Navigating Passover rules can be tricky

Moses: “Oh, Lord, forgive my ignorance! What you are really saying is we should wait six hours after eating meat to have milk so the two are not in our stomachs at the same time.”

God: “No, Moses — what I’m saying is never cook a calf in its mother’s milk!”

Moses: “Oh, Lord! Please don’t strike me down for my stupidity! What you mean is we should have a separate set of dishes for milk and a separate set for meat and if we make a mistake we have to bury that dish outside ...”

God: “Moses, do whatever you want ...”

Keeping kosher — especially at Passover — can be almost as much a calamity as Moses was trying to make it in this old joke. Kashrut — the laws governing the diet in the Jewish tradition — become even more stringent, and complicated, during this springtime holiday.

There’s a lot more to it than not eating leavened bread.

“Keeping kosher for Passover has the added complication of avoiding five grains — wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt,” explained Rabbi Frederick Reeves, associate rabbi at The Temple in Atlanta, “unless they are made into matzo.” And matzo — perhaps the very symbol of the holiday for many Jews — must be made especially for Passover by cooking the unleavened crackers within 18 minutes after the water is added to the flour — otherwise, according to kashrut, fermentation will have begun, and fermentation is a no-no. Unleavened breads, after all, are one of the Passover table’s biggest symbols of the Hebrews’ escape from Egypt’s bondage.

Ashkenazi Jews — those descended from Eastern Europe and Russia — add another complication. “Some Ashkenazi Jews go completely insane at Passover,” quipped Reeves. They avoid anything that might swell or ferment — legumes, corn, peanuts, soy and even rice. “You eat a lot of potatoes,” Reeves said.

An observant Jew could find the whole process difficult to undertake in modern society, where convenience has turned our food supply into something far more muddled than it needs to be — preservatives and other additives, especially corn products like corn starch and high fructose corn syrup, are not kosher for Passover, so reading labels becomes the norm if you’re keeping kosher.

An entire industry has developed around kosher for Passover foods, where companies such as Manischewitz, Osem and Gefen provide everything from cake mixes to croutons that are kashrut for the holiday. These products, some imported from Israel, are often gluten-free, all vegetarian and have no preservatives.

So why not just buy products from the all natural, organic aisle?

“Supervision is the issue,” Reeves explained. “Orthodox rabbis certify these foods to be kosher for Passover. To some Jews, this is what’s most important — not just the ingredient list.

“In the United States, there is no mechanism for enforcement of the kosher laws,” Reeves said, “so people align themselves with those who have similar perspectives. Without the temple, we have developed other explanations over the years for why we keep these laws. But the bottom line is God said to do this, so we do.”

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Recipes

If you’re keeping Passover, these recipes will help. They’re not just for the Seder table, but can be used all week. It’s important to note that all the recipes use kosher for Passover products. I purchased kosher for Passover products at the Kroger at Toco Hill Shopping Center, 2205 LaVista Road, Atlanta, 404-633-8694. You can find other products through the Atlanta Kashruth Commission, 1855 LaVista Road N.E., Atlanta, 404-634-4063, www.kosheratlanta.org. For more, follow Kosher Eye on Twitter or at www.koshereye.com. Passover begins at sundown Monday.

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Eli Kirshtein’s Passover Brisket

Hands on: 10 minutes Total time: 12 hours, 10 minutes Serves: 8

Atlanta chef Eli Kirshtein of “Top Chef: Las Vegas” fame may have decamped to New York to work at Solo, a kosher restaurant, but he’s happy to share his Passover brisket. Slow roasting the meat makes it tender and juicy.

Salt and pepper to taste

3 pounds kosher brisket

1 cup tightly packed kosher for Passover brown sugar

1 cup kosher for Passover horseradish

1 cup kosher for Passover mustard

Salt and pepper the brisket generously.

Prepare a grill for cooking, and smoke the brisket, covered, for 1 hour. Remove the brisket from the grill and let rest until cool enough to touch.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, horseradish and mustard until well blended. Rub the mixture generously over the brisket. Wrap the meat in foil and slow roast, fat side up, for 11 hours.

Per serving: 368 calories (percent of calories from fat, 34), 37 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 14 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 106 milligrams cholesterol, 552 milligrams sodium.

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Chocolate Cake With Caramel Pineapple

Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 45 minutes Serves: 6

Caramelize fresh pineapple to liven up a kosher for Passover cake mix.

1 package Manischewitz extra moist chocolate cake mix

2 cups fresh pineapple, thinly sliced

¼ cup kosher for Passover vanilla sugar, divided

1 cup kosher for Passover whipping cream

Make the cake according to package directions.

While the cake is baking, place the pineapple in a large sauté pan and heat slowly on medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pineapple with 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar as it begins to heat, distributing the sugar evenly. Continue sautéing until the sugar melts and the pineapple is beginning to brown. Remove from heat and set aside. Put the cream in a large bowl. With a mixer on medium-low speed, whip cream until it begins to thicken. Add 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar and increase the speed to high until the cream forms soft peaks. Serve pineapple and whipped cream over warm cake.

Per serving: 558 calories (percent of calories from fat, 42), 7 grams protein, 78 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 27 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 71 milligrams cholesterol, 735 milligrams sodium.

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Cream Cheese and Horseradish Canapés

Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Makes: 2 dozen

As a snack or appetizer, these pack a flavorful punch.

1 cup kosher for Passover cream cheese

½ cup Manischewitz brand horseradish sauce with dill

2 dozen kosher for Passover matzo crackers

Fresh dill sprigs and slivers of radish for garnish, if desired

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and horseradish sauce until smooth. Place the mixture in a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe onto crackers. Garnish each canapé with slivers of radish and a tiny sprig of fresh dill.

Per canape: 53 calories (percent of calories from fat, 63), 1 gram protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace fiber, 5 grams fat (3 grams saturated), 13 milligrams cholesterol, 52 milligrams sodium.

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Chocolate and Mandel Haystacks

Hands on: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Makes: 2 dozen

Osem brand’s soup mini mandel mixed with chocolate and nuts makes for a great Passover snack.

1 (12-ounce) package kosher for Passover semisweet chocolate

2 cups Osem brand mini mandel soup croutons

1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large plastic or glass bowl, melt the chocolate. Add the mini croutons and nuts and stir until well combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper and let set.

Per haystack: 115 calories (percent of calories from fat, 55), 2 grams protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 7 grams fat (3 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 19 milligrams sodium.

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Sweet Potato and Spinach Lasagna

Hands on: 30 minutes Total time: 1 hour, 25 minutes Serves: 6

Thin slivers of sweet potatoes, cut with a vegetable peeler or mandoline, serve as the “pasta” in this dairy dish for Passover.

1 large sweet potato

2 tablespoons kosher for Passover olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1 large onion, chopped

4 cups fresh spinach

1 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary

15 ounces kosher for Passover ricotta cheese

8 ounces kosher for Passover cottage cheese

2 cups kosher for Passover mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and slice the sweet potato into thinly shaved slivers. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and onion; brown for 1 minute. Add the spinach and rosemary and sauté until the spinach wilts. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, cottage and 1½ cups of the mozzarella cheese.

In a 10-by-6-inch casserole dish, layer the sweet potatoes on the bottom, then spread with half the spinach mixture. Cover this layer with half the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering, starting with the sweet potato slivers and ending with the cheese mixture. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is browned.

Per serving: 347 calories (percent of calories from fat, 61), 22 grams protein, 12 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 24 grams fat (13 grams saturated), 71 milligrams cholesterol, 389 milligrams sodium.