who's in the kitchen: judy joszef

Shop, shop, shop. And then dessert!

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It’s heeeeeeeere! Last week before Pesach. I’m usually done with all my shopping and started kasheing my oven, stove etc. Unfortunately, this year (due to neck issues from being rear-ended in an auto accident, and the flood I had in my house a week later), I’m nowhere near done. I did manage to do an initial shopping. Initial shopping is actually what starts out to be one huge shopping extravaganza, where we aim to buy everything on our list. But who are we kidding? We’re not even close!

We write a long list, yet still find ourselves missing items when we get home. Granted, some of them we will never use — actually some of them I wouldn’t even use during the year — but, you know, just in case, like the turmeric.

So aside from the initial huge shopping, I end up making at least five trips. 

You would think, with all the people heading out of town for the holiday, that the stores wouldn’t be as crowded, but it’s even crazier. Seems that all the people who travel to Florida are shopping here and having their orders sent down to them. Suddenly I had a sly smile, realizing that they had to go through the same shopping torture as I did. We’re both shopping and having our Pesach orders delivered. Granted, theirs are being to shipped to sunny and warm Miami, Orlando, etc, while mine is ending up in Woodmere, but there is some satisfaction.

One thing I’m proud to say is that I haven’t succumbed to buying those half moon jelly slices. I’m going to be tough this year. I can do it. I can do it!

For those of you at home, I found this great recipe recipe. It’s a bit time consuming, but really, at this point, what’s a little more work?

Flourless Chocolate Almond Cake with Chocolate Ganache [Dairy]

By Jennifer Segal (OnceUponAChef.com)

Adapted, just a bit, from Maida Heatter’s Cakes

Makes one 9-inch cake, serving 10–12

For the Cake

1-1/2 cups slivered almonds

Handful fine matzo meal (for dusting pan)

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (best quality you can find)

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

6 large eggs

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the Ganache Frosting

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