Mealtime Magic: Matbucha Brisket and Sweet Potat Wedges with Avocado Drizzle

Passover is a time when family and friends come together, usually over a meal.  Which can mean spending hours in the kitchen. Social media personality and chef, Miriam Pascal knows that during Passover especially, most of us want to be able to prepare delicious as easily as possible. Hundreds of thousands of her fans regularly enjoy her creative, tasty, and easy recipes, which she regularly shares on her popular blog and in her bestselling cookbooks.  

Miriam’s 2017 best-selling cookbook, Real Life Kosher Cooking, sold out its first printing in only 10 days. As a result, Miriam released her much anticipated follow up cookbook, MORE REAL LIFE KOSHER COOKING (now in its second printing in less than a month), with recipes that are perfect to serve for Pesach.  Miriam shows home cooks how to create memorable dishes with approachable recipes, using simple, common sense preparation. 

“Food has the power to be transformative. I’ve always striven for recipes that are approachable and doable. Recipes that will make you say, ‘I can do that!’.” Miriam says.  

MORE REAL LIFE KOSHER COOKING contains over 150 recipes complete with beautiful photographs taken by Miriam herself.  Each recipe is made with accessible, easy-to-find ingredients and instructions, and have "Plan Ahead"” and/or freezer tips.  Miriam also includes a Pesach Guide in order to adjust your favorite recipes for use during Passover.

Recipes range from Breakfast and Breads, Appetizers and Snacks, Salads and Spreads, to Soups and Stews, Meat and Poultry, Dairy and Meatless Mains, Desserts and Drinks, Sauces and Staples, and Baked Goods and Pastries. 

Recipe(s) and photo(s) reprinted with permission from
More Real Life Kosher Cooking by Miriam Pascal
Mesorah Publications/November 2019
Photos by Miriam Pascal

Sweet Potato Wedges with Avocado Drizzle
I always love a good sweet-and-savory recipe combo, and these sweet potatoes combined with the tangy avocado dip are no exception. As a bonus, the beautiful contrasting colors make it an eye-catching dish!
Pareve          Yield 6 servings

SWEET POTATO WEDGES
3 sweet potatoes
3 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

AVOCADO DRIZZLE
1 avocado
½ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon garlic powder 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into wedges. Place into a large bowl; add oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat.

Place wedges in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the outsides are starting to brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the avocado drizzle: Place peeled and pitted avocado into a bowl; mash until smooth. Add remaining ingredients; stir to combine.

Remove roasted sweet potato from oven; allow to cool slightly. Just before serving, drizzle avocado mixture over wedges just before serving.

Plan Ahead: Avocado drizzle can be prepared 2-3 days ahead. Due to the acid in the recipe, it should not turn brown. Sweet potato wedges are best fresh, but can be prepared a day or two ahead and served at room
temperature.

Matbucha Brisket
I frequently get requests for non-sweet roast recipes, and I love to fulfill that request because my family prefers their Yom Tov roasts savory too, and I’m always looking for the next great idea. This one stuck me one day when I thought about matbucha — the ever-popular dip made from vegetables. I decided to braise a roast in a matbucha-inspired sauce, and the meat was so incredibly flavorful, I knew it was a winner!
Meat          Yield 6-8 servings

1 (about 3-pound) second cut brisket (see Note) 

kosher salt, for sprinkling
black pepper, for sprinkling.
3 Tablespoons oil
2 onions, sliced
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
3 bell peppers, sliced, preferably different colors
2 plum tomatoes, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
½ jalapeño pepper, minced
2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

Preheat oven to 325°F. Sprinkle salt and pepper over both sides of roast.

Heat a large, deep frying pan over high heat. Add roast; sear for 2-3 minutes per side, until browned on the outside. Transfer to a roasting pan; set aside.

Turn heat under the frying pan to medium; add oil, onions, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened

Add peppers, tomatoes, garlic, jalapeño, and remaining teaspoon salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until softened.

Raise heat to high. Add cumin, chili powder, and diced tomatoes with their liquid. Cook until mixture starts to bubble around the edges. Pour vegetable mixture over the meat.

Cover roasting pan tightly; bake for 40-50 minutes per pound, until meat is soft and tender.

Note: Instead of a brisket, you can use French roast, minute roast, or any other cut of meat that does well when cooked low and slow.
Plan Ahead: This meat freezes well in the sauce, wrapped and airtight. Reheat, covered, until warmed through.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Miriam Pascal is the founder of OvertimeCook.com, one of the world’s leading destinations for kosher recipes, with hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors. A self-taught cook and baker, Miriam shares her passion for recipes, food, and photography on her website, as well as in her popular food column in Mishpacha Magazine’s Family Table. Her first book, the dessert cookbook Something Sweet, enhanced her reputation as the go-to source for easy-to-prepare, delicious kosher recipes. Her second cookbook, Real Life Kosher Cooking has become a kitchen staple. Miriam has garnered a large and loyal following of home cooks who appreciate her expertise and experience in creating simple, family-friendly recipes that fit the lifestyles of busy people who want to serve nutritious and delicious meals. Miriam’s work has been featured by numerous national magazines and other media.

To request a review copy and to schedule an interview, contact:
Trina Kaye – The Trina Kaye Organization
TrinaKaye@tkopr.com / 310-963-3964

For Passover, Miriam recommends trying these two recipes.

Recipes and photos may be reprinted with the following credit: