Threats of Pesach!
My daily, who comes in once a week, was quite upset; I have a corner in my living room which starts to fill up about a month before Pesach; boxes upon boxes multiply, and are filled with basic stuff which will be needed for the holiday. The corner, this week, was empty...she, baffled, started looking into other corners... wanted to know if all was well and if we are....I assured her that all was well, I am just lazy this year. But guilt, moved in...and now, every time I walk into the living room and see the corner empty, I cringe! I did show her that I have a bottle of olive oil 'kosher l'pesach', but she shook her head and looked at me pathetically...I do not know about you, but the older I get, the less I do...I mean I still DO; the cleaning does take place, the kitchen gets scrubbed and blasted until it shines inside and out!...and everything that goes into it, gets changed, but I really do not have the "urge" I once had, for it...I love tradition, and will always keep to it, but I no longer feel... can it possibly be age creeping in? NO way! MATURITY, that's what... maybe. I remember years ago, a month before Pesach, we were in London; my aunt, very religious and a 'stickler!'...who lived in London, was visiting Israel, offered us her flat for that week; when we left, I put a pair of white-leather-gloves into her closet with a note of thanks and added: "now we will see if you clean your closets for Pesach"...she never thanked me for the gloves...

A special lady asked me for vegan dishes; she has a "vegan" on her hands, who will now eat cooked dishes...which of course is a blessing! Frankly, I do not know why anybody would give up one of the pleasures in life...but, hey! We all make our choices...my son, when he moved abroad, decided that the only way he could keep kashrut without complications and, or explanations, become a vegetarian. But vegan?... I honestly do not know how to handle that; sorry!

Lets have some vegetarian suggestions, maybe they will be of help. We talked about pasta as a wonderful main meal; but what do you do with left over pasta? How about a 'fritata?' Oil or butter into a pan, thinly sliced scallion, mix-mix, garlic, if you like...chopped up pasta, salt pepper and when it starts to crisp up, flood it with beaten eggs...flip it over, another few minutes...IF you are making individual ones, keep them warm in the oven...or you can make one large one, by baking the lot in the oven and slicing it...you can add cheese, or not...sprinkle it on top, or not...other veggies lurking in the fridge can go in, or not...you can serve a nice green veggie with that, a mixed salad, and you have a perfect meal...or not!

Risotto: wonderful to serve as a main dish; I made it with fake-parve chicken soup, and because of the wine, butter and cheese, it was great! No difference to the real thing; BUT: how would I know?...I never had the real thing! You can add whatever you want to the basic risotto; or start it off with additions; onions...garlic...I started with sliced leeks; you can pile mushrooms in top, sizzled in butter...crispy fried onions...a sliced hard boiled egg?...or two?...or fill large mushrooms with the risotto, with a poached egg on top...

So, its Pesach time; lets get rid of bread crumbs...baked fennel! I love fennel...get a pot of water boiling; cut off the tops and ends of 3 large fennel bulbs, slice in half and again into four each half; dump them into the boiling water and let them simmer for 5 minutes; drain well, and add: 1 tablespoon olive oil...yes, butter is better!...2 crushed garlic cloves, salt pepper, and IF you like, dry oregano...mix and place into a baking pan; now you need a sauce: butter into a pan, 40gr. will do, add same amount of flour, mix-mix, 2 cups of milk go in next; bash it well!...add 150 gr. of grated Parmesan cheese...salt-pepper; mix well, let the cheese melt, pour over the fennel, spread bread crumbs thickly all over, and bake for half an hour in a 350 oven. Delicious! It even slices nicely...a potato will go nicely here and maybe another veggie?...a mixed salad and lots of wine...I would just have cheese and more wine for dessert here...

I thought 'chard' was the same as 'kale'; nah! chard is a large 'spinach' leaf; the other, more of a cabbage...and as we still have some dough in the freezer, lets do chard and get rid of it!...Into a pan go olive oil and a chopped large onion; add torn-leaves of chard, just the leaves, quite a large bunch; mix-mix for a few minutes, salt pepper, a bit of vodka would be good...let it evaporate...take off the heat and mix 150gr. of Feta cheese and 150 of cheddar into it; spread out 2 or three Filo pastry sheets, OR any dough you still have, plonk the chard mixture on one end, roll it up and fit into a baking dish...OR, put dough on bottom of dish, chard mix and cover with dough...pie-style? Beat 2 eggs with 1 cup of milk, pour over, and bake in 350 oven for half an hour or a bit more...If you think this is not enough, after cutting it into portions, place a poached egg on each serving; plus salad, dessert, a great veggie meal...

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Debbie Morgenstern is the author of "My Life in Israel" and other short stories.
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