As a Jewish chef who is also a vegetarian, I must share my Passover Seder menus and their inspiration with our readers. For years, come spring, my train of thought was this: “Cooking for Passover is a drag. I guess I’m doing brisket again. I’ll just make the kugel, etc.” I was in a rut, and maybe you are too.

Like many moms, I have always looked forward to religious and secular holidays as a time to share with family and create memories. Passover Seder is the ultimate expression of this incredible opportunity for Jews—a religious festival uniquely focused on the ritual of the meal. But for me, well, I’ve always wanted to celebrate with something a little more exciting and personal—and less meaty! Even though my friends and family always expect me to create really remarkable meals, I just did not have the courage to break from the dishes that were tried, true and easy during Passover.

Passover Seder 2008
Cream of Root Vegetable Soup
Roasted Salmon with Marinated Fennel and Thyme
Potato Kugel
Lemon Cake with Lemon Topping and Berries
Pecan Meringue Cookies

Fortunately, my daughter invited me to attend a meeting and I had the opportunity to meet an incredible chef, cookbook author, and activist – Phyllis Glazer, the author of The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking. Her excitement about her recipes and the process of cooking for the holidays was just what I needed to not only embrace cooking for Passover again, but to really help me find my own creative chef voice in these important meals.

ChefsLine’s Passover Menu Collection and Live Cooking Help
I’d be thrilled to inspire you to mix it up with some new recipes this next week. The ChefsLine Passover Menu collection includes Quick and Easy Seder, Passover Do-Ahead, “small plate” recipes to serve with leftovers, lunch recipes featuring dishes such as Tarragon Scented Goat Cheesecake and Walnut and Herb Stuffed Eggplant Rolls. As you will see, most of my menus feature recipes by Phyllis Glazer because almost all of her dishes are so exciting—with great combinations of fruits, vegetables and herbs and spices that are irresistible. And if for any reason you take a look at your box of matzoh and think, “what now?” you must call ChefsLine at 1-800-977-1224. As I can attest, everyone needs inspiration in the kitchen sometimes.

~ Chef Paulette

Ham is by far the most popular Easter dish in the South – and in many other areas of the U.S.. But for me the meat of choice is lamb, and the fact that lamb is also acceptable for Passover is a bonus enabling me to have Christian, Jewish, and Muslim friends over to help me celebrate Spring.

Generally, you can prepare lamb in ways similar to beef. Rack of lamb, lamb chops, and leg of lamb are best when roasted to medium, rare, which is 135. I’ve also discovered that braising (cooking slowly with moisture) over low heat, is also honest treatment for those who prefer their meat well done and certainly for cuts including lamb shanks or stew pieces.

Flavors. As for flavoring, lamb is particularly compatible with the flavors of garlic, rosemary, mint, and lemon – all northern Mediterranean tastes. Lamb also tastes great with the counterpart flavors of southern Mediterranean dishes – this includes figs, apricots, cumin, and cinnamon. Lamb like pork, adapts beautifully to sweet flavors and spices. For the all the lamb dishes a bit of minced herb (whatever it’s cooked with) is a great garnish.

Rack of Lamb. For a beautiful presentation, rack of lamb is tough to beat. A “frenched” rack of lamb is already a perfect presentation with it’s medallion of meat and elegant rib bone (take a look at this photo ). If your butcher has not cleaned the bones well or you are “frenching” the rack yourself, use a sharp paring knife to scrape the bones and remove all traces of meat. Rack of lamb has a delicate flavor and should typically be roasted and served rare or medium rare. Chef Robyn Fennessey’s Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Brandy Sauce is a favorite.

Lamb Shoulder. A friend of mine, an expert on Greek cooking, swears by Arni Kleftiko – which means “Bandit” Lamb. Reportedly, the lamb was originally cooked in a pit to avoid having the smoke from the cooking fire give away the bandits’ hideout. Pit or not, it’s a delicious preparation and the way I plan to cook my lamb this Holiday.

Leg of Lamb. For years, my go-to spring lamb recipe was roast leg of lamb. I’d cut slits in the leg and stuff them with garlic and rosemary, brush the leg with olive oil, season it with salt and pepper, and cook it to a perfect medium rare. It’s always delicious. If you want to prepare a leg of lamb – a really impressive and delicious dish at a feast – Chef Cary’s Mustard-Marinated Leg of Lamb may be just the ticket. Chef Jim Gray’s Easy Leg of Lamb Recipe is just that – easy but delicious. For an in-depth presentation on how to easily select, trim, and roast a delicious leg of lamb, listen to Chef Erika’s Leg of Lamb Podcast.

Lamb Shanks and Lamb Chops. And let’s not forget about Lamb Shanks and Chops. Chef Julie’s Red Wine Braised Lamb Shanks has classic flavors and the colors are divine. For more classics, our Jim Grays’ Pork are flexible main courses for pairing many of the early Spring seasonal side dishes.

Lamb Stew. A few years ago, I finally tried a new kind of lamb dish for the Holiday, a traditional Italian Easter lamb dish called Abbacchio. With Abbacchio, the lamb is slowly cooked until it’s melt-in-your-mouth tender. Although I’ll be daring to serve another “new” dish this Easter, I hope some of you try and enjoy my lamb stew recipe. It’s a wonderful holiday dish and really highlights the lamb flavor I so enjoy.

Happy Spring!

Good news – Spring has returned, bringing a renewal of natural life energies. We celebrate collectively at this time of year, and that means, among other things, good food. Many of our chefs have put together special menus for Easter or Passover, or for the general purpose of enjoying the flavors of the season. Let’s take a look at this menu and discuss it’s finer points and style.

Chef Kevin Weeks Easter Supper Menu
Asparagus and Goat Cheese with Toasted Pine Nuts and Tarragon
Angel Biscuits
Ham with Bourbon and Currant Glaze
Dauphinoise Potatoes
Rhubarb Mousse

Chef Kevin’s menu is traditional Easter fare with a few twists to surprise and entertain the palate.

Ham is the classic meat choice for an Easter Supper. The bourbon and currant glaze presented here will take your ham and taste buds to that ’special place’ not normally discovered via the ”honey-glazed” archetype. More good news, the glazing takes no longer to prepare than a typical ham. What’s more, none of the ingredients for the glaze are too unique as to go to waste.

The asparagus dish is exquisite. The menu as a whole is very meat-and-potatoes, but this side is the particular element that makes it so very elegant. The pine nuts and goat cheese are indulgent items and their flavors are strong- use sparingly. We recommend preparing plenty of this veggie side dish as people will be requesting more. And use fresh tarragon if possible.

Biscuits are a requisite for Easter dinner, and the Angel Biscuits fit the bill and round out the southern flair of the menu. They’re also easy to make. The trick is, don’t over-mix them. If the batter seems messy, then they’ll be perfect. Just leave them to proof, them butter and bake them. The less you handle the batter, the softer they’ll be in the end.

And what meat-and-potatoes menu is complete without, well, potatoes? Rather than go through the fuss of making mashed potatoes, follow this recipe and let them bake unattended for 30 minutes while you put the finishing touches on your other dishes. Easy, and doubtless to impress.

Dessert for a spring-oriented meal ought to be light and fruity, reflecting the fruit that has just come into season – certainly citrus, berries, etc. This menu’s mousse ought to thrill everyone, and is creamy enough to please even those who prefer not-so-light desserts. The recipe probably requires more attention that the others, but the methods are simple and it can (and ought to be) made ahead of time, so won’t be a part of the dinner preparation push.

Chef Kevin’s Easter Menu Preparation Schedule
Preparation Time: 8 hours with two hands

Note: This is an easy menu suited to even the novice cook. Our estimates of time and recommended cooking schedule are realistic and assume a single at-home chef flying ’solo’ in the kitchen. The recipe requiring some experience or more advanced cooking techniques are the biscuits – but you can always call the culinary hotline for live instruction!

Night before:

Clean greens and herbs.
Cook asparagus, drain well, dry and store in refrigerator.
Toast pine nuts.
Grate and store cheese for potatoes.
Prepare Rhubarb Mousse.
Mix glaze ingredients, cover and store.

Morning of:

Make Angel Biscuits.
Make salad dressing.
Arrange and prep cookware.
Set table, finish up housekeeping.

Three Hours to Supper:

Bake Ham (upper rack).
Prepare Dauphinoise Potatoes, cover and store in refrigerator.
Bring glaze to room temperature.
Plate any appetizers, uncork wine.

Two – One Hour Before Supper:

Cook Glaze.
Assemble salad – can be served ‘family style’ or plated.
Remove dressing and asparagus from refrigerator and bring to room temperature.
Bake Potatoes.
Glaze Ham.
Warm biscuits at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun cooking, because if you do, it will definitely be reflected in the eating experience. Happy Easter! We look forward to talking with you on the culinary hotline about last minute touches to a wonderful meal.

Do you know one kid who doesn’t like chicken fingers? Here’s an easy recipe that’s better than tastier than anything you can buy.

Kitchen Guy’s Chicken Fingers Recipe

Ingredients
16 chicken tenderloins
(or 4 chicken breasts cut into strips)
2 cups buttermilk
3 cups self-rising flour (Bisquick)
1 cup peanut oil *
2 Tbsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Method
Mix together salt, pepper and garlic powder. Season chicken with the mixture. Dredge the chicken in flour, shake off the excess, dip in buttermilk, then in flour again.Fry in peanut oil that is 350 degrees. Turn when golden brown, then remove to paper towels to drain.
Serve with honey mustard or any of your favorite dipping sauces.

* Use canola oil as a substitute for peanut oil.

ChefsLine Chef Jackie Lee is competing to win Tuesday March 24th on Chopped, the Food Network’s newest prime time cooking show. Please join the ChefsLine community in cheering Chef Jackie on!

I asked Jackie, what was the most exciting aspect of the show? “Racking your brain to find a cohesive way to tie in these weird ingredients. I was scrambling. And you know, fact is every meal can seem like a battle. I say don’t give up the fight! There are so many more things you can make with a simple apple and just everyday ingredients than you might think possible at first.”

Chopped is a chef competition that pits four contestants against each other and a mystery bag of ingredients that defies all culinary logic. During Jackie’s show- shrimp, pepperoni, and cereal try to outwit our star chef. During the show, contestants get just 30 minutes to cook an appetizer, entree or dessert. One person is “chopped” after each course and the last person standing gets $10,000.

The show is appealing to home cooks and ChefsLine members for a few reasons. One, if you cook for three other people frequently, you’ve had to deal the occasional snarky comment of your own “judges.” Not unlike a hotline conversation, Chef Jackie is faced with the question: “I have these things in my pantry – help me make a great meal.” Except this time she’s not helping a ChefsLine member – she’s trying to make a hard-earned, quick $10,000! And then Jackie has to pull off her masterpiece in just 30 minutes, the same amount of time many of try to make dinner. With thirty minutes and paltry pantry ingredients – only a truly experienced chef will make a magnificent meal. Go Jackie!

Chopped
Food Network
Tuesday, March 24
10:00 PM ET/PT
9:00 PM CT

I will be live on ChefsLine’s blog tomorrow night at a Chopped viewing party with Jackie and friends. Please check in to chat with me live about the show.