I don’t typically share personal dinner photos that take place in my home, but I thought I’d show readers what I made over the long weekend. My husband is a non-observant Jew and I’m a lapsed Catholic who was educated in an Anglican girls’ school (I guess I’m an unofficial lapsed Anglican). However, despite not being religious at all, we observe certain traditions. Over the long weekend, we hosted my parents to an “Eastover” dinner (I guess the more politically correct term would be the neutral “Spring Dinner”). This was my time hosting Easter/Passover for my parents (previously, we just went out for brunch). On the menu was:
Tex Mex influenced Matzoh Brei:
A pretty standard steps of first breaking down the matzoh (three sheets in this case) using cold water and then cooking it with eggs (two whole eggs plus two egg whites, beaten). However, instead of chicken fat, the matzoh and eggs were cooked in avocado oil, along with some chopped onions. It was then served with some guacamole/salsa fresco dip. My husband gave it a thumbs up!
Quinoa Tabouli:
I actually ripped the parsley by hand. I tried chopping it, but have come to realize that I need something much sharper. Anyway, the tabouli is pretty much a standard recipe (with fresh lemon juice, green onions, tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes and quartered them) and a little bit of olive oil. There are no cucumbers in this recipe) and replaced bulgar with rainbow quinoa.
Roasted Lamb:
The was heavily influenced by a Cook with Campbell’s recipe (FYI: my husband works in their marketing department at Campbell’s, so I get a lot of tips on recipes) with very little modification – pretty much just the cooking time, as my piece of lamb was a bit smaller.
Roasted Veggies and Potatoes:
I used three different kind of mini-potatoes (yellow skinned, red skinned and purple), threw in some dried spices and a bit of vegetable broth and placed it in the oven at 450 F for 45 minutes. With about 25 minutes left, I threw in cherry tomatoes, and with 15, the asparagus and bell peppers. A little extra dried spice and broth went in at that time as well.
Matzoh Layer Cake:
This was influenced by two similar recipes (see here and here). The vanilla yogurt and strawberry filling was my idea, as was soaking the matzoh in Moscato wine (Barefoot in this case). If one is observing kosher traditions, I recommend replacing the yogurt with an almond or coconut equivalent rather than a more basic non-dairy whip (gross!). If I had to do it over, I would have used a semi-sweet chocolate rather than adding maple syrup to give it a sweeter taste.
Does your family have a traditional meal for Easter/Passover? What was served?
