Passover is less than a month away, so why should I be surprised that people are searching for Passover recipes? Probably because we just finished baking hamentashen for Purim!

My all time favorite Passover recipe is Apple Matzo Kugel. I have made this every year for the last 5 and it always is delicious and easy to prepare. Enjoy!

Apple Matzo Kugel

INGREDIENTS

-4 large apples, Granny Smith or any tart apple, cored and cut into medium dice
-½ cup light brown sugar
-1/3 cup orange juice
-7 plain matzos
-8 eggs
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1 cups sugar
-½ cup butter or margarine, melted
-1 cup golden raisins
-1 cup dried apricots, medium, chopped
-5 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into small pieces, for casserole topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Toss the apples with the brown sugar and orange juice and set aside in a medium bowl.

3. Break the matzo into 2-3 inch pieces and soak in 1 cup of warm water until soft, but not mushy. Set aside.

4. While the matzo soaks, in a large bowl, beat the eggs with a wire whisk until blended. Add the salt, sugar, cinnamon, melted butter, raisins and apricots.

5. Squeeze the liquid from the softened matzoh and add the matzoh to the egg mixture with the apples. Stir the kugel well and pour into a lightly greased 2 ½ quart casserole dish or a 10X14 inch pan. Dot the top of the kugel with the 4 tablespoons of butter.

6. Bake the kugel for 1 hour. Cover the top with foil if the top begins to become too brown early in the baking. Remove the kugel from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Cooks Tip: The kugel can be made 2 days ahead, cooled and refrigerated, covered. Bring to room temperature and reheat in a 350 degree oven.

Makes 12 servings.

It’s a rainy, disgusting day here in CT, but I am feeling sunny as I put together my ingredients for the homemade blintzes I am about to start making. First the crepes, then the filling–then the 2 together! We are not religious-here in my house-but we do love to celebrate the Jewish holidays, particularly the food traditions. Now that we are eating much less meat then ever, blintzes are going to be very well received. As you may have previously read in this blog, my kids have been shunning meat and chicken in favor of cremslach (yummy cottage cheese pancakes), challah french toast and blintzes. Recipes for all of these, plus many more dairy recipes at Challah Connection. Let me know what you’re cooking tonight–Chag Sameach!

I have been cooking Shabbat Dinners for my family since my first son Sam was born–that is almost 20 years of Shabbat dinners. As my mother taught me, I have always thought that the “appropriate” Shabbat meal is brisket or roast chicken, challah and all of the rest of the side dishes. In the “old” days–up until about 5 years ago–my Fridays were structured around challah baking and the rest of the meal. Since Challah Connection is busy, busy all 5 days (actually 7+), little by little I have been chipping away at my Friday tradition. First to go, unfortunately, was the challah baking. However, I realized that while my husband Josh loved my home baked challah, my kids were actually perfectly content with the challah that we sell here at Challah Connection. Next to go was the hours of shopping and prep for the rest of the meal. To be honest, I have been feeling a little lost on Fridays without a traditional meal to prepare. But, here’s the interesting and very good news…

A couple of months ago, I learned from Harry and Mike (my only 2 at home now, ages 18 and 14 respectively) that they are not liking meat too much anymore and what they really love are dairy meals like my challah french toast, matzo brei, blintzes, pancakes and omelets. Great!! Those are easy to make, don’t require any prep time, are “Jewish” in nature and best of all they really love them. The only problem with this is that it’s not really what Josh and I want to be eating, but we can handle this one night a week.

I’m pretty excited about what I’m making tonight. This is a recipe from Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking: Cottage Cheese Chremslach. They are pancakes made with cottage cheese and matzo meal (recipe below), fried in oil and topped with sliced strawberries and confectioners sugar. The picture looks scrumptious and best of all, I think my kids are going to love them. Will let you know if this recipe passes the test!

Cottage Cheese Chremslach
From Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking
Note: Technically, this recipe is a Passover recipe hence the matzo meal and Grapeseed or Passover oil. For non-Passover, I plan to use matzo meal and canola oil.

Makes about 18

4 eggs
1 cup 4 percent cottage cheese (you could use low fat if you prefer)
3/4 cup mile (whole or low fat)
3/4-1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1 cup matzo meal
Grapeseed or other acceptable Passover oil or 2 tablespoons butter for frying

In a bowl, with a fork, beat together the eggs, cottage cheese, milk, salt, and sugar. Stir in the matzo meal. Set aside for 10 minutes.

In a 10-to 12-inch skillet, over medium heat, heat enough oil to cover the bottom by a scant 1/8 inch. When the oil is hot, pour a scant 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet. It should form a pancake about 4 inches in diameter. If it is too thick to spread this much, add a little more milk. The pancake should sizzle immediately. Fry until the first side is golden brown, 60-90 seconds, depending on how hot the oil is. Turn the pancake. The second side takes less time, about 30 seconds.

Drain the pancakes on paper towels or brown paper and serve while still very hot.

Variation (Jane’s opinion–this is a worthwhile step)
For a puffier pancake, separate the eggs, beat the yolks with the milk, then beat the whites until they form peaks and fold into the batter.