The Passover Food Post

And here it is! This was the first year I attempted to make any sort of Passover food; I usually commit myself to a steady diet of matzah-and-cream-cheese or matzah-and-peanut-butter, and often fall off the wagon around day five. This year, I decided I was (mostly) going to go the distance, and, as per one of my goals for the year, cook something I've never cooked before. Done!

On Monday, one of my coworkers brought blondies into the office. Normally, I love blondies. During Passover, not so much. Then, on Tuesday, my boss mentioned the word "cupcakes" one too many times. I decided then and there to make chocolate-toffee matzah candy.

This morning, I made matzah brei. Jake has been asking me to make breakfast for a while--he does breakfast so well, and it's about time I pitch in--but for some reason, I get really nervous when I even think about cooking an egg. Don't ask why; I don't know. So, I figured: now or never. And it worked out pretty well!

Recipes after the jump.

Chocolate Toffee Matzah Candy

(Recipe from The Kitchn)

The website calls this "Matzo Crack," and I thoroughly agree! Salty, sweet, and crunchy...It was perfect comfort food. It should be noted that you can make this any other time of year on Saltines, but since I'll have an extra box of matzah hanging around after the holiday is over, I'm looking forward to making another "traditional" batch.

Makes about 30 pieces of candy; can yield more or fewer, depending on how big you like your pieces.

4 to 5 pieces of matzah
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate OR semi-sweet chocolate chips
Toppings, as desired (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and/or parchment paper.
2. Place the matzah in one layer on the baking sheet, breaking it when necessary to fill the pan completely. Set aside.
3. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly. (The "stirring constantly" direction was odd for me, since I've always been told not to touch sugar as it's cooking, or else you'll form crystals. The crystal-forming really worked out in this circumstance!)
4. Once the mixture reaches a boil, continue to cook for an additional three minutes, still stirring, until thickened and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and pour over the matzah, spreading an even layer with a heat-proof spatula.
5. Put the pan in the oven, then immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't burn. If it looks like it is starting to burn, turn heat down to 325.
6. After 15 minutes, the toffee should have bubbled up and turned a rich golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate over the pan. Let sit for five minutes, then spread the now-melted chocolate evenly with a spatula.
7. You can leave it just as is, enjoying the simplicity. Or add your favorite toppings while the chocolate is still melted.(I added sea salt to some pieces, walnuts to others, and left still more untouched. The Kitchn also suggests adding crystallized ginger or peanut butter chips. Both sound good to me!)
8. Let cool completely, then break into smaller pieces and store in an airtight container. The container I brought to work lasted about an hour, eaten by my coworkers. Jake and I managed to squeeze four days out of our batch. I hear tell the candy lasts a week. I may not ever find out if that's accurate.

Matzah Brei

(Recipe culled from many different sources.)

I made this one in true Jewish-cook fashion, going by intuition and without a recipe in front of me. OK, so I looked up a bunch of online recipes, but they all seemed to go in a similar direction. Here's what I did:

Serves two-to-four.

4 pieces of matzah
4 large eggs (I figure essentially a 1-1 ratio of matzah-to-eggs is key)
A couple of tablespoons unsalted butter (I used three)
Heaping pinch Kosher salt
Couple of grinds of black pepper

1. Break the matzah into bite-sized pieces--not too small.
2. Soak the pieces in hot water until they've just softened. (Recipes I looked at listed anywhere from 15 seconds to a couple of minutes. Take my word for it: a minute and a half is too long.) Squeeze the water out.
3. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, salt, and pepper. Beat with a fork until smooth, as if you're making scrambled eggs. Which you kind of are. Put the matzah pieces in the egg mixture and gently stir to coat.
4. Heat a 12-inch pan over medium-high heat. Melt the butter. When the butter has stopped foaming, pour in the egg-matzah mixture.
5. Flip the egg-matzah mixture when the bottom starts to brown. Take out of the pan when the eggs are done.

I hear tell you can grate an onion into the egg mixture if you want savory matzah brei. Others have suggested putting cinnamon and brown sugar into the egg mixture, in lieu of salt and pepper. You can serve with maple syrup, if you like. I prefer jelly or jam. Raspberry preserves were delish this morning.