[Sca-cooks] Re: Drinkables and Passover

[Sheila McClune]

From: SilverR0se at aol.com

>Speaking of unusual drinkables...
>
>At our seder last night my mom's boyfriend unearthed a bottle of kosher grape 
>juice of the fine vintage year 1985!
>  
>
<<<

Okay, I have a related tidbit.

Spent yesterday helping my friend Rivka prepare her seder dinner.  She 
needed some wine for the haroset, and dug around and came out with a 
three-year-old bottle of Mogen David Blackberry.

I wrinkled my nose and said, "Are you sure it's still any good?"

She replied by splashing a bit into a glass and tasting it.  With a 
surprised expression, she passed the glass to me.

Wonder of wonders, it had aged nicely, mellowing so that it tasted 
almost like sherry.  We were amazed.  Sadly, by the time we'd finished 
making the haroset and the brisket with it, there wasn't much left, so 
we had to finish it. ;)

Later that day, we went out and bought a fresh bottle to set aside for 
three years from now.  I'll let people know how it comes out.

And for those who are interested, here's what we had for the Seder:

Two kinds of haroset (one of which is rolled into balls and rolled in 
cinnamon, so they look like truffles -- very tasty).  Unfortuately, I 
didn't think to kidnap the recipes for these, but if folks are 
interested, I can see if I can get her to e-mail them to me.

Matzo Ball Soup:  We cooked down a broth of chicken, as well as assorted 
bits and trimmings from the other vegetables we used for the meal:  
Carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips, onion, asparagus and broccoli.  It 
needed more salt, and I think I should have overridden her and added a 
pinch each of thyme and savory.  I made the matzo balls using the 
standard mix plus her grandmother's "secret ingredient":  a tablespoon 
of seltzer water per packet of matzo ball mix.  They were fluffy and 
wonderful.

Beef Brisket with root vegetables.  The brisket was sprinkled with 
poudre fort and salt, then slathered in a bit of olive oil to keep it 
moist.  Vegetables were carrots, parsnips, turnips, onions, and some 
celery.  I put about a cup of water in the pan with it, along with about 
a cup of the above-mentioned Mogen David, and we roasted it at 325 for a 
couple of hours.  It got a little more done than I would have preferred, 
but was still moist and tasty.

Steamed Broccoli

Roasted Asparagus -- drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary 
and salt.

Noodle Kugel -- made with kosher for passover noodles.

My first attempt at homemade baba ghanooj, made with some spices we'd 
picked up at the middle eastern market earlier that day.

For dessert, we contemplated a really yummy looking chocolate cake made 
with potato starch, from a local grocery store, but the price tag ($20) 
exceeded our budget, so we went with pre-packaged macaroons, some 
halvah, and some of the "fruit slice" candy.

It was all yummy, and there were very few leftovers.

Arwen