How to cut Matzah In Japanese and Other Fun Passover Videos (UPDATED!)

This was actually put together by an Israeli web media production company, Mantis, not by Japanese television. Still, I get a huge kick out of it.

And for those of you who still havent had enough of Manischewitzville, there is this little ditty below.

And here’s a classic from several years back that never ceases to entertain, starring a Rabbinical Robot and Fiddy Cent.. Click the photo for the link.

And for another take on Passover rap music, there is also the underrarted “Matzah!” from the Jibjab political comedy animation team. Click on the photo for the link.

And then of course is Who Let the Jews Out, which is always a crowd pleaser.

And here’s a new one for 2007, the Matza Ball Rap. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Gifted Gourmet’s 2007 Passover Challenges

Melissa Goodman, AKA Gifted Gourmet, Jedi Master of all food things Jewish on Flickr, has Passover angst and wanted to share it with us.

– Jason

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So what are today’s challenges for my annual seder for this holiday? My daughter has recently announced that she has adopted a vegan lifestyle … “Please, Mom, nothing difficult for you to make for ME!” .. I just don’t eat anything which contains meat or fish, eggs, or dairy products … so, you see how simple your food can be now?

In response I had to admit that it seemed simple enough but, after a few minutes of thought, I saw how impossible it is to make matzo balls without eggs, a cake without eggs, and the main course could not be made of anything with soy because that is considered kitniyot which are forbidden on Passover) ….

From www.Aish.com:

“kitniyot.” Sometimes referred to generically as “legumes,” this includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why? Rabbi Yitzchak of Korbol explains that products of kitniyot appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot was prohibited.

So that took care of the vegans who can eat less than anyone on Passover .. and my mother? the 95 year old dowager empress of the family? She doesn’t eat anything with nuts or onions or anything her dentures will resist so very mushy soft is her only requirement, or so she says … eating a softened matzo? yuck! Charoses without nuts? applesauce! and chicken soup without onions? heresy!!

My husband swears that his cholesterol is too high and can’t eat fats .. or eggs … or brisket .. or my Twelve Egg Spongecake, a recipe that I have always loved creating … He screams in a panic “twelve eggs!? are you planning to murder me??!”

And then there is me .. I have no restrictions which will hold me back from enjoying the nostalgic (or is that noshtalgic?) foods of the past … oh, I have acquiesced to the ban on chopped chicken liver oozing schmaltz (chicken fat), a special favorite slathered on my matzo … but my soup with be made with a fat, healthy pullet … my main course will be the breast of veal stuffed with matzo farfel, kosher sausage, onions, and peppers … my sponge cake will tower over the sweetened strawberries that accompany it … asparagus will be as thick as a grown man’s Viagra-filled erection … and I will, no, must enjoy this ancient holiday as God desired for me … tomorrow I will once again live my dietetic and properly healthy existence .. but today? Let my calories go!

Be sure to see Melissa’s Passover and Jewish Cuisine photo groups on Flickr.

Other Cool Passover Links:

Baroness Tapuzina: A very cool and beautifully photographed cooking and food blog from an Israeli foodblogger. Be sure to check out her posts on Matzo Ball Soup and Passover Desserts.

Katie Loeb’s Sephardic Charoset: If you’re tired of the usual “mortar” and are looking for a fruity and nutty Charoset that everyone is guaranteed to love, you’ll want to commit this one to memory.

Rachel’s Golden Potato Kugel: Rachel adapted this recipe from Melissa’s already excellent original, but tweaked it out with lots of caramelized onions. Don’t hesitate to make this one — you might need to make a few pans worth, because it disappears fast.

SNL Jumps on KFP Coke Cluetrain

From this last Saturday’s News Update with Amy Poller. It’s weird when one realizes you’ve started a meme cascade that ends with SNL.

Somehow I’m under the impression that we haven’t heard the last of the KFP Coke madness. It’s just beginning.

Atlanta Dining: South City Kitchen

South City Kitchen
1144 Crescent Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
(404) 873-7358

Fellow food shutterbug and Atlantean Melissa Goodman, AKA Gifted Gourmet invited me to Sunday brunch at South City Kitchen, one of Atlanta’s most popular modern-style Southern restaurants. Set in a beautifully restored 1920’s bungalow right in the middle of downtown Atlanta among the city’s skyscrapers, the restaurant serves updated and interesting twists on Southern classics. It was a really interesting contrast to the “Meat and 2 veg” hardcore Southern cuisine I had eaten at Mary Mac’s a few days before.

Manischewitzville

Atlanta Dining: Mary Mac’s Tea Room

Mary Mac’s Tea Room
224 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
(404) 876-1800

Web site: http://www.marymacs.com/ 

One of my objectives this week was to have a sit down, traditional Southern meal in a classic setting. While I have had some good Soul Food examples in Florida and New York City recently, they were both modern restaurants, and the last time I had a truly exceptional Southern/Soul Food experience that could be considered to be truly classic would be at Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans, back in May of 2005. Willie Mae’s was destroyed by flooding three months later as a result of the levvee breaches following Hurricane Katrina, and it is in the late stage of being rebuilt — so I probably won’t be able to have another meal in there for at least several months. When I heard of Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a similar, but more upscale (and much larger) Southern/Soul Food restaurant in the Poncey-Highland section of Atlanta, which has been around since the 1940’s, I jumped at the chance to eat there.

Fried Chicken, Cornbread, Okra and Tomatoes. Click on the “read the rest of this entry” link below for more.

Frankly I’m Tempted

Via SLOG:

Erica Barnett wrote a brief but meaty post the other day about the heart-stopping joy of bacon-wrapped, cheese-filled, battered and fried hot dogs. (Recipe, via Stuff Magazine, below the jump.)

I decided to call her bluff and see if she’d really eat such a bizarre concoction of unnatural ingredients. With 17 years of culinary experience under my belt and a fridge full of bacon, I dove headfirst into the dark world of lad-mag cookery.

Oy! Kosher For Passover Coke Becomes Part of Internet Zeitgeist

Jason Perlow, 37, founder of offthebroiler.com, a New York metro-area food blog, said he got thousands of hits when he posted an alert on March 12 that the kosher Coke had started appearing in local stores.

“These are people who love Coca-Cola as it used to be,” he said. “Sugar lends a different flavor. It’s not as sweet and it’s much fizzier and foamier.”

New York Post — Kosher Coke a Big Hit (Monday, March 19, 2007)

Georgia Dining: Dreamland Bar-B-Que

Dreamland Bar-B-Que
10730 Alpharetta Highway, Roswell, GA

Web Site: http://www.dreamlandbbq.com

Georgia and Alabama aren’t really known as BBQ territory,  and they really don’t have a “style”, like their cousins in North Carolina, Memphis, Lexington, Kansas City and Austin, each of which are said to have their own schools that define the genre.  However, when in the South, I tend to gravitate toward genuine Southern-style food, and any excuse to eat BBQ is a good one. It didn’t take much encouraging when my client told me that he and his friends refer to Dreamland Bar-B-Que in Roswell as their “Church”, because they go there and get all quiet and serious when they are eating and worshiping the  Pork.

Dreamland is part of a small chain of Barbecue restaurants, originating out of Tuscaloosa, AL. When you drive up to the restaurant, the smell of meat smoking over fruit woods immediately smacks you upside the head. See the big chimney? You can’t see it because of the sun glare, but there’s a large volume of Pecan and Hickory smoke emanating from it.

Ready for some serious ‘Q, Alabama-style? Click on the”read the rest of this entry” link for more.

OTB Profiled in TasteTV Video Report #1

TasteTV, the independent food channel, has profiled Off The Broiler as part of its new video report series. Have a look!

TasteTV Video Report #1