Modern Passover
Chicken Soup with Rosemary Matzo Balls
Chef Dan Barber prepares this soup with seasonal chicken (raised in late spring, summer and fall), using wings, backs, necks and feet. His recipe yields almost eight quarts of broth, so there’s plenty to freeze. He likes serving the soup with fluffy matzo balls laced with rosemary.
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Whole-Grain Matzo
Cookbook author Marcy Goldman started baking matzo with her young sons after touring a temporary factory at a local synagogue that produced shmura matzo—the traditional, handmade variety. “As a baker and a Jewish mother, I thought, I can do that,” she says. The whole-grain flours in this recipe create a more crackly, sandy texture than white-flour matzo.
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Roasted Asparagus with Almonds
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Gail Simmons’s Horseradish Brisket
Rubbing prepared horseradish on the brisket and whisking it into the meaty sauce punches up the rich flavors here. Like most braised dishes, this brisket tastes better on the second or even third day.
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Crunchy Cabbage Salad
Sometimes Jacques Pépin makes this simple salad with just one color of cabbage; sometimes he arranges it in alternating rows of color. The tangy-salty anchovy dressing would also be delicious on other crisp salad greens, such as escarole or chicory.
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Potato Kugel with Fried Shallots
Kugel is a baked pudding, usually made with noodles or potatoes. This version, prepared with shredded potatoes and fried shallots, is crispy at the edges and deliciously creamy in the middle.
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Roasted Halibut with Wine-Braised Fennel
Alexandra Guarnaschelli loves to serve raisin-studded braised fennel with a meaty white fish, like halibut, black bass or striped bass. Roasting the large fish fillet whole (rather than in portions) is a great way to serve a small crowd.
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Aleppo-Pepper-and-Mint-Roasted Chicken
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Citrus Salad with Candied Ginger
The key to making this simple fruit salad with candied ginger: Use a sharp knife to cut the citrus. “The better your knife, the better this dish will look,” says chef Jason Travi.
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Hazelnut-and-Chocolate Meringue Cake
This extraordinary dessert, made with crisp chocolate-hazelnut meringue and whipped cream, is simple to make. But pastry chef Daniel Jasso has nicknamed it “the beast,” because slicing it can be tricky—the meringue tends to crumble. The solution: Freeze the cake, cut it with a serrated knife and let it return to room temperature before serving.