orichalcum

So, I attended a particularly delicious Seder this year, which was made even better for me than usual Seders by deemphasizing the Meat and Starch traditional parts of the main course in favor of eilonwey's arctic char baked in parchment with goat cheese and leeks, which I want the recipe for, and a dish called 3 large Yukon gold potatoes

1 large onion

8-10 anchovy fillets

2 tbs butter

½ cup cream

<1/4 cup sliced or grated gruyere

Spices to taste

Slice the potatoes very thin. Try to aim for 1/16th inch; you don’t want potato chip thin but close. If not comfortable with knifework, a mandolin or some sort of automated slicer should work. Quarter the onion and slice into matchstick.

Meanwhile, a word about anchovies – a really authentic version would use Swedish anchovies, which are technically a different kind of small fish, and are typically packed in sugar/cinnamon/ginger/sandalwood. I used Italian, some had been packed in salt and some in olive oil. For Italian, rinse them off and soak in milk. I soaked in about a cup of milk, with a tablespoon of white sugar, a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon, and a quarter teaspoon of powdered ginger. Strangely, I had no sandalwood in my spice drawer. If you are using Italian, get them soaking while you do the other prep, as this will remove the oil and salt and a lot of the smell that people find objectionable about anchovies. Once all other prep is done, remove spines as needed, then coarsely chop the anchovy fillets.

On the inside of a greased baking dish, lay down a layer of potato. Then toss together a third of the potato, onion, and anchovy, and add to the bowl. Put in a third of the butter in slivers. Repeat. Lay down the last of the potato, onion, and anchovy, ensuring that a layer of potato is kept at the top. Pour over the cream, then place sliced or grated gruyere along the top. Cover with foil or baking lid. Bake for about an hour at 375 degrees, removing lid or foil for the last 15 minutes to brown the top. Test the potatoes with a knife to ensure they’re tender. At this stage it will still look way too soupy, but it will set up substantially as it cools.

, which is essentially a version of scalloped potatoes with Swedish anchovies, which give the creamy potatoes a lovely sharp zing.

I made my family's traditional Passover flourless chocolate cake (with accessories from a Godiva recipe):

Chocolate cake:
12 oz dark chocolate (I use most of a Trader Joe's 72% Pound Plus dark bar, which is not as good chocolate as it might be, but is fairly cheap.)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (optional)
3/4 cup boiling water
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Raspberry coulis:
1 bag (12 ounces) frozen unsweetened raspberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon raspberry liqueur (optional - omitted this time)

Garnish:
3 cups sweetened whipped cream
Fresh raspberries

Make the cake:
1. Butter bottom and side of 9-inch springform pan. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place chocolate, sugar and coffee in food processor bowl. Cover and process until finely ground. With motor running, pour boiling water through feed tube. Process 10 to 15 seconds or until mixture is smooth. Add butter and process for 5 seconds. Add eggs and vanilla and process for about 5 seconds or until mixture is smooth and creamy. Spread mixture in prepared pan.
3. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until edge of cake is puffy and center is just set. Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until ready to serve.

Make the raspberry coulis:
Combine frozen raspberries and sugar in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and berries are soft. Do not let mixture boil. Strain berries through a fine-meshed sieve into bowl. Stir in raspberry liqueur. Cover and refrigerate.

Decorate the cake:
1. Loosen cake from pan, using a knife. Remove the side of springform pan. Invert cake onto a serving plate. Peel off paper.
2. Spread sweetened whipped cream over top of cake.
3. To serve, drizzle some of raspberry coulis onto each dessert plate. Slice cake into wedges. Place a wedge on each plate and garnish with raspberries.


I also made two kinds of charoset, 2 cups pitted dates
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tablespoon sweet red passover wine -- (up to 2)

Process the dates, raisins, and walnuts in a food processor until the mixture
is finely chopped and begins to stick together. Add enough wine to make a
sticky mass. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Drop slightly rounded
measuring teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto a lined sheet. Roll each mound with
moistened palms into hazelnut-size balls. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or
until firm.
and a more traditional Ashkenazi apple, honey, and walnut charoset. The apple charoset was good although undistinguished; I think it was hurt by chopping the apples in the food processor rather than by hand (which saves a lot of time, although ladybird97 notes the potentially therapeutic value of attacking fruit with a knife) and also by too much caution with spices; next time I'll add some nutmeg and more allspice, I think.

Now I have a new "problem." I was just at the grocery store and faced with the choice of buying either 1 lb of strawberries for $3 or 4 lbs for $4.50. So, of course, I bought 4 lbs of strawberries. I will use some to make the strawberry-orange variation on charoset and others for a strawberry butter of some sort, but I invite you to share your strawberry recipes (ones with flour are fine), as we've got quite a lot of them!