Stock up on matzo, brisket and whitefish, barricade yourself in the kitchen and prepare to spend eight days cooking. Passover is coming.
That plan of action might have worked years ago but it doesn’t cut it for Sandy Aberman of Buffalo Grove, a biochemist who works full time managing the labs at Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview, or for Gail Schneiderman of Wilmette, publicity chairman for a new Jewish cookbook.
Aberman, whose husband, Arthur, is Congregation B’nai Shalom’s cantor, is frequently asked to give cooking demonstrations at the synagogue. “I invite a lot of people to my home a number of times each year,” she said. “I’m not afraid to experiment.” Congregation members are so hungry for her cooking that a dinner for six that Aberman donated to a silent auction sold for $900.
She shared her secrets for lighter, easier, holiday cooking during a lecture and tasting recently at B’nai Shalom. More than 40 sisterhood members and guests devoured every word.
“We’ve got to stop thinking about Passover foods as being unique,” Aberman said. “The recipes that I have here today are some standard recipes that I always use. Almost everything can be adapted.”
Broccoli knishes, made with a mashed potato and matzo meal crust, fall into that category. Because the recipe calls for frozen broccoli, it’s a quick dish. Aberman encouraged her audience to plan ahead by frying a large batch of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the beginning of Passover, then freezing them in small portions. Defrost them as needed, bake the chicken in a favorite fruit, vegetable or spicy sauce that you adapt to Passover dietary rules, and you can create a variety of interesting main courses, Aberman demonstrated.
She also proved that you don’t have to chop till you drop to serve great gefilte fish. Unger’s frozen variety met the approval of the roomful of tasters. By following the directions on the package, and adding more or less sugar, salt or pepper to the water in which you boil the fish (and tasting the water before you add the fish, Aberman advised), you can please your family’s taste buds.
Gail Schneiderman also is a proponent of planning ahead and adapting year-round recipes for Passover use. Schneiderman contributed recipes to “World of Our Flavors II,” a cookbook with 750 recipes from members of Beth Hillel Congregation in Wilmette ($20 plus shipping, call 847-256-1213, ext. 56).
Although a section of the cookbook is devoted to Passover recipes, Schneiderman said that many other dishes in the book can be adapted for the holiday.
Her favorite Passover shortcut is to cook matzo balls ahead of time and freeze them. After the cooked matzo balls cool, Schneiderman freezes them on a cookie sheet covered with foil. She then transfers the matzo balls to freezer bags or containers and puts them back in the freezer. She puts them straight from the freezer into boiling water or soup.
Because she has a lot of company at Passover (there will be 50 people at her seder table), Aberman uses shortcuts and convenience foods whenever she can. “I buy peeled potatoes, peeled onions, because I do bulk cooking,” she said. “Potato kugel is very simple if you buy the peeled potatoes. You just grind them up with onions, season it, and throw it in the oven to bake.”
SPINACH-ONION SOUFFLE
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 45-50 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
Adapted from “World of Our Flavors 2,” by the Beth Hillel Sisterhood.
6 tablespoons pareve margarine
4 cups chopped onions
8 large eggs, separated
2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1/3 cup matzo meal
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1. Melt margarine in medium skillet over medium heat; set aside 4 tablespoons. Add onion to 2 remaining tablespoons margarine in pan; cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool slightly.
2. Heat onion to 350 degrees. Beat egg yolks until thickened. Stir in onions, spinach, matzo meal, salt, garlic powder, pepper and 4 tablespoons melted margarine.
3. Beat egg whites in bowl of electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Thoroughly stir 1/4 of whites into spinach mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites.
4. Pour into well-greased 2-quart casserole or souffle dish. Bake until browned and set, 40-45 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 185 Fat ………… 11 g Saturated fat .. 2.7 g
% calories from fat .. 52 Cholesterol .. 215 mg Sodium …….. 620 mg
Carbohydrates …… 14 g Protein …….. 10 g Fiber ………. 3.8 g
