Tonight begins the holiday of Passover for Jews. I don’t want to go into that much detail about it but here is a little “Passover for Dummies”.
Like a few other Jewish holidays this one lasts longer than one night- 8 to be exact. What? We like to party! This holiday is the commemorance of when the Israelites fled slavery in Egypt. Who ever said Jews can’t run? That famous line “Let my people go!” is thanks to us and this ancient occurrence.
Anyway, on this holiday for these 8 days we don’t eat any food that has been leavened because, as the story goes, when the Jews fled Egypt there wasn’t enough time to let the bread rise, and a hard flat cracker like result is what we got. Thus, Matzah was born.
The Seder is the meal when your family and/or urban family get together and share the story of Passover- ask the 4 questions- and eat delicious and terrible food at the same sitting.
We have something called a Seder Plate, it has indents for each symbolic food. 
- Haroset- A mixture of chopped walnuts, wine, cinnamon and apples that represents the mortar the Jewish slaves used to assemble the Pharaoh’s bricks
- Parsley- Symbolizing Springtime, it is dipped in salt water to remind us of for the tears of the Jewish slaves.
- Egg-Another symbol of Spring.
- Shank Bone- Symbolic of the sacrificial lamb offering, the bone can come from whatever the family is eating, such as the leg bone of a roasted turkey.
- Bitter Herbs- Freshly grated horseradish reflects the bitter affliction of slavery.
The best part of the Passover seder is the afikoman. The youngest tikes at the seder have to find the broken, middle piece of Matzah and when they do, they get a prize. Usually like $5, but to an 8 year old that’s like 20 packets of poprocks!
Some Matzah Recipes to make your holiday less monotonous.
Matzah Pizza-
ingredients per each matzah pizza
- 1 matzah
- shredded mozzerella cheese
- shredded cheddat cheese
- grated parmesan cheese
- prepared marinara or flavored tomato sauce or chopped fresh tomatoes
- oregano or Italian seasoning (optional)
directions
- Grease baking pan big enough to fit matzah
- Spread tomato sauce (or chopped tomatoes) over matzas.
- Sprinkle motzerella, cheddat and parmesan cheeses over tomato sauce
- Sprinkle with oregano or Italian seasoning
- Bake at 424° for 10 minutes or until cheese melts
yield one pizza
Drunken Chicken-
ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds Empire drumsticks and thighs, skin and all fat removed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, quartered and sliced
- 1 whole head garlic
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp paprika
- Pinch dried or fresh thyme (optional)
Cooking instructions
- Heat the oil in a heavy pot over a medium heat and brown the chicken pieces very slowly, (approximately 10 to 15 minutes).
- After turning the chicken, add the onion and garlic to brown.
- Sprinkle with paprika
- Add the garlic, wine, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and thyme to the pot.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer.
- Cook until the chicken is very tender, 45 to 75 minutes. (Remove the bay leaves before serving.)
Matzah Lasagna- (I swear, it’s GOOD!)
ingredients
- 4 matzahs
- 1 lb. cottage cheese
- 1¼ cups grated mozzerella cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon black pepper (optional)
- 30-34 oz. prepared marinara or flavored tomato sauce
directions
- Grease pan big enough to fit matzahs (can use olive oil spray)
- Place enough marinara sauce in it to cover the bottom,about ½ cup.
- Place a matzah on top.
- Spread tomato sauce over matza
- Place some of cottage cheese mixture on top of the matzah in the pan.
- Sprinkle mozzerella and parmesan cheeses over cottage cheese
- Repeat steps #3 to #6 until out of matzah
- End with tomato sauce
- Top with the ¼ cups mozzeralla cheese and parmesan cheese not used earlier
- Add 1/2 cup water
- Cover
- Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes.
yields 4-6 servings
How to have a Passover Seder. This video is really fun!
Have a happy and safe holiday! And welcome spring weather!!
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