And home cooks think that planning the Thanksgiving meal is a challenge! Passover dinner can present an obstacle course, full of unusual requirements and unbreakable rules. Depending on the length of a Seder, everything needs to be almost ready anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before the meal is served. This year, because Passover begins at sunset on Saturday, just as Sabbath is ending, observant Jews will need to finish the bulk of the preparations before sunset on Friday. Even non-kosher cooks usually refrain from mixing meat and milk for Passover, and then there are the specific must-haves (chicken soup, gefilte fish) and must-nots (chametz, or breadstuffs) to include or eschew. Add to this the general challenge of serving a large number of closely related guests, and you can end up with what amounts to an 11th plague. Here is some general advice, organized by course: Soup IIn all likelihood, you’re serving chicken soup with matzo balls which, luckily, takes very well to delay. If the Seder is going to take more than 30 minutes, however, you’re better off holding the various components separately and then combining at service. Before you sit down to the meal, turn the soup down to the barest simmer and cover. You have cooked the matzo balls separately; now keep them warm by putting them in a colander and placing the colander in a covered pot that has an inch or so of simmering water on the bottom. Chop up the herbs (dill, parsley) ahead of time and keep refrigerated, covered by a damp towel. When it’s time to serve, turn the soup up briefly, then ladle it into bowls with matzo balls and top with herbs. Gefilte fish A blessing for the cook. If your refrigerator is large enough, you can plate the gefilte fish before the Seder. If your seder is short enough (say, less than an hour), you can plate the gefilte fish and leave it on the counter covered loosely with plastic wrap. Main dish Pot roast is ideal, because it can be held in a warm oven almost indefinitely. You’ll want to cook it the night before and refrigerate. The morning of the Seder, scrape off any fat that rises to the top, if you wish, and remove the roast from the liquid. If you’d like a thicker sauce, reduce the liquid by simmering in a saucepan. Meanwhile, slice the meat across the grain. Place in a baking dish and pour the reduced sauce over it. Cover tightly with foil and reheat in a 350-degree oven. When the meat is hot, turn the oven down to 250 degrees. Any braised dish (be it red meat or chicken) can be treated similarly: Make ahead, reheat at 350 degrees and hold at 250 degrees. A roast turkey can be taken out of the oven, tented tightly with foil and kept warm for about an hour, and roasted chickens for about 30 minutes. Vegetable Because the side dishes (kugel, potatoes) are likely to be baked, it’s nice to have a freshly sauteed vegetable. Whether you’re doing green beans, asparagus, broccoli or carrots, follow this: Hours before the meal, parboil the vegetables in plenty of salted water and, when they’re just tender, drain immediately and plunge into ice water. Keep changing the water until the vegetables are cool. Drain, pat them dry and refrigerate. Before you sit down to the Seder, saute some garlic in a large skillet until it just starts to color. Take the vegetables out of the fridge so they can come to room temperature. When you’re ready to serve, remove the garlic from the skillet, heat the oil and add the vegetables, tossing until they are hot and just starting to brown in spots. Side dishes Kugel, roast potatoes and the like all can be timed so they cook during the Seder. Otherwise, keep them in a warm oven tightly covered with foil so that moisture doesn’t evaporate. Dessert Passover cakes and cookies require no additional preparation and are the perfect ending to the meal. While there is no local fruit in season yet, you can perk up West Coast or imported strawberries by hulling them, cutting into halves or quarters (depending on the size) and tossing them with a spoonful of sugar and a few drops of balsamic vinegar a few hours before you plan to serve. Refrigerate until it’s time for dessert.

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