Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Our Passover Meal: The Food

This time I will just share the food list and recipes, next time I'll share more of the meaning and some ideas on how we will do this as a family.

* Unleavened Bread or Matzo Bread ~ I'll be making this recipe that Angie shared with me last year.

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. lukewarm water

Cut shortening into flour-salt mixture until size of peas. Add water. Knead. Let rest ten minutes. Form into two-inch balls and roll to 1/4" thick. Use heavy skillet or griddle, ungreased and very hot. Turn tortilla three times and it should be done when small dark brown spots speckle the bread.

* Charoses or Charoset (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

3 apples, coarsely chopped or grated
1/3 c. chopped almonds or walnuts
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. honey or 1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
2 Tbsp. red wine (we'll be using grape juice)

Mix all together except wine or juice until desired consistency. Add juice and chill.

* Salt water

* Bitter herb: horseradish

* Sweet herb: parsley

* Hard-boiled Egg

* Roasted Lamb (This recipe is from A Return to Sunday Dinner)

Succulent Butterflied Leg of Spring Lamb with Roasted Red-Skinned Potatoes
(**He suggests having the butcher remove the bone from the meat, but leaving the shank attached and trimming away any excess fat, and butterflying for easy prep.)

**Note: I've halved the recipe to be for four servings instead of the eight listed in the cookbook.

1 3-pound leg of lamb butterflied
3 cloves garlic
salt
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 c. packed fresh basil
1/8 c. packed fresh mint
1 Tbsp. cracked peppercorns
1 lemon, halved with seeds removed
1/8 c. olive oil
coarse salt to season

Place the lamb cut side up on work surface. Sprinkle garlic with a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl and use a fork to mash the garlic into paste; spread the mashed garlic evenly over the inside of the lamb and sprinkle with half of the rosemary. Lay the basil and mint over that and roll the lamb leg back to its natural shape.

Tie the lamb with kitchen twine, knotting every two inches; then tie lengthwise. Rub the remaining rosemary and peppercorns into the exterior surface of the lamb. Squeeze the lemons over the lamb and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate overnight or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Adjust the lower rack near the bottom of the over. Remove lamb from refrigerator and sprinkle with coarse salt. Allow it to rest for 45 minutes at room temperature.

Place the lamb in a shallow roasting pan and transfer to a 450 oven. Roast for 15 minutes and reduce heat to 325 and continue to roast for one hour.

Potatoes:

1 lb. small red-skinned potatoes
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Cut potatoes in half and toss them with olive oil, garlic and rosemary in a mixing bowl. After the lamb has roasted for one hour, scatter the potatoes around the roasting pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper until a meat thermometer reads 140 about 20-25 minutes. Remove lamb from the pan and place it on a clean cutting board; allow it to rest for 15 min. before slicing.

Increase the oven temp to 400 and spread the potatoes evenly in the bottom of the roasting pan. Allow them to cook and brown another 15-20 minutes.

Carefully cut away kitchen twine. Slice the meat with a sharp carving knife. Transfer to a platter and arrange potatoes around the meat; garnish with fresh herbs if desired. Pour all juices from pan and cutting board over the meat and potatoes.


Passover Meal Shopping List:
* 3 apples
* grape juice
* horseradish
* parsley
* mint
* rosemary
* garlic
* basil
* eggs
* leg of lamb
* lemon
* 1 lb. red-skinned potatoes

From the pantry:
* flour
* salt
* shortening
* almonds or walnuts
* cinnamon
* honey
* sugar
* olive oil

Am I forgetting something? If any of you have done this before and have suggestions - I'm listening!

10 comments:

Julie Willis said...

We used chocolate coins for the Afikoman.
When we had littles (all were under 4) we keep the whole experience simple. Read the stories and watched them on videos.
A great resource for us was A Family Guide To the Biblical Holidays- Scarlata & Pierce. But truthfully you sound like you've really got it all together.
This ear we are going to make Haman's Ears for desert.
My oldest and I are in a study of Esther and it was a recipe in our study guide.

Sheri said...

I am so excited to make our first passover meal this year too! After studying "The Heart of Wisdom" and now reading through "A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays" (by Robin Sampson) My husband and I are looking forward to "learning" with our children. Thank you for the recipes! =)

The Parson's Wife said...

I thought of you when I read this post... just passing it along...

http://asweetautumnbrew.blogspot.com/

She is trying to give tickets away for the Women of Faith Conference in SC....

Jessica said...

I'm really excited about this! And thanks for the grocery list at the bottom. That sure is helpful!

Anonymous said...

I have a question.

My family has never celebrated Easter as the resurrection of Jesus because we take communion every Sunday, remembering His death, burial, and resurrection at that time. For that reason, every Sunday is somewhat of an Easter to us, so on Easter we just do the egg hunt and such.

I am wondering how often you partake communion, and what your thoughts are about remembering His resurrection every week in a service verses the once a year holiday.

I am not trying to be disrespectful in any way - I've simply been raised this way, and have never really thought about or understood anything else about the holiday, so I'd love your insight.

Anonymous said...

This is great. We celebrate Passover every year as well. We started 5 years ago and it has grown ever since. It used to be just a family affair but as my husband is a Bible teacher, we have felt led to share this experience with others to help them bring the Bible to life.

We use "Celebrating Biblical Feasts" by Martha Zimmerman

This year we are doing Passover for 50 people - YIKES! All other years I have done all the cooking myself but this year I am blessed to have recipes and set up etc delegated to the deaconesses.

Thanks for the post - I needed some motivation to get cracking on more plans - it's coming up fast!

I really enjoy your blog!

Anonymous said...

Your passover meal sounds deliciously planned. Thank you for sharing the recipes. I can't wait to hear the rest of your plans.

Smiles, Angelia in TX

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Jeff and Jenny said...

In response to an earlier comment... we also take communion every Sunday in remembrance, just as you do. This year, though, we are also going to have a passover feast. It's a fantastic learning experience, especially for kids. It is our heritage (even though we are not Jewish). We are telling the story of the Angel of Death passing over the houses of the Israelites and pointing out that Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate passover. Then we are going to talk about how Jesus is our passover lamb and how we are under a new covenant with God. This draws a nice parallel that helps connect the dots between Old Testament and New Testament.

Hope this helps.

MrsCoach said...

I just came across this website while doing a search for Holy Week activities for children. In case you need any other references/ ideas:
http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19990301/FRIDGE/seder.htm