Vegan Chopped Liver

We were making our Passover Seder, and wanted everyone to be able to partake in that joyous Passover tradition that is chopped liver. Now, I know, 'vegan chopped liver'...a little suspicious sounding. I was skeptical too. I might have been more hesitant, but Becca and I had recently been to a local vegetarian food festival where we tried some excellent vegan "Faux Gras", so we knew it was possible and thought we were up for the challenge. 

I will preface this post by saying that our recipe is not as delicious as real chopped liver. However, our resident vegan absolutely loved it; and I will admit that it bore a surprisingly similar hint of chopped liver flavor. Overall, it's a work in progress, and if we were to make this again the number one thing we would change would be to spice it up more so as not to be too bland. 

Anyway, enough of my glowing review. If you're a vegan, you're liable to love it! If you're not a vegan...you might like it too?

The up side is that it's really simple to make. Saute 1/2 lb of mushrooms  and 1 chopped onion until they begin to brown. 

Toss it in a food processor with 3 Tbsp of oil (we used olive), 1C of walnuts, salt and pepper to taste.

Blend until it looks like chopped liver. Keep in mind that unless you cooled your sauteed mushrooms and onions, your pate is going to be very warm. Be sure to let the "liver" rest in the fridge before serving, however, as it is much more reminiscent of actual chopped liver when it is chilled. 

Ahi Tuna Tacos

This is a very easy, and very delicious fusion of two of our favorite cuisines. Japanese and Mexican. I was inspired by an excellent Korean fusion kalbi taco from the amazing food truck Seoul Food, and we decided that putting our seared ahi tuna recipe into taco form was long overdue. 

You will need:

Tortillas (we used whole wheat from Trader Joes)

1 C Rice

2 Eggs 

Chopped Veggies/edamame (optional)

1 Avocado

Lemon Juice

Two ahi tuna steaks

Soy Sauce

Oil (preferably peanut or sesame)

Brown Sugar 

Sriracha (optional)

Garlic Powder

Ginger

First, steam your rice until cooked and sticky. Then toss your rice into a pan and stir fry it with soy sauce, oil,  the eggs, brown sugar, and veggies. 

This would also be a good time to start marinading your tuna. Combine in a dish some soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, garlic powder, and ginger. Let the tuna sit for about a half hour, flipping ever 5-10 minutes. 

While your rice is steaming, prep your guacamole. I think the best guac is the simplest, just a ripe avocado mashed with lemon juice and salt. You can add some diced tomato if you want.

Next sear your tuna steaks. I like to start with a preheated pan so that the tuna starts cooking as soon as it hits the pan. Turn the burner on high and let the pan heat for a couple minutes. Throw on the steaks and make sure to watch them closely. If you truly want your steaks seared (raw in the center) it will only take 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side. Once cooked, place on a plate and slice.

Toss a pile of rice, tuna, and guacamole onto a warm tortilla. This is a good time to add some Sriracha if you like a little spice. I like to wrap my burritos Chipolte style (ie. start with the food in the middle of the tortilla - fold the two sides in first and then wrap it up like a tube) but its totally up to you.

Hope you enjoy this fusion as much as we did. Mi teppanyaki es su teppanyaki.

Chocolate Toffee Matzah

Ingredients

1/2 pound matzo

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

about 8 ounces chocolate chips

Directions

Lay matzo out on foil lined cookie sheets.

Heat up the brown sugar and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil until the mixture coats a spoon.

Brush brown sugar mixture on matzo. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 3 to 4 minutes until it starts to bubble. Cover with chocolate chips and place back in the oven until the chips start to melt.

Spread the chocolate to cover the matzo.

Place in the freezer until the matzo is hard. Break the matzo into pieces and serve!

Passover Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

8 egg yolks

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon lemon (or orange) zest

3/4 cup matzo cake meal

1/4 cup potato starch

8 egg whites

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 containers of strawberries

1 1/2 tubs of cool whip

In a medium bowl, whip egg yolks until light. While continuing to whip, gradually add 1 cup of the sugar and the lemon zest. Continue whipping until the mixture is thick and pale, or for about 7 minutes.

In a separate bowl mix together the matzo cake meal and potato starch and set aside.

In a medium to large sized bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, continuing to beat until white form stiff peaks.

Slowly fold the dry ingredients into the yolk mixture, alternating with adding the juice. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Spread evenly into a pan (rectangle or bundt pan would work). Bake for about an hour and ten minutes at 325 degrees or until cake springs back with your touch.

Once the cake has been cooled, break the cake up into pieces.

In a rectangular pan spread some of the cake pieces.

Sprinkle some of the strawberry over the cake pieces.

Spread some cool whip.

Add another layer of cake and strawberries.

Spread a layer of cool whip on top.

Sprinkle some strawberries on top and dig in!

Potato Kugel

Ingredients

4 large potatoes, grated

1 onion, grated

3 Tablespoons olive oil, separated

1 to 2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2 tablespoon potato starch

Saute the grated onions in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the paprika and continue to saute until the onion is soft, but not yet brown.

In a large bowl, mix the onions and the potatoes. Add the potato starch and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and continue stirring until well mixed.

Press into greased muffin pans, sptize the top with a little bit more oil, and bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Sephardic Charoset

Charoset may possibly be one of my favorite Passover dishes. It's a dish that I always look forward to but never really eat the rest of the year. We both decided we wanted to make Sephardic charoset, which traditionally uses more dried fruits than Ashkenazi Charoset.  I liked this recipe so much I think I may make it sometime as a healthy snack, outside of Passover.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dates, pitted and cut in half

1/2 cup dried apricots, cut in half

1 apple, unpeeled, cored and diced

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup chopped pecans (can use walnuts)

about 2 tablespoons red wine (optional)

Blend dates, apricots, apple, cinnamon, and allspice in a food processor until chopped.

Add pecans and pulse until mixture is blended, but not pureed.

Pour in a bowl, add wine (optional), and refrigerate for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Matzo Ball Soup

We decided we wanted to do something for Passover this year. Since both of our parents tend to host holiday functions at their houses, we really liked the idea of inviting a bunch of people over for a big meal. We decided to make a traditional meal with some of our favorite people in New York and skip the seder, our least favorite part. While it was a lot of hard work, it was completely worth it and so much fun. Not only did we have great company and food, but we now have some new awesome Passover recipes to add to our collection. We'll start with the ever so popular, matzo ball soup.

Ingredients

Vegetable Stock (can use beef or chicken as well)

Carrots (or other veggies of choice)

Matzo ball mix

eggs

oil

Mix the matzo balls as instructed on the box. Once mixed, put the dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Once you take them out, starting bringing your broth to a boil in a large pot.

For the matzo balls to the size of your liking, keeping in mind they will expand. Once formed, plop them into the boiling soup and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 30 minutes. It may be tempting to take off the lid to take a peak, but keep the lid on for the 30 minutes to avoid sinkers. 

Enjoy!

Easy Hamantaschen

Purim came so quickly this year, we didn't really realize it was Purim until we were walking around the Upper West Side and saw tons of kids dressed up in costumes walking to temple. I wanted to make Hamantaschen but had to make do with what little ingredients we had lying around. This recipe is super easy and pretty good, but keep in mind following this recipe will not produce a traditional Hamantaschen cookie. 

Ingredients

1 Pillsbury pie crust

jam or topping of your choice (I used raspberry jam)

I first floured a clean surface and unrolled the pie crust. I then used a cup to cut out circles in the dough. I put about a tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle of dough and folded up the edges and pinched the sides to create a triangle (see below).

Once I had filled the first batch of circular dough and put them on a baking sheet, I balled up the remaining dough, rolled it out and continued the process of cutting the circles, adding the filling and folding/pinching to create the triangular "cookie". I continued the process until I used up all of the dough.

After placing all of the Hamantaschen on a baking sheet, I put them in the oven at the temperature indicated on the box (450 degrees). I baked them until the top began to brown or about 10 to 12 minutes.

Another great cheat that my mom often uses is using ready made cookie dough as the crust. This produces a Hamantaschen that is closer to the traditional Hamantaschen.

Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

A while back a good friend of my family made us potato soup. It was so creamy and delicious that I oftentimes remembered the soup and thought about how I would like to try to make it. On a particularly chilly day a few weeks ago, Michael and I decided to give the recipe a shot but make a few modifications. It was pretty easy and turned out really well. I'm hoping we will be making this soup more regularly.

We chopped and sauteed about 3/4 or so of an onion in a large pot. 

We also added in some raw turkey bacon pieces and continued sauteing until the onion was translucent and the turkey bacon was cooked. While sauteing the onion and turkey bacon, cut up 4 or 5 red potatoes into about inch thick pieces.

Once the turkey bacon and onion are ready, throw the potatoes in the pot and add water until the water  is about even with the top of the potatoes and bring it to a boil. We added some dill at this point, but that is optional. 

Cover the pot and let the potatoes cook until they are fully cooked, or soft to the touch of a fork.

Next, we used a hand mixer to mash the potatoes. While mashing, we added in some almond milk (any type of milk would work) and continued to use the mixer until the consistency was to our liking. Add some salt and pepper to taste. If you like spicy foods, I highly recommend adding some hot paprika or hot ground pepper into the soup. 

Serve warm with slices of fresh bread and topped with cheese, sour cream, or whatever baked potato toppings you prefer. Enjoy!

PS - thanks for the recipe Scott!!