These savory muffins are great when sliced open and slathered with saucy brisket, or served warm with butter. They are very simple to prepare, especially if you have a quality non-stick muffin tin.

FARFEL MUFFINS
makes 12 small muffins, can be doubled

Margarine or shmaltz for greasing pan
1 1/2 C matzah farfel
1 1/2 C boiling water
3 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 Tbsp melted margarine, melted shmaltz, or vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and thoroughly grease your muffin tin with margarine or shmaltz. Cover farfel with boiling water and let sit for 30 minutes. Drain any liquid that hasn’t been absorbed. Beat eggs, salt, onion powder, and melted fat/oil and combine with soaked farfel. Fill muffin tins halfway with batter. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

My Passover kitchen accomodates meat only. While we’ll have plenty of cheese on hand, and whipped butter for matzah, there’ll be no cooked dairy for us. There are some tremendous dairy Passover recipes out there, though, and this farfel kugel is one of them, courtesy of my grandmother, z”l. My mother recently made it, and all who tried were quite surprised to learn that it contained no noodles.

A delicious low-fat version can be had by substituting low-sugar preserves, sugar substitutes, low-fat small-curd cottage cheese, and low-fat sour cream for the full-fat, full-sugar ingredients. The topping, though, requires real sugar.

A great recipe for Passover and year-round.

FARFEL KUGEL
Mollie Uliss

* 3 extra large eggs
* 1/4 C sugar
* 2 C matzah farfel
* 2 C cream-style cottage cheese
* 1 C sour cream
* 1/2 C margarine, melted
* 1/2 C golden raisins
* 1/2 C apricot preserves

Topping:
* 1/2 C finely chopped walnuts or pecans
* 2 Tbsp. sugar
* 1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in sugar until fluffy.
Soak farfel in cold water. Squeeze out excess water.
Add farfel, cottage cheese, sour cream, melted margarine, raisins, and preserves to egg mixture and blend well.
Pour batter into a greased 12″ x 7.5″ x 2″ baking dish. (Cooking spray works well for greasing)
Mix nuts, sugar, and cinnamon and sprinkle all over batter as topping.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Makes 10-12 servings.

In short — baking soda is kosher for Passover. It’s a chemical leavening agent, it doesn’t work through fermentation like yeast (which is prohibited). Additionally, matzah, once baked, is kosher for Passover, and simply cannot be made “unkosher” for Passover by the introduction of seltzer, eggs, or baking soda. (Note that there are folks who avoid “gebrokts” — matzah that has been prepared with liquid.)

While any year-round baking soda is acceptable on Passover (so long as it’s a new box), baking powder is not acceptable unless it is made without cornstarch and thus specifically marked kosher for Passover.

Of course, especially on Passover, if you’re uncertain about what’s okay and what isn’t, ask your local halachic authority.

DOLE PRE-WASHED SALADS
Dole pre-washed salads bearing a Star-K heksher are not only very convenient, but also kosher for Passover (with the exception of “Very Veggie with Snow Peas”).

QUINOA
In order to use quinoa (keen-wa) on Passover, the entire contents of the package must be inspected thoroughly, identifying each kernel as quinoa, and not another grain. The manufacturing equipment is often used for other similar products (potential chametz).

CHANGE IN INSTANT COFFEE POLICY
Because of maltodextrins, instant coffee should only be used if it bears an acceptable passover heksher. As for normal ground coffee, any year-round source is fine so long as it is unflavored and not decaffeinated.

LOOKING FOR SOY SAUCE SUBSTITUTE
Is there a pesadik substitute for soy sauce? Share you strategies for Passover stir-fry by posting a comment.

BEHIND THE UNION SYMBOL
The special Passover edition of the OU’s Behind the Union Symbol (PDF) is an interesting look both at how manufacturers handle Passover production requirements and at how the OU markets its services to manufacturers.

NYC RESTAURANTS OPEN FOR PASSOVER
New York’s saving grace — its kosher restaurants — once again come through to satisfy your craving for fine Passover dining. The following restaurants will be open to varying degrees; see their websites for details: Abba’s Cafe, Le Marais, Levana, Circa, Mendy’s (certain locations), Prime Grill, Solo

GOURMET PASSOVER PRODUCTS ONLINE
Online retailer KosherGourmetMart has a wide variety of Passover foods, from traditional macaroons and matzah, to decadent foie gras and flourless cakes, including several French cheeses from Rue Lafayette. With some Rakusen’s matzah crackers and a few bottles of fine wine, start a new tradition and throw a Passover wine and cheese party! (Order by April 18!)

Thanks to all who wrote in with news and questions.

As Pesach approaches, it is time for newspaper food and wine sections to give their annual nod to kosher kulture. The April 8, 2005 edition of the Wall Street Journal includes their reviews and discussion for this year. Rather than canvassing the world of kosher wine, this year Gaiter & Brecher chose instead “to focus solely on the world’s greatest grapes - Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.”

The narrative portion of the article discusses kosher wine generally and their tasting process for these wines, but also has an interesting note on the exotic tasting menu and pairing that the authors enjoyed at Mike’s Bistro in Manhattan. I have never been to Mike’s, but have now put it on my list of places to check out in NYC.

Anyway, the chardonnay’s that made the cut are, interestingly, all Israeli: Very Good (best of tasting)- Barkan Wine Cellars ‘Reserve’ 2002 ($15); Very Good/Good (best value)- Golan (Golan Heights Winery) 2002 ($12.99); Good-Yarden (GHW) 2002 ($18). Of these, I am most familiar with the Yarden and agree with the review, which describes the wine as “big and rich” and notes that it is for those who “like oaky wines.” The Yarden chardonnay is a thoroughly enjoyable wine and it will well-complement your Shabbat chicken, seder turkey, or any weekday fish.

The field of Good or better CabSav was larger, yielding six picks with solid geographical diversity: two Israeli wines, two American, one Australian, and one French. Yarden’s 2000 Galilee CabSav won out, receiving a “Very Good/Delicious” rating and “best tasting” note. Priced at $26, the Yarden was less expensive but better reviewed than the two Herzog “Special Edition” bottles that made the list, both from the U.S.: Warnecke Vineyard Chalk Hill 2000 at $60, and Alexander Valley 2000 at $33.

I look forward to the NY Times kosher wine article, which I expect in this week’s Dining section on Wednesday. Those who would like the full text of the WSJ article should email me and we’ll figure something out.

At delis and markets in this area, the knish labeled as the “Boston” variety is rectangular with rounded edges, filled with beef or potato, and covered on all sides with a thick golden dough. “New York” varieties are often larger and open on the ends; the dough is a bit flakier, and may have a reddish hue. Understandably, I’m partial to the hometown pastry, so it was with great excitment that I noticed in our local Super Stop & Shop that American Kosher Products (of West Bridgewater, formerly of Mattapan) has produced kosher-for-Passover glatt beef knishes (certified by the Orthodox Union).

The flavor is right on, though the texture is quite a bit gummier due to the use of seasonal ingredients like cake meal, matzo meal, potato starch, and potato flakes. Plus, the dough is a little thinner than usual and thus gets dried out more easily; notice the cracks developing in the photos. Despite the Passover backflips, this is a quality product which should prove a tasty and convenient snack or hors d’oeuvre during the holiday.

Though this will be the second Passover we’ll engineer for our family, this year has the added obstacle of a motzei-Shabbat first Seder. More than ever, the schedule demands meals that we can prepare almost entirely in advance and reheated in the time it takes to go from Kadesh to Shulchan Oreich. Last year’s gefilte fish, chicken soup, and brisket are ideal candidates to repeat this year, but there are still holes to fill. Do I stick with a freshly cooked vegetable? Do I serve the brisket on both nights? (Oh, and I should mention we’ll be having 11 guests on the first night, and 6 on the second.)

So, friends, as my wife and I are new to this, what are your tried-and-true strategies for a Saturday night seder? Any elegant reheatable vegetable dishes out there? Any suggestions for a second-night main course, or will it be 21 servings of easy-to-make, easy-to-heat brisket?

Neshama Gourmet is still negotiating to get their sausage distributed in Boston, but for those of you in the tri-state area, here’s where Neshama’s two Pesadik flavors (Smoked Andouille and Country Apple) are available:

New York City
Fairway Wholesale (uptown)
Zabars
Whole Foods - 89th
Eli’s Manhattan
Kosher Market Place
Amish Fine Foods

Brooklyn
Key Food - Flatbush
Flatbush Food Coop
Park Slope Food Co-op

New Jersey
Kings Supermarkets
Natural Basic Foods

Westchester / Connecticut
Mrs Green’s Natural Markets
Palmers Market

Long Island
Fairway Plainview, LI
Stop ‘N Shop Supermarkets

Like it or not, Passover’s coming. Lessons learned last year: plan out all food and equipment purchases ahead of time to avoid unnecessary spending, make a detailed food inventory and mark exactly what was used, shop early in the morning, and remember that stores are open during chol hamoed.

If those tips aren’t enough, what follows is a list of the kosher world’s annual offering of Passover resources. I’ve included only the special 2005 stuff, but every organization has their share of eternal Passover guidelines.

From Orthodox Union
* Products Not Requiring Special Passover Supervision (PDF)
* Kosher Products, A-F (PDF)
* Kosher Products, G-O (PDF)
* Kosher Products, P-Z (PDF)

From Star-K
* Passover Product Guide

From CRC
* Passover Product Guide
* Frequently Asked Questions
* Official Policy on Passover Medicines & Cosmetics (PDF)

A month before Pesach, Sarah and I picked up The New York Times Passover Cookbook at the Brookline Booksmith (clearance priced at $10, given its February 1999 publication date). Since we now “own” the Jewish holidays in our family, we had an opportunity to spice things up at the seder table — this book was a big help.

Many prominent chefs from the treyf world contribute Passover-sensitive recipes — i.e. Charlie Trotter’s carrot consomme, Paul Prudhomme’s veal roast, Wolfgang Puck’s nouveau gefilte fish. While many of the chef-inspired offerings are complicated, they resoundly put to rest complaints that there’s nothing “good” to eat on Pesach.

A big hit among our family and friends was the “Margarten Family’s Apple Kugel”: sliced apples layered with a whole-wheat matzah batter featuring ground walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. Hands down the closest we’ve come to the taste of apple pie on Passover, and a side dish/dessert I’d feel comfortable serving year-round.

Another interesting dish we tried was an herb polenta made with matzo meal instead of corn meal. It was tasty and inventive, and given the leniences of yom tov cooking, we could serve it freshly fried at dinner.

The book also has many traditional recipes for Passover standards like charoset, chicken soup, and matzo balls. So, while I wouldn’t recommend packing your Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook away with the chametz next year, this cookbook can stand on its own as a comprehensive holiday source.

Where do I start? We had so many new wines over the first two days of Passover that it was difficult to keep track of them all, but of particular note were two reds from California and a pinotage from South Africa.

Gan Eden’s 2000 Syrah was surprising: despite its whopping 16% alcohol by volume, this non-mevushal bottle from the always-reliable Gan Eden was more subtle than the Australian Shiraz that I’m used to. I found some fruitiness, a peppery finish, and a heck of a surprise when I tried to stand up (I mean c’mon, 16%ABV?!). There wasn’t even a hint of the syrupy or alcoholic flavors that most of these bruisers exhibit, and if I hadn’t re-read the label I would have thought that it was something in the boiled flaken that kept the room spinning.

Weinstock Cellar’s Lodi 2000 Zinfandel (mevushal) was a cruiserwieght in comparison (13.5%ABV) although I found it too hard-charging and tart for my tastes, but its fruit flavors and low level of tanins were appealling to many of our guests who don?t generally go for dry reds. (This red zin seems to be so new to the market that I couldn?t find a picture of the label or any other reference to it on the Royal Wine Corporation?s
web site).

Even more appealing to those who usually like Moscato with their dinner was the Backsberg 2003 Pinotage. This South African (mevushal) red was soft and almost sweet, with a hint of vanilla. Again not my cup of tea, but a crowd-pleaser with our crowd of dry wine novitiates.

The answer is a turducken. You’re thinking, “Hey Jon, what’s a turducken?” Well, it’s a turkey, which is stuffed with a duck, which is stuffed with a chicken. That’s right — three birds in one, all de-boned (except for the turkey legs and wings) and with added regular stuffing between the layers.

For our first seder this year, we procured a ready-prepared (but not cooked) turducken from Aaron’s Gourmet Emporium in Rego Park, NY. (While you can prepare one on your own, our estimates and anecdotal evidence suggest that it can take upwards of two full days to de-bone and stuff the birds. So, we felt it was well worth it to pay someone else to do it for us.) The turkey was somewhere between 14 and 16 pounds, and we estimated that the duck was around 4 pounds and the chicken about 2 pounds, making for about 20 pounds of poultry. When I picked up the birds, I was handed two well-wrapped bags — one with the (heavy) frozen turducken and one with a quart of extra stuffing, a quart of gravy, and a pint of cranberry sauce, all K-for-P. I then promptly left it all in the car from around noon until the time I got it to Dave’s house (where the first seder was held) in Brookline at around 8:30 pm.

Dave took the turducken out of the freezer Thursday night before Pesach and put it in the oven Monday morning at around 9:45 am, at around 250 F (slightly time-weighted average since he dropped the temp mid-way through cooking to ensure even done-ness by the time we got to shulchan oreich), and took it out at close to 9 pm when we ate it.

And ate it we did! There were ten of us at the seder and there was just about no bird left at the end of the meal. I think Dave was left with the two turkey legs and turkey wings and perhaps a piece or two of carved turkey. That’s about it. You can probably figure out that it was good if ten people managed to eat 20 pounds of boneless poultry. When asked how the duck fat drains from the turducken, the nice folks at Aaron’s said it doesn’t — the stuffing and white meat absorb the duck fat. Yep, it’s that good. It was perhaps the most moist white meat turkey I have ever had, but a very good turkey roaster can achieve comparable turkey greatness, albeit without the added goodness of duck. I don’t think I got any pieces of chicken (being the smallest, only the center cuts had chicken), but I’ll guess it was good. The duck was tender and moist, as duck should be, without being dripping in fat, which was a concern given the lack of drainage typical with duck roasting. The one thing you don’t get with a turducken is crisp roasted poultry skin, as the oven isn’t hot enough to do that and the inner birds aren’t even exposed.

While I would say that it was a great meal, I don’t know that I’d go to the trouble of having a turducken more than once in a long while, perhaps every other or every third year. It’s mighty expensive and I’m not completely sold that it’s worth the time and effort over just making a turkey, a duck, and a chicken separately for one meal. Of course, that wouldn’t be as good, but if we had turducken all the time, it wouldn’t be as exciting, would it?

I hope you all had pleasant and meaningful and gastronomically interesting Sederim. I did and in the course of them had two noteworthy wines, both of which were purchased at Queen Anne Wine in Teaneck.

During the Shulchan Oreich portions of our Sederim we opened several good wines, but it is the two reds (one each night) that I will comment on. For the first seder, we had a 2002 Beckett’s Flat Cabernet-Shiraz (50%/50%) from the Margaret River region of Western Australia. As a quick side note, I believe that not all Beckett’s Flat wine has hashcagacha, so please be prudent, but all of their kosher wine is K-for-P and mevushal. This was a very pleasant, fruity and effectively semi-dry wine. It had a very full flavor, but was not heavy or thick. It had hints of cherry and other sweet berries that developed more as the wine opened up. The two grapes that constitute this wine marry very well and you can sense the interplay between them if you are familiar with both Cabernet and Shiraz. For those who find Shiraz to be a little too rough around the edges for many settings, this blend does a marvelous job of settling the Shiraz and kicking up the Cabernet. Beckett’s Flat wines are readily available and usually fall in the $15-$20 range.

Our second Seder dinner red was a 2000 Galil Mountain Yiron (Galilee), which is a 60% Cabernet-40% Merlot blend (non-mevushal). I am not particularly familiar with the Galil Mountain Winery, but I look forward to learning more. The 2000 seems to be the first bottling as the winery was formed then as “a joint venture of Golan Heights Winery and Kibbutz Yiron…. The winery is an enterprise that combines the unique features of the Upper Galilee mountains with the expertise of the Golan Heights Winery in producing top quality wines.” As the constituent grapes would suggest, the Yiron was a notably fuller than the Cab-Shiraz blend and had a noticeably sharper taste from expected greater level of tannin. Again, I felt that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts and that the interplay between the Cabernet and the Merlot brought out the best in both grapes. This is certainly a dry wine on the greater spectrum, but has a soft feel and a very smooth finish. Like the Cab-Shiraz, this had cherry notes, but the other hints of fruit suggested darker berries, and perhaps plums. And the oak from the wine’s prebottling aging comes through as well.. The bottle notes that this wine should develop nicely if well-shelved for 5-7 years and I could definitely see the potential for greater development (though this was a new purchase for us, it did already have 3.5-4 years under its belt). Like the Beckett’s Flat, the Galil Mountain Yiron runs just under $20 ($17.99 at Queen Anne Wine), but their single grape bottlings are in the $12-$15 range.

I have a recipe for a delicious dessert which could be made for Passover if only Pesadik condensed milk were available. Anyone seen such a product?

KosherBlog reader Heather asks what hard liquors are available for Passover. All acceptable alcohols are from the non-grain category (no whiskey!). Here’s a list of the Pesach spirits I could find:

* Arack (Carmel)
* Brandies (Carmel, Givon, Slivovitz, Rodrigues)
* Cognac (R&B Lanxner, Montaigne)
* Gin (Seagram)
* Grappa (Carmel)
* Liqueurs (Bartenura amaretto, hazelnut, etrog, lemon, apricot, lime, mandarin, peach; Sabra chocolate-orange)
* Vodka (Kedem, Carmel, Seagram)
* Vermouth (Kedem)

For more detail, the Orthodox Union’s list of K-F-P liquors is available in the T-Z section of their annual Passover guide, under “Wines & Liquors”.

KosherWine.com and QueenAnneWine.com both offer several of these products. KosherWine.com indicates on every product they sell whether it is Kosher for Passover. (It would be great if either of them could offer searches based solely on Pesach Kashrut!)

This past Friday, the Wall Street Journal published its annual pre-Passover kosher wine column and recomendations. A paid subscription is required to see the electronic edition of that article, so for those of you who missed it I will try to add their list of recomendations later. What was most interesting was the contrast between that column and the NY Times column discussed by NonMevushalMarc earlier. While the Times describes kosher wines being mostly substandard, the Journal seems to feel otherwise, saying “people who don’t keep kosher should not avoid the kosher aisle” and that they “include kosher wines in [their] regular blind tastings, and some have been among [their] favorites.”

Newsweek also piped up this year, with a short piece containing ratings lifted from the Wine Spectator

With Pesach coming, so does a whole lot of preparation. I, for one, started cleaning on Monday, and will continue through Sunday. Alas, cleaning isn’t the only thing that needs to be done, especially for those of us who aren’t fortunate enough to have gotten married and amassed a wealth of four sets of kitchenware. I’m talking about the crazy task of kashering for Pesach. While I’ve done this more than a few times, I always find it helpful to have some resources at hand to help make sure everything is done up to snuff. So, I thought I would share with you some sources of information. (Please note that some of these may be contradictory. I do not claim to have answers to resolve questions, so please contact your own rabbinic authority.)

Kashrut.com Passover Page
The Star-K Passover Kitchen
USCJ Kitchen Countdown
RA Guide to Kashering for Pesach
CRC Kashering Guide

With Pesach looming, the mainstream metropolitan press has been spinning out their annual reviews (sparse though they may be) of kosher wines. The NY Times article ran today and is available online (free registration required).

Of the wines they review, I have recently had the Tierra Salvaje Tempranillo from Spain (Yecla) (not Mevushal). If you’re looking for something a little different than the usual California or Israeli wines that grace most kosher tables, this is a great pick. It is highly affordable (usually $9-$12) and is very drinkable. It has distinct cherry notes and complements everything from chicken to heavier roasts or other red meat well.

I have been very impressed with the entire Tierra Salvaje line, which includes wines from Spain (a Rioja in addition to the Tempranillo), Chile, and Argentina. They feature both reds and whites — all affordable and all have been enjoyable.

Devoted KBlog reader and fellow blogger Steve Silver is trying to balance his Atkins diet with the rigors of Passover. As an Atkins veteran myself, I’d say that Passover really has Atkins written all over it — the diet already focuses on protein-laden, Pesadik items like eggs, cheese, and meat. As for the matzah issue, I know some major manufacturers are producing whole wheat alternatives to standard matzah, which have slightly fewer grams of carbs, and a bit more protein. Non-wheat varieties (spelt, oat) may also be worth a look.

Believe it or not, the Atkins website itself has some helpful menus for the Passover holiday, including glazed brisket and stuffed veal.

Also, please note that, as far as I am aware, the only major brand of artificial sweetener (a must for an Atkins adherent) is Sweet & Low (look for the specially marked Passover boxes).

Some more thoughts on Pesach strategies:

* We have a wooden island in our kitchen which we use for food preparation and eating informal meals. For Pesach, we’ve purchased a 36″ x 48″ plexiglass sheet ($17) from Home Depot to cover the island’s surface, plus four clamps ($2.97/ea) to hold it in place. That way, we’ll have a sturdy, easy-to-clean work surface that we can use year after year.

* Rather than meticulously detailing your vehicle, we suggest buying a new car to rid yourself of pesky automotive chametz. I’ve just swapped my crumb-laden 1993 Ford Explorer for a 2004 Chevy Malibu. Better gas mileage, tighter turning radius, and ready-made Kosher for Passover.