Introduction. Gluten Free Passover Cookbook

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1 Introduction Welcome to The Kosher Celiac s Passover Cookbook. This compilation of recipes is aimed primarily at those on wheat and gluten free diets who follow Ashkenazi traditions. Many of the grains and flours that can be used at other times of the year are not allowed during the festival by Ashkenazim. The traditions of our Sephardi and Mizrachi relatives allow them to continue to use rice, pulses and legumes; although customs vary between communities. I have included some flours made from roots such as arrowroot and tapioca. These bind and bake in a similar way to corn (maize) flour. Whereas farina (potato flour) has twice the binding power but can taste starchy. You may be able to purchase them online with a suitable Passover seal. However, I read a piece some time ago, which suggested that if supervised goods such as these were purchased before Passover and remained sealed they could be used. The decision is down to you. When cooking please note that any flour, whatever it is, varies from batch to batch in liquid uptake, so you may have to adapt liquids very slightly. For the same reason I have included recipes with quinoa. The rabbinical authorities differ in whether this seed is permissible or not. Botanically it is Chenopodium quinoa and a member of the Spinach family, as is Amaranth. I am neither a food nor health professional but have been gluten and wheat free for many years. These recipes reflect my love of food and cooking. I write and act as webmaster of kosherceliaccookery.com. Some of the recipes in this book can be found on that web site. However, most that appear here have not been posted and are adaptations, family recipes and concoctions from my kitchen. You will find more recipes on that site suitable for Passover use. What I hope this book does is give you ideas and inspire you, lift your mood and show you how to make things you don t think are possible at Pesach. I hope it simplifies the lives of those on a wheat/gluten free diet and saves time searching for an appropriate recipe for dietary needs. I do not aim to cover basic cookery such as grilling a steak or boiling vegetables; though there is nothing wrong with a simple meal. One of my Pesach standbys when visiting friends is an oven baked Jacket Potato with Cheese and Salad - sound familiar?

2 You will see that most recipes have Variations: at the foot. A small change can totally alter tastes and give you a different dish. You can take a recipe for Pesach Lasagne Sheets add the Pesach White Sauce, the Sicilian Vegetables and you have a full blown Vegetable Lasagne; or the Almond Pudding, layer it with some fruit, add a jelly and you have a Fruit Flan. So think outside the box. I have, where possible, given nut free versions and vegetarian/vegan alternatives. It is a very busy time of year but still deep down there is nothing more satisfying than feeding family and friends (and seeing the empty plates). Apart from my husband s matzos, everything else in my home is gluten free and no-one has complained yet. They probably don t realise. I am a British Jew and consequently my spelling is UK English. Where possible I include the American English terminology for some foods, e.g. ground almond (almond meal), icing sugar (powdered sugar) which I understand is known in the US as confectioner s sugar. I hope you enjoy using this book and that you find it useful. My thanks to Alex, Charlie, Rachael, and Vivienne, the family, who have helped in different ways. Especially to Ramon who has been eating Pesach goodies at times of the year he did not expect them. Anne Luder, London, UK March 2011 Publication Date & Copyright Anne Luder: March Revised January 2012 Version 2.0

3 Breakfast This list of suggestions is aimed at those who have recently been diagnosed as needing to follow a wheat and gluten free diet. I am writing it as I am often asked What can I have for breakfast at Pesach? Eggs in all shapes and sizes, fried, scrambled, poached or boiled. My friend s son seems to survive on omlettes with jam filling if given the option. My husband prefers his scrambled with some smoked salmon. Cold fried fish, fishcakes or gefilte fish Pesach rolls stuffed with any filling you fancy Pancakes with syrup, jam, lemon or sugar Almond pudding with or without stewed fruit Compote (another name for stewed dried fruit) with some yogurt Fresh fruit with yogurt Pumpkin kugel (cold or warmed in the microwave) Porridge made with quinoa flakes (twice water to flakes) in the microwave for 3 minutes Fried sliced leftover potatoes with mushrooms and tomatoes Essential Equipment Investments A basic cheap food processor is invaluable in a gluten free kitchen at Passover. I keep my processor parve so I can use it to chop nuts, slice and grate vegetables and chop fish. A hand mixer with extra blades so one set can be parve and the other dairy - I have a blue plaster on each dairy blade at the top. Two hand held stick mixers, one meat and one dairy. My processor can be used for parve. Some good heavy duty baking sheets that don t warp when heated. A good set of scales to measure and weigh. Plenty of patience and tolerance.

4 The Seder Table Seder traditions vary from community to community, family to family; however some things are constant. The Seder Plate with symbolic contents, the matxo plate with 3 unleavened bread (matzo, wine or grape juice, hard boiled eggs, salt water and the festive candles. As well as wine cups for each person, Elijah s cup is placed on the table ready for the visit of the Prophet. I can remember we had finished laying the table one year and a small person asked an extra question: where s the cup, how will the angel get drunk. The cup quickly appeared. The Seder Plate has places for Maror - Bitter Herbs symbolize the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt and are represented by horseradish or mustard greens, these are both easy to grow in a pot.

5 Charoset (Halek) - Represents the mortar from the buildings we erected and dismantled; made of fruit, nuts and wine. Many Sephardim make sweetmeats of rolled Charoset and use throughout Passover. Beitzah - A Roasted Egg reminds us of the burnt festival offering and the life cycle. Karpus - The herbs used for dipping in salt water signify our tears: I have come across lettuce, parsley, coriander (all green and leafy) but some use cooked potato. Zeroah - The Shank Bone: roasted without meat represents the Passover temple sacrifice and symbol of the Pascal lamb whose blood marked the Israelites doors. Chicken thigh bones or wings may be used as substitutes. This is not eaten Chazeret - Bitter vegetables used to make the sandwich ; my family used grated horseradish but others use lettuce, chicory, water and land cress or mustard leaves. All have a bite Some plates have a space for a bowl of salt water for dipping the green herbs in. The choice is yours - I like to try to include something we have grown in the garden on our plate. For all my married life we have had and provided others with home grown horseradish and parsley, mustard and often land cress. Something which our forefathers would have done and indeed my late mother did.

6 Gluten Free Matzo We prefer Yehuda Gluten Free Matzo from Imported from Israel, it is available year-round for snacking, and is Kosher for Passover and Gluten Free Certified. Ingredients Tapioca Starch Potato Starch Potato Flour Pressed Palm Oil Natural Vinegar Egg Yolks Honey Salt

7 STARTERS & APPETIZERS

8 Charoset Charoset is the mortar of the Seder. Charoset varies around the world and here are two very different styles - one raw the other cooked. Both are sweet and can be used as fruit spread or filler for Pesach pancakes or rolled into balls and covered with nuts in the Sephardi style. Our Family Easy Charoset Ingredients 2 medium eating apples - yielding about 150g (6oz) when prepared 100g (4oz) ground walnuts or hazelnuts (nut meal) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1-2 tablespoons sweet red wine Peel, core and grate the apples, mix with cinnamon and walnuts and one tablespoon of wine - you need a mortar if too stiff add a little more wine, if too runny add more nuts. Variations Add 2 tablespoons of chopped raisins Use chopped nuts instead of ground nuts (nut meal) Use a large cooking apple and some honey Eastern Charoset (cooked) Ingredients 100g (4oz) prunes 100g (4oz) apricots 1-2 tablespoons sweet red wine 100g (4oz) raisins A pear or apple 2 bananas Sweet red (Kiddush) wine 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder 1 teaspoon coriander powder ½ teaspoon ginger powder 1-2 tablespoons sweet red wine Slice the bananas and chop all other fruit. Mix all ingredients except the wine together in a saucepan and add sufficient water to cook (about 300ml 10fl oz). Cook on your hob until the fruit is soft and pulpy or if you prefer microwave for 10 minutes on medium high until the same effect is achieved. Cool - add as much Kiddush wine as the mixture will absorb happily. Refrigerate. You can add honey if you wish to make a sweeter mixture but do so a spoon at a time otherwise it could be too sweet Variations If you need to be nut free use the above recipe omitting the walnuts and, depending on if you tolerate, the coconut nothing to do with celiac disease but some people with nut allergies have a problem with coconut. 100g (4oz) desiccated (dry shredded) coconut 100g (4oz) chopped walnuts 100g (4oz) dried figs