Food Friday*: A Week of Cooking Jewishly

Passover started on Monday night (with a lovely Seder led by my dad), and as always, I've decided it's a good opportunity to diversify my diet and eat more fruits and veggies. Not-as-always, I've also decided to try new KFP (Kosher for Passover) recipes, as is my wont nowadays.

So, this week, our house has seen:

Matzah going from drab to fab with Matzah Crack...um...I mean...candy. (From this recipe on The Kitchn.) I topped some of ours with chopped walnuts, some with sea salt, and some with my latest obsession crystallized ginger. It went fast.)

Macaroons. (From this recipe, also on The Kitchn.) I dipped a few of them in melted chocolate after I took this picture, and they're the best. Even Jake likes them, and he's not the world's biggest fan of coconut. I'm pretty sure we'll be eating them well after Passover ends, since I have 25 of them, and the holiday is over on Tuesday.

And for actual meals...

A breakfast of Matzah Brei, and

a dinner of cod "en papillote" with veggies. (That's much, much easier than it sounds. To prove it, both recipes are after the jump! Both recipes serve three. They're also both easily adjustable if your family is bigger or smaller.)

Matzah Brei

Ingredients
4 sheets of matzah
4 large eggs
2 tsp milk (I used skim because that's what we have around, but feel free to use whatever you've got)
pinch salt
pinch sugar
2 tblsp butter

1. Break your matzah into pieces of various shapes and sizes, about 1-2 inches. (Don't be precious about this. Just get it done. It's a great task for a toddler who wants to help you in the kitchen...Just sayin'.) Put them in a medium bowl.
2. Break your eggs into a large bowl. Add the milk, salt, and sugar. Beat them together. (Also a good task for your mini-sous chef, if you've got one.)
3. Boil some water--I use our electric kettle, which is one of my absolute favorite appliances. When the water is ready, pour it over the prepared matzah. Let soak for 30 seconds or so, until the matzah is soft, but not soaked. Drain in a colander.
4. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the matzah and cook, stirring to cover with the butter, for about two minutes.
5. Add the egg mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the matzah is pretty much covered with the eggs and the eggs are cooked to a slightly runny consistency, about three minutes.
6. Plate and serve! This is a sweet matzah brei, so I like to serve it with jam. Yum.

Fish in Parchment

(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

2 tblsp unsalted butter, softened
1.5 tsp grated lemon rind
juice of half a lemon
3 fish filets, each about 1 inch thick (I used cod because it was available and cheap; you can also use haddock or bass)
Salt
Freshly grated pepper
2 medium carrots, julienne sliced
1 red bell pepper, julienne sliced
1 leek, julienne sliced

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix the butter, lemon rind, and lemon peel in a small bowl until fully combined. (Do not be tempted to let your mini-sous chef do the mixing for you. Lemon juice will wind up all over the place. Trust.)
3. Cut three large heart shapes from pieces of parchment paper about 15"x24" big. Place one filet in the middle of one heart, near the crease. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Top with 1/3 of the butter mixture. Top that with 1/3 of the veggies. Fold the parchment over and crimp all around, twisting the paper onto itself so the pouch is sealed.
4. Repeat twice more, until you've used all of the ingredients. (Any leftover veggies can become "crudités" for hungry family members.)
5. Place all three packages on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Either place paper on plates and open, or open the pouches and extract the fish and vegetables with a spatula, pouring the sauce on top of the fish and veggies. In either case, be careful when opening the pouches, since there will be hot steam escaping.
7. Serve immediately.

This recipe takes about 30 minutes from slicing to plating, making it an awesome weekday dinner any time of the year. So good.

I hope you get to try one (or more) of these recipes before Passover ends. If not, there's always next year! Or leftover matzah!

*Yes, I'm late. Not stressing. :)