BIZZY BAKES

I have posted, in the past, an Apple Strawberry Crisp which I did make for the first days of Passover.  What I did though was to make some extra topping and make a Mango Squash Crisp following the original recipe and subbing in these two ingredients.  It was good and I used it as a side dish rather than a dessert. I would think, this recipe, leaves itself open to many different substitutions giving us an easy recipe to make in a variety of guises.  It good me all fruit with cherries and blueberries or sweet potatoes and pineapple.  This is the place to use your imagination and have fun creating it. Mango Squash Crisp 1 bag of Butternut squash cubes  1 - 2 mangoes cut into small pieces ( about the size of the cubes) ½ cup sugar  2 teaspoons lemon juice  ½ teaspoon cinnamon  Crumb Topping:  2½ cup potato starch  1 cup sugar  1 egg  1 cup oil  4 oz. ground walnuts  In a 10 inch ba...

You probably know that I love, love , love spinach so when I found a recipe for a spinach kugel for Pesach, I jumped to make it.  I had forgotten that I had previously made it which makes no difference.  This is a good kugel. I hope to make if often in the future throughout the year. Spinach Kugel adapted from Taste of Pesach Ingredients:  16 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed  2 tbsp. oil  2 onions, diced  2 tbsp. mayonnaise  2 tbsp. water  2 eggs  1 tbsp. potato starch  1 tsp. salt   ¼ tsp. onion powder  Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add onions and sauté until translucent. Drain  liquid from spinach.  Add spinach to onions and cook 15 minutes.  Remove from heat.   Cool slightly, and then add mayonnaise and water.  Beat eggs in a small bowl, and then add to skillet, stirring constantly....

Ingenuity is called for when Passover arrives.  There are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables that can keep one satiated and happy for days but there is still that craving for the "good stuff".  Cakes, noodles, muffins, pancakes and the likes, suddenly turn into the important foods in your life.  If you can't have them, you want them, and most of us have come up with ways to make all of these without any flour.  Potato starch is the secret ingredient and I make brownies, pies, blondies, sugar cookies, cakes and candy from this wonderful ingredient. As the wife of one afflicted with celiac, potato starch is a staple in our lives but during the year, it is mixed with a variety of flours.  We use rice flour, sorghum, almond, coconut, nut, tapioca, etc.  There are too many to name. For Pesach, it is potato starch and fortunately, it works just fine.  I am not saying, the finished product is the same; it is not.  What it is, is delicious. Pesa...

I have mentioned, several times, how much I love minis.  I turn many dishes into minis, anything from muffins to meatloaves.  Thus, it is not surprising, I did the same with these delicious mini spinach kugels.  This is another Pesach recipe. I love my Passover cookbooks and manage to buy a new one each year.  Good thing, the Jewish publishers accommodate my wants and publish these almost annually.  This particular book has been sending a paper booklet to homes across the country for a number of years.  The recipes have been proven and I mean by me.  They are some of the best Pesach recipes, I have come across.  When I found out, a book was being published with those recipes and more, I immediately ordered it.  The book was not out yet but it could be pre-ordered and that is what I did. I couldn't wait for it to arrive and when it did, I found a quiet place and checked out each page and wrote down page after page or dishes, I just had ...

I made some unique and fabulous dishes over the Passover holiday.  I had no time to post them, at that time , but now I would like to share them with you.  They can be made all year and certainly flour can be subbed in for potato starch.    It is amazing how good the food is considering our limitations.  There are some different customs amongst groups of Jews and ours is not to use rice, beans, peas and corn along with any of our usual flour.  Sephardic Jew use these. Some of us don't wet matzah which means no matzah balls.  I know there are some who make these with potato starch.  I tried one year and we did not like them.  The truth is we eat kneidlach (matzah balls) throughout the year so we don't miss them for a week. My kitchen is filled with fresh fruit and vegetables.   It seems like we peel and chop for the entire week.  Fortunately, I have a food processor which does make a major difference in the work load.  We ...

On the bottom of this post is my first batch of these cookies.  I call them Disaster Cookies.  They are a sweet disaster since all the pieces are being eaten, as I type.  Chocolate Chip Cookies This recipe is from Mrs. Rikva Thumim of Golders Green, London. It is posted in Tamar Ansh’s book. Makes about 45 cookies – or so. Hard to tell as they get eaten very quickly! (I made four cookie sheets which includes those disaster cookies.) Ingredients: 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 cup oil 2 packets, about 2 T. vanilla sugar 3  cups very finely ground almonds – (almost flour consistency) 1 cup potato starch 1 cup = 10 oz. chocolate chips Method: Preheat the oven to 350°F Cream together the sugar, eggs, and oil. Add in the vanilla, almonds, potato starch, and chocolate chips and mix well. Freeze the batter for 30 minutes to make it easier to form the cookies. Make those cookies very small. The first batch, I made, they were about a teaspoon in size and they spread and fil...

You are most likely going to see lots of Passover (Pesach) talk and recipes for the next two weeks, here and at My Sweet and Savory.  The holiday starts Friday night and I am spending this week, preparing and cooking. The first recipes, I generally make, when I start cooking are blondies, chicken soup and a chicken dinner.  This year, I made the blondies and soup and the best burger.  I hope to make all the blondie recipes, I can find to discover which is really the best, if there is such a thing. Why blondies?  As soon, as I can bake, my husband walks around, chanting, "Blondies, blondies, blondies....."  This is a grown man who waits all year for Passover blondies.  No, I will not make them during the year. To get ready for Passover, we literally change our kitchen completely, using different pots, pans, dishes, cookie sheets, flatware, serving pieces, etc.   (I want to make it clear, everyone does not do the same thing for Pesach.  I am...

We have vegetables coming out of our ears, Passover time, and I don't object, in the least. I had a lot of odd and end vegetables and put them together to make these latkes. This is from last year and was posted on Chaya's Comfy Cook. I plan to bring over the recipes there appropriate for the holiday, coming up, so soon. Vegetable Pancakes Ingredients: 1 zucchini, cut into chunks 4 scallions. cut into pieces 1 sweet potato, peeled and  cut into chunks 1 turnip, peeled and cut into chunks 4 baby carrots 2 slices of bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces fresh parsley 2 eggs 1/4 cup potato starch, more or less 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper Olive oil spray for greasing the pan olive oil to cook in Method: Shred vegetables in food processor. Mix together the vegetables, onion, egg, and 1/4 cup of the potato starch. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (I added this in the food processor.) Add a little more potato starch if the mixture isn’t holding together. Put a litt...

Charoses or Charoset   Above are two pronunciations of the word.  Raise your hand, if you know what Charoset is.  This is something else that is on the seder table.  We do not eat it, at the seder, but after the sedorim are over, this is quite a treat.  Charoset represents the mortar used by Jewish slaves in building in Egypt.  Look at it and you will understand. Ingredients: 1 apple, skin removed 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 cup cup red wine or less 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon Method: Chop one apple into small pieces.  (Some use pears) Place chopped apples in a small bowl.   Add the chopped nuts, sugar, wine and cinnamon. Mix all ingredients together.  Cover with plastic wrap. I am sure many people make a lot more than this.  Can’t say, I blame them. This would make a great snack.  I was trying to figure out what to do with the extra we have.  I was wondering it it could be turned into...