Congratulations! You’ve gotten past the Passover Seder meal(s) and lived to tell the tale. The pressure’s off and it’s just you and your nuclear family. But it’s only Day 2 of the 8-day holiday and you’ve still gotta eat. Time to start thinking of some more casual meals, and maybe using up those leftover matzo balls.

If the kids are back in school and you’re back to work, you’ve probably prepared a couple of batches of these Passover Rolls for your lunches. You might remember that I adapted that recipe from a 1960′s Manischewitz recipe folder that they used to give out around the holiday. One of those folders included a recipe for a meatball “stew” which used your leftover matzo balls and included a can of their Tomato Mushroom sauce. Well, if your grocery store is anything like mine, if you can find the product at all, the price has gone right through the roof (yeah, they know they’ve got you!).

I make my version of this Meatball/Matzo Ball Stew every year, but lost the actual recipe quite a long time ago, and stopped using the commercial tomato mushroom sauce even longer ago than that. You know what? You don’t need it. No leftover matzo balls? Well, if you don’t want to make a fresh batch, just cut up a couple of potatoes. It’s all good.

Passover Meatball Matzo Ball Stew
(serves 4-6)

For the Meatballs:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbs. ketchup
1 Tbs. vegetable or peanut oil

Combine everything, except the oil, in a medium bowl until well-mixed.

Heat the oil in a large (about 6 quart) pot over medium-high heat. Form the meat mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball and brown in the oil gently, turning occasionally.

For the Sauce:

1 medium onion, peeled & coarsely chopped
3-4 carrots, scraped & sliced into 1/2″ – 1″ pieces
2 ribs celery, sliced into 1/2″ pieces
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
Water
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt & Pepper

Matzo balls or 2 – 3 medium potatoes, cut into roughly 1″ pieces

Add the vegetables to the pot with the meatballs, lower heat to medium and stir occasionally, cooking until the onions are soft and translucent.

Add the diced tomatoes, fill the empty can with water and add that to the pot, as well. Season with the garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine well.

Add the matzo balls or potatoes, and bring to a boil. If your matzo balls are very large, cut them in half or quarters.

Cover the pot tightly and simmer for about 30 minutes. Uncover, stir, and simmer uncovered for about another 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.

This is one of my favorite Passover dishes, and like all stews, it tastes even better the next day!

Eggs are a hot topic, lately. You’d think that cooking an egg would be the simplest thing in the world, but it’s not so easy to get over-easy every time. We love soft-cooked eggs for breakfast (and sometimes even supper) at our house, and even now, I keep looking for a formula to make the perfect breakfast eggs – soft, fluffy whites, yolks that ooze without running all over the plate. I think I finally got it.

I was watching one of those ubiquitous food/travel shows on TV, not too long ago, and saw someone making something called a “basted egg”. When I looked up the process, I ran across several different methods, one of which called for cooking the egg in the bacon grease left from frying bacon, then basting it with the grease while cooking. Definitely not for me.

I needed a method that’s quick and fairly fuss-free. I’m calling this “Basted Eggs”, but I think it’s really a hybrid of frying and poaching, and the best part? No flipping and no busted yolks!

Light Basted Eggs
(I make these 2 at a time)

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp butter or margarine
2 eggs
salt & pepper
2 Tbs. water

Special equipment: Small non-stick omelet or sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid, a toothpick or sharp paring knife.

Method:

Heat the butter or margarine in the pan over medium-high heat, till just sizzling. Break the eggs into the pan gently (or into a dish, then slide into the pan). Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Poke each egg yolk just once with the toothpick or knife tip, add the water to the pan around the edge of the whites, and immediately cover the pan with the lid. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until your desired doneness – about 2 minutes for soft and runny, 3 minutes for medium, 4 minutes for firm.

Remove from heat and uncover. Give the pan a bit of a shake, then slide the eggs out of the pan onto your plate. Here, I’m serving them over a bed of buttered white rice (which is my husband’s thing, lately), but of course, you can serve them accompanied by whatever you like.

Wait for it…

Wait for it…

I’m thinkin’ E.T. or that alien, Paul, in that new Area 51 movie…