Pesach

When I think back on the Passovers when I was a kid, I remember dread. Long unending night, too much time sitting at a table without eating, dread at always being the youngest therefore required to ask questions.
As an adult I try and make passover a celebration, a Jewish thanksgiving, and a raucous good time.
Last year I had 8 people altogether, one other of whom was Jewish. So I like to incorporate the traditional elements to a more seamless meal/ experience instead of a series of rituals. Probably completely wrong to many people. For me it gets a large group more involved, more excited, more ready to be involved in telling the story, which captures the point a bit better from my perspective. Albeit unkosher and unorthodox.
Last years meal:
Roasted goat shanks over sweet potatoes and onion in a mole sauce (homemade from scratch, no recipe. I was pleased)
Horseradish was incorporated into sour cream
Charoset of green apples soaked in tequila with cinnamon, cumin, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro and red onion.
I served traditional as well with red apples, red wine, cinnamon, and pecans.
This year its going Mediterranean, so we'll see how it turns out! 7-14 people slated to come and still haven't finalized my menu. Hopefully this year I can take pictures of the food before its all eaten up...

A chrismukkah tradition

The Sacrilege. Its a concoction my brother and I dreamed up independently and then refined over phone calls. After years of discussion and laziness, I finally made it when my mother came to visit for the holidays.

Latkes are the traditional Hannukah fare, eggs Benedict was a Christmas morning tradition on the years we happened to visit my older brother (he's Christian, my other brother and I are Jewish). This recipe is heavily unkosher basically to the point of blasphemy.

To make a perfect latke:

NEVER LISTEN TO A RECIPE THAT USES POTATO FLOUR

1 Russet potato
1/2 large yellow onion or 1 whole small one
1 large egg
Safflower oil (this is a must! The only exception can be Saffola oil which is an acceptable safflower/ canola blend)
1 clove of garlic to season the oil
Salt
(I sometimes add a dash of pepper and a shaking of Lawry's season salt to the mix as well)

Crack an egg into a mixing bowl. Dice the onion. Discard the peel then grate the potato over paper towels or cheesecloth. Squeeze out the excess moisture from the potato. Add shredded potato to the egg, add the diced onion. Mix well. Shake in a smattering of salt and add any other seasonings. Mix again.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. When hot add slices of garlic. When the garlic starts to turn golden, push it to the side. Add pancake sized dollops of potato mix to the oil. Fry until golden brown, flip, fry some more. Remove to paper towels. Add more salt. Done with the perfect latke!

For the meats:
Heat the oven to 400. layer enough bacon and Canadian bacon to satisfy you. At least 2 pieces of Canadian bacon per latke-eggs-Benedict. Sprinkle with maple sugar, if desired. Cook until nice and crispy.

Poach enough eggs for people being served.

For the hollandaise:
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup of cold butter cut into pieces
juice from about half a lemon
a dash of pepper
(i like to add marjoram as well)

If you have a double boiler use it. I don't so I used a steel mixing bowl over a small sauce pan of water. Get the water to sustain just under a boil. Add the yolk to the mixing bowl, start whisking. While whisking add butter piece by piece until its all incorporated. Slowly add the lemon juice while whisking. Add seasoning.

Assemblage:
lay down your latke
add 2 pieces of canadian bacon
top with poached egg
drizzle with holandaise
top with crumbled regular bacon pieces
top with finely chopped chives or green onions

Serve with blood orange mimosas or in our case spiked apple cider. Best Brunch Ever.