The article lists 10 very helpful tips for Passover cooking for Seder. Read on to know how to prepare the best Pesach Seder.
Passover Cooking Tips
Passover is a religious festival of the Jews that begins on the 14th day of Nisan (end March of early April). All the Jewish communities of the world celebrate the day with tremendous enthusiasm and zeal, as it is one of their most important festivals. Celebrators indulge in feasting and cook a variety of delectable delicacies for the Seder meal. However, Passover cooking can be very time-consuming and exhaustive. It also requires the observance of the Pesach cooking customs. Leaving everything for the eleventh hour can put you into a mad rush at the last moment. Below given are some tips for Passover cooking, which will help you to organize your Seder well.
Passover Cooking Tips
Breakfast Options
- Eggs (fried, scrambled, poached, whatever)
- Omelet
- Hash brown potatoes
- Matzah brie
Lunch Options
- Leftovers from the previous night's dinner
- Tuna salad or egg salad on a tomato
- Cold cuts on matzah or Atkins-style
- Salad (mix olive oil with cider vinegar and spices to make a homemade dressing)
Dinner Options
- Good old-fashioned steak and potatoes
- Beef stew (potato starch can be used for thickening).
- Pot roast (potato starch can be used for thickening).
- Meatballs or meatloaf (use matzah meal instead of rice or bread crumbs).
- Stuffed peppers (use matzah meal instead of rice/bread crumbs)
- Beef brisket
- Holishkes (stuffed cabbage)
- Roasted chicken or turkey (gravy can be thickened with potato starch)
- Chicken with lemon wine sauce (if desired, matzah meal can be used for breading)
- Matzah lasagna
Substitute For Ingredients
- You can use potato starch, instead of cornstarch or flour to thicken or increase the consistency of sauces, stews or gravies.
- Bread crumbs used to make breading for dishes, such as fried chicken or eggplant parmesan, can be substituted by matzah meal, which is ground into pieces about the size of bread crumbs.
- Matzal farfel (chunks of Matzah) can be used as a substitute for noodles, rice or pasta, as a side dish. It can soak up the sauces nicely and can be a great addition to the main course. Matzal farfel can be used as the basis for a Kosher-for-Passover stuffing.
Additional Tips
- Choosing recipes that can be made in advance, so that you have to do as little cooking as possible on Passover, can help you a great deal on the day of organizing the Seder. You can use the extra time in setting the table and preparing the Seder plate.
- Passover cooking can take a lot of time as you have to follow the restrictions, which means that the ingredients, cooking utensils, pots, pans and many other items in your kitchen have to be new. Additionally, one has to exercise certain caution in Passover cooking. As such, it's advisable to start the cooking early, so that you don't have to make a rush at the last moment.
