This year, Tucker and I hosted our first ever Passover seder. I was really nervous, to tell you the truth, because I had big shoes to fill... my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles are legendary for putting on huge and lavish seders featuring roast turkeys, brisket, tzimmes, macaroons, and of course at least two kinds of kugel (usually more like four kinds). Due to my parents' kitchen being remodeled, they were unable to host the big family seder this year, so we volunteered (or were volunteered, more like) to hold a small seder just for my immediate family in our small apartment in Somerville. And of course, the first night of Passover had to be on a Monday, and since neither of us had time to take off of work that day, this was a make-ahead on Sunday kind of project. Despite this, the seder was a huge and delicious success (if I do say so myself). Here was our menu:
Matzah ball soup (made by my mother, most likely with the secret family recipe of Manischewitz matzah ball mix)
Chicken, apricot, and almond tagine (made the day ahead)
Potato-leek kugel (made the day ahead)
Roasted asparagus
Almond haroset (Bittman's recipe, but with almonds substituted for walnuts)
Flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream
Most of these recipes are available online and we didn't change them much, so I'm just going to post the potato-leek kugel on here:
Potato-Leek Kugel
Adapted from Jewish Cooking In America
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped leeks (see A Platter of Figs
for a good method of washing leeks)
2 pounds russet potatoes shredded coarsely (we used our mandoline for this)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley (we actually used fresh parsely paste)
4 large eggs, well beaten
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Matzah ball soup (made by my mother, most likely with the secret family recipe of Manischewitz matzah ball mix)
Chicken, apricot, and almond tagine (made the day ahead)
Almond haroset (Bittman's recipe, but with almonds substituted for walnuts)
Flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream
Most of these recipes are available online and we didn't change them much, so I'm just going to post the potato-leek kugel on here:
Adapted from Jewish Cooking In America
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped leeks (see A Platter of Figs
for a good method of washing leeks)2 pounds russet potatoes shredded coarsely (we used our mandoline for this)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley (we actually used fresh parsely paste)
4 large eggs, well beaten
salt and pepper to taste
- Heat butter in an 8 inch skillet, add onions and leeks and saute until golden
- Remove, cool slightly, and mix with potatoes, parsley, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Season with plenty of salt and pepper.
- Coat a 9x13 pyrex pan with non-stick spray then fill the pan with the kugel mixture. Cook in the top third of the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until golden.
