Several times a year I enter the cooking marathon, preparing loads of food special for that holiday only to be consumed in one or two celebratory meals. This year was no different. Our celebration was Monday evening and I charted the course for Sunday and Monday cooking so that it would all be done and in place when the time was right to eat!

This year’s menu, and I have to write it down for fear of forgetting some vital item, included the huevos haminados (Sephardic hard boiled eggs), chicken soup, flourless chocolate cake, marzipan, haroset, gefilte fish, and gelees (I wanted to get the fresh coconut water a friend shared with us that was languishing in the freezer). And that was only Sunday’s tasks! I even had a note instructing me what to take out of the freezer on Saturday to thaw for Sunday’s marathon.

Huevos Haminados. The eggs were an easy task. Put a bunch of onion skins into a sauce pan. Gently add the eggs. Cover them with more onion skins. Place the covered pan on the stove, high heat. When they come to a boil, turn the heat off and remove. After a while drain and put finished eggs/huevos aside.

Soup. I’ve written a while ago that I save trimmings from vegetables in the freezer to be used to make a rich stock. This time I had a huge bunch of trimmings from fennel that I rescued from the grocery store. Another Passover shopper was breaking off the ends of a number of fennels and just leaving them aside. I took them with this stock in mind. (I do the same thing with beet greens that shoppers leave behind, rather than having them in their own trash; they make an amazing sautéed green).

Put the trimmings in a large soup pot/Dutch oven with some salt, bring to a boil. Simmer for an hour or two. Strain the stock and add fresh vegetables; parsnip, carrot, onion, turnip, dill and parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and a chicken carcass full of meat saved from a dinner a while ago. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least an hour. When cooled, remove the chicken bones and salvage the meat; return it to the soup.

Matzah Balls. These were on the Monday schedule. Yes, I use the box mix and we had the new Manischevitz box, aimed at Gen Z (our guests loved it!). Then I went fancy. After mixing the dough, I split it into thirds; I added 3 tablespoons of food processed spinach to one third, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to one third, and 1 tablespoon of turmeric to the final third to make green, red, and yellow matzah balls. I put the balls into simmering soup so they capture the flavor of the soup.

Flourless Chocolate Cake. Next on the schedule was the flourless chocolate cake, given to me by another Girl Scout mom years ago. This recipe is for a bete noire (https://www.food.com/recipe/la-bete-noire-chocolate-flourless-cake-208877). Few ingredients and really easy to make. And so delicious. I also rescued a package of frozen mangos from the freezer and made a simple mango sauce to accompany the cake: put the mango pieces in a sauce pan with some sugar (we do not like really sweet), and some water. Bring to a boil and simmer for a while. Using a blender or an immersion blend process until smooth. Constant Companion had his doubts about the, but when I went to find the leftovers, there were none!

Marzipan. Next I turned to the food processor, another good tool in the kitchen. It was needed for three things and I had to strategize. If I did the gefilte fish first, well fishy everything else! I started with the marzipan, a recipe from the many pandemic zooms that I’ve taken to heart (for the recipe see the 12/31/2020 post). This recipe calls for natural or raw almonds. I bit the bullet and blanched my almonds to remove the skins. It was really not difficult! Next time I make marzipan, however, I have to get more creative and try to color and shape them.

Haroset. Haroset was next, using my mother’s recipe. She did not have a food processor; I seem to remember her using the hochmeister (chopper) and a wooden bowl. Her recipe is easy: raisins, walnuts, peeled and chopped apple, and Manischevitz wine. Mix together til smooth and let it sit to absorb all the flavors. My raisins had been in the pantry for a while, so I soaked them first in the wine.

Gefilte Fish. Last in the food processor was the gefilte fish. No fear of imparting a fishy taste on something else. t’s an easy recipe … mix together a few pounds of red snapper fillets, chopped onion, carrots, cilantro and parsley, fresh ginger, 2 eggs, some matzah meal, 1/2 cup ice water, and salt and pepper. This recipe also calls for chopped scotch bonnet. As Daughter is pepper averse I omit it. Pulse until everything is ground. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bring 1 1/2 quarts of fish stock (I used water) to a slow simmer, gently drop fish ovals into the water. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Cover and refridgerate overnight. Delicious. Constant Companion added rise (we enjoy rice during Pesach) with the leftover fish stock for several delicious lunches.

Coconut Water Gelees. The coconut water gelees were Sunday’s final prep (see April 27, 2020 for the recipe). The dilemma was finding space in the fridge for them to set up. My go-to place on top of the egg cartons was the place. They came out perfect, but the vote was that the flavor was too delicate. I thought they were a great palate cleanser!

Monday was the main cooking day, along with setting the table, bringing out the haggadahs, etc. I had two vegetable kugels in mind – one with leeks and potatoes, the other with zucchini substituted for eggplant.

Leeks and Potato Kugel. This kugel had many more steps than I prefer, it was enjoyed by all. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. First step – Start with about 9 medium peeled potatoes. Chop up 3 or 4 and boil them. When soft, mash them. Next step – In the meantime, slice and clean 3 medium leeks and saute in oil about 5-8 minutes Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves. Cool. Next step – Grate 3 peeled potatoes and 1 onion, or use your food processor. Finally – Add to the mashed potatoes, cooled leeks 4 large beaten eggs and 1 tbsp thyme leaves, and salt and pepper. Mix well.

Put the mixture into a greased 8×8″ baking pan. You can put this into the 375 oven for 10 minutes (the last time I tried this, my glass baking pan broke, oops). Top with the rest of the potatoes thinly sliced. Bake for 60-75 minutes. Place under broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown the top.

Zucchini Kugel. This dish called for one eggplant which I substituted with several zucchini and yellow summer squash, sliced and sauteed with a chopped onion and 2-3 tbsps of pine nuts. Next, chop 3 green peppers and sautee them. All the veges were mixed together with a crumbled matzah and 2 beaten eggs. Put into an 8×8″ baking pan, drizzled with some olive oil (in place of margerine) and baked in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.

Two lovely roast chickens with loads of lemon juice and Greek oregano went into the oven about an hour before our seder was to start. Between the seder, the soup, gefilte fish, and eggs, they were cooked perfectly. And all of the work of two days disappeared in a blink of an eye.

That’s what it’s all about.

*Somewhere along the way, I forgot to photograph some of the finished products. Use your imagination!