Holidays

How to Hard-Boil Eggs

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 22nd 2011 @ 12:00PM

how to ahrd boil eggs for Easter egg dying Photo: Getty Images

Easter-egg time is not the time to mess up the hard-boiled eggs. And, sure, you may think you've got it down pat. But here's the thing: If you cook those eggs beautifully now, after Easter has come and gone, you'll have perfect hard-cooked eggs to simply salt and eat or make into egg salad, potato salad, or a bunch of other delicious dishes. (Get a dozen recipes for leftover Easter eggs here.)

Hard-Boiled Eggs
Brown shells are thicker than white shells, and thus more crack-resistant, making them ideal for hard-boiling. There's no other differences between white and brown eggs -- they just come from different breeds of hen.

Cover the eggs with an inch of water, and then remove the eggs. Bring the water to a boil, and lower the eggs into the water with a spoon or tongs. The boil will die down, but when it resumes, lower the heat and simmer the eggs to your desired doneness (about 10 minutes). Experiment with timing to find what works best for you (you can cook them up to 15 minutes).

A pinhole in the tip of the egg will keep the shell from cracking due to trapped air.

Drain hot water and fill pan with cold water. Allow eggs to sit in cold water in order to stop the cooking process.

Watch a video on how to cook eggs.

Find out all about eggs: how to soft boil, hard boil, fry, scramble, bake and more in KitchenDaily's "How to Cook Eggs."

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

Buttery Easter Layer Cake with Lemon Curd: Recipe of the Day

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 22nd 2011 @ 10:00AM

Buttery Lemon Curd Easter Peeps Cake recipe Photo: Lara Ferroni

Rich lemon curd is the surprise sandwiched between layers of fluffy yellow cake frosted in buttercream in this spring-inspired Easter dessert. A ring of sweet Peeps surrounds the cake for a festive touch.

Get the recipe for Buttery Easter Layer Cake with Lemon Curd.

Get the recipe for Peep Cake Pops.

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

Brown Sugar and Spice Baked Ham: Recipe of the Day

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 21st 2011 @ 10:00AM

Brown Sugar Spice Baked Ham Recipe Photo: Lara Ferroni

Ham this good, and well-spiced with chili powder, cinnamon, allspice, and Dijon mustard, will do your Easter table proud. KitchenDaily contributor Melissa Clark's recipe tempers the spices with a healthy dose of brown sugar, which creates a beautiful caramelized effect.

Get the recipe for Brown Sugar and Spice Baked Ham.

Get our Traditional Easter Menu.

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

Easter Bunny Cake: Recipe of the Day

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 20th 2011 @ 10:00AM

Easter Bunny Cake recipe Photo: Elizabeth Hait, AOL

Hippity-hoppity, Easter's on its way. So get baking. Mr. Cottontail is a combination of yellow cake (in various sizes), vanilla buttercream frosting, a couple of candies (for his eyes) and a little fondant (for his ears, nose, mouth, and whiskers). It's an easy cake to make, and if you have kids, this is a great kitchen project for the whole gang.

Get the recipe for the Bunny Rabbit Cake.

Get the How-to for the Bunny Rabbit Cake.

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

Chocolate Seder: New Tradition or Bad Idea?

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by Jason Best, Posted Apr 19th 2011 @ 12:00PM

chocolate milk at seder Photos: Getty Images

The Old Testament talks about a promised land filled with milk and honey. Apparently, they forgot about the M&Ms.

While in preparation for Passover, the most observant Jews will painstakingly remove all traces of leavened grain (chametz) from their homes (an ancient custom that commemorates their forebears' hasty flight -- they left so quick that they didn't have time to wait for the bread to rise). But one temple has gone in a pretty unorthodox direction. They've organized a "chocolate seder" for its youth group, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Gone are the regular staples of the traditional Passover meal, like matzo, parsley dipped in saltwater, and bitter herbs. Instead, the kids scarfed down green M&Ms and graham crackers slathered in marshmallow fluff after reciting an opening prayer: "Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, creator of cocoa beans of the tree." Jugs of chocolate milk replaced the traditional wine.

"People get so caught up with the food and all the rules of what you are and aren't allowed to eat," the temple's rabbi, Amy Feder, told the Post-Dispatch. "What's neat about the chocolate is it's a reminder that the foods that we eat at Passover are symbols."

To which a ghost chorus of ancient elders replied: "Oy, vey!"

Filed under: Newspapers, Holidays

Spice-Rubbed Brisket with Roasted Vegetables: Recipe of the Day

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 19th 2011 @ 10:00AM

Spice-Rubbed Brisket with Roasted Carrots and Parsnips recipe Photo: New Media Publishing / Flat Art Studios.com

Whether you're celebrating a Passover Seder or just love tender, delicious meat, this brisket is a sure thing. KitchenDaily contributor Ruth Cousineau rubs the beef with a mixture of paprika, salt, cinnamon and pepper, and roasts it with parsnips and carrots for a hearty, fragrant meal.

Get the recipe for Spice-Rubbed Brisket with Roasted Carrots and Parsnips.

Get a menu and recipes for the World's Easiest Seder.

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

Passover Recipes from a Book of Remembrance

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by Jason Best, Posted Apr 18th 2011 @ 4:00PM

Photo: Amazon

Passover begins tonight, and before heading out to your first Seder, you might check out this article in the New Jersey Star-Ledger to get into the spirit of things (and to remind yourself of the rich traditions of Jewish cooking, way beyond matzo).

The Jewish festival, of course, commemorates the release of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Everything that's served at a traditional Seder is steeped in symbolism -- which doesn't always make for the type of dish that you might dream about eating all year (celery with vinegar, anyone?).

But what about creamy noodle kugels, piquant cold borscht or the perfect marriage of warm potato dumplings topped with brisket? These and a host of other recipes culled from the memories of Holocaust survivors have been collected by June Feiss Hersh in a soon-to-be-released cookbook, Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival.

The Star-Ledger profiled the work of Hersh and talked to some of the survivors she features in her book, which apparently also showcases some surprising recipes, like a tres leches cake and gnocchi alla romana, collected from Jews who fled the Nazis for places like the Dominican Republic or Italy.

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

World's Easiest Passover Seder Menu

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 18th 2011 @ 2:00PM

Passover charoset recipe Photo: New Media Publishing / Flat Art Studios.com

Here's everything you need for a Seder dinner that is perfect for the occasion of gathering friends and family, and that's perfectly simple and delicious.

KitchenDaily contributor Ruth Cousineau has come up with a menu that includes charoset of apples, spices, and sweet red wine, light and fluffy matzo-ball soup, gefilte fish loaf, a spice-rubbed brisket with roasted vegetables, a parsley-fennel salad, and meringue nests with rhubarb and strawberry sauce.

Get the World's Easiest Seder Menu.

Filed under: Holidays, Recipes

President Obama's Passover Seder

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 15th 2011 @ 2:00PM

President Obama's White House Seder Photo: Pete Souza, The White House / AP Photo

President Obama is hosting his third annual White House Seder on the first night of Passover, April 18, 2011, complete with a full Seder menu including brisket, noodle kugel and macaroons.

The tradition started in a windowless basement of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Sheraton , during the April 2008 campaign, when Eric Lesser, then Ground Logistic Coordinator (he's now the Director of Strategic Planning for Austan Goolsbee, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers), got his hands on an "emergency Seder kit" from the University of Pennsylvania's Hillel Center. As Lesser and his fellow campaign staffers Arun Chaudhary and Herbie Ziskend were about to begin the Seder, Obama asked if he could join.

Instead of ending the meal with the customary "Next year in Jerusalem," Obama said "Next year in the White House." True to his word, the Seder continues at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Filed under: Holidays, Celebrities

Take A Cadbury Creme Egg Quiz

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by Slashfood Editor, Posted Apr 7th 2011 @ 4:00PM

Cadbury Creme Eggs for Easter Photo: sea turtle, Flickr

What is it about Cadbury Creme Eggs that inspires such devotion? Sure, the chocolate's good, and the vanilla creme inside has the weird-egg-yolk-novelty thing going for it, but is it really any better than say, a Snickers bar? If you're a fan, you're not alone -- the company makes over 300 million of them each year. Surprised? YumSugar's got a fun quiz that reveals even more creme egg trivia.

Take the quiz at YumSugar.com.

Filed under: On the Blogs, Holidays