At first I wondered if it would be possible for us to come up with a multi-course meal that was kosher for Passover and all of us could eat and actually liked every part of, and I hoped that if I got really creative, we would find something. The results were delicious! We made a roast chicken with veggies and apples inspired by Anne Burrell, potato latkes with a side of Mott's applesauce, and finished it all of with caramel apple sundaes. We made the caramel! We also had matzah and horseradish, which we did not make. Here is what we did.
Roast Chicken:
(Inspiration and some tips from Anne Burrell)
To feed 6 people, we used a 4 1/2 lb chicken.
bunch of parsley
6 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper
juice and zest of 2 lemons
a few cups of chicken stock
4 carrots
2 ribs of celery
4 small granny smith apples
2 onions
Cut the carrots, celery, apples, and onions in half inch dice. The important thing is that they are all approx the same size as each other, though the onions for us ended up smallest.
Take the chicken out of the fridge just a couple minutes before you're ready to work with it so it can come to room temperature. Now is a good time.
Mince 3 cloves of garlic.
Chop the parsley as finely as possible. In retrospect, a food processor or blender would have been ideal.
Combine the parsley, garlic, lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper, and several generous splashes of olive oil to form a sort of paste.
Take the neck and other weird things out of the chicken cavity, and wash off the chicken.
Take the parsley paste, and attempt to get some of it under the chicken's skin. Then cover the outside of the chicken in it.
We let the chicken sit for about twenty minutes at this point to really soak in those flavors. Because it was such a short time, we left the chicken on the counter, but if it had been longer than that, I would have put it in the fridge. The general rule for meat is that it can be out of the fridge for two hours, but I don't think I would leave meat out for that long because it would feel like too big of a chance. It was pretty cool at Mark and Ben's house because we opened the door to their balcony, so I felt confident that if the chicken were out for this amount of time, it would not somehow spoil. And it didn't :)
Preheat your oven pretty soon after the chicken is prepared because you'll have to heat it to 450, and it often takes ovens a while to get all the way up there.
Once we had gotten the chicken covered in the parsley mixture, I put the roasting rack in the roasting pan and made a bed for the chicken out of all of the cut up vegetables, plus 3 cloves of smashed garlic. I nestled the chicken on top of it and covered it until the oven was preheated. The chicken should be breast side up. The breast side is the softer side. If you're unsure, I would advise poking both sides so you can compare them to be sure that you've found the right side.
When the oven is ready, pour a cup of chicken stock in the pan, and put it in the oven with a timer set for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, check to see if the top is getting golden brown. If it is, flip it. If it isn't, give it another few minutes. In all, it needs to cook for a total of 30 minutes at this temperature, and about half of that time should be on each side.
After 30 minutes total cook time, flip the chicken back to breast side up, and turn your oven temperature down to 375. Check on the chicken every 15 minutes and spoon some of its juices over it, or pour a bit more chicken stock over it if there are not too many pan juices (or they are difficult to get to). You should also add more stock if the vegetables are starting to get too brown. The chicken needs to cook for a minimum of another 45 minutes at this new temperature. We cooked ours for 50 minutes.
You can tell the chicken is done when you cut into the joint between the thigh and the body, and the juices run clear. It's also pretty obvious if you cut into the breast meat with your carving knife, and it looks like cooked chicken and not pink chicken.
Anne also includes a pan sauce, which we did not have the energy to make. She gives tips on carving. You really should buy her cookbooks. This recipe is from "Cook Like a Rock Star". Her second cookbook is "Own Your Kitchen".
Here is the latke recipe that I developed with help from Ben:
6 russet potatoes
1 yellow onion
3/8 cup applesauce
salt
pepper
canola oil to cook in
Grate the potatoes. Dice the onion as finely as possible. Combine all ingredients, adding more applesauce to adjust the consistency if needed.
Heat up the oil. Put spoonfuls of batter around the pan and flatten down a bit into pancakes. Flip when the edges underneath look cooked.
Put cooked latkes on paper towels that are far enough away from the heat source that they are not going to catch on fire.
Serve warm with applesauce.
Caramel sauce:
(Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell, rephrased and commented on by me)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
12 tbsp butter
Combine everything except the butter in a large saute pan with 1/4 cup water. Put it on medium to medium-high heat. Be patient and don't let your eyes off that pan, and eventually, it will turn caramel-colored and began to look a whole lot like store-bought caramel sauce. At this point, take it off the heat and start whisking. Whisk in the butter one pat at a time. Let cool. Caramel is one of the hottest things you can cook. Be really careful not to touch hot caramel, spill it, get spattered by it, have kids touch it, etc. Just put it in a safe place and forget about it for an hour or so.
Quick caramel apples:
Take the core out of several apples, one per person, taking it out from the top so the apple is still intact. Microwave them for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the efficiency of your microwave. They should begin to be soft, but not be totally falling apart. These are sort of baked apples. Pour the caramel over them while it is a bit warm, and let it harden. Serve with ice cream. We had vanilla lactaid brand ice cream, which is one of my favorite-ever ice creams.
Note on caramel: Because it has so much butter and cream, I would advise you to keep the completed caramel in the fridge so that it doesn't spoil.
Heat it up on medium to medium-high heat
Roast Chicken:
(Inspiration and some tips from Anne Burrell)
To feed 6 people, we used a 4 1/2 lb chicken.
bunch of parsley
6 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt
pepper
juice and zest of 2 lemons
a few cups of chicken stock
4 carrots
2 ribs of celery
4 small granny smith apples
2 onions
Cut the carrots, celery, apples, and onions in half inch dice. The important thing is that they are all approx the same size as each other, though the onions for us ended up smallest.
Take the chicken out of the fridge just a couple minutes before you're ready to work with it so it can come to room temperature. Now is a good time.
Mince 3 cloves of garlic.
Chop the parsley as finely as possible. In retrospect, a food processor or blender would have been ideal.
Combine the parsley, garlic, lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper, and several generous splashes of olive oil to form a sort of paste.
Take the neck and other weird things out of the chicken cavity, and wash off the chicken.
Take the parsley paste, and attempt to get some of it under the chicken's skin. Then cover the outside of the chicken in it.
We let the chicken sit for about twenty minutes at this point to really soak in those flavors. Because it was such a short time, we left the chicken on the counter, but if it had been longer than that, I would have put it in the fridge. The general rule for meat is that it can be out of the fridge for two hours, but I don't think I would leave meat out for that long because it would feel like too big of a chance. It was pretty cool at Mark and Ben's house because we opened the door to their balcony, so I felt confident that if the chicken were out for this amount of time, it would not somehow spoil. And it didn't :)
Preheat your oven pretty soon after the chicken is prepared because you'll have to heat it to 450, and it often takes ovens a while to get all the way up there.
Once we had gotten the chicken covered in the parsley mixture, I put the roasting rack in the roasting pan and made a bed for the chicken out of all of the cut up vegetables, plus 3 cloves of smashed garlic. I nestled the chicken on top of it and covered it until the oven was preheated. The chicken should be breast side up. The breast side is the softer side. If you're unsure, I would advise poking both sides so you can compare them to be sure that you've found the right side.
When the oven is ready, pour a cup of chicken stock in the pan, and put it in the oven with a timer set for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, check to see if the top is getting golden brown. If it is, flip it. If it isn't, give it another few minutes. In all, it needs to cook for a total of 30 minutes at this temperature, and about half of that time should be on each side.
After 30 minutes total cook time, flip the chicken back to breast side up, and turn your oven temperature down to 375. Check on the chicken every 15 minutes and spoon some of its juices over it, or pour a bit more chicken stock over it if there are not too many pan juices (or they are difficult to get to). You should also add more stock if the vegetables are starting to get too brown. The chicken needs to cook for a minimum of another 45 minutes at this new temperature. We cooked ours for 50 minutes.
You can tell the chicken is done when you cut into the joint between the thigh and the body, and the juices run clear. It's also pretty obvious if you cut into the breast meat with your carving knife, and it looks like cooked chicken and not pink chicken.
Anne also includes a pan sauce, which we did not have the energy to make. She gives tips on carving. You really should buy her cookbooks. This recipe is from "Cook Like a Rock Star". Her second cookbook is "Own Your Kitchen".
Here is the latke recipe that I developed with help from Ben:
6 russet potatoes
1 yellow onion
3/8 cup applesauce
salt
pepper
canola oil to cook in
Grate the potatoes. Dice the onion as finely as possible. Combine all ingredients, adding more applesauce to adjust the consistency if needed.
Heat up the oil. Put spoonfuls of batter around the pan and flatten down a bit into pancakes. Flip when the edges underneath look cooked.
Put cooked latkes on paper towels that are far enough away from the heat source that they are not going to catch on fire.
Serve warm with applesauce.
Caramel sauce:
(Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell, rephrased and commented on by me)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
12 tbsp butter
Combine everything except the butter in a large saute pan with 1/4 cup water. Put it on medium to medium-high heat. Be patient and don't let your eyes off that pan, and eventually, it will turn caramel-colored and began to look a whole lot like store-bought caramel sauce. At this point, take it off the heat and start whisking. Whisk in the butter one pat at a time. Let cool. Caramel is one of the hottest things you can cook. Be really careful not to touch hot caramel, spill it, get spattered by it, have kids touch it, etc. Just put it in a safe place and forget about it for an hour or so.
Quick caramel apples:
Take the core out of several apples, one per person, taking it out from the top so the apple is still intact. Microwave them for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the efficiency of your microwave. They should begin to be soft, but not be totally falling apart. These are sort of baked apples. Pour the caramel over them while it is a bit warm, and let it harden. Serve with ice cream. We had vanilla lactaid brand ice cream, which is one of my favorite-ever ice creams.
Note on caramel: Because it has so much butter and cream, I would advise you to keep the completed caramel in the fridge so that it doesn't spoil.
Heat it up on medium to medium-high heat