshakes. We all picked a shake (that's frappe if you are a native New Englander) flavor pretty immediately. No one was adventurous enough to order the foie gras shake, but we were all very happy with our choices.

Strawberry short shake, Krispy Kreme,
Turtle, and Toasted Marshmallow Nutella.

I ordered the toasted marshmallow, of course!

There were a lot of great burger choices for dinner. My dining companions were nice enough to let me snap a shot of their burgers before digging in. We each ordered a different side dish to be able to taste them all.  All of the burgers were 5.5 ounces of brisket, short rib, and hanger steak. The burger was cooked perfectly and juicy and flavorful.

On the top left below is the Butcher's Cut, blue cheese and caramelized onions, with fries. Top right, the bacon cheeseburger with vodka onion rings and beer honey mustard. Bottom right (my choice), the Local with smoked mayo, grilled onions, house made pickles and yellow tomato. You can see the fried bread & butter pickles in the background. Bottom left is the d'Lux burger. This all out treat was 2 patties, truffle butter, roasted mushrooms, French onions, and cheese). On the side are deliciously crispy fried zucchini.

My favorite side dish was the fried pickles and the fried zucchini. Hard to go wrong with either of those!

One of the more adventurous in our group ordered up buffalo sweetbreads (definition here). Yep, buffalo flavored sweetbreads served with blue cheese and ranch foam. I was a little hesitant, but decided to go for it. You could still taste the sweetbreads through the buffalo sauce and the foam was a nice creamy contrast to the tang of the sauce. I can't say I'd order these again, but they were fun to try!

After dinner, we decided to take a scenic ride down Peachtree through Buckhead and back to Midtown. One of the women had been telling us about a great cupcake shop and even though we were completely stuffed we made a stop. CamiCakes offers a huge case of creative cupcakes. Everything from classic vanilla to sweet potato to my choice, The Elvis. The Elvis is a rich chocolate cupcake topped with banana frosting, peanut butter, and a sprinkle of sea salt. It was delightful. Rich, sweet, salty, and wonderful.  With cupcakes in hand we headed back to the hotel to sleep off our food comas.

Thanks to the women who joined me in the dining fun! I'm looking forward to another trip to Atlanta to sample more Southern delights.