The Manischewitz Cook-Off 2013

On March 21st, 2013 Manischewitz hosted their 7th annual Man-o-Manischewitz Cook-Off at their new factory headquarters in Newark, NJ. After thousands of entries were sorted through five finalists were chosen to come and cook their recipes in front of a panel of judges headed by our very own Jamie Geller.

Check out the cool earings Jamie got to wear!  Don’t you want a pair?

While we were there we got to see how the matzah was made, it was really cool to go behind the scenes and see it in production.

 Then the cook off started, the contestants had 1 hour to prepare their food.  Meanwhile the rest of us got to eat their recipes recreated by a caterer.  It was so nice to meet all the contestants and learn more about them.

Balsamic Mushroom Matzah Panini with Mango Jam was made by Robin Saul from Atlanta, GA.  It was nice to have one Kosher for Passover recipe at the cook off that was less than a week before the Passover holiday. Gave us all some great ideas, I had never thought of a sandwich and without any cheese.

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Sweet and Spicy Seared Tuna was served on top of zucchini strips from Michele Kusma from Columbus, OH.  Michele was the fifth finalist chosen from voters online.

Chicken Potato Leek Pie  was made by Allison Hoschander, a mother of 3 and currently residing in Woodmere, NY.  I loved talking to Allison about her dish and how easy it is to mix up with anything you have on hand.

Garlic Chicken Rollatini was made with falafel balls from a Manischewitz mix by Yitzi Taber, a 17-year-old from Bergenfield, N.J..  He even came with his own cheering section.  Always so impressed by the young cooks out there.

The winning recipe: Faux Pho by Rosie Shapiro from San Francisco is a riff of the traditional Vietnamese spicy chicken noodle soup, done with Manischewitz egg noodles and chicken instead of the classic beef and rice noodle, it is Jewish fusion food and looks so easy to make too, let us know if you try it.

“I am beyond thrilled to have been chosen as the 2013 Manischewitz Cook-Off winner; words cannot even express how exciting this journey has been,” Shapiro said in a press release issued by Manischewitz.

For more recipes with Manischewitz products click here.