Just Desserts

Chocolate Covered Matzo via “My Bissim”. Hilla has the most amazing, lovely blog on cooking, which is not only tasty, but is also serious eye-candy. I first happened across her Hebrew blog on WordPress.com’s “Blog of The Day” and she finally started blogging in English a few months ago, to the joy of all.

And from a past post on Passover (don’t say that with a mouthful of matza), from the Mad Evil Scientist: Tiramatzah

More chocolate!

Chocolate Decadence

1 lb. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped in pieces
1/2 c. margarine
1 tbsp. hot water
4 eggs
1 tbsp. potato flour

Preheat oven to hot (200ºC/425ºF). Combine the chocolate pieces, margarine and hot water in a saucepan over low heat until the chocolate is melted and the mixture smooth. Set aside. In a large mixer bowl beat the eggs at high speed until thick. add the potato starch and chocolate mixture until well blended.

Spread the batter evenly in a greased 8″ springform pan and bake for 12-15 minutes. The cake will be soft in the center and will firm up as it cools. Refrigerate well-wrapped until ready to serve. Serve with fresh raspberries and/or raspberry pureé with 1 tsp. sugar. (via aish.com)

Also via aish.com:

Better shared!

Moving right along at full tilt

Or is it tilt-a-whirl?

Trying hard not to think about all the things that still need doing before our Passover holiday in little over a week’s time. Things have become a bit more complicated while I deal with recovering from another bout of pneumonia (the 2nd in two months) and a third round of antibiotics. Everything leaves me breathless. Thankfully, I have two sisters-in-law to lean on for cooking (and a strange feeling to not be including my mother-in-law (z”l) in that sentence), though the festive meal is at our house. I’ll be leaning on my sons and husband for the post-meal cleanup, which takes almost as long as the cooking and preparation.

Also weighing heavily on our minds as we go into the week before Passover holiday is the current situation in the south, which picked up considerable speed this weekend. Since early Friday morning, at least 75 rocket and missile attacks have been launched from Gaza, including an anti-tank missile that was fired on a school bus, mortally wounding a 16 year-old student. Who knows how many more rocket attacks before this post is published Sunday morning Israel time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Haniyeh has asked that Israel stop retaliating, to which I can only reply, “Chad Gadya.”

Updated: seems I’m not alone in my thoughts on the latter subject. The Wifely Person Speaks. Go listen.

Better shared!

The Hardest Part

about this cheesecake is waiting for it to cool enough to eat.

Cheese Cake (Israeli version*)

Preheat oven to 160º Celsius. Line the bottom of a spring-form pan with baking parchment and lightly butter.

Crust:

• 2 c. crushed Petit Beurre biscuits (chocolate petit beurre with a dash of cocoa is a nice counterpoint if you’re topping the cake with summer fruits)
• 1/2 c. melted butter
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Combine the above and bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling:

• 2 large pkgs. Cna’an cheese
• 500 gr. 5% white spreadable cheese (like Ski).
• 1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
• 3-4 eggs (depending on how dry the Cna’an cheese is.)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. salt

Whip the above in a mixer until fluffy. Pour onto cooled crust and bake for 30 minutes.

Topping:

• 2 c. sour cream
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Beat the above and then pour onto cake. Return to oven for an additional 10 minutes until the topping is set.

After the cake comes out of the oven, let it rest for about 10 minutes and then remove from the spring-form pan to a plate. Cool before putting in frig to chill completely.

*When I first arrived in Israel, I was amazed by the variety of dairy products available in the supermarket (and this from a girl who was raised in the American Midwest no less!). But finding the original ingredients for my transplanted American cheesecake recipe proved difficult or costly, if I was lucky enough to find them at all. Over the years I made substitutions using local products and and this specific recipe was refined again and again as I found new cheeses to try. So far, I like this combination the best.

We won’t talk about the various disasters leading up to this version. Suffice it to say, there are circular, brick-like objects in nearby landfills waiting to be puzzled over by future archaeologists.

Farmer’s Market

Last Friday morning at the height of pre-New Year’s holiday preparations, we decided to finally check out the once-a-week Farmer’s Market at Tel Aviv port. Tel Aviv already has a well-established and famous outdoor market, the Carmel Market (Shuk HaCarmel), which is filled with hawkers and gawkers morning to evening, Sunday through Friday (Sunday being a regular workday here in Israel). So the idea of a Farmer’s Market, in part supported by Israel’s “Slow Food” movement, was to me a little odd. What could possibly be different about this market, which my Israeli husband immediately dubbed “Shuk HaYuppie”? (Somehow I don’t think you need that translated.)

Fresssh Produce

Leeks

Asparagus

Dancing Camel

Fisherman’s Friend

Pomegranates

And More

Boardwalk

Aftermath

There was food

Our refrigerator post-last night’s Seder. There’s actually more food there than before the Seder. Regardless, today I fully expect to hear, “Mom, there’s nothing to eat!”

Wishing everyone who celebrates a peaceful and happy Passover.