Easter Brunch Menu

We normally attend Easter services on Saturday night.  I know.  Kinda different.  It was strange at first, but since we've been doing this for the past several years, we really enjoy the relaxing Easter morning this has created.  If you are one of those amazing souls that attends a 6am Easter sunrise service... my hat is off to you!

This brunch menu is simple enough so you don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but still have a nice meal to get you through the day until Easter dinner.

Menu

Simple FruitSalad

Scrambled Pastured Eggs

Pastured Bacon

Stuesel Blueberry Buckle

Coffee

Raw Whole Milk

Messianic Passover Seder Menu

Last year, we held our first Messianic Passover Seder celebration.  It was such a profound experience, we are looking forward to celebrating it again this year.  Because the first Lord's Supper was on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter), that is when we choose to celebrate our Seder.

In all honesty, last year I was a little overwhelmed with studying Messianic and traditional Seders, and trying to create a special menu.  Now that we have our Haggadah, I know that I'll really be able to enjoy this time together with family and friends.

Even though we are not Jewish, many of the elements of our dinner do follow a traditional Seder dinner, although some, obviously, do not.  For us, the menu isn't the most important part.  It's the meaning of the celebration. 

Menu

Haroset

Strawberry Spinach Salad 

Prime Rib with Horseradish Sauce

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus 

Greek Style Potatoes 

Black Olives 

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream & Fresh Berries

Red Wine / Grape Juice

Lemon Water

Coffee

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Decadent.  Easy.  Gluten-free.  Need I say more?

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Makes 1 -10 inch round cake

Based on this recipe 

• ½ C strong coffee, orange juice, or water
• ¼ t sea salt
• ¾ C turbinado
• 18 oz. dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao)
• 1 C unsalted butter
• 3 whole eggs + 3 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Butter a 10" round cake or springform pan.  Cut circle of parchment paper for bottom of pan.  Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the coffee, salt and turbinado. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3. In the top half of a double boiler melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot coffee/turbinado.  Slowly beat in the eggs and egg whites, about one at a time.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  (If using a springform pan, use a large piece of foil, wrap foil around the bottom of the springform pan.)
6. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready.  Put the cake pan in the larger pan. Fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
7. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. 
8. Chill cake overnight in the pan. 
9. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Enjoy this simple salad during strawberry season.  If you like feta or blue cheese, it is a great addition to this recipe as well.  If you decide to do that, add only 2-4 tablespoons so to not overpower the other flavors.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Serves 4

Based on this recipe

• 2 T sesame seeds
• 1 T poppy seeds
• 1/3 C maple syrup
• ½ C olive oil
• ¼ C white vinegar
• ¼ t paprika
• ¼ t Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T minced onion
• 10 oz. fresh spinach
• 4 C fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled & sliced
• ¼ C chopped almonds, toasted

1. Using a stick or regular blender, blend maple syrup, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion.  Whisk in sesame seeds and poppy seeds.  Cover, and chill for at least one hour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Serve immediately after dressing.

Haroset

One of the (many) books I read last year while studying about Passover Seders was a great book by Steve and Cokie Roberts, "Our Haggadah: Uniting Traditions for Interfaith Families".  The Roberts effectively taught me that there is not just "one way" to celebrate a Seder.  In addition to sharing their Haggadah, they also included several recipes. 

Below is their recipe for haroset (also called charoset), which is a sweet, dark-colored, paste made of fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder.  Its color and texture are meant to recall mortar (or mud used to make adobe bricks) which the Israelites used when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt.

Haroset (Steve & Cokie Roberts)

• 1 large apple
• ¼ C chopped nuts (such as walnuts, almonds, or pecans)
• 2 T (or so) red wine
• ½ t cinnamon
• ½ t honey

1. Peel and grate apple.
2. Put apple in a bowl and add nuts, cinnamon, and honey.
3. Stir in the wine a little at a time, checking for consistency - the mixture should hold together.

 Note:  A little goes a long way.  Serve only about 1 tablespoon per person.  Any leftovers can be refrigerated and used over ice cream.