Passover, which begins the evening of April 21, makes a historic occurrence a current event. Through the celebration of the Seder, Jews annually relive the release of the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.
During the eight days of Passover, matzolike bread is eaten as a reminder of the unleavened bread the ancient Hebrews ate during their exile. And because wheat flour is prohibited, matzo meal or potato starch is often substituted.
For Passover recipes, we thought it appropriate to turn to the members of Bagel Talk, a current events discussion group made up of about 30 people in their 70s and 80s. They meet every Tuesday morning at the Samuel M. & Helene Soref Jewish Community Center in Fort Lauderdale where they discuss the topic of the day while enjoying a bagel with schmear and a cup of coffee.
We talked to Al Kunin of Lauderhill, Dolores Fine of Margate and Ethel Antin of Sunrise.
In the Bagel Talk sessions, they cover topics ranging from a new drug to tackle impotence to child labor in China. But if you talk to them singly about food – especially Passover dishes – the memories flow and these group members are as eager to offer recipes as they are their comments on world affairs.
Consider Bagel Talk member Kunin, who shares his recipe for Irish Apple Dessert.
It may seem strange to suggest an Irish recipe for Passover, but Kunin explains that his wife of 20 years, the “red-headed Rose,” was an “Orthodox Jewish lass from Dublin.”
Kunin remembers their Orthodox wedding in Ireland where Rose’s parents and 11 brothers and sisters helped celebrate the event.
“Her brothers took me pub crawling every night for my bachelor’s party,” Kunin says. And today Kunin is the first to tell you he’s “still raising Cain” as he shakes his cane with its viper-headed handle in the air. He’s had to use the walking stick since he was diagnosed with spinal cancer.
The product of a New York orphanage and five foster homes, Kunin found Rose’s Irish family almost “overwhelming.”Yet he was happy to be part of it.
Once back in the States after the wedding, Kunin remembers Rose was so enthralled with American supermarkets that she became a gourmet cook. “She’d always make something special for Passover,” he says. And he remembers her baking with his daughter Amanda.
Together they’d prepare this Irish Apple Dessert that would “tickle” Kunin’s palate.
Today Kunin, who is separated from his wife, celebrates Passover with friends. But he still remembers affectionately this 1/3Today Kunin, who is separated from his wife, celebrates Passover with friends. But he still remembers affectionately this dessert recipe from his “wild Irish Rose.”
Fine remembers Passovers from her youth as special because they were the “yellow holiday.”Her mother’s Passover dairy dishes had a yellow floral border; the meat dishes a gold rim.
“When the sun poured in through the window, the whole table would shine yellow,” she says, envisioning her childhood home in Jamaica, N.Y.
Fine learned to cook the basics from her mother – chicken soup, stuffed cabbage. But by exchanging recipes with her daughter in Atlanta, and her niece in Canada, she’s branched out.
And each year, she adds a new recipe to her Passover repertoire. This year it will be the toffee recipe she got from her daughter.
“We’ve wanted to put together a family cookbook but just haven’t had time,” Fine says.
Bagel Talk goer Antin looks forward to Passovers spent with her daughter, Judy, and her daughter’s family in Tallahassee.
Each year, Antin does the cooking in her condominium kitchen, freezes the food and then she and her husband, Mickey, drive it to her daughter’s house in time for the Seder.
Ask Antin what’s on the menu and she pulls out a list of dishes she’s been making for Passover each of the past 30 years: roast turkey, gefilte fish from a jar she doctors to taste like homemade, chicken soup with matzo balls (her grandchildren, Daniel, 11, and Rachel, 10, help make these), Sweet & Sour Meatloaf, tzimmes (a casserole of fruits and/or vegetables), a green vegetable, cranberry sauce, and a bakerymade honeycake.
“I’m not much of a baker,” Antin says. Although her mother was a “wonderful kosher cook,” Antin admits, “I didn’t pay much attention.”
In fact, Antin didn’t learn to cook until after she was married and her mother gave her The Jewish Cook Book (Block, 1946). Antin still has this tome although its pages are a bit yellowed and dogeared and she has a collection of handwritten recipes tucked within its worn red cover. One of these handwritten gems is her family’s favorite kugel recipe. She got the original recipe from her mother-in-law. It included just farfel, water, salt, pepper and cinnamon. But Antin has added to it over the years so now it also contains pineapple, raisins and bananas.
It’s her grandson Daniel’s favorite Passover dish.
In fact, about three years ago after the Seder, Antin recalls, the topic of swimming came up for discussion. She was telling her family how, as a child, she nearly drowned in the Neversink River in the Catskill Mountains of New York. But her cousin rescued her.
Grandson Daniel quipped, “Do you mean, grandma, that if you’d drowned, I’d never have had your kugel for Passover?” Even children can relate history to current events.
Ethel Antin dedicates this recipe to her grandson Daniel, because it is his favorite Passover dish. She has modified it to make it relatively healthful – low-fat and no added sugar.
SIDE DISH
DANIEL’S FAVORITE FARFEL KUGEL
1 (12-ounce) box farfel
2 1/4 cups boiling water
4 egg whites
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup orange juice
1 (8 1/4-ounce) can sliced peaches packed in extra light syrup, chopped
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 small apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
8 (.035-ounce) packets Sweet’N Low or 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 large ripe banana, peeled and thinly sliced
In a large nonreactive bowl, combine the farfel and boiling water until moistened thoroughly. In a small nonreactive bowl, combine egg whites, pineapple with its juice, raisins, orange juice, peaches with their juice and oil. Add to farfel mixture and mix to combine. Fold in apples. Stir in 1 tablespoon cinnamon and Sweet’N Low. Fold in the bananas.
Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray. Place farfel mixture in pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon. Cover pan with foil and bake in a 375-degree oven 1 hour. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more. Kugel can be eaten warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 servings.
ENTREE
ETHEL ANTIN’S SWEET & SOUR MEATLOAF
2 pounds ground beef or lean turkey
1 cup matzo farfel
1/2 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 (11-ounce) can tomato-mushroom sauce*
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except half the tomato sauce, the lemon juice and the sugar in a nonreactive bowl. Shape meat mixture into a loaf and place in a 9-inch baking dish. Combine remaining tomato sauce, lemon juice and sugar in a nonreactive container and pour over meatloaf. Cover with foil and bake about 45 minutes, uncovering to baste frequently. Recover loaf after basting. Then remove foil and cook another 15 minutes. Makes 10 servings.
*We used all of a 14-ounce can of Contadina Pasta Ready Chunk Tomatoes with Mushrooms and it worked fine.
DESSERT
DOLORES FINE’S MATZO TOFFEE
3 unsalted matzos
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/4 cup pecan pieces
1 (12-ounce) package chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use foil to line a baking sheet with sides; coat with no-stick cooking spray. Arrange matzo and matzo pieces to cover bottom of baking sheet. (You will probably have to break one matzo into thirds to fill in spaces around the other two, used whole.) In a small saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar; simmer 2 minutes. Pour over the matzos and spread to cover.
Place on middle rack of oven; bake 6 minutes. Remove from oven and distribute nuts and then chocolate chips over top. Bake another 1 to 2 minutes to melt chips. Remove from oven and spread melted chips to cover matzo in pan.
Place in freezer 20 minutes. Remove toffee from pan and break into pieces. Or use a sharp knife to cut into 2-by-1-inch rectangles. Store frozen in an air-tight container. Makes 50 (2-by-1-inch) bars or about 8 cups of pieces.
ENTREE
AL KUNIN’S IRISH APPLE DESSERT
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 teasoon grated lemon peel
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
3 cups potato starch or potato flour starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 (16-ounce) jar applesauce (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer with mixer on medium-high speed, cream the margarine and lemon peel until light and fluffy. Beating constantly, add sugar and mix until throughly creamed. Beat in egg yolks. Combine potato starch, flour and salt. Add to creamed mixture in thirds, blending thoroughly after each addition.
Using a little more than half the dough, press it evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch up sides of baking pan (you may have to put a little potato starch on your hands to keep them from sticking to the dough). Place other portion of dough in refrigerator. Bake shaped crust 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove crust from oven and set aside.
Meanwhile, combine applesauce with remaining ingredients.
Lightly dust a piece of waxed paper with potato starch. Place second piece of dough on paper and top with another piece of wax paper. Roll out dough between two pieces of wax paper into a 9-inch square.
Spread apple mixture over bottom crust and place square piece of dough on top. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool 10 minutes. Cut into squares while still warm. Makes 12 servings.
