The Jewish festivals and days of remembrance come quickly at this time of year. Tomorrow is Holocaust Remembrance Day,
Yom HaShoah, when we will remember the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and next week sees us memorializing Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, followed by
Yom Ha'atzmaut, Independence Day. However, in this post I have a couple more things still to show you from our last holiday, Passover.
As I have explained before, preparations for Passover require us to rid our homes of
chametz, or leavened bread, to remind us that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise. Over the years Jewish cooks worldwide have looked for ways to create food for Passover that is tasty, despite the extra kosher restrictions placed on food during the week-long holiday.
There are a handful of Passover recipes that everyone makes every year. Like matza itself, without these dishes, it just wouldn't be Passover! In our home the favourites are Picnic Slice (seen above) and a more recent addition, Cottage Cheese Pancakes (below), discovered a few years ago in ModiInfo, my city's English language magazine.
My dear
Mum made a large batch of Picnic Slice every Passover and these biscuits had to be rationed because otherwise we would eat them all on the first day! Though she is no longer with us, I always think of Mum when I open my Passover recipe book and see the recipe for these delicious treats with the added note 'Lisa's favourite!' written in her handwriting. I thought I would share the recipe with you.
Picnic Slice
225g / 8 oz. chocolate
110g / 4 oz. caster sugar
110g / 4 oz. dessicated coconut
50g / 2 oz. butter
1 egg, beaten
110g / 4 oz. raisins
Melt chocolate over pan of boiling water. Spread it onto silicone paper in square cake tin. Leave to set in the fridge.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the coconut, egg and raisins and mix well. Spread this mixture over the chocolate.
Bake 325 F, 170 C, Gas No. 3 for 35-45 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven, leave for 5 minutes, then mark out squares with a sharp knife.
Leave until fully cold to remove from paper. Store in the fridge.
Bon appétit, or b'tayavon as we say in Hebrew!
5 comments:
Your picnic slice sounds delicious Lisa! It is wonderful how certain foods can evoke so many childhood memories. How special that you have your Mum's cookbook with its sweet notation.
I like the technique of adding the chocolate first so that it can cook into the slice rather than frosting after cooking.
As soon as I saw the picture I was so hoping that you were going to include the recipe.... and you did! Thank you Lisa they look delicious. How very lucky you are to have your mothers recipe book. I am sure that you think of her every time you use it.
x
oh those look so delicious! yum, i am getting hungry just looking at the pictures. ;)
Hi Lisa. Your food looks yummy! On Sunday my husband and I watched the brand new version of Ann Frank that our American PBS just produced. I would highly recommend it - even though it is more heartbreaking now than ever since I have an almost-ten-year-old daughter.
Glad you enjoyed the heart-shaped stones. They are a very satisfying collection.
Mjammie!
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