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April 3, 2009
Have a gluten-free Passover
"Anything's possible" for Israeli cookbook author Tamar Ansh.
NORENE GILLETZ
Pesach strikes an acute sense of panic in many Jewish homemakers worldwide. Faced with challenging dietary guidelines, special family traditions and endless Passover meals to prepare, cooking for Pesach is often a daunting task. But not this year. A far cry from the strictly "meat and potatoes" menu that was formerly the Passover norm, Tamar Ansh's version of Pesach cooking truly adheres to the notion that "anything's possible."
Ansh is a well-known Israeli author of two best-selling cookbooks. Her latest, A Taste of Tradition: Pesach and Beyond (Targum), contains an amazing array of culinary possibilities, each one more delicious than the next. Her recipes range from basic to gourmet, are simple to prepare and taste delicious. This unique cookbook also contains tantalizing, full-color photos that will surely whet your appetite.
A Taste of Tradition: Pesach and Beyond, which contains more than 350 recipes, has a universal appeal and is sure to become a family favorite. Ansh has thought of something for everyone, from meat lovers to carb addicts, from health nuts to junk food fanatics. As an extra bonus, all her recipes are 100 per cent wheat-free, gluten-free and non-gebrochts, making them ideal for kosher celiacs and individuals who are gluten-sensitive.
On Passover, many Jews will not eat gebrochts, which are foods containing matzah and its derivatives (cake meal, matzah meal, farfel) that are combined with liquid and could possibly ferment. Some Jews will eat these foods only on the eighth day of Passover. Others will eat matzah products that are combined with fruit juice but not with water. Consult your rabbi for guidelines.
With luscious, no-fail recipes and dozens of tips and helpful hints, A Taste of Tradition is a wonderful resource for Pesach and all year round. Enjoy!
NON-GEBROCHTS KNEIDLACH
1 lb. (1/2 kg.) ground white chicken or white turkey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 potato, cooked and mashed
1 small onion, diced or puréed
Combine all the ingredients and mix them well. Refrigerate the batter for about an hour to make the batter firm. Make small balls out of it and drop them into boiling water. Cook the kneidlach for about 3/4 of an hour. Add them to the soup pot about 45 minutes before your soup finishes cooking.
The kneidlach can be made in advance and frozen. Remove them from the freezer and place them in the soup approximately 45 minutes before the soup finishes cooking.
Yields 15 to 20 balls.
MANGO, AVOCADO AND ROMAINE LETTUCE SALAD
1 bag bug-free romaine lettuce, rinsed and dried
1 large, fresh mango, peeled and sliced
1 large avocado, peeled and cubed
1/3 cup craisins or dark raisins
1/2 cup candied pecans, crushed
1 small red pepper, chopped
Tear apart the lettuce and place it in a large salad bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it all together.
Dressing:
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. oil
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar or regular vinegar
2 tsp. granulated garlic powder
2 tsp. granulated onion powder
Whisk all of this together and pour it over the salad right before serving. Yum!
Serves four to five.
SWEET POTATO SCOOPS
8 medium sweet potatoes
2 tsp. oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tsp. brown sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar (see note below)
12 to 15 pineapple rings
1 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius. Boil or bake the sweet potatoes until they are soft. Mash them with the oil, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla sugar. Lay out the pineapple rings on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Scoop the sweet potato mixture with an ice cream scooper and place each scoop on top of a pineapple ring. Mix the two teaspoons brown sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it on top of each scoop. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, until the sweet potato mixture is slightly crispy on top.
Serves 12 to 15.
Note: To make your own vanilla sugar, bury a split vanilla bean pod in granulated sugar. (Use one bean per pound of sugar.) Store in a container for a week and then remove the vanilla bean. You can reuse the vanilla bean for up to six months. (Or substitute 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar and one teaspoon vanilla extract for one packet vanilla sugar.)
TANGY VEAL OR MEAT ROAST
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup (wine) vinegar
2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. oregano
4 to 5 lbs. (2 to 2 1/2 kg.) roast, washed and dried
1 cup semi-dry white wine
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, sliced into rounds
2 large onions, sliced
Next-Day Marinade:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup (wine) vinegar
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 cup tomato sauce, optional
6 to 8 garlic cloves, pressed
Squeeze the garlic cloves into a bowl using a garlic press. Add the olive oil, vinegar, parsley and oregano to the bowl, mixing it well with the garlic. Place the meat into a large glass or plastic container and pour this garlic mixture over it. Marinate the roast for six hours or overnight, basting periodically.
Then place the meat in a pot that fits its size as closely as possible. Add the wine to the meat, put the pot over a medium low flame and simmer it for three hours. Cool and refrigerate the pot overnight.
The next day, remove the meat from the pot and discard the juices. Slice the roast and lay it flat into a nine-by-13-inch (or a bit larger) baking pan. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and pour it over the meat slices. Arrange the celery, carrots and onions over the meat and cover the roast well with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for another two hours, basting the roast once an hour or so to prevent it from drying out.
Serves eight to 10.
APPLESAUCE CRANBERRY ICE
1 1/2 to 2 cups applesauce
2 cans jellied cranberry sauce
1 cup lemon-lime soda
1 cup orange juice
1 to 2 tsp. fruit-flavored liqueur, optional (I did not use it)
Mix everything by hand in a bowl, or beat it with a hand beater for a minute or two to make it smooth. Pour it into a large, flat, square plastic container and freeze it overnight. (Right, this took you about 4 1/2 minutes so far? Now comes the next five minutes or so!)
The next day, remove the ice from the freezer. Cut into it, if you can, to break it into four or five pieces and put it into the mixer bowl. If it was too frozen to break apart, let it sit on the counter for a few minutes. Beat it slowly with the regular flat beater (i.e., not the egg whipping beater!), until it resembles sherbet consistency. Refreeze it. Remove the ice from the freezer about five minutes before serving. Scoop it into dessert bowls and serve.
Makes enough for six.
Norene Gilletz is a cookbook author, cooking teacher and food consultant who lives and cooks in Toronto. Her latest book is Norene's Healthy Kitchen (Whitecap). For updated information about her cookbooks, cooking classes and to sample Passover recipes from her cookbooks, visit her website at www.gourmania.com.
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