Bourbon Chicken

[Bourbon Chicken is a flavorful chicken dish named for the bourbon whiskey ingredient. The dish is commonly found at Cajun, Chinese, and American BBQ themed restaurants. The various recipes includes soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and bourbon in the base, and the chicken is marinated in this sauce.]

Yesterday we cooked with red wine, today we’ll use bourbon. This is a superb chicken recipe from Food.com!

Photo from Food.com, by: Caroline Cooks

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 4 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
• 1 red pepper, sliced thinly (about 200g)
• 1 carrot, cut into sticks
• 0.55 lbs. broccoli florets
• 2 green onions, sliced thinly
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
• 1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (add to your personal taste.)
• 1/3 cup apple juice (just over a 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup bourbon (when I use bourbon for cooking, just as when I use wine, I prefer a quality bourbon, something I would normally like to drink, like Blanton’s or Maker’s Mark)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon cornflour

Directions

1. Heat a little oil in a pan, cook chicken in batches, until browned all over, set chicken to one side.
2. Heat a little more oil in the same pan, add pepper, garlic and ginger, cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring.
3. Add red pepper flakes, juice, bourbon, water, soy, sugar, ketchup and vinegar, stir to combine, bring to the boil.
4. Return chicken to pan with carrot and broccoli, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 Min’s.
5. Mix a little water with the cornflour, add to sauce and stir until mixture thickens.
6. Serve over rive and sprinkle with green onions.

Yields 4 servings; Prep time – 10 minutes; Total time – 35 minutes

Coq Au Vin

I always liked cooking with wine, there is a certain elegant French flair that wine lends to whatever is made with it. In our quest to find delicious recipes, we came across what promised to be a very savory one on my recipes and it inspired us to make a kosher version:

Quick Coq au Vin

Photo from: myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast or thigh
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups quartered baby portobello mushrooms
• 2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) quarter sliced carrot
• 1/2 cup (1/4-inch-thick) quarter sliced celery
• 1/3 cup pastrami slices
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup chicken broth *
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Directions

1. Combine flour, rosemary, thyme, and salt in a zip-top plastic bag; add chicken. Seal and shake to coat. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 8 minutes or until browned, turning frequently. Remove chicken from pan.
3. Add mushrooms, carrot, celery and pastrami to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in wine, broth, and tomato paste; cook 9 minutes. Return chicken to pan; cook 8 minutes or until chicken is done.

Since I only use regular wine rather than “cooking” wine (why impact on the taste of a great recipe with wine you so bad you would’t drink it?!?!?), considering I have just enough left over, I’ll be using a very good Tishbi Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.

*(CS’ Chicken Broth

Yields about 6 cups

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 pounds chicken pieces with bones
• 1 large carrot, cut into chunks
• 2 medium sized onions, quartered
• 2 celery ribs with leaves, cut into chunks
  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon crushed, dried rosemary, 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 quarts cold water

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a soup pot. Bring to a boil slowly, then  reduce heat.  Skim foam. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours.
2. Set chicken aside until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones; save meat for later uses. Strain broth, discard vegetables and seasonings. Refrigerate overnight. Skim fat from surface. )*

I freeze the unused broth yields for up to 10 days (it will always get used up by then!)

Going through myrecipes.com, I see a nice amount of recipes that can be adpated to make them kosher or can already be made as they are. I plan to come back often for inspiration. Meanwhile… enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Rolled Chicken

For the first part of Pessach I was in Lakewood, NJ, where three of my children and their families reside. During a break between mincha and maariv on the second evening, the learned discussion somehow veered to foods of our youth, dishes no longer served, since today they would rightfully be considered as “a heart attack on a plate” as my friend put it. We spoke of gribenes, three inch thick matzoh kugel, matzebrei made with oodles of eggs and quite a few more dishes of yore. Oyyy… they were truly delicious. What made them so, what delivered their heavenly aroma was chicken fat!

Gribenes were made by deep frying pieces of chicken skin in chicken fat… Yeap, I can see most of my readers recoiling in horror at the mere thought. Don’t worry, gentle reader, I haven’t touched these in quite a few decades nor do I advocate a return to them. But, I do wonder why – now that we consume far healthier fare – why is it that the percentage of obesity is far higher and the average age for passing on to the next plane has not significantly changed since I was a kid?

Perhaps the reason we were not adversely affected by these killer foods was because I remember the family always going for a walk after a meal, in fact we used to walk a lot. When I grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay, elementary school was a mere two blocks away. After lunch, I’d walk 8 blocks to Yeshivas Machzikey Hada’as. When old enough for secondary, five or six of us from the same neighborhood would walk sixteen blocks each way to Liceo Hector Miranda and after lunch we’d walk another 10 blocks to the mesivtah. Only if it rained did we get a ride.

By the time were getting ready to move to the US, Montevideo got its first school that combined limudei kodesh and secular subjects, it went from kindergarten through secondary. The school’s name, showed the Zionist agenda of its founders. It was called, Escuela Dr. Teodor Herzl… I think, gentle reader, you’ll agree with me that such a name for a purportedly frum school just wouldn’t do today, not in the US! But I digress…

Getting back to food, both my daughters are excellent cooks as are my three daughters in law. Just thinking of some of the dishes I’ve enjoyed during the years makes my mouth water. Yes, the fare they serve is far healthier than what I remember growing up with. I was headquartered at my oldest son’s house, where I enjoyed both sedorim, the plethora of delicious dishes and the aromas wafting from the kitchen into the rest of the house was enough to make even the most satiated person hungry for more. Below, is the recipe for one of my daughter in law’s delicacies:

Ingredients

• 6 chicken cutlets
• 1 1/2 cup Duck Sauce
• 8 large potatoes

Filling

• 6 potatoes
• 2 onions
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
• 2 eggs separated
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Pound the cutlets until they double in size, cut each in half. Set aside
2. Peel the the 5 potatoes, boil them and cut in the lenght and cut them again (sideways) for a total of 8 to 10 pieces each. Set aside.
3. Boil and mash the 6 potatoes for the filling
4. Sautee the onions in oil.
5. Beat the egg whites until stiff
6. Add the egg yolks and sauteed onions to the mashed potatoes.
7. Fold in the whites.
8. Add potato starch, parsley flakes, paprika, salt and pepper.
9. Put some of the potato mixture on each of the cutlets and roll them.
10. Put the rolled cutlets on two tin pans.
11. Pour the Duck Sauce over each cutlet.
12. Take the cut up potatoes and cover any empty space.
13. Put in preheated 350 F oven, for 1 hour.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Chicken Odessa

Pessach is fast approaching; cleaning the house seems to be harder than you can remember, time is short but all the while the family has to eat and eat well. What to do? What to do?

We scoured the web to come up with nutritious, delicious, easy to make recipes and we found a great chicken dish sure to make everyone’s mouth water at MyDailyMoment.com. We made one change so as to make it worthy of being made in a kosher kitchen:

(adapted from MyDailyMoment.com)

Ingredients

• 4 large whole chicken breasts, split, skinned, de-boned
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp. chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. thyme or marjoram
• Flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup of fine breadcrumbs
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Pound breasts thin between plastic bags, keeping the smooth side of breast down.
2. Mix next 4 ingredients.
3. Dredge chicken in margarine mixture and dip each chicken piece into flour.
4. Dip into eggs and finally coat with breadcrumbs.
5. Fry in hot oil (375 degrees) for 10 to 12 minutes or bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
6. Drain on paper towels.
7. Salt after cooking.
8. Chicken will keep in a 200-degree oven if placed, uncovered, on a metal tray.

For Pessach you can substitute matzoh meal instead of the breadcrumbs (gebroks)

I’ve had Chicken Odessa before, now I know how to prepare it myself.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Enlightened Cooking

There is hardly anyone out there who has never indulged in some unhealthy eating. Why? Sure we know that it is probably not healthy, but “it is delicious,” we rationalize, “besides, how bad could it be if I only do it once in a long while?” Chances are we indulge in it more than once in a “long while,” chances are we probably pick up a few other such bad habits. For a long time, at least in most people’s mind, the choice was to deny oneself a lot of gastronomic pleasures or take chances.

Enlightened cooking, elegantly published by: Feldheim Publishers

In 2006 Nechama Cohen, the CEO of The Jewish Diabetes Association, published EnLITEned Kosher Cooking with over 250 recipes running the full gamut from the simple to the elegant. She writes in the Preface:

[...] in Deuteronomy (Devarim 4:15) it is written, “You shall be very careful of yourselves – V’nishmartem me’od l’nafshoseichem,” meaning we are obliged to take good care of our health and well-being. It is now becoming more and more clear that it is not only those with actual health problems who have to change their coking and eating habits. Everyone should see if they can make improvements! This is the first step in assuring a healthy future without complications from diabetes and all other terrible diseases that can, God forbid, be caused by obesity and an unhealthy lifestyle.

There is much to recommend this book, but we’ll just single out a few things. Not only is it well organized, not only does each recipe have its nutritional facts listed, but under the name of each recipe it tells you whether it a Low Fat, or Fat Free,  Reduced Carb, or Low Carb. Among its 15 Appendixes are: How to Calculate Carbs, another on Calcium-Rich Choices, Nutrition Facts for Fruits and Vegetables (based on a USDA National Nutrition Database), Eyeballing Food for Portion Size, Food Equivalents to name just a few.

The cookbook claims it does not sacrifice on flavor, while providing for healthy eating. We decided to test the truth of such a statement so we made this easy recipe:

Delicious!

Lemon Chicken

Low Carb, Low Fat / Yield: 4 servings

This chicken dish is easy, tangy and delicious.

Directions

• 11/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, partially frozen
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• non-stick cooking spray
• 2 cups dry white wine
• Sugar substitute equal to 1/4 cup sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons soy or whole-wheat flour
• 1 bunch watercress, stems discarded
• 1 large head radicchio leaves, separated

Garnish

• lemon slices

Directions

1. Using a sharp knife, slice each chicken breast diagonally into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Pound the pieces in a plastic bag until they are 1/4-inch thick.
2. Heat oil and spray in a large non-stick skillet. Add half the chicken. Cook over medium heat until barely done, about 1 minute per side; they will not be white in all places. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate and repeat with the rest of the chicken, adding spray if necessary.
3. Using the same skillet and lowering the heat, carefully add wine, sugar substitute and lemon juice to the skillet, season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a boil.
4. Dissolve flour with 1/2 cup of the prepared liquid after it has cooled, and add to the skillet.
5. Return chicken to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until the slices are completely white, about 5 minutes.
6. Line a platter with the watercress and radicchio, and arrange the chicken slices on top. Garnish with the sauce and lemon slices and serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size (slice) 1

• (oz) 5
• (g) 150
• Calories 203
• Protein (g) 32.5
• Carbs (g) 1.8
• Fat (g) 3.7
• Sat. Fat (g) 0.5
• Cholesterol (mg) 77
• Sodium (mg) 160
• Calcium (mg) 34
• Fiber (g) 0.4

Exchanges

• Lean meat protein 41/2

We liked the taste, it compared quite favorably with the traditional recipe for Lemon Chicken. We used edible flowers for garnishing, they tasted nice and greatly enhanced the looks. By the way, you may use potato starch instead of flour and you will have a Pessach recipe!

This cookbook definitely proves you do not need to sacrifice taste to eat truly healthy. Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breasts

On a recent visit to Irene Saiger’s Bamitbach blog, I came across an easy to make but delicious sounding recipe. While she did not list exact quantities, here’s the version I made:

Photo from: http://bamitbach.wordpress.com

(adapted)

Directions

• 4 boneless chicken breasts cut in half and weighing about 6 ounces each.
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 1/ tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 12 shitake mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tbs parsley
• 3-4 tbs olive Oil
  

Directions

1. Slice shiitake mushrooms and sauté in olive oil along with minced garlic and chopped parsley.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook till mushrooms are tender.
3. Remove from heat.  Fill each flattened chicken breast with some of the mixture and roll up.
4. Dip in beaten egg and then seasoned bread crumbs.
5. Return to hot frying pan to which you have added some extra olive oil. Fry till golden on both sides.
6. Place frying pan in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes till chicken is cooked through.
7. Slice on the diagonal and serve..

I made it last evening, motzey Shabbos, since I had some friends over; we all thought it was very good. Thank you Irene for this delectable recipe!!!

For side dishes I made some mashed potato with margarine, minced garlic, basil (for a great aroma), and a dash of tarragon; the second side dish was a simple honey-dijon salad. We paired it with a Benyamina 2007 Chardonnay, a very nice combination. Thank you Irene, for this delectable recipe!!!

You’ll find more photos on Irene’s blog, giving quite a detailed visual description.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

The Greater Joy of Cooking and the Perfect Sesame Chicken

The pace, pressures and responsibilities of our daily lives often make us feel like life is running us instead of the other way. Thursday night was a fortunate slice of moments lived well. I got some precious time with my teenage son who had returned from Yeshiva for the weekend. He was hungry and was in the mood for something different. Hunting through cookbooks and the net, he opted for sesame chicken.

We followed an easy recipe he found on allrecipes.com. As we prepared, mixed and measured, we schmoozed and caught up on our week. We waxed philosophical, we laughed, retuned and and cooked a wonderful meal that was gone in record time.

Perfect Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat – cubed

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon chile paste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water

• 1 quart olive oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Sift flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, 2 tablespoons water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.
3. Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish.

Serve with rice – Yields 6 servings.

We had some sauce left over and a chicken was on the counter destined for the Shabbos table. Instead of spicing it my usual way, I used the leftover sesame chicken sauce to baste and baked it at 375 F. till golden – about 90 minutes. It tasted moist,  sweetly delicious, with a balanced chili powder kick. Everyone loved it! Bypassing the fatty fried part of this classic sesame chicken recipe while retaining the essence of it’s  flavor was a cool guilt-free variation. Im a big believer in Ms Frizzle’s (The Magic Schoolbus) famous mantra “take chances, makes mistakes. Get messy!

Susie Fischbein certainly had the right idea about spending time with your kids in the kitchen, we’ve been doing it for years and it’s a chilled way to catch up, bond, create new memories spiced with the joy of being together.

Enjoy!

SYR

RELATED POSTS

Chicken and Fruit Fricassee

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Tikka Masala

Roast Chicken with Citrus and Aromatics

While nice presentation might increase the appetite for a specific dish, there are certain classics that will always be welcome even without the fancy looks. As you will see from the photo, this dish could have been fancier looking, but as you read the recipe you come to realize that it is very flavorful and superbly aromatic and needs no time wasted in making look good what you know will taste good!

From the Restless Chipottle blog: (to make this recipe kosher, I just changed the butter to margarine)

Photo by: http://restlesschipotle.com/index.php/2010/12/19/roast-chicken-with-citrus-and-aromatics/

Ingredients

• 1 5-6 lb whole chicken
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 tbs culinary lavender
• 1/2 tbs cardamom
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup unsalted margarine, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Place rack in roasting pan.
3. Mix the cardamom, lavender, salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup margarine and shape into a ball
4. Clean chicken thoroughly inside and out and pat dry with paper towel.
5. Cut the orange and lemon in half and place in the cavity of the chicken.
6. Add the rosemary sprigs and the margarine mixture.
7. Melt the remaining margarine and rub over skin of the chicken.
8. Salt and pepper the skin.
9. Place in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours or until done. Bast several times by spooning pan juices over the bird.
10. Remove contents of cavity and discard.
11. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Serves 6

The lavender and cardamom, give this recipe a bit of a Sephardic feel. I can almost see it as a refreshing variation of Moroccan Chicken Tadjine. I’ll have to make it tonight, I can just imagine what the aroma will be throughout the house. I could even pair it with a Duvel beer or a Blue Moon Belgian Ale. Either one will nicely complement the citrus taste…MmmMMmmmmMMmm!

CS

Cornish Hen Recipe

I always liked Cornish hens, since their small size usually provides about one portion of meat per hen, it’s easy to figure out how many to use for a family, or if you are entertaining. It usually weighs 2 pounds or less AND is almost all white meat because of its enlarged breast. I also find every excuse I can to cook with wine so today I’ll share my Cornish Hen recipe (my kids’ favorite, when they still lived at home at the time I’d use 7, instead of 2, hens).

Cornish hen, a miniature hen. Photo from: Wikipedia.com

CS’ Wine, Orange and Herb Cornish Hens

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 2 Cornish hens

Marinade

• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Elephant garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 cup of dry wine
• Freshly squeezed juice of 1 large orange

Herbs

• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 small bunch fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh marjoram leaves
• 1/4 stick margarine
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sugar or Natrazyle Xylitol
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Quarter the hens and place the pieces in a 9″ x 13″ baking tin
2. In a blender combine all the marinade ingredients until thoroughly blended.
3. Pour in over the hens, cover with plastic and marinade in fridge for 24 to 48 hours.
4. After chicken has been marinated, combine the herb ingredients in a blender (or prepare ahead and store in a Ziploc bag) until thoroughly mixed.
5. When done add salt to taste.
6. Preheat oven to 450 F.
7. Take marinated hens out and keep out of refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.
8. Put hen pieces in a single layer (with the skin on top) in a roasting pan.
9. Sprinkle herb mixture over the pieces
10. Roast for 10 minutes
11. Reduce heat to 350 F, and continue roasting for 15-20 minutes or until the juices run clear. Don’t forget to baste thoroughly at least a couple of times.
12. Remove from oven, you may want to garnish pieces with fresh parsley leaves and serve.

Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS

Wine, Orange and Herbs Cornish Hens (Kosher)

More Delicious Passover Recipes

I found two great Passover recipes and… my mouth is already watering. Both come from the same site:

Here’s the first:

Chicken & Vegetable Croquettes

[Gebroks]
This is a recipe amended for Passover from the one printed in Food & Wine which originated from Ismael Prados, the chef at La Vinya del Senyor, a well-known tapas bar in Barcelona. Substitutions have been made for flour and bread products, and this recipe calls for coconut milk instead of regular milk, which does change the flavor, but also makes this dish kosher. During non-Passover times, it would also be possible to use unflavored soy milk instead of the coconut milk.

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white and lt. green parts only, cut into 1 inch lengths
1 carrot, cut into 1 in. chunks
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. Madras curry powder salt & freshly ground pepper
2 cups lite coconut milk
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cups matza cake meal, plus more for dusting
about 1 quart vegetable oil for deep frying
2 eggs
1 cup matza meal

Makes 35 croquettes.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a small roasting pan, toss the chicken thighs with the onion, leek, carrot & garlic. add the olive oil and 1 1/2 tsp. of the curry powder. Season with salt & pepper. Roast, turning once, until the chicken thighs are tender (about 35 minutes). Let cool.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, on med-low heat, bring the milk to a simmer with remaining curry powder. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a food processor, pulse the chicken with the roasted vegetables until a puree forms, Season the puree generously with salt & pepper.

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the cake meal and cook over a moderately low heat, stirring constantly until lightly browned. Stir in the chicken puree. Gradually add the coconut milk, little by little at first, and whisking constantly until it has all been added. coo over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is no longer sticky, about 15 minutes. Season with salt & pepper and let cool to room temperature, about an hour.

In a large saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inches of vegeable oil to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured (matza cake meal) surface, roll the croquette mixture into 3/4 inch ropes. Cut the ropes into 1 1/2 in. little pieces.

In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs. Spread the matza meal in another shallow bowl. Dip the croquttes in the egg, then coat with matza meal, Add the croquttes to the hot oil in bacthes, taking care not to crowd the pan, and fry until golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer croquettes to paper towels to drain and serve piping hot.

Here’s the second recipe:

Stuffed Portabellini Mushrooms

[Gebroks]
Smaller versions of portobello mushrooms, portobellinis taste just as great and are the perfect size to use in this stuffed mushroom appetizer recipe. A great appetizer for a Passover seder dinner, this vegetarian recipe (vegan, actually) can also be used as a Thanksgiving dinner appetizer. You can substitute bread crumbs for the farfel when it’s not Passover. This also makes a great holiday party appetizer recipe as mushroom appetizers make good, easy to handle, finger food!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup vegetable or no-chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup. balsamic vinegar
6 portobellini or portobello mushrooms
1 cup matzah farfel (use bread crumbs when not Passover)
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage (pineapple sage if you can get it)
1 tbsp. chopped fresh chives
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
cooking spray (olive oil if you can get it)

Makes 6 servings.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine 3/4. c. broth, vinegar and garlic in a small bowl, let stand 15 minutes. Strain through a sieve over a small saucepan to reserve garlic. Bring vinegar mixture to a boil, and cook until reduced to 6 tbsp (about 6 minutes). Keep warm.

Remove the brown gills from the mushrooms using a spoon, and discard gills. De-stem the mushrooms, finely chop stems and set aside.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over med high heat. Add farfel , cook for 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Stir in the reserved garlic, chopped mushroom stems, chives, sage, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 c. broth. Keep warm.

Place the mushroom caps, stem sides up, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until tender. divide farfel mixtured evenly among mushroom caps and drizzle 1 tbsp of vinegar mixture over each serving. Garnish with sage leaves, if desired.

Enjoy!

CS