CHOCOLATE COVERED TOFFEE MATZAH

I first tasted chocolate covered matzah at my friend Sheila MacRae’s home.  She had over a group of women for wine and merry matzah making, from then on I was a devotee and (almost) every year at Passover I make this recipe.  However, last year I decided not to make it (only because I cannot stop eating it myself),  and there were a lot of unhappy guests, this year I gave in… so for my niece Alison and my daughter Yale this recipe is dedicated to  you.

BTW – My friend Sheila is a first-class pie maker, butter tart maker, and excellent cook. Many of her recipes hail from her Scottish roots.  You can imagine how surprised I was when I first tasted her chocolate covered Matzah for Passover. I’m “Jew-ish” she exclaimed when I asked for “just one more piece”. BTW Sheila can make any holiday meal special and is one of the best Jewish cooks I know. Not bad for a Scottish girl from Winnipeg.

More holiday recipes from LoveThyCarrot!

Macaroons, The Official Cookie of Passover
Romanian Eggplant Salad
Chocolate Covered Toffee Matzah
This is my Great-Grandmother Gefilte Fish
My Mother's Potato Kugel
My Favourite Chicken Soup
Latkes From My Mother's Kitchen
Pistachio and Dried Fruit Haroseth

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Chocolate Covered Toffee Matzah

Ingredients:

• 4 to 6 sheets unsalted matzohs
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
• big pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips (a combination of white and dark looks really nice).
• 1 cup toasted sliced almonds, or your favourite nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2.  Line a rimmed baking sheet completely with foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges. Cover the foil with a sheet of parchment paper.( Don’t skip the tin foil you will thank me when you clean up).
3. Line the baking sheet with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.
4.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add the salt, and pour over matzoh, spreading with a heatproof spatula.
5. Put the pan in the oven and  bake for 5 to 7 minutes. As it bakes, it will bubble up but make sure it’s not burning.
6. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread the chocolate with a spatula.
7.  This is optional , sprinkle with toasted almonds or your favourite nuts.
8. Let cool completely, then break into pieces and store in an airtight container or ziplock bags until ready to serve.

Cooks Notes:

• I like to store and serve this directly from the freezer.
• This chocolate covered matzah is addictive.

RED FIFE MUFFINS

Red Fife is a heritage red spring wheat native to Ontario, love that being from Canada, eh!

I found this loaf and muffin mix at Fiesta Farms and though I never buy mixes I was attracted to the package and the healthy list of ingredients. I do feel proud eating these muffins knowing that something so delicious is from Ontario. I love the grainy texture and wheaty flavour. You can add any fresh ingredients to make them your own.  My favorite combinations are:

• blueberries and pumpkin seeds
• cranberries, lemon zest and walnuts
• mashed ripe banana, vanilla extract, hazelnuts or walnuts

For baking instruction see the recipe on the back of the package.

Check out the website at : http://www.grainstorm.com/

BLACK BEAN AND QUINOA BURGERS

I am married to a burger lover  – I did try to pass these off one night for dinner but I have to be honest they did not go over well , but what can I say I Ioved these burgers and will be making them again.

Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers
Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup dry quinoa
• 1/2 cup of corn meal (I sometimes use quick cooking oats)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• dash of hot sauce
• Dash of salt

Directions:
1. In a small sauce pan, toast the quinoa in olive oil for a few minutes. Add a cup of water and a pinch of salt, cover, and cook until the water is absorbed (about 15 minutes).

2. Put the black beans, cooked quinoa, corn meal or oats, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, hot sauce, tomato paste and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix everything together with your hands until it’s evenly mixed. 

3.Divide the burger mixture into four equal pieces. Use your hands to form the burgers.

4. Preheat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Pour some olive oil into the pan. Cook the patties for 5 minutes on each side, until they are a deep brown.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

I love this recipe.  It comes from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins, authors of The Silver Palate Cookbook, http://shop.silverpalate.com/.

I think the secret to this recipe is my 20lb cast iron yellow Calphalon dutch oven.  Thank you Judy, (my sister in law) for carrying it home in your suitcase from Naples Florida, I think of you every time I make this recipe!

My Calphalon Enamel Cast Iron 5 Quart Dutch Oven in custard yellow.

This recipe serves 6

Ingredients:

• ½ pound bacon, diced
•  31/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 
3 cups of burgundy wine
• 3 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1~1/2 inch pieces
• 2 cups of white pearl onions
• 8 ounces fresh chanterelles or other wild mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon red currant jelly
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat leafed parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In an ovenproof casserole or dutch oven sauté the bacon until crisp.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.  Sauté the beef in the bacon fat in small batches, until browned on all sides.
4. Return all of the beef to the pan and add the onions.  Sprinkle the beef and onion mixture with salt, pepper and the flour.  Stir to combine well and cook over high heat until the flour is no longer white or dry looking, about 5 minutes
5. Add the wine, the beef stock, the tomato paste, the bacon and rosemary. Loosen any bits of food from the bottom and sides of the pot and bring the mixture to a boil.  Cover and place in the oven to cook until the meat is tender, about two hours.
6. To prepare the vegetables, bring a small pot of water to a boil and drop in the carrots, boil until tender for 5 to 7 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water. Reserve.
7. If you are using frozen pearl onions you just need to defrost them, if you are using fresh pearl onions make a small X in the root end of each pearl onion, fop into boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water. Reserve.
8. Slice the mushrooms, and cook in about 1 to 2 Tbsp of melted butter, sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes.
9. When the meat is cooked, add the carrots, onions, mushrooms and currant jelly.
10. Put back in the oven and heat through about 10 minutes.
11. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.

MACADAMIA & CHOCOLATE WAFERS

The handwritten recipe by my mother in law Florence Hertzman who was with us in Perth and loved these cookies too!

I tasted these wafers when I was visiting my family in Perth Australia.  A family friend Tanya who is an outstanding cook and caterer served these at afternoon tea.  I noticed guests kept coming back to the table breaking off pieces and by the end of the party the plate was empty. My mother in law Flo and I made an attempt to bake these wafers; we ended up with one burnt cookie sheet and the other too thick and chewy to be called wafers, On the second attempt we adjusted the flour and watched the cooking time, Flo actually sat in front of the oven to keep a watchful eye, so remember they burn easily.

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So here is the recipe all the way from down under, Perth Australia.  Thank you Tanya!

Ingredients:

• 10 TBS butter, softened

• 1 ½ cups very fine sugar

• ½ cup corn syrup

• 1 cup flour

• 4 egg whites

• 6 ½ ounces macadamia nuts, chopped

• ¾ cup dark chocolate, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.

3. Using a spatula spread mixture very thinly on to the two cookie sheets that you lined with parchment paper.

4. Sprinkle with chopped macadamia nuts and chopped chocolate.

5. Bake until golden for 15 to 20 minutes

6. Watch carefully as they can burn easily.

7. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.