Passover Traditions, Kugel and Brisket

Photo from Paurian Photostream

Since I am Swedish I was raised with Swedish traditions, however, I am married to a man who grew up with Jewish traditions.  So in our family we do both traditions.

Passover which started we on the sunset of Monday the 20^th of March and will continue for 7 days until Monday, the 5th of April.

Our Sedar is almost like this “Two-Minute Haggadah”  I think it is great and wanted to share it. I got it from http://www.slate.com/.

The Two-Minute Haggadah  

A Passover service for the impatient.

Opening prayers:
Thanks, someone, for creating wine. (Drink wine.)
Thanks for creating produce. (Eat parsley.)

Overview: Once we were slaves in Egypt. Now we’re free. That’s why we’re doing this.

Four Questions:
1. What’s up with the matzoh?
2. What’s the deal with horseradish?
3. What’s with the dipping of the herbs?
4. What’s this whole slouching at the table business?

Answers:
1. When we left Egypt, we were in a hurry. There was no time for making decent bread.
2. Life was bitter, like horseradish.
3. It’s called symbolism.
4. Free people get to slouch.

(Heat soup now.)

The four kinds of children and how to deal with them:
Wise child—explain Passover.
Simple child—explain Passover slowly.
Silent child—explain Passover loudly.
Wicked child—browbeat in front of the relatives.

Speaking of children: We hid some matzoh. Whoever finds it gets five bucks.

The story of Passover: It’s a long time ago. We’re slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh is a nightmare. We cry out for help. Someone brings plagues upon the Egyptians. We escape, bake some matzoh. Someone parts the Red Sea. We make it through; the Egyptians aren’t so lucky. We wander 40 years in the desert, eat manna, get the Torah, wind up in Israel, get a new temple, enjoy several years without being persecuted again.

(Let brisket cool now.)

The 10 Plagues: Blood, Frogs, Lice—you name it.

The singing of “Dayenu”:
If someone had gotten us out of Egypt and not punished our enemies, it would’ve been enough.
If he’d punished our enemies and not parted the Red Sea, if would’ve been enough.
If he’d parted the Red Sea—-you get the idea.

(Remove gefilte fish from refrigerator now.)

Eat matzoh.

Drink more wine.

Slouch.

Thanks again, Someone, for everything.

SERVE MEAL.

As always food is very important in our family gatherings and for Passover we usually serve the following: Matzo Balls Soup, Brisket, Kugel, and Haroset. Here I am sharing one of my favorite Kugel recipes from my mother in law and my favorite Brisket Recipe is from the The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook.

Enjoy!

Kugel  

16oz egg noodles
1 pint sour cream
1 lb cottage cheese
6 eggs beaten
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
3/4 c sugar add 2-3 tablespoons more
1/2 butter melted

Additional Ingredients
2 eggs
2 cups milk
Sugar
Cinnamon

Cook the noodles per direction. Don’t overcook them. Mix all ingredients together except the additional ingredients in a bowl and place it all in 9×13 pan.

Then go into the additional ingredients. Beat 2 eggs, 2 cups milk.  And then pour over the top. Cover with sugar and cinnamon

Bake at 350 degrees for at least one hour or until done on top.

Brisket

1 first-cut brisket of beef – 5-6 pounds
1 to 2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 corn oil
8 onions, thickly sliced and separated into rings
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1-1/2 teaspoons coarse (kosher) salt
2 cloves garlic, quartered
1 carrot, peeled

Preheat oven to 375 F

Trim the brisket of most of its fat, and dust it very lightly with the flour.  Sprinkle with pepper.
Heat the oil in a large heavy flameproof casserole. Add the brisket, and brown on both sides over medium-high heat until some crisp spots appear on the surface.

Transfer the brisket to a dish.  Keeping the heat medium high, add the onions to the casserole and stir, scraping up the brown particles left from the meat.  Cook until the onions have softened and developed a handsome brown color, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the casserole from the heat, and place the brisket, along with any juices that have accumulated, on top of the onions.  Spread the tomato paste over the brisket as if you were icing a cake.  Sprinkle with pepper and the coarse salt.  Add the garlic and carrot, and cover tightly.  Place the casserole on the middle rack in the oven, and bake for 1-1/2 hours. 

Remove the casserole from the oven, and transfer the meat to a carving board.  Cut it into 1/8 – 1/4 inch-thick slices.  Return the slices to the pot, overlapping them at an angle so that you can see a bit of the top edge of each slice (in effect resembling the brisket, slightly slanted).  Correct the seasoning if necessary, and if absolutely necessary add 2 or 3 teaspoons of water to the casserole.

Cover, and return the casserole to the oven.  Cook until the meat is brown and fork-tender, 1-3/4 to 2 hours longer.

Slice the carrot, and transfer the roast, onions and carrot slices to a heated platter.  Serve at once.