EST. 2011 BY LIZ RUEVEN
The New Passover Menu Cookbook Give-Away

The New Passover Menu Cookbook Give-Away

Isn’t it great to get a head start on your holiday prep?

We’re offering one copy of Paula Shoyer’s THE NEW PASSOVER MENU to help you get inspired and think outside of your same ol’ Passover cooking box.

With three whole weeks until the beginning of this eight day festival (first Seder is Friday, April 3) you have plenty of time to ponder what will make this Passover different from all others!

And imagine how great it will be to have a load of new recipes all in one volume. OR imagine how happy your Seder host will be to receive this in advance of her cooking marathon.

Shoyer’s focus on unprocessed ingredients and contemporary twists on old favorites is a refreshing viewpoint. To check out her recipe for Chicken Soup with Chicken Meatballs and Zucchini Spaghetti (gluten-free) scroll down to our review.

To read more about why we LOVE Paula’s new cookbook scroll down or click here.

To enter:

Simply leave a comment at the end of this post telling us about your favorite Passover dish.

Tell us a little about it– what is it called? who’s recipe is it? How easy/difficult is it to prepare? Why do you love it so? We want to know!

Deadline for entry is Sunday, March 15 at midnight. We’ll announce the winner on March 16 and mail out a copy on that day.

Please be sure we are friends on Facebook here. That’s where you’ll find news about the winner (and lots of other great Kosher Like Me news, too).

Can’t wait to read your entries. Good luck!

All photos and recipe reprinted with permission from New Passover Menu © 2015 by Paula Shoyer, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Photography by Michael Bennett Kress .

78 Comments

  2. my favorite Pesach food is chicken soup with homemade egg noodles. We lovingly make dozens of crepes and then slice them into noodles. It’s loads of work but BOY, are those good.

    Reply to this comment

  3. stuffed cabbage! A variation of what I used see my mom make. A lot of work, usually done over two days (day 1 prep; day 2 cook) because I try to make 100 at once (lasts for the holidays and beyond).

    Reply to this comment

  4. One of my favorite Pesach dishes is one that my mother used to make. The primary ingredients are sweet potatoes, sugar, cinnamon and whole cranberry sauce that are all baked in a large pan. It can really be made year round, but we save it for Peach. Very easy to make Sweets n Berries and we have found that even people who don’t usually like sweet potatoes or whole cranberries, seem to love this combination. Thank you for this opportunity.

    Reply to this comment

  5. The recipe which we use every Pessah is on the Friday night, we eat a maza lasagna with walnut and lemon sauce. It’s a lebanese dish, always cooked by my lebanese husbands family. Layers of dampened in egg mazot with fried mincemeat in onions in layers, one layer maza, one layer meat mix. Top layer is mazot, drizzle egg on top and in oven for one hour or so. I am sure your cookery book would give me some new ideas.

    Reply to this comment

  6. The one dish I must make every Pesach is my flourless chocolate cake. My grandchildren look forward to it, served with homemade whipped cream and raspberries and/or strawberries. To my family, it is like searching for the Afikomen. We cannot end our meal without it.

    Reply to this comment

  7. I love matzah brei! It’s like French toast, but with matzah… And I don’t really like French toast. For that, or use my mom’s recipe – it’s very simple and is a great way to fulfill the mitzvah of matzah. I do like making matzah lasagna or matzah spinach and feta pie! Found the recipe on Epicurious.com a few years ago. I really wanted to spice up our traditional family menu – and its a great way to please the health-conscious and the vegetarians. I am always looking for new and interesting ideas for Passover foods!

    Reply to this comment

  8. My favorite is Flourless Chocolate Pecan cake. The recipe is a friend’s. I don’t usually like cake but flourless is pretty good and this cake has chocolate and pecans. I don’t see how there is anything else to say.

    Reply to this comment

  9. Growing up in the northwest before converting to Judaism makes my favorite Passover dishes little out of the ordinary, but I’ve taken to cooking salmon in creme fraiche, served with kugel of course! Our family prefers dairy and fish to meat, so the first year I hosted Passover I served that, and it became a part of our Passover as indispensable as having people over who have never experienced the holiday with their own cultures.

    Reply to this comment

  10. My favorite recipe for Passover is meatball minestrone. I think the recipe comes from Kosher By Design. No noodles (not even the Passover friendly ones) just tons of meatballs with tasty veggies. My mother makes it EVERY year and every year it is a hit. It is so hearty and delicious. A great start to the meal (post hard boiled egg with saltwater soup).

    Reply to this comment

  11. I love Matzah Bri and cold cuts on matzah but the 2 recipes that I will eat all year long are below.

    http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/2158889/jewish/Almond-Crusted-Chicken-Tenders-with-Honey-Lemon-Dipping-Sauce.htm

    Roasted Cauliflower and Leek Kugel

    2 medium heads of cauliflower
    6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
    cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper
    4 cups coarsely chopped leeks (white and pale green parts; from 3 large)
    6 tablespoons unsalted matzo meal (or flour)
    3 large eggs
    1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
    1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, divided
    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
    1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
    Heat oven to 450
    Break cauliflower into flowerets, arrange on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil, cumin, turmeric, and salt and pepper to taste, and roast until soft, about 30 minutes.

    When soft, crush pieces roughly with a potato masher (can do it right on the pan, or transfer to bowl), don’t make it too mushy.

    Put some oil in a skillet, and sauté the leeks until tender and just beginning to color, about 5 minutes. Add to cauliflower. Mix in matzo meal (or flour), about a third of the dill and parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. (if you like spicy food, add lots of pepper, or a hot one like cayenne)
    Beat eggs, and stir into mixture.

    Oil an 11 x 14 baking pan, and fill with cauliflower mixture, smoothing top.

    Mix almonds, remaining parsley and dill, and 2 tablespoons oil in medium bowl to blend. Sprinkle evenly over kugel.
    Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake kugel uncovered until set in center and beginning to brown on top, about 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

    Reply to this comment

  12. My favorite Passover dish is salmon with creamy dill sauce. My mom makes it. It’s simple to prepare and I love it because it makes me forget how much I miss my carbs.

    Reply to this comment

  13. Matzo Brei!!!!!! My little grandma at 80 years old I remember use to make us this dish. The woman couldn’t cook for her life but matzo Brei was the only dish she made sooooooo delish. I always make it and tell my kids it’s from my grandma. And mine is no where near how delish she made it. Love you grandma Minnie and the memories of your matzo Brei

    Reply to this comment

  14. the first Seder we do chicken soup with matza balls and the second night with crepe “noodles”. I also like the Charoset that my sister-in-law’s family makes with apples, nuts and dates

    Reply to this comment

  15. My favorite dish is my own “Chinese Chicken” recipe that I made up myself about 17 years ago when I wanted a stir fry Chinese main dish instead of a roasted one. This recipe incorporates sliced ginger, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and cashews with a sauce of oregano sherry, duck sauce, and wine. The whole family loves it, even my fastidious Hungarian relatives. It’s fairly easy to make if my husband helps me dice the chicken and ginger. I serve it with a side dish of Pesachdike lokshen that my daughter helps prepare. It’s simply delicious and a family favorite!

    Reply to this comment

  18. Traditional tzimmes needed a bit of a twist before I added it to my seder table. This is the version I make every year now.

    Not Your Bubbe’s Tzimmes – Cayenne & Date Roasted Sweet Potatoes

    1 Tbs margarine

    1 Tbs olive oil

    2 Lbs Sweet potatoes

    8 Oz decent dried apricots

    1 Cup apricot nectar. (If you can’t get it, you can use orange juice)

    2 Tbs Date Syrup (get it in the Middle Eastern section of your supermarket or neighborhood. You can use honey instead of date syrup, but maple syrup takes this dish into a wholly different realm. Agave syrup is too bland.)

    Cayenne pepper – to taste

    Salt/ kosher or sea salt

    Optional – carrots. If you use carrots, don’t put them into the pan raw. Slice them into pieces no thicker than a half inch, parboil them and then mix them in with the potatoes and apricots. Or you can be lazy like me and use thin sliced carrots, put them in raw and accept that they will be slightly chewy – which adds an interesting texture, but isn’t exactly good cookin’

    Day before – take your apricots and put them in a sealed container or bag with the nectar. Let them sit overnight and get nice and plump.

    Day of roasting –

    Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces of equal size. I prefer them to be about the size of a ping pong ball, but you can make them into wedges if you prefer.

    Put the olive oil and margarine into your roasting pan and make sure there’s a light layer of the mixture covering all surfaces where the food will be.

    Drain the apricots, reserving the liquid left over, and put them and the potatoes into the pan. drizzle the date syrup over them, and a couple teaspoons of the reserved apricot juice, sprinkle lightly with cayenne pepper and toss, making sure everything gets coated. I prefer all the pieces in one layer, even if I have to use two pans.

    Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. Pull it out, flip the pieces, move things around and check for texture and flavor. Mine usually take a little over an hour to roast, plus ten minutes where I forget they’re in there. You want some of the potatoes and apricots to caramelize! Feel free to add more syrup, a little at a time, but be careful with the cayenne.

    When they’re done, sprinkle lightly with big crystal salt, and serve.

    They re-heat very nicely.

    Reply to this comment

  23. cornich hen with prunes and dry apricot is one of my favorite seder dishes and a flourless chocolate cake , the recipe for that I got from Joan Nathan book.
    It’s hard to believe Pesach is around the corner.

    Reply to this comment

  26. Moroccan prunes and onions. It’s amazing with lamb. My moms recipes. Caramlize lots of onions add pitted prunes , raisins, chopped up apricots. Grated orange rind, honey and some orange juice. Simmer until thick and sticky an delicious. I grew up eating this deliciousness every Passover. Now I make it for my family and guests. In French it’s called Pruneaux au onion.

    Reply to this comment

  27. We had a wheat groat dish, I was to young to remember the name, but it was kind of sweet…Mostly just a remembered thing…we left the area and my Mothers notes are all gone now, so I don’t know even the ingredients. I haven’t found it in any book as of yet.

    Reply to this comment

  33. My favorite Passover recipe is one I use year round!

    2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped
    10oz Spinach (drained. May use frozen or fresh)
    1/2 cup Shredded Muenster Cheese
    1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
    1 large Egg
    Salt and Pepper to taste
    Paprika

    Preheat oven to 350
    Spray casserole dish with oil

    Boil potatoes until fork tender
    Mash potatoes and let cool

    Cook fresh spinach until wilted and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. If using frozen, cook and drain as well.

    Mix muenster, cottage cheese, egg, and seasoning. Add the cooled potatoes and mix thoroughly.

    Pour mixture into cassarole and spread evenly. Top with paprika and bake for 40 minutes or until brown and set. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve!

    Reply to this comment

  34. A few years ago, my sister-in-law gave me a recipe for an apple crumble that is so delicious and versatile. I serve it as a side dish with roast, as a dessert with ice-cream and just as a plain treat. My kids ask me to make it all year round but this is a special Pesach food for me!

    Reply to this comment

  36. for Passover and year round, I love steak salad.
    Marinade a London broil (oil. Garlic, onion powder, red wine and lemon juice)

    Salad with what you like

    Dressing of your choice

    Reply to this comment

  37. Brisket – We use my mom’s recipe and its like she is here with us when my daughter & I make it. We can hear her yelling at my father that he is cutting it wrong!!! We laugh & cry that they are not really here with us. Brings back good memories & the smell, oh my does it taste & smell wonderful

    Reply to this comment

  40. Since I make both seders and make the meal interesting; I serve a fillet of either poached or baked salmon on one night and on the other night I served boneless chicken breasts. Along with the meal there will be an assortment of cold salads, carrot with raisin, cucumber salad, chopped eggplant, assorted squash etc. Of course a vegetable matzoh stuffing is de riguer for Pesach. I have begun to make a vegetable stuffed blintz (made with potato starch) and that recipe is a keeper. The blintz can be stuffed with anything!
    Leslie

    Reply to this comment

  41. My FAVORITE Pesach food is the flourless Chocolate chip cake(made with Potato&walnut oil). My friend made it&shared the recipe. I have viturally NO Pesach recipes myself- because I’m newly observant. It is the BEST dessert&I like it better than year tpund desserts! I even requested it for my upcoming birthday this year lol. Even when she made it&forgot the chocolate chips it was perfect!!

    Reply to this comment

  45. sweet and sour cabbage soup with meat. Everyone loves this soup! We’re making Aliyah and my usual guests begged me to have them so they could have my soup one more time before we leave.

    Reply to this comment

  46. I have taken great liberties with a Joan Nathan recipe for compote. We usually eat it for dessert for first Seder. I leave out the dried fruit Joan’s recipe calls for because I’m not a big fan. You mix a variety of fresh, frozen or canned fruits, whatever you like. I do all of the mixing in the baking dish to save washing a bowl. Add a little KFP brandy, brown sugar, some butter& cinnamon. Cover & bake about 30-45 minutes. Uncover, then crumble an ENTIRE can of macaroons on top & put back in oven uncovered till it starts to brown on top. Scrumptious! But the best compliment I ever got was from my dear late father who told me it reminded him of a dish his mother made!

    Reply to this comment

  47. Bubbe Dorothy’s Pot Roast! Mom, a blessed memory, didn’t use a recipe but wrote it out for me to keep the tradition alive. I always double the sauce and end up adding “something” to make it right(secret ingredient). It takes hours but is SO worth it!

    Reply to this comment

  48. My favorite Pesach food is my mother’s sponge cake. She still uses the recipe from the Jewish cookbook she got from her synagogue’s sisterhood when she got married. I especially love when my birthday falls on passover and it’s my birthday cake. Lots of wonderful memories!

    Reply to this comment

  49. Apple Matza kugels with orange juice, brown sugar, lemon peel and raisins. Granny smith apples. We have to make 6 – 9×12 pans of them because they are eaten with meals, as dessert, as breakfast and random snacking!

    Reply to this comment

  50. One of my favorite Passover dishes – and all year, too – is what I call “stuff” or Q-Balls. It started out as stuffed peppers, because nobody in my house would eat stuffed cabbage, but nobody wanted to eat the peppers, either. Just the “stuff!” I use quinoa instead of rice, and usually ground turkey, because it’s easy to get.

    Reply to this comment

  52. my favorite recipe is eggplant parm that my sister in law gave me several years ago and can be adapted for Passover because it doesn’t need any breading. So easy the eggplant is pealed than roasted in the oven with salt. Than layered with cheese, sauce and spices

    Reply to this comment

  54. My grandmother’s sponge cake! One of my best memories of her was learning how to make a snow and bake lots of sponge cakes with her for Pesach. She would buy eggs by the caseful.

    Reply to this comment

  59. My favorite Pesach recipe is my farfel vegetable kugel. It has sautéed celery, onions and mushrooms, eggs and spices. It is a great side dish for the Seder and is a Pesach version of stuffing but baked in a baking pan. Easy to make and always eaten up by the Seder guests!

    Reply to this comment

  61. Lebanese charoset – dates, raisins, a little orange zest, water cooked low and slow till they become a paste. Topped with walnuts when serving. Spread on matza, makes the best chol hamoed breakfast

    Reply to this comment

  63. My favorite Pesach dish is the Charoset. I make my mother’s traditional Ashkenazi version right down to using my Great Aunt Rose’s chopper and wooden bowl. I have made versions using pecans instead of walnuts (due to family allergies) and even tried Sephardic versions but I always go back to my Mom’s. I also make the world’s best Pesach chocolate chip cookies. It was the only snack my kids (and their friends) would eat during Passover week.

    Reply to this comment

  64. Matzo Granola. I got the recipe from a close friend and it has become the go to snack for everyone in my family. Not a lot of ingredients, easy to prepare and needs only a short time in the oven. It’s the first thing I make at the start of the holiday!

    Reply to this comment

  67. My favorite dish is matzah brei for breakfast! Easy- peasy: mix egg, a little salt and sugar (like you would for French toast), crumble 1 1/2 matzos per egg, mix together. Fry in a little hot oil in pan. Top with favorite french toast toppings: syrup, jam, cinnamon, whatever you prefer.

    Reply to this comment

  69. So easy…
    6 oz.chocolate, 8 eggs separated, a little sugar, some instant coffee.
    Whip egg whites until stiff…adding a little sugar. Whip yolk until fluffy and pale yellow with a little sugar.
    Add coffee and melted chocolate (with 3 Tbs. coconut oil) to yolks. Fold in stiff egg whites. Pour into spring form pan. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes. This is the best ever flourless chocolate pesach and year round cake.

    Reply to this comment

  70. My Bubbie’s charoset was the best ever. She used a meza luna and wooden bowl, and chopped everything for ages. She had no measurements, but somehow it always came out tasting the same. I am now the official charoset maker in the family, but nomatter how hard I try, I can never get mine to taste the same.

    Reply to this comment

  71. My grandma’s “Chremzlach”. They are matzoh meal popovers, sort of, and so good when they come right out of the oven they get consumed immediately by the dozen. Think I’ll go out and buy the book myself.

    Reply to this comment

    • Sounds delicious, Jessica. Sorry that you missed the give-away action but I am glad to see your comment here. YES! Buy Paula’s book for yourself or win brownie points if you buy it as MOG x2!

      Reply to this comment

Leave a Reply

SIDE DISH
Photo by Jerri Graham Photography

Hi. I’m Liz and I welcome you to Kosher Like Me.

When I’m not caressing fruits and veggies at my local farmers’ market you’ll likely find me chatting with like-minded eaters, probing the scene in NYC or seeking inspiration in my spice cabinet. Life outside of this blog is all about my family, tasty travel adventures and power walks deep in the CT woods or along the shore.

Please brew a fragrant cup of tea, grab a nosh and stay a while.