Pickled Eggs For Passover

When you your best friend tells you he's celebrating Passover at a Liza Minnelli concert on a date with a guy called Mohamed, you realize there is more than one way to honor a tradition. I love Passover for its rich culinary narratives. And I love the discipline of planning for a multi-coursed dinner for good friends and family. There are a lot of moving parts, but it always seems to come together flawlessly.Passover is a bit like the Thanksgiving of Judaism. In part that's because we are thankful for being freed from slavery. But it's also because we cook for days leading up to it. Everyone has their favorite dish, and there are dishes that are reviled, but you put them all out for the sake of tradition. You can hit the internet to learn more about Passover. I thought it would be interesting to share some of my secrets to planning a spectacular meal with as little stress as possible.

Because if making a Passover seder is a drag, you can go see Liza with Mohamed. Or you can remember that you're a guest at your table too - so you should enjoy it as much as anyone. If you can't stand chopping apples and nuts for the charoset, ask someone to make it. Everyone always offers to bring things to dinner parties. 364 days out of the year I can't stand that question. But for Passover - bring it on. I'm a horrible baker so I would otherwise head to a kosher baker for flour-less desserts. But my sister's an amazing baker so I let her do it, and she never disappoints.

Focus on the things you love to make. Give yourself time to make them, and cut corners if you can. I've written about my brisket. I have two preparations - one with a fewer steps. So that's my go-to for Passover, because it saves me time. Jeff and I have already started bickering about the sides - I love Parsnip Puree, and he loves Mashed Potatoes. Maybe we'll serve both.

I start shopping and prepping a week out. You can start your Matzoh Ball Soup by cooking and freezing your Matzoh Balls, and roasting chicken for dinner and then cooking down the chicken broth, that you can also freeze up to two months ahead. You can start assembling the ingredients for the seder plate by making Braised Lamb Shank for dinner a few days out and then baking off the bone. And you can start pickling these gorgeous Balsamic Pickled Eggs at least a week out. Both the lamb shank and the egg are symbols of sacrifice. But don't you sacrifice time (yes - I did that). Pickling adds one more step to hard-boiling and peeling the eggs, which you would do anyway. And they're way prettier and a bit more exciting than plain hard boiled eggs.

Balsamic Pickled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled

3 C balsamic vinegar

Mason Jar

Submerge eggs in vinegar. Screw on cap. Turn over every couple of days. It's that easy.