A different kind of Passover

My Seder is a marriage of ancient traditions and modern innovations: something old, something new, something borrowed ... OK, you get the idea.

Passover, which begins at sundown on April 19, is the most observed Jewish holiday of the year. Even those who never step inside a synagogue pull out all the stops for this one. With our celebratory meal, the Seder, we retell the 3,500-year-old story of our ancestors' flight to freedom from the land of Egypt. And everything on the table is laden with meaning.

The centerpiece is the Seder plate, holding the traditional symbols, but to spark lively discussion, I'm going for the unconventional.

Why that orange, you ask? A widely circulated myth has it that Susannah Heschel, a professor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth College, once addressed a convocation of Orthodox rabbis, one of whom commented, "A woman belongs on the bimah (podium) like an orange belongs on the Seder plate." Actually, Heschel began the custom as a gesture of solidarity with gays and lesbians. Hardly traditional, but a great icebreaker and conversation starter. There are several vegetarians on my guest list, so I'm giving the Seder plate a vegan makeover, but the menu won't be totally vegetarian. A roasted beet will replace the customary shank bone (the reminder of the paschal lamb), and I'll substitute an avocado pit for the roasted egg (symbol of the second offering brought to the Temple).

Traditionally, horseradish represents the bitter herbs, reminding us of the bitterness of slavery, but the symbol is about the bitterness, not about the horseradish, so why not ginger, just for fun.

On every Seder plate sits karpas (a green vegetable), the symbol of spring, which we dip into saltwater as we remember the tears shed by our ancestors. Actually, though, for Jews in the shtetls (little villages) in Eastern Europe, spring arrived late, and greens were rare at Passover time. "My father's family always used potato," suggested my friend Lori Cahan-Simon, a Yiddish songstress, "but added parsley as karpas in the new country, so we have, in effect, parsley potatoes!"

Another symbol is haroset, a ground mixture of fruits and nuts resembling the mortar our forefathers used to make bricks while slaves in Egypt. Jews of Eastern European descent (the majority in the United States) use apples, walnuts and wine. I'll borrow a Venetian haroset from Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook (Schocken Books, $29.95).

Nathan prepares five harosets for her own Seder table.

"It shows the wanderings of the Jews," she explained. "It's a very good lesson on where it began and what it's become. I have one from Israel, Latin America, of course Eastern Europe, and an old Sephardic recipe where you roll them into little balls. But the Venetian haroset I really like."

Nathan hosts her Seder in her Washington, D.C., home, where guests have included Molly O'Neil, Sheila Lukins and a Moroccan ambassador.

"Before the Seder I usually have a gefilte fish-in. A few women bring their pots, and we make gefilte fish together," Nathan said.

Every year the assembled offspring, who now range in age from 10 to 30, stage a little drama for the Seder, what her son David calls a Cabaret of Ten Commandments.

"David is usually Moses," Nathan said. "He stutters very well and, of course, everyone fights to be God. It's hilarious."

Searching for a main dish, I saw a prepublication copy of The Silver Palate 25th Anniversary Edition (Workman Publishing, $19.95), then hit myself upside the head, just like that commercial: "I should have had a V-8!" Talk about tradition! I'll make my old classic, Chicken Marbella, the dish that goes on and on like the Energizer bunny (I'll get back to the vegans in a minute.)

In 1977 Julee Rosso and Lukins opened The Silver Palette, a 165-square-foot gem of a gourmet food shop in Manhattan. From there they branched out into catering, a line of gourmet foods and finally The Silver Palate Cookbook and others.

Chicken Marbella can be served hot or at room temperature, which makes it great for picnics too. Sometimes I make it with skinless, boneless chicken breasts. Sometimes I use chicken wings for an appetizer. Sometimes I substitute apricots for the prunes. And always I get raves.

I asked Lukins what it is about that recipe that has made it a favorite for 25 years.

"At Passover there's a lot of cooking to do," she said. "The Marbella is so delicious and easy to prepare ahead of time. It's very unusual that Americans would like those flavors of prunes and olives, and the garlic and oregano - they just connect. The brown sugar and wine pulls it all together when it bakes. And because you baste it, it just shines when it comes out of the oven."

Since her parents passed away, Lukins makes her own Seders.

"I get tremendous pleasure out of it," she said. "We have a little family and lots of friends, a mixture of religions. I have a chaplain that runs my Seders - she's so brilliant and lyrical, such an intellect. It's not at all dry. And now my little 3-year-old granddaughter is there.

"I adore cooking it all. I make my own matzo balls, but I do buy the gefilte fish. My grandmother used to make her own. It's a lot of work."

I asked Lukins to recommend a side dish for the chicken. "I like to make roasted beets with it," she suggested. "A couple of my friends that come for the Seder are vegetarians." Et tu, Sheila?

Beets have a long association with Passover. Cookbook author Michael van Straten explained why: "Because beets can be stored over winter, they were one of the few vegetables available to Russian and other Eastern European peasants. For this reason, they became a staple food of the Jewish community. And beet-root soup (borscht) is probably in every Jewish cookbook written by an Ashkenazi (Eastern European Jew)."

My mother remembers my grandmother, Mama Hinda, starting her russel (fermented beet juice) weeks before Passover. When she was done, she had a clear, bright red liquid that smelled like wine. Then when she wanted to make borscht, she would go down to the cellar and ladle out some russel to use as a base, adding fresh beets and sugar.

Rabbi P. Waldman of www.aish.com e-mailed me with a more somber Passover association: "My father, who is a ‘graduate' of Auschwitz, told me that he and his friends had no wine for Passover in the concentration camp, so instead they used borscht for the four cups in commemoration of the usual wine, although according to the Code of Jewish Law, one may only use wine."

That roasted beet on my Seder plate has even more significance than I thought.

Instead of Mama Hinda's borscht I'll be serving glazed roasted beets sprinkled with almonds, a recipe I've adapted from The Healthy Jewish Cookbook (North Atlantic Books/Frog Ltd., $21.95) by van Straten. For those who think "Jewish cooking" and "healthy" can't be used in the same sentence, this cookbook quickly dispels that notion with 100 tasty recipes that keep the traditions without trepidation.

"Raw, boiled, baked or in soup, beets should be a regular in everybody's diet," van Straten noted by e-mail from his home in France. "Buy fresh beets and you get three vegetables for the price of one - the wonderfully nutritious beet itself, the leaves cooked like Swiss chard, and the stems, with their wonderful rich color and masses of beta carotene."

Even the almonds have a long, healthful history.

"Almonds are one of the most ancient of foods, mentioned in many historical writings including the Old Testament," he noted. "Ancient Romans called them ‘the Greek nut,' as they believed Greeks to be the first cultivators, but wild almonds were part of the Jewish tradition long before then, often eaten on festive occasions like weddings."

Those who associate Passover only with forbidden foods may think, how restrictive, how boring. With flour and leavening products prohibited ... um, got dessert? But Jewish cooks, with their eons-old history of creating delicious dishes within the confines of both poverty and the kosher laws, do love a challenge.

Some orthodox Jews of Eastern European descent carry the restrictions even further by prohibiting the Passover cook's secret weapon - ground matzo products such as matzo meal and matzo cake flour - and use only potato starch. But no one will feel restricted with this luscious Almond Torte With Chocolate Frosting from A Taste of Tradition (Feldheim, $25.99) by Tamar Ansh (order at www.feldheim.com).

"Aside from the Torah prohibitions we all know and do," Ansh explained by e-mail from her home in Israel, "we observe other minhagim (customs) - we do not allow our matzos to become wet, that is we do not broch (Yiddish for ‘break') them into any sort of liquid.

"All Passover matzos must be baked within 18 minutes, or they become chometz (leavened food) and are forbidden for Passover use. If any unbaked areas of the matzo should later become wet, then it becomes chometz. We keep this stringency in order to elevate our Passover observance to a higher level."

All the recipes in A Taste of Tradition follow this custom, a boon for those who must avoid gluten as well.

Ansh's parents and sisters from Cleveland will join her family for Seder in Jerusalem for the first time.

"I love the feeling of accomplishment of making Pesach ourselves, sitting with our kids at our table, hearing about all they've learned, while dressed in our holiday finery with the cleaned house all around us and my own chicken soup aromas wafting from the kitchen."

Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of Cooking Jewish: 652 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family (Workman, Fall 2007) and can be found at www.cookingjewish.com.

Venetian Haroset

Yield: About 4 cups

1 1/2 cups chestnut paste or spread; see cook's notes

10 ounces pitted dates, chopped

12 ounces dried figs, chopped

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup pine nuts

Grated rind of one orange

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

About 1/2 cup brandy

Honey, enough to bind mixture

Cook's notes: To order chestnut paste (spread) by mail, go to www.lepicerie.com or call 866-350-7575.

Procedure:

Combine all ingredients except brandy and honey. Gradually add enough brandy and honey to make mixture hold together.

Nutritional information (per 2 tablespoon serving): Calories 187 (77 percent from fat), protein 8 g, carbohydrates 6 g, fat 16 g (saturated 3.3 g), cholesterol 12 mg, sodium 146 mg, fiber 0.1 g

Source: "Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook" by Joan Nathan

Chicken Marbella

Yield: About 10 servings

4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered

1 head garlic, peeled and finely puréed

1/4 cup dried oregano

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup pitted prunes

1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives

1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice

6 bay leaves

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white wine

Garnish: 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley or fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Procedure:

In large bowl combine chicken quarters, garlic, oregano, coarse salt and pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice and bay leaves. Cover and marinate, refrigerated, overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange chicken in single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest, yield clear yellow (rather than pink) juice.

With slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives and capers to serving platter. Moisten with a few spoonfuls of pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley. Pass remaining pan juices in a sauceboat.

To serve Chicken Marbella cold, cool to room temperature in cooking juices before transferring to serving platter. If chicken has been covered and refrigerated, allow it to return to room temperature before serving. Spoon some of reserved juice over chicken.

Nutritional information (per serving):Calories 410 (15 percent from fat), protein 65 g, carbohydrates 24 g, fat 7 g (saturated 3.1 g), cholesterol 74 mg, sodium 1,487 mg, fiber 1.5 g

Source: "The Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition" by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

Orange Beets With Almonds

Yield: 6 servings

6 medium-size beets (about 2 inches), with tops cut to within 1 inch

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

Zest of 1 orange, finely peeled into thin strips; see cook's notes

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Cook's notes: Be sure not to include any pith (white part) with the orange zest or the dish will be bitter. An easier method (although not as dramatic in presentation) is to finely grate the zest with a Microplane or rasp.

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub beets well and wrap them individually in foil. Place them on baking sheet and roast until they can be easily pierced with a skewer. Begin testing beets with skewer after 45 minutes of roasting, and remove smaller ones from oven as they are done. Large beets can take up to 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool.

When cool enough to handle, remove beets from foil, cut off tops and slip off skin (those gloves that food handlers wear are great for this purpose). Cut beets into 1 1/2-inch cubes.

Combine orange juice and orange zest in a large skillet and boil over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/2 cup. Whisk in oil and add beets. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until liquid is reduced to a thick glaze. Add salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium heat and toast almonds until just golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve beets in their juice with almonds scattered on top.

Nutritional information (per serving):Calories 60 (24 percent from fat), protein 2.5 g, carbohydrates 8.1 g, fat 1.6 g (saturated 1.2 g), cholesterol 5 mg, sodium 199 mg, fiber 2.5 g

Source:Adapted from "The Healthy Jewish Cookbook by Michael van Straten

Almond Torte With Chocolate Frosting and Filling

Yield: 8 servings

1/2 cup potato starch

1 tablespoon cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups blanched almonds, chopped

6 large eggs, separated

1 cup sugar, divided use

Optional: 1 tablespoon dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Frosting and Filling (recipe included)

Optional garnish: Sliced almonds

Optional garnish: Chocolate shavings

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trace around circumference of two 8-inch round cake pans onto two sheets of parchment paper. Cut out along traced lines. Grease the bottom and sides of both pans well; then place cut-out circles on bottom of each pan and grease again.

Sift potato starch, cocoa and salt together into a bowl. Stir in almonds and set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed beat yolks with 1/2 cup sugar, scraping the bowl as necessary, until thick and pale yellow. Beat in rum, if using, and vanilla.

With a clean bowl and beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and continue beating, gradually adding remaining 1/2 cup sugar, until stiff peaks form. Pour yolk mixture over the beaten whites and gently fold, gradually adding nut mixture by the spoonful as you fold.

Spoon batter evenly into both prepared cake pans and level off. Bake on the middle oven rack until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake starts to move away from the sides of the pans, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Run a knife along sides of the pans; then invert and remove layers to a rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment paper.

Place one cooled cake layer on a plate and frost the top. Cover with second layer and frost the sides, then the top of the cake. Garnish with sliced almonds and chocolate shavings, if using.

Nutritional information (per serving):Calories 498 (58 percent from fat), protein 8 g, carbohydrates 49 g, fat 32.3 g (saturated 8.7 g), cholesterol 299 mg, sodium 287 mg, fiber 1.9 g

Source: Adapted from "A Taste of Tradition: Pesach and Beyond" by Tamar Ansh (available at www.feldheim.com)

Chocolate Frosting and Filling

Yield: Enough for one (8-serving) cake

3 large eggs

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine (or butter for a dairy meal), at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

Procedure:

In the top of double boiler, whisk together eggs and sugar. Add chocolate chips and place over barely simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture is very smooth and thickening, 10 to 12 minutes (160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.)

Remove from heat, transfer mixture to another bowl and let cool 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, stirring occasionally. Frosting can be made up to a day ahead to this point.

Cream margarine with electric mixer, preferably fitted with paddle attachment. Add cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla, and cream on medium speed, scraping bowl as necessary, until smooth. (For a fluffier, albeit lighter-colored frosting, increase speed to high and beat until very smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.) If frosting is too soft, cover and refrigerate until mixture is spreadable.

Nutritional information (per 1 tablespoon serving):Calories 158 (80 percent from fat), protein 1.5 g, carbohydrates 7 g, fat 14.0 g (saturated 2.7 g), cholesterol 73 mg, sodium 73 mg, fiber 0.2 g

Source: Adapted from "A Taste of Tradition: Pesach and Beyond" by Tamar Ansh (available at www.feldheim.com).