Bubbe's Charoses and More Hamantaschen

Bubbe was Jay Wheeler's wonderful mother, Joan, who passed away about a year ago.  I always looked forward to those times she visited her son's family here in Florida.  It was during one of those Passover visits that she shared her method for preparing charoses.

1 apple, peeled and grated
1/3 cup walnut pieces, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons kosher for Passover wine

1 tablespoon sugar - do not add until you taste the mixture

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.  Taste for sweetness.  Add sugar, if desired. 

Whether or not you add sugar is going to depend on what kind of apple you use, what kind of kosher wine you use, and your own personal preferences.  Today I used a McIntosh apple, which is pretty sweet compared to a Granny Smith.  I used Manischewitz white concord wine, which is not as sweet as the one of the darker wines shown below:

When people think of kosher for Passover wine, they usually think of the concord grape, and that is what is generally used to make charoses.  You can use any wine you like, but again, taste before adding sugar.  You may not need it.

Bubbe's original recipe did not call for the ginger, but I like the combination of ginger and cinnamon, so I tweaked it a bit.  You don't have to use it if you are not fond of ginger.  I think it enhances the cinnamon, but your mileage may vary.

You can use the charoses now, but it does benefit from spending about an hour in the refrigerator.  Serve this with Passover matzoh and prepared horseradish, with or without beet juice added:

I personally recommend using the second from the left, which provides a nice sharp counterpoint to the charoses without blowing off the top of your head.  Since this is traditionally served as part of the Passover seder, no host wants their guests crying in their four cups of wine, and you might want to offer the one on the left as well.  Horseradish is also the condiment most closely associated with gefilte fish, so I would definitely offer both to guests.  If you want to know how to catch gefilte fish, click on this link.  Very informative  ;-)

Because I am not doing any major cooking today, I am taking the opportunity to use up the hamantaschen dough I prepared a while back.  I used up the mohn (poppy seed) filling on the last batch, so I opened up a can of the Solo Apricot Filling (Rob's favorite) and then tried two new fillings:  Dickenson's Lemon Curd and Nutella.   I can tell you that both of them work perfectly as hamantaschen fillings.  They don't leak like regular jam or preserves will do, and they taste incredible.

I'm not sure how I ended up with two recipe posts in the same day.  I think I mentioned I was mathematically-challenged, but I can usually count up to two.  Oy.

Cook like there's nobody watching, and eat like it's heaven on earth.