• I hear a lot of complaining from people that all they have to eat on Pesach is chicken, meat and potatoes. I get it. Everyone missed their bread and their oats. But you know what, chicken, meat and potatoes are awesome! They are blank canvases that can pair with a huge palette of sauces, dips and salads. (Like how did that canvases, palettes…)

    I have a few tricks snd some staple dips that I make in huge batches on the first day of my Pesach cooking. They stay beautifully in the fridge all Pesach long and switch up which ones I serve at each meal!

    I’ve said it about a million times by now but I’ll say it again. I LOVE PESACH! It’s the beginning of nice weather here in Israel and that means it’s officially barbecue season! We grill up a variety of different proteins every single night and serve them with all the fridge staple dips!

    Before I start giving you a few of my best staple tips and dips heres a few things to keep in mind:

    • I like to make all my dips and base ingredients first so that they are parve. This way I can use and serve them with everything!
    • Adjust the flavors to your families preferences. If you don’t like cilantro, swap it for parsley. Spicy foods are not your thing…Leave the heat element out!
    • Double or triple each recipe. Starting from scratch the second days is just not fun. So make sure to make enough of everything so that it lasts you the whole holiday.

    SAUTEED ONIONS:

    The first thing I always do is sautée up 40 onions. Yup, that’s right 40. Why so many? We go through tons and tons of onions on Pesach. They get smothered on chicken, add to hash browns, mixed into our eggs, turned into dips and layered into our yapsik.

    • I use my food processor’s slicing blade to cut them into really thin strips (takes 5 to cut 40 onions, it’s amazing!)
    • Add them to a huge pot with a few tbsp oil, 1 tbsp salt and little crushed black pepper.
    • Set the fire to medium heat, cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes.
    • Once a little water has come out of the onions, remove the cover, lower the heat to medium low and cook for 5-6 hours till they are a deep golden color and have a beautiful melty texture!

    Garlic flavored oil:

    The second thing I do is peel about 20 cloves of garlic. I do three things with the cloves.

    • I take about 16 cloves and add them to a large 16 oz jar. Fill the jar up to the top with whichever oil you prefer. Stick it in to the fridge and then any time you need oil for sauteeing, salad dressings, searing meat or marinades use your garlic oil. It is the ultimate flavor booster!
    • The second thing I like to do is right away make a few batches of confit garlic. All you do is stick however many cloves of garlic you want into an over proof dish. Add whatever spices or herbs you like and little salt and pepper. Cover the garlic with olive oil, wrap dish tightly in foil and bake in a 350f oven for about 35-40 minutes.
    • Lastly and probably most importantly, take the rest of the cloves and stick them right into the food processor. Pulse until all the garlic is minced. (be careful not to over pulse or it will turn into a puree) Mix in a few tbsp of canola oil and pour all the minced garlic into an airtight jar. Top off with a little more oil and pop in the fridge. Your cooking will be sooooo much easier!

    Salatim:

    This is probably the most food enhancing part of all my Pesach cooking. We like strong flavors around here and the right kind of dips and salatim enhance all food.

    Weather I serve chicken, meat, potatoes or eggs everything gets served with a different salad or dip. This way, evenjhough were technically eating the same foods over and over, they’re always paired with different flavors so nothing gets boring.

  • CHIMMISCHUG PESTO

    INGREDIENTS

    1-3 Jalapeños (depending how spicy you like it.)

    7 Cloves garlic, peeled

    1 cup cilantro leaves

    1&1/2 cups parsley leaves

    Juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime (you know which I prefer)

    1/2 tsp. kosher salt

    1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

     

    INSTRUCTIONS:

    Place jalapeños and garlic in a food processor.

    Blend till finely minced.

    Add herbs, lemon, salt and pepper.

    With food processor running drizzle in oil.

    Taste to adjust seasoning.

    Pour into an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 10 days!

    ALMOND TECHINA (sesame free)

    Ingredients

    1. 2 cups of whole raw peeled almonds (sometimes called blanched almonds)
    2. 3 lemons, halved
    3. 3 garlic cloves
    4. 1 & 1/2 tsp salt
    5. 1 tsp pepper
    6. 2-4 cups water
    7. 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
    8. Put in big food processor and scrape down sides every so often
    9. If gets too thick add in water every once in a while
    10. If too diluted add extra lemon
    11. Taste and adjust seasoning, add in handful parsley.

    Instructions

    1. Put everything (besides water and parsley) in a big food processor
    2. Pulse to combine.
    3. Keep scraping down the sides as necessary.
    4. Once almonds are finely ground add in water 1/2 cup at at time.
    5. The techina is done when the mixture is loose and runny.
    6. At this point turn the food processor to high and leave it on four one minute to smooth out the techina as much as possible.
    7. Add parsley and blend one last time to incorporate.
    8. Taste and adjust seasoning.

    No fail, Homemade Mayonnaise

    Ingredients

    1. 2 cups of oil (a neutral oil like canola, walnut or grapeseed. No olive oil)
    2. 2 whole eggs
    3. 1/2 lemon juiced
    4. 1 tsp. Salt
    5. 1/2 tsp Pepper
    6. 1 heaping tsp. dijon mustard (when not making for pesach)
    7. 3 cloves garlic, minced

    Instructions

    1. Place all the ingredients in the long container that comes with your immersion blender.
    2. Place the blender in and the second it touches the eggs turn it on and do not lift it (oil on top will slowly drizzle in).
    3. Once the mixture on the bottom of the container gets thicker gently gently lift up one side and then don’t lift other side until all oil is streamed in.
    4. Continue that process of only lift one side and then the other until you reach the top of the container.
    5. At this point go up and down 2-3 times and all the oil will be incorporated and your mayo thick and creamy.

    For garlic mayo

    1. Take out half the mixture (unless you want all garlic mayo) and reserve.
    2. Add in three cloves of crushed garlic and then one last blend.

    TOMATO DIP

    Ingredients

    1. 3 cloves Garlic
    2. 1/2 purple onion
    3. 1-2 jalapeno (if you want it less spicy, remove the ribs and seeds
    4. 4 tomatoes, halved
    5. 1 tsp salt
    6. 1/2 tsp pepper
    7. 3 Tbsp olive oil

    Instructions

    1. In food processor blend pulse garlic, onion and jalapeño.
    2. Add in tomatoes, salt and pepper
    3. With food processor running drizzle in olive oil.
    4. Taste and adjust seasoning

    HERB AND CHILE GARLIC CONFIT

    Ingredients

    1. 3 bulbs of garlic peeled
    2. 1 thai chili sliced seeds in
    3. 2 sprigs whole fresh rosemary
    4. 2 sprigs whole fresh thyme
    5. 1 & 1/4 tsp salt
    6. 1 tsp pepper
    7. Olive oil (enough to cover)

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 200c (400f)
    2. Pour all the ingredients into am English loaf tin pan or a small pyrex dish.
    3. Cover with enough olive oil that all the ingredients are completely submerged in the oil.
    4. Cover tightly with tin foil and bake for 40 minutes.

    LEMON JALAPENO GREMOLOTA

    Ingredients

    1. 2 lemons, washed and dried.
    2. 1/2 purple onion, finely diced
    3. 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    4. 1 thai chili, finely chopped
    5. 1 cup of parsley, finely chopped
    6. 1 tsp. salt
    7. 1 tsp. pepper
    8. 1 Tbsp. olive oil

    Instructions

    1. Peel the lemon with knife as thinly as possible. (or zest it, using a zester or microplane)
    2. Segment the lemon over a bowl to catch the liquid.
    3. Finely dice lemon peel and add to segments.
    4. Add everything else to the bowl and stir to combine.
    5. Serve cold.

    OLIVE TAPENADE

    Ingredients

    1. 1 can pitted olives drained
    2. 1 thai chili (seeds and ribs removed if you want it more mild)
    3. 1 clove garlic
    4. 3 tbsp regular mayonnaise
    5. 1 tsp pepper
    6. (salt, only if necessary)

    Instructions

    1. Put everything in a food processor beside for the mayo.
    2. Turn on high speed to combine.
    3. Add mayo and pulse until combined.
    4. Taste to adjust salt seasoning.

    ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP

    Ingredients

    1. 2 red bell peppers, washed and dried
    2. 1/2 lemon
    3. 1 tsp salt
    4. 1 tsp black pepper
    5. 3 Tbsp mayonnaise

    Instructions

    1. Roast 2 red peppers on open flame, turning every fewminiutes till all sides of the pepper are charred.
    2. Put in bowl and cover with saran wrap for half an hour.
    3. Peel the skin off (rinse off with water) and put in another bowl.
    4. Open up pepper with your hands to remove seeds inside.
    5. Tear into pieces and add to the bowl of a food processor.
    6. Add the rest of the ingredients to the peppers and blend till smooth and creamy.
    7. Refrigerate before serving.

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