Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies

Deciding on the perfect cookie to take to a party can be daunting. Not really, but...pull out an old trick or try something new? I wanted something new.

Martha Stewart has an online Cookie of the Day feature, so I started my hunt there. Nothing sang to me as I clicked my way through many months of archives, then I landed on a recipe for a chocolate cookie with nuts (Martha used pecans) that looked perfect.
The cookies turned out to be gluten-free. Even better! A gluten-free friend would be at the party, and, believe me, it's ain't no party if you can't eat the cookies.

Then I realized, hey, it's almost Passover, and half our our household observes this Jewish holiday. These cookies will also work for that whiny, hungry week without leavened wheat. Double win!
With only powdered sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate, nuts, salt, and egg whites in the ingredients, these cookies cook up light and chewy like a meringue, but taste like a rich brownie.

I'd make these cookies again even if there weren't a celiac at the party or Passover was in observance. These cookies are truly "a good thing." Thanks, Martha!
Gluten-Free Double Chocolate Cashew Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes about 24 cookies

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped cashews (can use any nut)
4 large egg whites, room temperature

• Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder and salt.
• Stir in chocolate and cashews.
• Add egg whites and stir until just incorporated. Do not over stir.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and drop cookie dough on the sheet by the spoonful, about 3 inches apart.
• Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until tops of cookies are dry and crackled, about 25 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through.
  

Charoset Truffles

This recipe is a bit early for Passover, but that's why I'm a better fake Jew than you are a real Jew. Yep, I call myself Philly's biggest Jew-faker. I'm not Jewish at all, but because my boyfriend is.

I'm in ur temple drinking ur Manichevitz!
I know my bar mitzvah from a mikveh, and I'll take a tween boy party over getting naked and wet in front of people any day.

I'm on The Collaborative's mailing list. Apparently, I gave someone my address one night while drinking at a bar holding a Purim event. (And if any Jewish women out there want to go with me to the all-women's Mahjong classes organized by The Collaborative, get at me. I'm itching to go, but am afraid I'll blow my cover.)Dont' know how many times I've heard a rabbi do their Rosh Hashanah spiel. Or was it Yom Kippur? Honestly, I space out and think deep thoughts. Or just count the window panes.

I've experienced a Seder with Penn grad students (boooring), a Seder at Mikveh Israel (fun, especially when the one family of Sephardic Jews got smashed and started hitting each other with scallions), and a Seder with long lost relatives (awkward, but warm).So, will you accept this charoset truffle recipe from a shiksa? Good.

Oh, you have no idea what charoset is?

Well, it's a sweet mixture of dried fruit, nuts, spices, and sweet wine that symbolizes the mortar Jewish slaves used to build the storehouses of Egypt, and is, frankly, the best part of the Seder meal. Well, slamming back four cups of wine, even if it is bad kosher wine — but not Manischevitz — isn't that bad either.

In this recipe, I'm just taking that sweet mortar, rolling it in balls, and rolling the balls into sugar. Simple.

Eat these charoset truffles during Passover — it's a long week of limited dining options — or eat them any time of the year. Think of them as Lärabars in ball form, if you like. I popped ten charoset truffles while I was taking the photos for this post, that's how good they are.
Charoset Truffles
makes about 40 truffles

This recipe is highly adaptable. Keep the dates for their sweetness, but feel free to sub any dried fruits for the raisins or cherries. Use any nut you like. Use any sweet wine or fruit juice you like. I used Port because that's what I had on hand. Just be sure to use kosher-for-Passover wine or juice if serving these during Passover. And it would have been fancy-dancy to use decorator's sugar, but I didn't have any.

2 cups pitted dates
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons sweet wine
sugar

• Pulse all ingredients, except for the sugar, in food processor until forms a chunky paste.
• Scoop about 1 tablespoon of paste and roll paste between palms of hands to form a ball.
  
• Roll balls in a bowl of sugar to coat, and serve.
  

Chocolate Toffee Matzo

My traditional Easter picnic was a total bust this year due to unseasonably frigid temperatures. Instead, I endured almost 48 hours of observing Passover dietary restrictions this weekend with only one small transgression involving an éclair.

How do you make matzo-filled breakfast, lunch, and dinner more tolerable? You cover matzo with caramel and chocolate, then have it for dessert. This quick recipe turns matzo crackers into a chocolate-covered toffee dessert that’s as good as a Heath Bar.

You can substitute saltine crackers, if you're not observing Passover or don’t want to buy matzo. Use egg-free matzos or Saltines, margarine, and vegan chocolate if you're observing veganism. Embellish with nuts, coconut, or anything else your heart desires (gefilte fish not recommended).

Chocolate Toffee Matzo

4-6 matzos
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
pinch of salt

• Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a cookie sheet with foil, then place parchment paper on top of the foil.
• Cover the cookie sheet with a single layer of matzos. Fill gaps with smaller pieces of matzo so that the sheet is completely covered.
• Cook the butter and brown sugar over medium heat in a sauce pan, stirring constantly until comes to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour over the matzo to cover completely.
• Place the baking sheet in the oven, immediately reduce the heat to 350°, and bake for 15 minutes. If it is browning too quickly lower the heat to 325°.
• Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and chocolate chips. (Skip salt if using salted matzos or Saltines.) Let stand for a few minutes so the chocolate melts, and then spread the chocolate over the matzo with the back of a spoon.
  
• Break into pieces while still warm. Chill in the pan until set.

Kosher For Passover Coke - Sweet!

The bulletin that Coca-Cola makes a limited batch of Coke with sucrose (real sugar) available once a year during Passover comes as news to me. Apparently, people go ape-shit this time of year, and stock up on Coke made the original way – before Coca-Cola replaced expensive sugar cane with cheap high fructose corn syrup in the mid '80's. Nostalgia and a better tasting product are people’s reasons for searching out bottles of Coke distinguished by yellow caps printed with the OU-P symbol.

I rarely drink carbonated beverages, or Coke (except bourbon and Coke at bars), but I thought I’d give it a try. This is going to sound like a fib, but, with the first sip, I was instantly reminded of fetching colas from my granddad’s garage, and sharing a cola with him when I was a child. It tastes just like that! There’s definitely something softer, and less harsh about Coke made with real sugar.

In my parts, I’ve only seen 2-liter bottles of OU-P Coke – and Sprite! (Pepsi fans, don’t fear; look for Pepsi with KP on the cap.) I wish smaller sizes of OU-P Coke were more readily available, because I’ll never drink a 2-liter bottle before it goes flat. However, I would stock up on smaller cans of Coke made with sugar once a year to make mixed drink.

The official OU website lists what sizes of OU-P Cokes are available, and in what cities. Large metropolitan areas with large populations of Jews are the target distribution areas. My city is not listed, but I found some; just keep an eye out for yellow caps with the OU-P symbol.

Matzo Ball Soup

Passover is still going on, which means All Things Matzo!

I’m usually curious about food on the ethnic aisle at the grocery store, but I must say that the boring Manischewitz packaging and the jars of testicular-looking gefilte fish in the Jewish section have kept me moving along with my buggy.

Sometimes it helps to have someone open you up new experiences, as is the case with matzo ball soup. I tried it for the first time last year and fell in love with it.

It’s a very simple soup – matzo dumplings in a soup broth. What I love about the soup is the texture of the balls. They are light and spongy and lots of fun to put in your mouth and squish.

Follow the recipe on the box and perfectly light and spongy floaters result. I’m not sure how some people get theirs to be dense, heavy sinkers. Every body has a preference– floaters or sinkers.

So, grab a box of matzo ball soup and try it if you've never done so. Just shield your eyes from the jars of gefilte fish as you reach for the box.

To get you through the week here's a hip-hop matzo song.

Shalom

Photo by double blind









Last night I was privileged to experience my first Passover Seder in Philadelphia at the Congregation Mikveh Isreal, the second oldest congregation in the U.S. I was treated to the full-fledged Seder that continued past midnight.

The service and meal was quite an experience for a gentile like myself. It made me feel very special to glimpse someone else’s traditions. I witnessed many traditions and rituals, and ate food I have never eaten before.

My favorite food of the night was the charoset, a sweet mixture of nuts, fruit, spices, and wine. How the charoset was eaten was the most interesting part. Jews are now twiddling their thumbs and rolling their eyes, but this is all new and exciting to me.

Charoset is eaten in my new favorite sandwich – the Hillel sandwich.

The Hillel sandwich is charoset and horseradish squished between two pieces of matzah bread. At first I was wary of putting horseradish in my sweet charoset, but who am I to go against tradition. Surprise! - or maybe not, really. The sweet charoset balances the spicy horseradish. This spunky combo manages to make matzah bread quite palatable.

Apparently, I’m no sandwich history buff. Rabbi Hillel is credited with creating the first sandwich during the first century B.C. I know nothing – or at least not every thing. That’s why experiencing new things can be so awesome.

I do know that if I had to eat matzah for a week I’d make loads of charoset and have lil’ Hillel sandwiches every day.

Charoset recipes (Epicurious)