#BlogExodus: Time to Spring into Action on the Passover Cooking

Inspired by Ima on (and off) the Bima's #BlogExodus initiative, this is one in an occasional series of posts loosely tied to Passover.

Growing up, Passover was always a big deal in our house…my mother’s favorite holiday.  Two years ago on 14 Nisan, with the table set and all the cooking done, she went into the hospital.  She entered hospice on 6 Sivan (Shavuot) and died on 17 Sivan.  Needless to say, Passover has never been the same.

This year, my sister and I (with help from our Aunt Claire, our mother’s older sister) are making a seder for the first time.  The division of labor looks something like this:

Amy:  Hosting the event, cooking chicken with plums, desserts

Aunt Claire:  Soup, matzah balls, gefilte fish, horseradish (and the shankbone and egg for the seder plate)

(I will #ShowUsYourMatzahBalls via Instagram directly from the seder!)

JanetheWriter:  Brisket, charoset, matzah farfel stuffing (and the seder plate itself—a wedding gift, that until now has remained unused in the box—as well as the orange that will sit atop it, squished between two of the other items)

Although I’m no Tina Wasserman, I hope that I watched my mother enough to do all the cooking “right.”

Here’s my plan:

Tuesday night:  Crock pot brisket, the recipe for which you can find in this post

Wednesday night:  Matzah farfel stuffing, which goes something like this:

Saute a lot of chopped onions (and chopped celery) on low flame until golden (I plan to use three large onions and a few stalks of celery)
Mix together with a one-pound box of matzah farfel stuffing and enough chicken broth to moisten
Add salt and pepper to taste
Spread in a baking dish and sprinkle generously with Hungarian paprika
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until heated through
Serve with gravy from brisket

Friday morning:  Charoset, which goes like this:

Finely chop 3 to 4 apples (I bought Galas)

Add chopped almonds and raisins (I bought the yellow ones)

Moisten with grape juice

Season to taste with cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg

Mix and refrigerate to allow the flavors to blend

If I’m going to do all the cooking I’ve just detailed, I’d better go do the reading for Thursday night’s class right now.

See you in the kitchen…