Geila Hocherman & Costas Mouzouras – Passover Food and Wine Pairing – Recipes – Part 1

Geila Hocherman, the author of Kosher Revolution, and Costas Mouzouras, the walking wine encyclopedia at Gotham Wines & Liquors, got together to discuss food and wine pairings. Here we post two out of the three part video of their discussion and we bring six of Geila’s recipes, all from her book, except for one:

Cinnamon chicken tajine with prunes and apricots

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 chickens, about 3 1/2 pounds each, each cut into 8 pieces, or 16 breasts, thighs and legs, any
  combination, rinsed and dried well
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup grapeseed or canola oil
• 2 large onions (about 2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, ground, powdered or crushed
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cinnamon sticks, each about 3 inches long
• 2 cups pitted prunes
• 1 cup dried apricots
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet, paella pan or large roasting pan, set over two burners, over medium-high heat. Add almonds and toast, stirring, until lightly colored, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat half of the oil in the pan over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken and saute until brown, turning once, about 12 minutes per batch. Transfer to a platter and set aside. If the oil or browned bits in the pan have burned, wipe out the pan.
3. Add remaining oil to the pan. Add onions and saute, stirring, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Return chicken to the pan. Add saffron to stock, and pour over chicken. Add cinnamon, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Transfer the white meat to the platter. Add prunes and apricots to the pan and simmer until the rest of the chicken is done, about 15 minutes.
   Transfer the chicken to the platter and discard the cinnamon sticks. Add honey to the pan and cook over medium-high heat until liquid is syrupy and coats a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Return chicken to the pan, baste with sauce, cover and warm. Transfer all to a warmed platter, sprinkle with almonds, and serve.

Mina

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. onions sliced thin
• ¼ cup grape seed/vegetable oil,
• 2 lbs. Swiss chard
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 2 T sugar
• 2 lbs mushrooms sliced thin- I prefer combination of shitake and cremini or Portobello
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• ¼ cup white wine
• 2-10 0z package frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted and thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• Juice of 2 lemons plus zest of one
• ¼ cup finely diced sundried tomatoes or roasted red pepper
• ¼-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup stock- chicken or vegetable
• 8 sheets Matzo

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×13-baking dish and line with parchment.
2. In a large skillet heat ½ of the oil and sprinkle the onions with salt. Sauté until they are translucent. Add ½ of the garlic and pine nuts and toast for 2 minutes. Add the chard and cook down until almost dry. Add the balsamic and the sugar and cook for 2 more minutes. Place mixture in a strainer and let drain.
3.  Heat 2 more tablespoons of oil, sprinkle with salt and sauté mushrooms with 3 cloves of garlic until they have released all of their water. Add the wine and cook down until all of the moisture has been absorbed. Set aside.

Pignoli Cookies

Ingredients

• 8 oz almond paste
• ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pine nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325○F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a food processor, combine the almond paste and sugars and process until the mixture reaches the consistency of sand. Transfer to the bowl of a standing mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, or a medium bowl, and add the egg white, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat on medium speed or by hand for 4 minutes.
3. Place the pine nuts in a small bowl. Next to it place a small bowl of water for wetting your hands. Wet your hands and form 1 ½- to 2-inch balls with the paste mixture, making 5 at a time. Drop them into the bowl of nuts and press down gently so the nuts adhere to the bottom of the dough. Transfer to a cookie sheet nut side up. Repeat, filling each prepared cookie sheet with about 15 balls. Bake until puffed and beginning to color, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool on the parchment paper on a countertop. When completely cool, peel the cookies off the paper and serve.

This post is getting a bit long, we have no choice but to break it up into two parts…

Meanwhile enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!

CS