A Seder In The Barrio

As we all followed the song sheets and sang we opened up the Seder with the first song of the night, "There's No Seder Like Our Seder" (to the tune of "There's No Business Like Show Business"). What a perfect way to start a Seder which set the vibe for the evening. It screamed fun! I have been attending the Spiegler Seders, who are very close family friends, for a few years now and was asked for the second time not only be a guest but to do most of the cooking for it. I took on the huge task of cooking a kosher Passover Seder for 46 people. 34 attending the first night of Passover and 12 attending the second night of Passover. Now Thanksgiving feels like a piece-of-cake to me and I will no longer complain about peeling a dozen potatoes. Try peeling two 10 pound bags of carrots. I'm talking about 160 carrots. I have been grocery shopping, prepping and cooking since the beginning of April all for Passover which fell on Monday April 18th. It was huge success and everything came out better then perfect. I could not of been happier and from what I saw the guests and my boss was pretty happy too!

Since the size of the Spiegler Seder is so massive and keeps growing they have been having it at local restaurants around San Diego who are willing to host a Seder and allows me to do most of the cooking. Last year was K & B Cellars in Del Cerro. This year, the Seder was held in Barrio Logan at Blue Print Cafe and the home of In Good Taste Catering. It was an awesome location and perfect place for a Seder. It really felt like we were in someones home and not at a restaurant. As guests arrived they got to snack on this awesome Baba Ghanoush with a kick served with matzo and vegetables. It was made by In Good Taste.I had 7 things to make and I will share them all with you. If you want a recipe then please email me. If I listed all the recipes on my blog then it would be ten pages long. So if something sparks your interest please contact me here and I will email it over to you.
First Course
Avocado Egg Salad
Gefilte Fish
Mock Chop LiverThe Avocado Egg Salad is something that my grandma Geta used to make at every Passover Seder. It usually turns out to be a favorite for people who have never had it before. I love making it on Passover and feel like my grandma is with me while I am doing so.
Gefilte Fish is poached white fish which I poached with carrots and yellow onions to give it a great sweet flavor. It's awesome when served with purple horseradish which is horseradish made with beets. If you leave the peel on the onions it will give it nice color too.
The Mock Chop Liver I didn't make and was made by In Good Taste. I didn't care for it that much.
The Second Course was Matzo Ball Soup. I made the chicken broth from scratch and I made 3 gallons of broth. I boiled the chickens with carrots, celery, onions. parsnips, Italian parsley, thyme, dill, and lots of salt and pepper for flavor. It came out awesome. The Matzo Balls were light and fluffy.
Main Course
Orange Chicken
Mushroom, Artichoke, & Onion Matzo Kugel
Carrot Kugel
Brisket - made by In Good Taste which was awesome. A huge hit of the night and had a taste of barbecue and was cooked with mushrooms and onions. I would love to get my hands on that recipe.
Grilled Veggies - made by In Good Taste which was also amazing.This chicken is so good and so simple. The marinade has orange marmalade in it and you bake it for 2 hours till it turns this amazing golden brown color. It was perfectly cooked, sweet and moist!
This Matzo Kugel is so good and it's a great option if you want to add something Savory to the menu. It's made with mushrooms, artichokes, sauteed onions, fresh rosemary and thyme. You can play with this recipe and add just about any vegetable you want to add to it.This Carrot Kugel is so sweet and this recipe was given to me by my Aunt. It is so moist and a true hit of the night. The recipe is so easy you can't mess it up no matter how hard you try. It freezes very well too so you can make it in advance.

That just about sums it up. It was a modern day Seder filled with fun songs, lots of laughs, modern day 4 questions and some intellectual and political thoughts to ponder on.
Last year the Seder was in in Del Cerro, this year in Barrio Logan, maybe next year in Jerusalem....or Lakeside??? I will let you know.