There is so much I love about this cookbook that I don’t quite know where to start! So I’ll start at the beginning.
When you first set your eyes on Passover Made Easy, you’ll be struck by it’s beautiful design and styling. Rachel Adler did an impressive job laying out this cookbook with brilliant coloring, masterful layout, and gorgeous typography. I am literally blown away.
Aside from the graphics, the photographs and styling are also impeccable. As a blogger who photographs and styles her dishes, I can tell you firsthand that many, if not most, of the dishes in this cookbook are extremely difficult to photograph. And so many Pesach recipes lack eye-appeal. But not only have the dishes been masterfully plated, the authors also include many step-by-step plating guides to help you serve the dishes as beautifully as they are pictured.
Passover Made Easy is the brainchild of an unlikely pairing – Leah Schapira, the author of Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking and co-founder of CookKosher.com, as well as Victoria Dwek, the managing editor of Whisk Magazine. Leah is Ashkenazi, with Hungarian roots, while Victoria is Sephardi, with Syrian roots. How an Ashkenazi and a Sephardi came together to write a successful Passover cookbook is nothing short of a Pesach miracle. Leah and Victoria each offer their own unique perspective, striking the perfect balance of grebroks and non-gebroks recipes. The authors guide you along page after page in a playful and friendly manner. You almost feel as if you’re hanging out with them in the kitchen. Victoria shares her recipes for Syrian Charoset, tortillas, Matzaroni and Cheese, as well as many non-grebroks dishes. Leah offers up unique and tasty dishes like Meatballs in Blueberry Sauce, Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Soup, Apple-Jam Chicken Drumettes, and so much more.
Some of the other features that I enjoyed from this cookbook are the wine pairings and building block recipes like mayo, crepes, and Passover crumbs. There is also a nifty replacement index that helps guide those who avoid using processed ingredients and peels on Pesach. While the guide is helpful, I wish there were a few more recipes suited for the more stringent among us (me included!)
While I am unable to make most of these recipes on Passover, I look forward to trying many recipes throughout the year including the Mock Techineh (for my brother who is allergic to sesame seeds!), Butternut Squash Salad with Sugar ‘n Spice Nuts, Braised Short Ribs, Jalapeno-Lime & Ginger Salmon, Stuffed Onions, Vegetable Lo Mein (for my dieting days!), Espresso Macaroons with Chocolate-Hazelnut Cream, and Truffled Grapes.
Busy In Brooklyn is giving a copy of Passover Made Easy! To enter the giveaway, you must:
1. Share you favorite Passover memory in the comments below.
2. Like Busy In Brooklyn on Facebook.
Winner will be chosen at random on Monday, March 18th, 9:00 AM.
BONUS RECIPES FROM PASSOVER MADE EASY:
Eggplant Wrapped Chicken
Ingredients:
Eggplant
1 tall eggplant
1/2 cup oil
1/4 tsp salt
pinch coarse black pepper
Meat Mixture
3 tbsp oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb. ground meat
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Chicken
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 tsp salt
pinch coarse black pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to broil. Grease a baking sheet. Cut eggplants lengthwise, 1/4″ thick to get 6 or 7 slices. Reserve remaining eggplant scraps. Place eggplant slices on prepared baking sheet. Brush slices with oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil 5 minutes per side, until second side is beginning to brown. The slices should appear as if they were fried. Remove and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Peel and finely dice remaining eggplant to obtain 1/2 cup diced eggplant. Heat oil a in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and diced eggplant and saute until soft, about 5-7 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine onion mixture with ground meat. Season with salt and garlic powder.
5. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper Place a tabslepoon of the meat mixture into each thigh and roll up to lose. Roll a eggplant slice around each stuffed chicken thigh. Place, seam side down and close together, in a baking pan. Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours.
Homemade Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves or 1/4 onion
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch black pepper
3 cups oil
Instructions:
1. In a bowl of a food processor or in a blender, blend garlic, lemon juice and eggs.
2. With the machine running, slowly pour in the oil in a thin stream.
3. Blend until thoroughly combined and mayonnaise is emulsified. Do no over-mix. When the mayonnaise is thick and holds together, it’s done. Store in refrigerator for up to one week.
The immersion blender method:
Add oil to a tall jar (you can use the one that comes with the blender). Add garlic, lemon juice, eggs, salt and pepper. Insert the immersion blender and blend, without moving the blender, for 2 minutes. When the mixture begins to thicken, move the immersion blender up and down until mayonnaise is emulsified.
