Matza Ball Gratin

Passover, one of my favorite holidays, is coming up, and most people start the meal with matza ball soup. Usually we eat up all the soup, but sometimes-- like the other night, when we did a pre-passover soup test run-- we had some matza balls leftover. They were particularly flavorful and I wanted to make something with them that was different and unexpected. We had been eating a lot of parmentiers lately and this was surely inspired by them.

You'll need:
4 leftover matza balls
2 cups milk
2T butter
2T flour
1c grated cheese (we used comte, which is like gruyere, but a mix of cheeses is fine too)
1/4c parmesan
1 onion
1lb ground meat
5 cloves garlic
1T cumin
1/2t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make a bechamel by melting the butter in a saucepan, whisking in the flour, letting it turn golden brown and then adding the milk slowly. Let it bubble til it's thick, and then whisk in the grated cheese.

In the meantime (probably while the bechamel is thickening), chop and saute the onion and add the meat, crushed garlic, and spices. Add salt and pepper and saute until meat is brown, working it into small bits as it cooks.

Pour meat into a small baking dish. Slice matza balls into 1/4 inch thick slices and place in one layer over meat. Pour bechamel over and top with parmesan. Bake until brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Matza Pasta with Dandelion Green & Meat Ragout

Matza pasta was pretty much my favorite passover food as a child. I know it sounds weird, but don't knock it 'til you've tried it. Briefly cooked matza strips make a surprisingly good pasta alternative-- they even have a similar texture. My favorite way to have them is with butter, parmesan, and black pepper, but this ragout makes this more of a meal-- and can easily be served with regular pasta.

Dandelion greens have replaced kale and chard in the farmers markets and are a delicious cooking green (you don't even have to cook them-- they make a good salad too, especially with a warm vinaigrette). As an added bonus, they're remarkably healthy, with more iron & calcium than spinach and even antioxidant properties. They're slightly bitter so the sauce I made is kind of on the sweet side-- if you're using no greens, or a less bitter green (like kale), add some cayenne & cumin to the meat at the end of the browning step and skip the roasted garlic.

You'll need:

3-4 pieces of matza per person (this recipe makes enough sauce for 3-4 people)
1 lb ground beef, about 85% (I used Kobe, as it was on sale, but you can use sirloin or just chuck)
1 large leek, chopped
2 spring garlic, chopped
2T red pepper flakes
1 head roasted garlic (optional, adds sweetness)
2T tomato paste
1 large (28 oz) can peeled Roma tomatoes in sauce
3 handfuls dandelion greens, large stems removed
1T olive oil
1/4c red wine or other liquid

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the beef, salt and pepper. Break up the meat with a wooden spatula and saute until brown. Add leek, spring garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute about 5 more minutes until meat starts to stick to skillet. Add tomato paste and stir to combine; cook 1 more minute. Deglaze with wine (or any liquid), scraping the bottom of the pan. Add tomatoes in their juices and roasted garlic, if using. Stir to combine and lower heat to a simmer.

Boil salted water for the matza. Break matza into long thin strips-- you're going for something resembling pappardelle here. It's ok if they break in two. Put the dry strips on a plate while the water is boiling. When the water is ready, gently add the matza strips, leaving the crumbs behind on the plate (they'll turn the whole thing gooey-- that's why you don't just break the matza into the pot). The matza only needs about 1 minute to cook; taste it for doneness before removing and straining.


Top cooked matza with sauce and a sprinkling of cheese (I used pecorino, above). Serve immediately and mix well to coat matza. (You'll probably need a higher sauce:matza ratio than with pasta.)

Roasted Chicken on Potatoes

Ben and Suzanne made some lovely chicken and potatoes for Passover Sunday; I had seconds on potatoes for the first time in years, and was inspired to make my own version. I'm using bone-in breasts, which are a great compromise for those white meat lovers; you can remove the skin after cooking, but the skin and bone add an enormous amount of flavor and prevent the meat from drying out-- a common danger for roasted chicken. If you make this with skinless boneless breasts, cook for less time; with thighs, cook a little longer (it's hard to dry out thighs though-- dark meat is much more forgiving).

The chicken was incredibly moist and full of spicy flavors. The potatoes didn't turn out as crispy as I would have liked, but they were very flavorful and had a nice bite. Next time I might skip the blanching step and just roast them, starting them 30 minutes before the chicken to give them time to start cooking and crisping up. I'll post updates if I try this again.

You'll need:

2 split chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
1T each: cumin, cayenne, coriander, paprika, five spice powder, za'atar & cumin za'atar (or whatever you have on hand)
2-3 large yukon gold potatoes
1 onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2c chicken broth
juice of 1 lemon
1t turmeric

Mix spices (except for turmeric) in a small bowl. Add some salt and adjust seasoning to taste. Remove excess skin & fat from breasts (there's always an extra flap of skin at the tip of the breast). Rub all over with spices and marinate for a few hours or overnight.

Clean potatoes (don't peel, just scrub & dig the eyes out) and slice in 1/4" slices. Cover with salted water; bring to a boil and simmer to cook potatoes briefly (about 5 minutes). Set aside to dry.

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat oil in a large skillet and brown chicken, skin side down, until well browned. Flip and brown the other side for a minute or two. Remove.

Add dried potato slices to oil and saute 5 minutes to absorb spices from the chicken. Push into a flat layer. Top with onion slices and garlic cloves. Stir turmeric into lemon juice & broth; pour over potatoes. Place browned chicken, skin side up, on top. (Can be prepared a few hours ahead up until this point.)


Bake until chicken is done (155 degrees), about 35 minutes. Serve with green beans or a salad.

Salmon & Feta Bimuelos

Bimuelos are fried deliciousness. There are two types, sweet and savory: fritters, like donuts, bathed in sweet date syrup (these are everyone's favorite, but too sweet for me) and fried matza pockets stuffed with ground beef or a potato-cheese mixture. Here, I've adapted the savory type to an easy lunch meal. I always have canned wild Alaskan salmon on hand-- it makes a great low-mercury alternative to tuna, a quick dinner of salmon patties (think crab cakes), and an easy pasta sauce.

You'll need:

canned or cooked salmon
some feta cheese
1 egg
2 green onions, chopped
2T parsley, chopped
1 piece of matza
1T matza meal or crumbs made from a piece of crumbled matza (I just "chopped" the matza with a sharp knife and ended up with small crumbs)

Mix salmon, feta, green onion, egg, onion, parsley, and matza meal. This should be sticky and not too moist-- it should hold its shape in the bowl. Set aside.

Soak matza until soft but not falling apart, about 1 minute. Drain on a towel for 15 minutes. Cut in half.

Fill each piece of matza with a dollop of the salmon mixture. Fold closed like a sandwich.


Heat veggie oil in a frying pan. Fry bimuelos until golden and crispy, about 5 minutes/side. Leftover stuffing can be fried like little meatballs.


Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Eat hot!

Smoked Herring and Roasted Broccoli Salad

This sounds like a weird combination, but I had this great smoked herring that I was dying to put on matza (with butter, of course); this was the next best thing. It really came together well-- I made a similar one yesterday with feta instead of broccoli, which was delicious but very rich. This has a nice buttery smokiness from the fish, a sweet tang from the pickled red onions, and a crunchiness from the broccoli and walnuts; the spicy arugula brings it all together. I also tossed in a medium-boiled egg and some chopped olives, and dressed it with the last of my fig balsamic vinegar and some good olive oil.

Passover without Matzah

There is a matzah shortage in Berkeley. This seems true every year: we run around frantically to 6 stores on the day of the first seder looking for the lone remaining box. However, this year I think it's worse, and as a result, I have no matzah. My big plans to post Mina (an amazing meat pie with a matzah crust), matzah pasta (sounds weird but is quite delicious), and other matza-related passover goodies must wait. I still have to eat though, so here's a quick breakfast recipe.

(Excuse the photos-- my camera ran out of batteries and I didn't want my breakfast to get cold so I used a cell phone camera)

You'll need:

1 medium-large Yukon gold potato
1-2 fried eggs
grated cheese


I'm using Elise's fantastic recipe for hash browns as the base for this. Grate your potato and squeeze out all the moisture using a potato ricer. If you don't have a potato ricer, get one. I'm not a fan of extraneous kitchen tools-- I'd be happy with my cast iron skillet and wooden spatula-- but the potato ricer seems to come in handy. Anyways, squeeze out the moisture while you heat some olive oil in a non-stick or cast iron pan. Spread out the potato on the hot oil so that you have a very thin layer (Elise says 1/2 inch; I prefer even thinner). Top with salt & pepper. Cook over medium heat until it begins to brown, then flip the whole thing over by edging a flat spatula underneath. Cook on the other side until brown, 2-3 minutes.

Top with grated cheese (or cheese curds, which melt beautifully) and fried eggs.