a note from the stove

THIS was the view from my window the other night. Truly the pillar of flame and cloud.

But more realistically I have been getting myself ready for Passover. The main dishes are done but the side dishes and the desserts all need to be made.

One of my favorite desserts of late has been an Italian clementine tart that I discovered on an Italian You tube channel. Below are two different iterations of the tart.(The recipe is in the link)

The tart is delicious and is made with tons of nuts. Unfortunately, some of my guests each night are very nut allergic.

I was trying to figure out how to recreate this without nuts. I wondered if it was possible to make a pie crust out of quinoa, and in fact, it is. I found a few recipes that weren't OK for Passover but I found one that was made with flax seeds and Quinoa. I don't have flax seeds but I do have chia seeds.

I cooked up some quinoa and added some chia seeds. I added pie crust friendly flavorings to the grains and allowed them to cook. I covered the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper and greased the sides well. I pressed the quinoa/chia mixture into the pan and then baked until brown.

I sometimes watch Israeli cooking videos. It seems that nearly every cake is made with the addition of boxed vanilla pudding. The vanilla pudding shows up so often that it has become something of a running gag in our house. The pudding is non dairy AND kosher for Passover.

I made a custard using 4 whole clementines, 4 eggs, the box of vanilla pudding a splash of orange juice, some tapioca flour, ( the pudding on it's own is a soft set pudding and I wanted a firmer set), a bit of sugar and some vanilla my sister had made for me that is kosher for Passover and is incredibly strong.

I baked the tart until it was set.

The color is amazing. I will be topping the tart with melted apricot jam and fresh berries.

I need to make the same tart but in a nut version.

We also need to eat between ow and the start of the holiday. I have been making struggle meals of sorts. The dish below was made out of chicken from our soup, quinoa and vegetables. It was kind of bleak.

Sunday, my daughter and Tanta Marcia came over to kasher metalware. It took a while but we got a system going. Polishing the pieces that needed polishing and drying

everything as it came out of it's boiling water bath and then putting everything away.

I made a batch of dried fruit and chocolate balls.

They are delicious.

This morning I made out first batch of matza puffs of the season.

They are vastly improved if you really let the batter cool before beating in the eggs. I stupidly tried to beat the batter using the whisk attachment on my immersion blender in a shallow-ish bowl. You are looking at 23 puffs. The batter for another puff was spattered all over my kitchen. Not a nice way to start my day.

More of the soup-chicken bits were cooked with leeks, fennel, mushrooms and celery and then made into knish logs.

I am going to make a tomato-ey sauce for them right now.

Barukh Dayan HaEmet - Blessed be the True Judge

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Two funerals and a birthday

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sarah in nyc

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