"passover recipes" news and stories

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.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Ditch the pedestrian version of matzo brei (who needs french toast?), for these variations.
• Matzo is a springboard for your Seder menu.
• Babies are best eaten during spring.
• Pork isn't kosher, but it can be heavenly -- especially in a sandwich topped with lemon slaw.
• This must be a trick question -- artichokes vs. asparagus?
• Celebrate more than Passover -- it's National Noodle Month -- try cooking something out of Easy Asian Noodles.
• Next year in a new restaurant?

Passover starts at sundown tomorrow and we've got you covered over at AOL Food. Check out our Matzo Ball 101 (the secret ingredient, as we reveal, is schmaltz -- more than a sentimental moment, it's literally chicken fat!) and oodles of other recipes including a delectable-lookin' Merlot-drenched beef brisket with prunes. So take a gander before you hustle out the door to do your shopping tonight.

Got a knockout Passover recipe? Share it in the comments!

Whatever dessert you end up having for Passover, please avoid those macaroons in the can. At the Passover Seder, we traditionally ask 4 questions. I propose adding a 5th question: Why on all other nights do we eat baked goods that come in bags, boxes, or direct from the oven and on this night we eat baked goods from a can?

Even moving past canned macaroons, I'm not typically a big fan of Passover desserts. These kosher for Passover chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting, however, are so tasty that I could eat them year round. One of my friends even told me it was the best cupcake she had ever had!

They are extremely rich - almost like fudge - so if you have mini cupcake wrappers, you might consider using those instead of normal-sized ones. You could also make the cupcake recipe in cake format.

The recipe can be found on Cupcake Project.

Though we are not Jewish, my daughter attends a Jewish preschool. This week, in preparation for Passover, her school has been sending home wonderful hand-outs full of activities on how to celebrate and honor this holiday.

My favorite hand-out, of course, was the one with five pages of Passover recipes including these matzah recipes.  These would be fun to do with kids if you've got 'em.

Chocolate Matzah
1 large package chocolate chips
1 tbsp margarine
4 matzah

Melt chocolate and margarine over low heat. Stir to prevent burning. Break matzah into pieces and stir into chocolate. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Pour chocolate matzah mixture onto waxed paper. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper and flatten with a rolling pin. Refrigerate. When mixture hardens, peel off waxed paper and break chocolate into pieces.