all things food
I realize that sharing a new recipe for a carrot cake the day after Easter is about as useful as a new latke recipe the day after Hanukkah ends or a perfect buche de noel on December 26th. I’d intended to share this a week ago and —…
Passover is a Jewish holiday that’s been celebrated for thousands of years. Needless to say, the traditions we observe for it are… also old. To celebrate, Jewish families like mine have a big feast called a Seder on the first two nights of the 8-day ho…
Passover is a Jewish holiday that’s been celebrated for thousands of years. Needless to say, the traditions we observe for it are… also old. To celebrate, Jewish families like mine have a big feast called a Seder on the first two nights of the 8-day holiday. It’s a ceremony that has carefully prescribed rituals, including several special dishes and foods that need to be placed on the table in order to properly perform the Passover Seder. The most important is the Seder plate, which is the ceremonial centerpiece that contains six symbolic ingredients (more on those later). A festive kosher-for-Passover meal follows the ceremony, and although you can really serve anything that’s kosher-for-Passover (or free of chametz—this typically includes leavened foods, but can also include corn, rice, peanuts, lentils, and more, depending on who you ask), there are a few traditional recipes you can expect to see. In my family, the same dishes are served the very same way year after year—gefilte fish that sits on a single leaf of curly lettuce garnished with a boiled carrot coin, matzo balls swimming in golden chicken soup, potato kugel, boiled eggs, carrot tzimmes, and brisket. Everything is relatively beige, but delicious nonetheless.
When I was a kid, my mother held my siblings and I hostage for three days before we hosted the Passover seder. We’d have to polish the silverware, press the linens, set the table, help prep vegetables, and lay out our clothes. My mother’s stress was palpable and for good reason: We’d usually have at least 20 people over for dinner, and she wanted everything to be perfect.
Passover is a holiday that celebrates spring, rebirth, and redemption. Passover traditions change and evolve—no two Seders are the same, which makes them so special. One delightful tradition I stick to is the frequent instruction to drink wine (I don’t…
Passover is a holiday that celebrates spring, rebirth, and redemption. Passover traditions change and evolve—no two Seders are the same, which makes them so special. One delightful tradition I stick to is the frequent instruction to drink wine (I don’t need to be reminded, but it’s a great excuse). Another is having the youngest child ask “The Four Questions,” explaining what Passover is about (the exodus of the Jews from Egypt) and answering, “why is this night different from all other nights?” In my family, I was always the youngest child, so I sang the questions in Hebrew until I was 35. My mother always joked that all she got from my Hebrew school education was the Four Questions. (I actually think that made the tuition worth it.)
With my own kids now shouldering this burden, I can relax! No more anxiety about singing in front of everyone, which means I can drink my wine and chill. And now that I don’t have stage fright, I’ve realized there’s something seriously lacking: snacks. So I have a fifth question to add to the mix—why no snacks at Passover? I don’t see a good reason to exclude appetizers from this meal. We have to sit through a long service while dipping herbs in salt water, reciting prayers in Hebrew, and repeatedly washing hands, all without more than a bite or two of matzo until dinner. Isn’t this holiday about freedom? We’re asked to recline at the table and drink wine, all sans nosh? (Honestly, I usually end up sneaking little matzo, charoset, and horseradish sandwiches under the table).
I started hosting Passover seder four years ago. My dad had just passed away and my mother, who usually hosts, appreciated the relief. I don’t usually host holidays — well, they let me have Hanukkah — because our space is so …
I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t like lemon curd. You, in turn, might choose not to trust anyone who makes bold, sweeping, and questionably necessary proclamations, but if I were to pick a completely superfluous soapbox to stand on…
Nickel & Dine is a budget column by Rebecca Firkser, assigning editor at Food52. Rebecca usually shares an easy, flavor-packed recipe that feeds four for $10 or less—this is a special edition: a $25 Passover for six to eight.
Passover seder is a…
Nickel & Dine is a budget column by Rebecca Firkser, assigning editor at Food52. Rebecca usually shares an easy, flavor-packed recipe that feeds four for $10 or less—this is a special edition: a $25 Passover for six to eight.
Passover seder is a festive meal. Guests are encouraged to recline at the table, and drink many glasses of wine while enjoying multiple dishes throughout the evening (literally, there’s a prayer book that tells us to do all these things). My childhood memories of the holiday are around a dining room table—specifically, several of my dad's cousins’ tables, pushed together in the middle of their New Jersey living room. And as I grew up, I found myself wanting to host my own seder. I wanted to bring together a gaggle of loved ones over those pushed-together tables and a very delicious meal.
If you want to know how much brisket you need to serve per person, you first need to watch Mean Girls (or, if you’re a woman between the ages of 25 and 35, re-watch for the 100th time). The answer lies with the protagonist character Cady Heron, played…
If you want to know how much brisket you need to serve per person, you first need to watch Mean Girls (or, if you’re a woman between the ages of 25 and 35, re-watch for the 100th time). The answer lies with the protagonist character Cady Heron, played by Lindsey Lohan, who will tell you “the limit does not exist.” I understand this doesn’t help you determine how many pounds of raw brisket to purchase from the butcher before Passover or Rosh Hashanah. But it’s true. If your brisket is fork-tender and flavorful beyond belief, people will keep going back for more. And even when they retire from the dinner table to the couch and change from fancy clothes to sweatpants, a few people will obviously be craving leftover brisket within (checks watch) 90 minutes. But yes, we do have a handy way of estimating how much you should allot per person if your budget is not infinite.
When shopping for brisket, you’ll find that there are two common cuts of meat: brisket flat (aka first-cut) and brisket point. Many brisket recipes won’t specify which cut of meat to use, so here’s what to know: brisket point has a jagged, pointy end that is ideal for pulled brisket (like these braised brisket sandwiches or chopped brisket. Flat cut brisket is what you want to use if you’re planning to braise or smoke brisket and then slice it into neat servings. Flat cut, or first-cut brisket, is a leaner cut, which means it’s at its best when cooked for several hours until it becomes juicy and tender.
A Big Little Recipe has the smallest-possible ingredient list and big everything else: flavor, creativity, wow factor. That means five ingredients or fewer—not including water, salt, black pepper, and certain fats (like oil and butter), since we’re gue…
A Big Little Recipe has the smallest-possible ingredient list and big everything else: flavor, creativity, wow factor. That means five ingredients or fewer—not including water, salt, black pepper, and certain fats (like oil and butter), since we're guessing you have those covered. Inspired by the column, the Big Little Recipes cookbook is available now.
Thirty-something years after she started making it, my mom can’t remember where this recipe came from. Maybe she got it from her mom, or a magazine, or her mom got it from a magazine. Who knows?
When you want a change of pace from [serving brisket]https://food52.com/recipes/19878-nach-waxman-s-brisket-of-beef) for Passover seder, make roast chicken. These 8 recipes for this crowd-friendly dish are kosher for Passover and will look so good at t…
When you want a change of pace from [serving brisket]https://food52.com/recipes/19878-nach-waxman-s-brisket-of-beef) for Passover seder, make roast chicken. These 8 recipes for this crowd-friendly dish are kosher for Passover and will look so good at the center of your table, surrounded by good wine, roasted vegetables, matzo-ball soup, maybe a spring-forward soup, and of course, flourless chocolate cake. And once you’re done cooking and serving a whole chicken, use the remaining carcass and bones to make the stock for a matzo ball soup.
“Lemon curd is typically used for sweet recipes—but why not think outside the box and take it someplace savory? This dinner makes the most of lemon curd, adding tart richness to sheet-pan chicken thighs. Fresh rosemary is a natural pairing, and chile offsets it from being overly sweet,” writes Food52 Resident Melina Hammer. Swap out the bread for serving with cooked quinoa or matzo.
During Passover, certain plant-based foods are already verboten, which makes finding vegan Passover recipes tricky. During the holiday, most Jewish households avoid chametz, or grains that have come in contact with water for longer than 18 minutes. Dep…
During Passover, certain plant-based foods are already verboten, which makes finding vegan Passover recipes tricky. During the holiday, most Jewish households avoid chametz, or grains that have come in contact with water for longer than 18 minutes. Depending on which ethnocultural group and branch of Judaism one belongs to, there may be other avoided foods during Passover, from rice to sunflower seeds to lentils. (For some, it also means avoiding anything packaged that isn’t explicitly labeled “kosher for Passover,” even if it does fall within the dietary requirements.) This can make nourishing oneself a bit challenging for vegans who thrive on plant-based staples like grains and legumes. When it comes to vegan Passover recipes that meet most of the religious guidelines, lean heavily into vegetables, quinoa, fruit, matzo, and most nuts. Same rules go for dessert—just add (dairy-free) chocolate.
These 18 vegan Passover recipes are free of chametz, and should be welcome at any seder (or for any meals throughout the week). However, some do include kitniyot (non-chametz grains and legumes that many Ashenaski Jewish households historically avoid). In recent years, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, which represents the interest of Conservative Jews, decided that kitniyot are kosher for Passover. If that’s not your style, skip them. You also may see a few packaged baking items, like 1:1 gluten-free flour and baking powder, that may not be specifically certified kosher for Passover. So we'll recommend that you check with your guests to see which specific and additional dietary requirements they follow during the holiday before diving in.
