Chicken Parmesan Pasta

Posted on April 4, 2017 | 2 comments
cooking
plated and ready to eat
plated pasta and chicken
cooking

It’s that time of year when I leave Colorado to go back to NY for the spring. I don’t want to have to go food shopping because I am leaving and hate throwing away food unnecessarily.  I had a container of homemade tomato sauce in my freezer, I had already bought the chicken cutlets so all I really needed was the fresh mozzarella .  I even had fresh basil , of course fresh parsley would also be nice but what the heck Joel picks out all the green stuff anyway. I even had a 1/2 yellow onion sitting and waiting to be tossed! I walked in the house to a very hungry gentleman and I whipped this up in a 1/2 hour! I would like this better with fresh parmesan shavings but had to make do with grated parmesan because that’s what we had in the house.

*I had sauce in the house but feel free to use a jar of sauce–I won’t judge you –I promise. Raos actually makes a really good one and I use it when I am in a pinch. Just saying…..

This recipe will serve 4-6 . I actually cut it in 1/2 for the two of us and still had left-overs.

Ingredients:

1 lb. penne or rigatoni or any macaroni type pasta you have in the house

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus a little more for drizzling on pasta

2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into small bite sized pieces

Salt and Pepper–I use Kosher and Freshly ground Black Pepper always

1/2 onion , finely diced –I only used 1/2 because my sauce contained onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

Tomato Sauce / Marinara Sauce whichever you have on hand. 1 Jar should do it (app. 25 oz. size) I used sauce I had but I also cut recipe in 1/2

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes–you know we like the heat so adjust for your own taste buds

1/2 cup water

8 ounce container of fresh mozzarella balls, or buy 8 oz. of fresh mozzarella and cut into cubes (see photo)

Fresh Parmesan Shavings-or grated Parmesan whichever you have on hand is good and will work

Extra Parmesan for serving–I mean there is plenty of cheese here so no worries

Chopped Fresh Basil– I love the flavor and I love the color it adds to my pasta –if you have some fresh parsley (flat leaf) that would be nice as well –just mince up and sprinkle a little bit in

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium size sauce pan.  Add chicken in a single layer and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Allow chicken to cook for a few minutes undisturbed until it starts to turn golden in color. Then stir chicken around to brown all over. After a few minutes remove to a separate bowl with a slotted spatulaor spoon.

Into the same skillet over medium-high heat , add the onions and garlic and stir to cook. Cook till onion is completely broken down and transparent, it could take a few minutes. You’ll want onions to be golden brown. * hint- if the pan is too dry drizzle a little bit more olive oil.

Reduce the heat to low once onions are broken down and pour in your sauce, red pepper flakes, and the 1/2 cup of water. Stir until the onions and garlic are mixed in then add the chicken back into the pan. Stir until heated through on a low simmer, about 5-8 minutes.

Making sure the sauce is bubbly and hot , place mozzarella into the pan. Let it sit, don’t bother with it for a few minutes, just let it heat through. You’ll be able to tell that mozzarella has softened without completely melting.

Drain the pasta and either pour onto a platter or separately plate it up. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle on Parmesan shavings or grated parmesan–just a little.

Pour on the sauce, sprinkle with fresh basil and serve immediately! Obviously if someone still wants extra cheese that’s their business. I left it on the table but even Joel who is a giant cheese lover didn’t need any extra.

*Just a little note on mozzarella–it should be soft but still visible and that’s why the small mozzarella balls worked out so well. You’ll want chunks to still be firm without completely falling apart.

Enjoy and this is really easy and fast!

 

 

 

2 Comments

Posted in chicken, pasta, Potatoes, Top Ten Recipes of 2015

Tagged ,

Un-Stuffed Cabbage

Posted on April 3, 2017 | 3 comments

photo 3 (4)photo 2 (2)photo 3 (4)photo 3 (5)photo 4 (3)photo 2I love stuffed cabbage and my Grandmother made the most amazing stuffed cabbage ever . I love stuffed cabbage but do not feel like dealing with the actual stuffing of the cabbage, it is way too labor intensive for me.  I have made several variations of this and found this one to my liking the best. You can play with the ingredients which is what I did . Original recipe is from Kosher by Design and it is perfect for Passover by just leaving out the rice and substituting matzoh meal in its place. Basically this is meatballs in a sweet and sour sauce with cabbage . I doubt very much that Joel would ever eat real “stuffed cabbage” but he liked this. The cabbage cooks down so much that you don’t even realize you’re eating cabbage. I also used 1/2 chicken ground meat and 1/2 beef ground meat , this is entirely up to you. I wouldn’t do all chicken because it might be a bit dry, you can definitely make this with turkey but use dark meat turkey or the balls will also be very dry. You can also make this ahead for the holidays which is always a very good thing and feel free to freeze it.  This is the original recipe , adjust amounts for how much you’re making. I made 2 lbs. of meat but made full sauce as I was testing it out. You’ll want to use a large pot for this recipe. Enjoy!

This will be on our Rosh Hashana and Passover menu this year with raisins and meat , sweet and sour, oh so perfect!

Ingredients:

Meat

3 lbs. ground meat– I used chicken and beef (dark meat turkey is best here) white meat turkey tends to be very dry. Mixed with beef it’s fine but if using alone you’ll need to use dark meat ground turkey.

2 large eggs, lightly beaten. Use room temperature eggs they work best.*see my post about eggs–a little note on my blog.

3/4 cup uncooked long grain white rice, for Passover use matzoh meal and omit the rice

1/4 cup water

1 onion finely chopped

Kosher Salt to taste–app. 1/2 to 1 tablespoon

Pepper to taste–app. 10 grinds on a pepper mill, or app. 1/4 of a tablespoon

*garlic powder if you like

Sauce:

2 packages of shredded cabbage, probably about 1 head of cabbage finely shredded, no need to do it when you can buy it pre-shredded (not red cabbage)

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Kosher Salt to taste ( app. 1/2 tablespoon)

1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups tomato juice

4 8 ounce cans tomato sauce ( or 32 ounces)

1/2 cup brown sugar ( use whichever brown sugar you have in house , it won’t make a difference. Light or Dark, I actually used dark.

1 cup sugar

3 lemons squeezed , I got about 1/2 cup , they were smallish lemons

1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl combine the meat, eggs, water, rice and onions. Season with Salt and Pepper , and if you like garlic powder. Gently mix by hand, and I do mean gently, if you over do it the meat will be like concrete. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shredded cabbage and about 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tomato juice, tomato sauce, brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice and the raisins. Stir till well combined and continue cooking sauce at simmer setting.

Gently form meatballs out of the meat mixture, I made a rather nice size meatball, not too large and not too small. Make whatever size you’d like. Just do not over-handle the meat because it will cause meat to toughen. Add to cabbage mixture, just drop into the hot sauce and do not stir, you can pile them on top of one another because they will cook down.

I left it to simmer for about 1 1/2 hours . I didn’t touch the meat balls for at least the first 1/2 hour, you’ll want them to cook through and form into nice balls before you stir, so just leave them to cook. After the first 1/2 hour or so you can gently stir and move the meatballs around. They don’t require a lot of stirring around .

This dish brought back memories of my childhood and was a most satisfying main dish.

3 Comments

Posted in Holiday, meat, Passover Recipes

Tagged , , ,

Apricot Honey-Mustard Chicken

Posted on April 2, 2017 | 2 comments
IMG_8816

Apricot Preserves (13 ounce size jar) is fine or 12 oz. Honey and delicious Dijon Mustard from Maille

IMG_8831 (2)

straight out of the oven–why you will want to have sprayed baking dish with cooking spray

IMG_8833

Delicious Apricot Honey Mustard Chicken

This is a simple, quick to assemble and delicious chicken recipe.  We prefer chicken thighs because we think they are tastier. I am sure this would be delicious over chicken breasts as well. If making chicken breasts the cooking times could vary. This whole dish from start to finish was just under an hour!!!! Now that’s a recipe I can get behind. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The basting is important. So set your clock to go off every 10 minutes . Whole chicken dish should cook  in 1/2 hour to 40 minutes so that’s 3- 4 basting times. I cooked for about 38 minutes. Use a spoon to baste.

8 chicken thighs will serve 4 people–I made 5 but wanted to check amounts of ingredients so I used full on amounts of sauce which worked out fine and made for easier basting and enough sauce for serving. This recipe will be perfect with 8 average size thighs.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

6-8 chicken thighs (check that they aren’t very small) average to large size thighs –I used bone in thighs. You can use whatever kind of chicken you prefer but I used bone in thighs.

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper  -*see variation on spices below

1 12oz. jar of Apricot Preserves or Jam ( 13 oz. is OK) some jars are 12 oz. and that’s fine as well

2 Tablespoons Honey

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard ( heaping)

*for a variation on this recipe sprinkle paprika, salt, pepper, and curry powder first and then add other ingredients

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Rinse chicken thighs and pat dry. Transfer to a sprayed baking dish ( cooking spray) Season chicken generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides. Set aside.

Bring jam, honey, and mustard mixture to a low boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it starts to boil reduce heat to medium-low or just low. Simmer until sauce thickens and gets reduced by about half, app. 15 minutes. Spoon apricot mixture over chicken thighs in baking dish, spread with spoon to coat evenly.

Bake chicken , basting with sauce from bottom of dish every 10 minutes. Cook until juices run clear when chicken is pricked with a fork. Anywhere from 30 – 40 minutes depending on the size of your chicken thighs. If your chicken doesn’t get that browned up you can always put it under the broiler to crisp up for a few minutes. Just keep an eye on it if you do this.

2 Comments

Posted in chicken

Tagged , ,

Honey Roasted Chicken – Holiday Chicken

Posted on April 1, 2017 | 1 comment

DSCN4234This recipe was actually given to me by my daughter, jennifer. she has made it numerous times. always to raves from the family. i am going to make it this year for rosh hashana and it is so perfect for Passover.  it is a delicious chicken dish made with honey so it so appropriate for the jewish new year! sweet and savory as our new year should be! enjoy it.  if anyone out there has some holiday ideas i’d love to hear about them. pay attention to cooking directions as you will not be preheating oven!!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 stick butter or margarine

1/2 cup minced yellow onion

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard

1/2 cup mild honey

1 teaspoon kosher salt

a rounded teaspoon curry powder

2 tablespoons peach or mango chutney ( available in most supermarkets)

small handful of dried currants or chopped dark raisins

2 roasting chickens  cut up in 8’s

Directions:

you will need 2 shallow baking sheets with 1 inch rims ( you may be able to get it on 1 large sheet)Spray baking sheets well with cooking spray.

to make sauce:

Melt butter/margarine in a heavy 2 quart saucepan over medium heat. while it is bubbling, saute onion and garlic until softened, about 3 – 5 minutes. add remaining ingredients except for chicken and stir until well combined. heat until warm throughout and set aside to cool slightly.

to prepeare chicken:

I would spray each baking sheet with pam cooking spray first

Rinse and pat chicken dry . (each piece) dip each piece in honey mixture, coating chicken completely. lay chicken pieces ( skin side up) on baking sheets. spoon any remaining sauce over chicken.

To Bake Chicken:

place chicken in a cold oven, turn heat to 400 degrees and bake for one hour. if you are using 2 baking sheets , roast in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and switch shelf positions 1/2 way through the cooking time.

to serve:

Transfer chicken to a warmed serving platter and serve . this chicken is good hot, at room temp. and cold out of fridge the next day.

*if you cannot find peach or mango chutney ( I found it at Whole Foods) Stonewall Kitchen Brand , you can use Peach Jam, Apricot Jam, etc. Probably Saucy Susan would work. Use your imagination and don’t kill yourself trying to find the chutney. I think the chutney would give it a bit more kick, and cut the sweet, but either one will be fine.

Happy Holiday and Have a Very Sweet New Year

1 Comment

Posted in chicken, Holiday, Holiday Recipes

Tagged , ,

My Favorite Macaroons–Traditional Style for Passover

Posted on March 31, 2017 | 2 comments

photo 5 (40)I am not sure why I only make these macaroons during Passover. They are definitely my favorites; they are very easy to make, look totally professional, and are the Passover cookie in my book. These can be made ahead of time and stored. I usually make a few days before the Seder because I dip them in melted chocolate (just the tops). You don’t have to dip, you can leave plain. I dip up to 1/2 the macaroon in the chocolate. They are sweet and crunchy on the outside, and moist and chewy on the inside. After Passover, if there are any left over, I freeze them. Cannot have them lying around. Of course you may make these any time of year…they are always welcome on the menu.

*When dipping, just turn macaroon upside down (with peaked part into the chocolate). I usually go just a bit more than the top (probably 1/2 the macaroon into the chocolate). Use as much or as little as you like.

*just a little note, silpat is awesome to use for this recipe instead of parchment paper. You must cool completely before trying to lift off the paper. Also before you dip into chocolate I like to cool down completely.

Ingredients:

3  large egg whites (When I bake, I always leave eggs out so that they are at room temp.)

1/2  cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 package (14 oz.) sweetened, flaked coconut ( I like this Angel Flake Baker’s Brand, but they’re all fine)

*1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips (You can really use any semi-sweet chocolate to melt. It’s just easy with the chips.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (you can use non stick cooking spray, like Pam, but I just line with parchment, which works really well).

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar and salt until frothy. With a fork, stir in coconut until moistened.

Using a level tablespoon (measuring ones are perfect), pack the mixture into the spoon, so all macaroons are equal size. Drop mixture onto prepared sheet (cookies will not spread). Bake until golden brown, about 25 – 30 minutes. Towards the end, check on them to be sure they don’t burn. I make a little peak with my fingers on the cookies before I bake them (this makes for easier dipping).

*To melt chocolate on stove top: I bring a small saucepan of water to a rolling boil, and on top of it put a small stainless (oven proof) bowl filled with the chocolate.( works like a double boiler if you don’t have one) When it completely melts, take off heat. Once macaroons are completely cool, you can dip the tops. Just make sure chocolate and macaroons are cooled off first. Just dip top of cookie in chocolate and place on a plate to cool. When I am all done, I refrigerate the macaroons to set the chocolate. You can leave in fridge until you are ready to serve and take out with enough time to bring to room temp. Before serving, I usually use a cool cookie sheet with parchment paper to cool off cookies once they’ve been dipped.

*should yield about 20 – 25 cookies. You can double if you’d like.

2 Comments

Posted in cookies, dessert, Passover Recipes

Tagged , , , ,

Passover Popovers

Posted on March 29, 2017 | Leave a comment

Super easy , super light and delicious. Give this one a try. These are delicious during Passover with some preserves for Breakfast as well as with your Seder Meal. Enjoy and Happy Passover Cooking from my kitchen to yours. I used a muffin tin and it worked out perfectly. Bake these light airy treats for your Seder to rave reviews. One per person is perfect , this recipe yielded 9 popovers. photo20130321-113701.jpg photo

Ingredients:

1 cup cake meal

4 eggs — always work with room temperature eggs unless otherwise stated for best results

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup peanut oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the cake meal, salt and sugar in a bowl.

Bring oil and water to a boil, add cake meal mixture and remove from stove.

Beat in one egg at a time and mix a lot. It will be thick.

Allow to stand for 15 minutes.

Drop into a well-greased muffin or popover tin using a tablespoon to 3/4 full. I spray with cooking spray . I used a Canola Oil baking spray, or lightly grease pan with canola oil.

Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes till medium golden brown. I placed pan in the center of the oven .

Warm before serving if desired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Baked Goods, bread, Holiday, Holiday Recipes, muffins, Passover Recipes

Tagged , , ,

New Meatloaf

Posted on March 28, 2017 | 2 comments

I just purchased A Meatloaf in Every Oven written by Frank Bruni and Jennifer Steinhauer. I love meatloaf and it is the quintessential comfort food bringing back all the flavors of my childhood. I don’t remember exactly how my Mother prepared it but I loved eating it for dinner and having cold left-overs the next day. I have other meatloaf recipes on my blog that are also worth checking out. This one was originally written as Leslie Bruni’s Meatloaf but I made a few changes to the original recipe. I made it both ways and I loved the way I made it last night with Beef, Lamb and Pork. It’s rich and delicious. Who doesn’t love meatloaf? If you are in the mood for some serious comfort food this is my suggestion. And check out the fabulous book available everywhere books are sold and Amazon.

There are a lot of ingredients but I stock a loaf of white bread in my freezer just for times like this. You’ll need some whole milk as well. This isn’t the recipe for dieting I’m afraid, but sometimes you just gotta go for it. Ain’t nothing like the real thing.

Enjoy! and let the comfort begin.

Ingredients:

I used 1 lb. Ground Beef Chuck, 1/4 lb. ground lamb, 1/4 lb. ground pork –you can just use 1 1/2 lbs. of Ground Beef Chuck or Dark Meat Turkey if you’d prefer. This recipe is for 1 1/2 lbs. meat.

1 medium onion-minced , so if you buy it diced give it some more cutting and get it into small pieces

1 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1 cup plain tomato sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar–dark or light doesn’t really matter but if you’re going to go shopping  buy light brown sugar, I think it looks better

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

3 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed and bread torn

1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs – I used what is known as “traditional ” bread crumbs, just don’t use flavored – you already have enough flavoring and it will add too much salt

meatloaf before sauce
meatloaf plated up
with sauce on top ready for oven

1/2 cup whole milk

2 large eggs , lightly beaten

2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 9×13 with aluminum foil, lightly spray with a nonstick cooking spray. In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. I like the onions completely transparent and softened (not browned). App. 10 minutes and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk the tomato sauce with the brown sugar, vinegar, mustard and Worcestershire Sauce.

In another small mixing bowl, dip the torn white bread in the 1/2 cup whole milk, then gently squeeze out the liquid with your clean hands . Transfer the bread to a large bowl and discard the excess milk. Add the onion, meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce mixture and mix until just combined.

*a little trick if you’re mixing meats like I did. Take small pieces of each different meat to mix together so that it’s well combined

Transfer to the pan. Firmly pat the meat mixture into a loaf , app. 9×5 should do it. See pictures of my loaf. Spread the remaining sauce over the top. Bake for 1 hour and check temperatures on an instant read thermometer inserted in the center should register 160 degrees. Let rest for 10 minutes and slice and serve. If it’s not cooked after an hour put back for 10 minutes at a time till your meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees.

I served with burnt broccoli and smashed potatoes! Yum!

*should serve 4-6 nicely depending on your eaters

 

 

 

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Passover Cobbler

Posted on March 27, 2017 | 4 comments

photo 1 (65)photo 3 (51)photo 1photo 4 (2) It is 2 weeks before Passover and I am trying to get out to you as many recipes as I can . This one is a very nice light fruit cobbler for dessert it is very easy to make and small prep time. It’s nice to make this with a few different fruits , I used apples, pears and strawberries. Use whatever fruits you like, but I will say that the strawberries added the zing it needed, I wouldn’t omit them. I used a whole pint of strawberries and sliced them thinly. Pretty tasty for a Pesach cobbler.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs (room temperature)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup Vegetable oil

3/4 cup matzo meal

2 tablespoons potato starch

6-8 cups fruit, peeled and sliced like apples, pears, and strawberries ( I used a whole pint of strawberries, 2 apples and 2 pears)

1/8 cup cinnamon sugar ( you can just make this yourself, 1/8 cup of sugar mixed with a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×9 square baking pan.

Beat eggs with sugar until well blended. Add the oil, matzo meal and potato starch and blend well. I used an electric mixer.

Put all the fruit in the pan and sprinkle with most of the cinnamon sugar, reserving a little for the top. Spoon the batter over the fruit, covering as much of the fruit as you can. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.

Bake until the topping is set and just turning a tan like color, about 45 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

*If you let the fruit sit for a while with cinnamon sugar mixture the flavors really soak in. So if you have the time I would do this. If not , it’s fine as well.

This will freeze perfectly . Just let it completely cool down before freezing. I cut into squares for freezing.

 

4 Comments

Posted in Baked Goods, fruit cobblers

Tagged , , ,

Peach Farfel for Passover – crowd favorite

Posted on March 26, 2017 | 3 comments

I believe my friend Audrey gave this recipe to me originally many years ago.  It has been on our Passover table ever since. Actually a few years back  I had thought I had it scanned into my computer (under Passover Recipes) and I couldn’t find it. Lucky for me, I know my friend Carol always makes it and her family loves it, so here it is. With 2 weeks to go till Passover I am going to try to post as many Passover Recipes as possible . This one is really a winner! Remember to read recipes through before making them, familiarize yourself with the recipe, the method, and the ingredients. This will help you when you go to actually make a recipe.
Recipes tend to spread out to a wide group of people, so they usually don’t get lost. Sort of the reasoning behind this website as I will now have all my recipes under one tidy little roof ! Enjoy this one; it is sweet and makes for a delicious side dish with poultry or beef. This has always been a crowd pleaser. I know, the amount of eggs is obscene on this holiday! This one has 7 eggs in it!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 box matzoh farfel (I think it’s in a canister now only)

2 15 oz. cans sliced peaches

7 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 sticks margarine, melted

2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups hot water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place dry farfel in a bowl, then pour hot water over it. Let stand until absorbed.

In a separate bowl, combine eggs, syrup from peaches, salt, sugar, margarine, and vanilla. Add farfel and combine well. In a well sprayed 9 x 12 baking dish, pour 1/2 the mixture, then arrange a layer of peaches on top. Add remaining mixture on top, then top with remaining peaches. Sprinkle with just a bit of cinnamon if you’d like. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve hot out of oven, or room temp. It is quite delicious at room temperature, if you don’t have the room in your oven, and it makes for a pretty awesome leftover.

Can be assembled, cooked 1/2 way through, then cooked the rest of the way through on the day of the holiday.

3 Comments

Posted in Dairy, meatless, Passover Recipes

Tagged , ,

Traditional Ashkenazi Charoset–Apple/Walnut

Posted on March 24, 2017 | Leave a comment

DSCN2703This is my easiest Charoset. It’s traditional in the sense that it’s an Ashkenazi (Eastern European) recipe. I add a little brown sugar instead of white sugar and it gives it just a bit more character. This makes about 4 cups, but you can easily double it. My family loves it, so I always make a double batch. Remember, while a reminder of the mortar used in making bricks for Pharaoh, charoset is really just a sweet condiment of apples and wine!

Ingredients:

3 medium Fuji apples (or any other kind you like), peeled, cored and finely diced (use processor to make your life simpler) I usually use whatever is in the house, but on Passover I go through so many apples, so buy what you like (I always like Granny Smith because they are nice and tart)

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped (buy them pre-chopped)

1/2 cup sweet red wine such as Manischewitz Extra Heavy Malaga or just Concord Grape is fine

*20 pitted dates, chopped; or 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

*for a bit of extra added flavor you can add 1/2 teaspoon of powdered ginger (optional)

Directions:

After chopping apples, stir all ingredients in a large bowl. Keep in refrigerator ’til ready to serve. Serve at room temperature. You can also pulse everything together in processor, just be very careful not to over-process. I often do this to save time. You don’t want it too fine, so just go gently with the processor if you go that route. I do it in the processor, and I know exactly how I like it to come out, so go easy with the chopping.  If it’s a little dry or too thick, you can always add more wine. I find this always tastes better after it sits and allows the wine  to really soak and ripen for 24 hours. Before serving, check for consistency and add a little more wine, if necessary.

Leave a comment

Posted in condiment, Holiday Recipes, Passover Recipes, Raw, sides, vegetarian

Tagged , , ,