Kosher Meatballs for Passover!

The joyous Jewish festival of Passover begins tonight, and while many associate it with chicken soup and "matza balls," there are other ways to go.

How about incredible, delicious kosher meatballs?!

The holiday is ushered in at sundown. Passover is a festival celebrating the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt.

The celebration starts with a "sedar," a ceremonial meal President Obama brought to the White House last year. And that new White House tradition continues tonight.

On "The Early Show" Monday, the co-owners of The Meatball Shop in Manhattan, Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, dished up their recipe for kosher meatballs, and some more tradiitional dishes.

The meatballs in the recipe aren't truly kosher, because "The Early Show" doesn't keep a kosher kitchen. But the ingredients are kosher, and the recipe comes from Daniel's religious grandmother, who passed it along to his mother.

Kosher Meatballs

Ground Chuck 1-1/4 pounds
Olive oil 3 Tablespoons
Onions 1 ea Coarsely Chopped
Salt 2-1/2 teaspoons
Matzos 3 pieces broken into crumbs
Kosher Ketchup 1/4 cup
Parsley 1/4 bunch Chopped
Chicken livers 1/3 pound Chopped
Eggs 2 ea

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions and sauté over a high flame stirring constantly until soft. Add the salt, ketchup and parsley and continue to cook for three minutes. Remove the onions from the heat and set aside and cool. Once cool, add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix thoroughly by hand.

Form into golf ball sized meatballs. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serve with your favorite red sauce / or mushroom gravy; perhaps over egg noodles.

Aunt Sylvia's Haroset

From Daniel

Haroset is the traditional condiment served at a seder to signify the mortar used to build the pyramids. It is mainly served to offset the bitter herbs also served. It is generally made with chopped apples, dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon and sweet red wine.

1/2 lb minced roasted walnuts
4 apples, minced
2 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sweet red wine
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Serve.

Roasted Carrots

From Daniel

Yields 4 to 6 servings

8-10 large carrots
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup prunes, minced
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh mint, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Kosher salt, for seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 400 ºF. Mix the prunes with the olive oil so they don't stick. Trim ends of carrots and peel. Crosswise, cut the carrots into thirds. Take the top third, the thickest section of the carrot, and cut in half lengthwise. Place the carrots in a deep-sided pan and pour water ¾ inch up the side of the carrots. Season with salt and drizzle with honey.

2. Roast carrots on the top shelf of an oven, uncovered, until all of the water has evaporated and the carrots begin to color. In the mean time, prepare other ingredients.

3. When the carrots are finished roasting, combine then in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon. Serve.

Mushroom Gravy
Daniel Holzman, chef/partner, The Meatball Shop

I thicken it with butter and flour at The Meatball Shop but you can keep the butter out and use a little corn starch instead.

2 onions sliced
3 pounds onions sliced
4 sprigs fresh thyme picked
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 bunch of parsley chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup corn starch
salt to taste

Sauté the onions and thyme over a medium flame until soft. In a large pot with the olive oil, add the mushrooms and a heavy pinch of salt and continue to sauté until they release the water. Continue to cook until the mushroom liquid reduces by half. Add the white wine and reduce until almost dry. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, drop the heat and simmer 30 minutes. At this point the gravy needs to be thickened. Stir 1/4 cup corn starch into 1 cup cold water until completely dissolved. Bring the gravy to a rolling boil and begin to stir with a wire whisk. Slowly drizzle the corn starch into the gravy while whisking, carefully watching as it begins to thicken (it will only thicken if it is boiling. You can also use flour and water or butter and flour.

Season to taste and stir in the parsley!