Clean Cuisine – Unleavened Bread

“Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses…” Exodus 12:15

The long winter sojourn inside has taken its toll.  Everywhere I look, there is work waiting: drawers, closets and shelves to be rearranged, floors to be mopped, shined or vacuumed,  windows to be washed, bathrooms to be disinfected, bedcoverings and rugs to be aired outside, furniture and knick-knacks to be dusted – DUSTED?  How I hate dusting!  I would rather clean out the chicken coop or scrape gum off the soles of shoes than dust.  Dusting seems like such a worthless endeavor because I know, despite my best efforts, the results will only last as long as it takes for someone to open a window, brush the cat, or just breathe.  My husband  offers to help with the dusting sometimes, as he cheerfully grabs a feather duster and passes it over a few things here and there.  When I gently, or not so gently (depending upon my level of desperation), remind him that he is only fluffing dust from point A to point B, the offensive observation leaves me to face the ever-growing flaky stuff alone.

Thank goodness for the Feast of Unleavened Bread!  At this time of year I have a REAL reason to clean.  It’s very hard to get rid of all the leavened crumbs without a thorough “spring cleaning.”  Then, with everything gleaming and shiny, it’s time to dig out the old favorite unleavened recipes while looking for new ones to try.  The following were submitted by women readers and affiliate members of YRM and perhaps they will become regular items on your menu.

Veggie Pizza with Unleavened Crust – submitted by Melodie Illgen

Crust:

1 cup whole wheat flour (or white, or mixture of both)

2 teaspoons salt

4 Tablespoons safflower or sunflower oil

1/3 cup milk

1 Tablespoon cornmeal (optional)

Toppings:

2  8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1 packet powdered Ranch dressing mix

Dash each celery seed and dill weed

Mix dry ingredients together; add milk and oil and stir to combine.  Knead for 1-2 minutes and then roll or press onto a cookie sheet.  Press some cornmeal into crust edge, if desired.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10-14 minutes.  Cool.  Mix cream cheese, mayonnaise and Ranch dressing mix together and spread over cooled crust.  Top with choice of raw vegetables.

 Unleavened Almond Honey Shortbread – submitted by Melodie Illgen

½ cup butter

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1/8 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Cream together butter, sugar, honey and almond extract.  Add flour, 1/3 cup at a time, mixing after the first two additions.  When adding the last 1/3 cup of flour, mix with the almonds and knead until it is a soft and workable dough.  Pat into an 8-inch round cake pan.  Press fork tines all over the dough and around the edges.  Semi-cut into 8 wedges and then bake for about 20 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let rest in the hot oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cut through the wedges while still warm.

Orange Passover Sponge Cake with Raspberry Sauce – submitted by Rosrita Fisher

Cake:

¾ cup matzo cake meal

¼ cup potato starch

12 large eggs, separated

1 ½ cups sugar

Topping:

¼ cup fresh orange juice (or zest and juice of 1 large orange)

2 teaspoons orange zest, finely chopped

1/3 cup preserves, raspberry-variety

1 cup unsweetened frozen raspberries, or fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift matzo cake meal with the potato starch over a large bowl;  sift again and set aside.  In a large bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer on high power, whip egg whites until stiff and glossy; set aside.  In another large bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer on high power, whip egg yolks with sugar until light and satiny; add orange juice and zest and blend well.  Fold egg whites into yolk mixture until just blended.  Sift in matzo meal mixture; fold delicately to combine.  Carefully pour batter into a 10-inch, 2-piece ungreased angel food cake pan with feet or a sponge cake pan.  Bake until center of cake springs back to the touch, about 1 hour.  Remove from oven and immediately invert pan onto a wire rack; cool cake completely in pan (If you do not have a pan with feet, invert pan over a wine or beer bottle.)   Meanwhile, to make topping, heat raspberry preserves in a small saucepan over low heat and toss in raspberries; mix well.  When cake is completely cool, run a sharp knife around the outside and inside rings of the tube pan to loosen cake; transfer to a serving plate.  Slice into 16 pieces and drizzle each slice with sauce just before serving.

**This cake can be made in a variety of flavors.  You can substitute lemon or lime zest and juice for the orange zest and juice.  Or, forget the citrus juice and zest altogether and use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead. (You can use 1 cup of flour instead of the matzo cake meal and potato starch, if desired.)

By: Debbie Reed