Passover -- beyond the seder

Seder menus are easy. There's all the traditional stuff everybody looks forward to, Bubbe's recipes for this, Tante's recipes for that.

What I find difficult about Pesach is the rest of the week. I'm not what anyone would call frum, but I do try to avoid chametz and kitniot during Passover. Several days in, though, things often start to get tedious.

For those of you who also observe the holiday all week, what kinds of things do you eat for the post-seder meals? Especially for lunch and other times when time is tight?

You can't go wrong with a salad and a side of matzha. Egg dishes are also doable. I eat matzha all year long. Not a big deal.

LAZ wrote:Seder menus are easy. There's all the traditional stuff everybody looks forward to, Bubbe's recipes for this, Tante's recipes for that.

What I find difficult about Pesach is the rest of the week. I'm not what anyone would call frum, but I do try to avoid chametz and kitniot during Passover. Several days in, though, things often start to get tedious.

For those of you who also observe the holiday all week, what kinds of things do you eat for the post-seder meals? Especially for lunch and other times when time is tight?

I agree about difficulty. Breakfast and lunch, which for me usually include bread, can be hard. Lots of eggs, and, if I have time, lots of matzah brei. For lunch, we do fish (leftover gefilte, tuna or salmon salad) and matzah, matzah pizzas, green salad and matzah, or leftovers from dinner. I'd love some new ideas.

It's breakfast that is hard for me. My normal breakfast is cereal.

leek wrote:It's breakfast that is hard for me. My normal breakfast is cereal.

Aren't there kfP cereals these days?

I find it hardest to do without grains, rice and pasta (although I have made risotto with matzo). I haven't seen any quinoa with a pesachdik hechsher, but I may try some of that this year.

My mother used to get around the sandwich problem by baking matzo-meal rolls, but I never really cared for them.

LAZ wrote:

leek wrote:It's breakfast that is hard for me. My normal breakfast is cereal.

Aren't there kfP cereals these days?

Sure there are. The Jewel in Highland Park has a good selection.

Those KP cereals are awful!

I'm the only one in my family to remotely observe, so I don't worry a lot if I mess up, but do tend toward salads and omelets for lunches. Baked potatoes with good toppings, lots of matzah pizza. Smoothies for breakfast.

Good luck.

sujormik wrote:Those KP cereals are awful!

I never said they were good.

Dave148 wrote:

LAZ wrote:

leek wrote:It's breakfast that is hard for me. My normal breakfast is cereal.

Aren't there kfP cereals these days?

Sure there are. The Jewel in Highland Park has a good selection.

Jewel in Evanston on Howard has a crazy selection of KfP goods. I'm amazed at the plethora of Pasadic items these days, and from my little experience [I've never kept kosher or anything], most of that stuff doesn't even taste good. Bagels, cereal, frozen dinners, etc.

Matzoh Brei is my go-to to use up that matzoh -- I'm not keeping passover, but I do try to eat the rest of the matzoh.

Last year, I made Matzoh Brei See Ew.

Matzoh with peanut butter is another possibility.
I don't know if you could do a risotto-like preparation -- probably too soggy.

Or just go low-carb: lettuce wraps, for instance. Break out the Atkins cookbooks.

JoelF wrote:Last year, I made Matzoh Brei See Ew.

Matzoh with peanut butter is another possibility.

Neither soy sauce or peanut butter is kosher for Passover. Soy is both chametz and kitniot because it has both wheat and legumes.

By my grandparents' standards, the way I observe Pesach is shockingly lax -- but I do try to avoid eating the forbidden foods.

JoelF wrote:I don't know if you could do a risotto-like preparation -- probably too soggy.

Here's what I did: Matzotto. It's quite a good way to use up extra matzo.

Lettuce wraps seem like a good idea that I hadn't thought of. Filled with brisket or chopped liver, maybe, or even tuna salad. A little different from the usual stuff anyway -- a colleague of mine once called Passover, "the festival of starch and cholesterol."

I know this is wrong on several levels, but one of my favorite snacks as a child was either ham or bologna on matzoh.

Mmmmmm...forbidden sandwich.

jesteinf wrote:I know this is wrong on several levels, but one of my favorite snacks as a child was either ham or bologna on matzoh.

Mmmmmm...forbidden sandwich.

Any cheese on that sandwich?

boudreaulicious wrote:

jesteinf wrote:I know this is wrong on several levels, but one of my favorite snacks as a child was either ham or bologna on matzoh.

Mmmmmm...forbidden sandwich.

Any cheese on that sandwich?

I'm sure at some point I added a Kraft Single or two.

I always looked forward to open faced sandwiches of matzo, liberally slathered with mayonnaise, and topped with sliced leftover pot roast and slices of kosher pickle with lots of black pepper. (Growing up in Norfolk, Virginia, I think we put mayo on almost everything.)

I still enjoy this treat once in a while.

jesteinf wrote:I know this is wrong on several levels, but one of my favorite snacks as a child was either ham or bologna on matzoh.

Matzo, mayo (Hellmann's only) and Canadian bacon. Once a year, so wrong, yet so right.

Thank you all for helping me get over my feelings of guilt at not changing to Passover plates.

Tuna melt on matzoh. Munster and smoked gouda work well on a mound of tuna. 30 seconds in the microwave to melt (or pop under the broiler).

LAZ wrote:Thank you all for helping me get over my feelings of guilt at not changing to Passover plates.

Guilt? We invented guilt!

A gut Pesach to everyone!

I'm going to suggest that folks document their better Passover meals in this thread, so we all have some ideas for next year.

I just finished an Emergency Brisket. What's that? It's when you get an email on the morning of the first Seder informing you that one of your guests will be bringing four friends. The email ended with the infamous words "I hope you don't mind"

Dave148 wrote:I just finished an Emergency Brisket. What's that? It's when you get an email on the morning of the first Seder informing you that one of your guests will be bringing four friends. The email ended with the infamous words "I hope you don't mind"

It's a mitzvah!

Yeah, I know. It's a subsidiary of the commandment - Thou Shall Cook Too Much Food.

Chopped-liver lettuce wraps were a wild success. Of course, the quality of the chopped liver had a lot to do with it.

I'd like to do a more Chinese version, but I'm stumped over what to substitute for soy sauce. Salt alone is not enough.

I'd like to do a more Chinese version, but I'm stumped over what to substitute for soy sauce. Salt alone is not enough.

The Jewel in Evanston has both Passover "soy" and "teriyaki" sauces containing god-knows-what. Not especially good, but beggars can't be choosers.

LAZ wrote:A gut Pesach to everyone!

I'm going to suggest that folks document their better Passover meals in this thread, so we all have some ideas for next year.

We're almost done, folks, with Passover for this year. The best new things I made during Passover this year were a Mina de Carne (Matzo meat pie) and some excellent fudgy brownies made with matzo cake meal. Both recipes are keepers, and I will make the brownies again to use up my canister of meal.

After consulting several Jewish cookbooks, I ended up following Claudia Roden's recipe fairly closely (in her wonderful The Book of Jewish Food, 1996). Here's my version:

2 onions, coarsely chopped
vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. ground beef (Roden suggests lamb as well, but I had beef in the freezer)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
salt and pepper to taste
chopped flat-leafed parsley -- good handful
1/2 cup pine nuts
5 eggs, lightly beaten, divided
2 cups chicken broth
6-8 matzo sheets

Fry onions in oil until soft and turning golden. Separately, briefly saute the pine nuts in a bit of oil (or you could toast them). Add ground meat, spices, and salt and pepper to onions and cook until pink disappears and meat is crumbled. Add the chopped parsley and allow to cool for a few minutes while you prepare the matzo crust.

Warm the chicken broth and put in a flat bowl. Add 4 matzos and soak briefly. Don't let them get very soggy. Line a 8x11 or 9x13 pan with the matzos in a double layer, trying to make an even bottom.

Add pine nuts and 3 beaten eggs to meat and mix thoroughly. Spread the meat mixture on top of the matzo crust. Top with 2-4 more matzos soaked briefly in chicken broth. Then pour about 1/2 cup of remaining broth over the pie. Then top with the remaining 2 beaten eggs. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. If you use the smaller size pan, put it on top of a cookie sheet because it may boil over a bit. Let the mina rest for a few minutes after you take it out before you cut it.

Notes: Spicing is fairly conservative. If you like the cinnamon/allspice combo, you might bump it up. The filling is essentially the meat pie filling of the Sephardim found in borekas. It's also reminiscent of a pastitsio made with matzos instead of pasta.

So I'm usually suspicious of Passover recipes that claim they're good year round. But this one is awfully good. The taste differs subtly from brownies made with flour, but not in a bad way. Of course with the amount of butter and sugar in these things, they were bound to be good. See Marcy Goldman's Decadent Fudge Brownies. I followed the advice of a reviewer and used half white and half brown sugar, instant espresso powder instead of coffee, and some Ghiradelli chocolate chips I had in the pantry instead of toasted walnuts. These brownies are quite sweet, and I think I may cut back on the sugar a bit next time, especially if I keep using the chocolate chips. There was some discussion of adding frosting to these, but I think that would be too much.

EvA wrote:We're almost done, folks, with Passover for this year. The best new things I made during Passover this year were a Mina de Carne (Matzo meat pie) and some excellent fudgy brownies made with matzo cake meal. Both recipes are keepers, and I will make the brownies again to use up my canister of meal.

After consulting several Jewish cookbooks, I ended up following Claudia Roden's recipe fairly closely (in her wonderful The Book of Jewish Food, 1996). Here's my version:

2 onions, coarsely chopped
vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. ground beef (Roden suggests lamb as well, but I had beef in the freezer)

Sounds delicious. I have been making variations on this chicken mina de pesah for years.

I learned this year for the first time that Ashkenazim aren't supposed to eat lamb during Pesach, although it isn't clear to me whether that applies only to the seder or to the whole week, and whether it's only roasted lamb or any preparation of lamb.

LAZ wrote:

EvA wrote:We're almost done, folks, with Passover for this year. The best new things I made during Passover this year were a Mina de Carne (Matzo meat pie) and some excellent fudgy brownies made with matzo cake meal. Both recipes are keepers, and I will make the brownies again to use up my canister of meal.

After consulting several Jewish cookbooks, I ended up following Claudia Roden's recipe fairly closely (in her wonderful The Book of Jewish Food, 1996). Here's my version:

2 onions, coarsely chopped
vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. ground beef (Roden suggests lamb as well, but I had beef in the freezer)

Sounds delicious. I have been making variations on this chicken mina de pesah for years.

I learned this year for the first time that Ashkenazim aren't supposed to eat lamb during Pesach, although it isn't clear to me whether that applies only to the seder or to the whole week, and whether it's only roasted lamb or any preparation of lamb.

I think Joan Nathan mentions in one of her cookbooks that (at least some) Ashkenazim don't eat lamb, at least at the seder, because they're waiting for the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem to eat lamb again during Passover (when sacrifices an be resumed, I suppose). As a Reform Jew, I'm not waiting for the restoration and would eat lamb more during Passover if only my teen-aged son would eat it.

Your chicken mina sounds like a great way to use up leftover chicken. But I'm glad we're in the last hours (for those of us who observe 7 days) of Passover. Dinner tonight--pasta with bread!

OK, so as I'm not in the least bit Jewish, this suggestion might be old hat or just plain wrong - but what about layered dishes like vegetarian lasagna? I've seen a number of recipes substituting all kinds of things for the pasta: eggplant, matzoh, potatoes, etc. You could also do vegetable terrines in a similar fashion. I wonder if my mother's version of stuffed peppers could also easily be made kosher for passover: it was basically meatloaf inside a pepper; sub matzoh meal for breadcrumbs, and up the vegetable content of the meatloaf to lighten it up a bit.

LAZ - is fish sauce kosher, or could it be? I couldn't find a straight answer by googling, though I suppose you could use my trick of making some with anchovies to flavor Asian dishes.

I couldn't resist one purchase at the Kosher Jewel this year: kosher-for-passover mix-in-the-pan microwave chocolate cake (pan included!) It really wasn't too bad, considering - but it isn't going to supplant my homemade microwave mug cake anytime soon - since I don't have to eat it, I kind of liked the torte-like texture the matzoh meal provided.

this suggestion might be old hat or just plain wrong - but what about layered dishes like vegetarian lasagna? I've seen a number of recipes substituting all kinds of things for the pasta: eggplant, matzoh, potatoes, etc. You could also do vegetable terrines in a similar fashion

Pretty old-hat (but not unappreciated). I grew up on variations of matzoh pizza & lasagne in addition to old-world stuffed cabbage & peppers (with matzah farfel substituting for rice). Kosher food manufacturers have created a George-Washington-Carver-esque cornucopia of matzoh-derived product (finely-ground meal, coarse farfel, bite-size crackers, strips, etc.). There are also commercially-made granolas now - pretty hideous stuff.

Meat casseroles are the more successful stand-bys, like moussaka or my mother's layered sliced sausage/potato/hard-boiled egg dish (very old-world peasant grub - also pretty fantastic as the edges of the potatoes and sausage get crispy in the oven).