Gefilte fish poppers and matzah casserole with bitter herbs

Adding other flavors to the seder table: gefilte fish poppers and matzah casserole with bitter herbs

COOKING FAITH KRAMER

Every Passover, I add a little extra discussion to the seder table by serving a few dishes based on international Jewish foodways. This year I’m spicing up my gefilte fish (and stuffing it in peppers) and serving a matzah casserole with bitter greens and a lemon-egg sauce. Many Ashkenazi Jews who settled in Mexico (and in Central and South America) add some spice to traditional Eastern European foods, which inspired me to add salsa to gefilte fish. Since the Faith Kramer is a Bay Area food writer. She blogs about her food at clickblogappetit. com. Contact Faith at clickblogappetit@gmail.com. word gefilte actually means stuffed or filled, I decided to stuff the fish into small, sweet peppers. Serve this dish as you would regular gefilte fish, or use as an appetizer as “gefilte fish poppers.” Mina is the name for a dish traditional to Sephardic seders: a layered matzah casserole. My recipe below is vegetarian, stuffed with bitter greens tamed by Swiss chard and chopped fennel. I used dandelion greens (believed by some to be the original bitter herbs). Leeks are a Sephardic Passover food and fennel is an Italian-Jewish seder choice. Shumar (fennel in Hebrew) is said to sound similar to the phrase in Exodus for Pesach night, leil shimurim (the night of watching, or watchfulness). The sauce is adapted from traditional Passover recipes used by Greek Jews.

Passover begins on the night of April 8 this year. Heat half the oil in a 12-inch sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and leeks until softened. Add 1 Tbs. garlic, sauté until golden. Stir in 1 tsp. paprika, half the salt and pepper, 1 Tbs. minced fennel fronds (or parsley) and 1 tsp. lemon zest. Add chopped fennel bulb; sauté until fennel is tender. Remove to large bowl. Do not wash the pan.

Add 2 Tbs. oil to pan, sauté 1 tsp. garlic until golden. Stir in 1 tsp. paprika and remaining salt and pepper. Add chard and dandelion greens. Sauté until wilted. Taste. If bitter, stir in sugar, adding more as needed. Combine greens with fennel. Taste. Adjust seasonings.

Make lemon-egg sauce (see below).

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Place heated stock in rimmed dish large enough to fit matzah. Quickly dip both sides of one matzah so the sheet begins to soften. Place flat in baking dish. Top with half of the vegetables. Spoon a quarter of the lemon sauce over vegetables. Dip a second sheet of matzah in stock, place on top. Spread remaining vegetables on top, spoon another fourth of sauce on top. Dip remaining matzah. Place on top. Cover with another fourth of sauce, sprinkle with remaining paprika. Lightly cover with foil. Bake 25 minutes, remove foil and bake about 20 minutes until sauce is bubbly and top matzah is crisped. Serve hot, warm or room temperature. Just before serving, drizzle with remaining sauce (reheated if necessary) and sprinkle with remaining garlic, fennel fronds and lemon zest. Lemon-egg sauce: Stir together until well combined (or process until smooth in blender) 4 large, beaten eggs; 1 tsp. lemon zest; 1½ cups fresh lemon juice; 2 Tbs. matzah cake meal; and ¼ tsp. salt. Place in pot and whisk in 2 cups room-temperature vegetable stock or water. Simmer over low to medium-low heat (do not boil), whisking almost constantly until reduced by half. Taste. Add salt if needed. Strain to remove any bits of cooked egg. Notes: If desired, replace bitter greens with additional chard. To serve 10 to 12 people, use 9-by-14-inch pan. Double filling and sauce (make in batches). Use 8 to 10 matzahs. For each layer, place two side by side and use pieces of others to fill gaps.

MINA WITH BITTER GREENS AND LEMON-EGG SAUCE

Serves 10 to 12 (see note below) or 4 to 6 as a side dish

¼ cup olive oil, divided, plus extra for pan 2 cups chopped onions 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts 3 Tbs. finely chopped garlic, divided 3 tsp. paprika, divided ½ tsp. salt, divided ¼ tsp. ground black pepper, divided 1 Tbs. plus 2 Tbs. minced fresh fennel fronds (leaves) or parsley 1 tsp. plus 2 Tbs. minced grated lemon zest 2 cups chopped fennel bulb 8 cups chopped Swiss chard 4 cups chopped dandelion or other bitter greens (see note) ¼ tsp. sugar, or as needed lemon-egg sauce (see recipe below) ½ cup warm vegetable stock or water 3 sheets plain matzah

SPICY GEFILTE FISH BAKED IN MINI PEPPERS

Serves 8

¼ and ½ cup Passover salsa (see recipe below) 2 1-lb. bags mini sweet peppers (see note) vegetable oil 1 lb. rockfish or similar white fish 1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice 2 large eggs 1 medium carrot 1 small onion

1 large celery stalk ¼ cup matzah meal 1 tsp. salt, or to taste 1 tsp. sugar, or to taste ½ tsp. ground black pepper ¼ tsp. crumbled, dried oregano leaves ¼ tsp. cayenne, optional Chopped cilantro or parsley Jarred, ground white horseradish, optional

Prepare salsa. Oil a rimmed baking sheet. Choose peppers that are about 2½ to 3½ inches long and lay flat. Leave stems on. Slit peppers horizontally, leaving connected at tip and stem ends. Pull out seeds.

Place fish, lemon juice and eggs in food processor. Process until puréed. Scrape into large bowl. Process carrot, onion and celery in food processor (no need to clean the work bowl) until minced but not puréed. Combine in bowl with fish and ¼ cup salsa. Sprinkle with matzah meal, salt, sugar, black pepper, oregano cayenne. Mix thoroughly. Taste a spoonful of batter. Add salt, cayenne and sugar, as needed.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Firmly pack fish into peppers, mounding an inch above top. Place on prepared sheet, bake 25 to 30 minutes until the peppers are tender and filling is firm and lightly browned. Serve hot, warm or room temperature, topped with cilantro and remaining salsa. Pass horseradish if desired. Passover salsa: Combine ¾ cup fresh diced tomatoes, ½ Tbs. minced garlic, 2 Tbs. finely chopped garlic, 1 Tbs. minced jalapeño (or to taste; remove seeds for milder flavor) and 2 Tbs. finely chopped cilantro or parsley. Mix. Add ⅛ tsp. salt and 1½ Tbs. fresh lemon juice. Stir well. Use ¾ cup for recipe. Refrigerate remainder and reserve for another use. Notes: This recipe doubles very easily. Bags of mini sweet peppers are available in the produce section at your supermarket. You can substitute small red, yellow and/or orange bell peppers, if desired. Cut in half top to bottom, lay flat and stuff. n

Spicy Gefilte Fish stu ed into sweet peppers can be an appetizer or main course

Jewish-owned food businesses hit hard by new restrictions

continued from page 36

“It’s not like they can go out and get a job somewhere else right now,” she said.

Goldstene has poured her heart and soul into the deli, which took much longer to open than anticipated. She has also been its public face, showing up nearly every day since it opened. She told J. that because she is one month away from turning 65, she had to make the diffi cult decision to stay home for now, following CDC recommendations.

“I’m devastated,” she said.

David Nayfeld, chef and partner of Che Fico, wrote on Instagram that the decision to close was based on feedback from staff . As hard as they tried to make more space between tables and constantly clean surfaces, “there has been a pre y overwhelming amount of feedback that they would feel more safe if they didn’t need to come to work,” he wrote. “They are our most important shareholders in this business and we must stand by them.” He also wrote that they would be off ering takeout at sister restaurant Che Fico Alimentari.

Many of the owners and chefs J. spoke with said customers can continue supporting their businesses by ordering takeout and buying gi cards for future use.

Restaurants are not the only food industry struggling to weather the crisis. Caterers and event companies have been hit just as hard. Richmond-based Anaviv Catering, owned by Israeli chef Arnon Oren, is off ering wood-fi red pizza on Sundays for pickup, meals for delivery and personal chef services on its website.

Aliza Grayevsky Somekh, an Israeli chef based in Oakland who was profi led in J. a few months ago, had a calendar full of events this month and next, all of which have been canceled. That includes the community seder at Oakland’s Temple Beth Abraham. She has depended on that income for the past several years.

She hopes that by off ering kosher-forPassover food for delivery in the East Bay and other areas, she can help serve those who are alone or who can’t go to the supermarket. (Orders must be placed on her website by April 1.)

A er Passover, she will continue to off er kosher meals for delivery. “This has wiped me out completely,” she said. “I went from being full for March and April to having no money coming in. I’m trying to be creative, but if this continues and people won’t order takeout, I’ll need to fi gure out what else I can do.” ■

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Foods for Passover 2020

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