Fried Matzo

Jews are limited in what can be eaten during Passover. Matzo is eaten every day instead of bread, it is ground up instead of breadcrumbs and even back to be as fine as flour, except at this point it will never develop gluten and is used more for bulking up a cake recipe. Well, there are several ways to cook a matzo. I remember that when I was growing up, we always had it during Passover, but is was not official and never advertised to our neighbours. Well, I stopped asking why can't I bring it to school after a "girlfriend" of mine was trying to convince me that it is made with the blood of Christian children.... I know it sound absurd, but that was not, and is still, not uncommon believe among the Russian folks. The matzos was smuggled in to us from Moscow, where my uncle lived, and it could be purchased in a synagogue. There were no temples in the city where I grew up and nor churches that I can remember. There was one church in the middle of the city that would look like a cross from the plane and it survived the bombing and WWII but for one wing of the cross, and was converted to an archive, one old Tatar Mosque boarded up could also be found. My uncle would pay a train conductor to bring the package on board with him or her and given to my grandparents, who would take it from conductor upon arrival. Unthinkable these days, I know, but common practice those quieter times. The same way my grandma would send the vegetables, fruits and berries in the summer months to her son and his family in Moscow from the southern part of Soviet Union - Crimean Peninsula.

We cook matzos and prepared it much french toast or thanksgiving stuffing. Many times the matzo is pre-soaked in hot water or broth and combined with egg before cooking.  It is in extra step that I sometimes skip. It does have to absorb some liquid in order to taste good.  It can be made with milk for breakfast like French toast or chicken stock for supper.

3 eggs beaten

2 warm cup of milk  or stock divided

6-8 sheets of matzo broken in small pieces

oil for frying

salt + pepper to taste.

Matzo Babka a.k.a. Matzo Brei

Combine the eggs in a bowl with chosen liquid and add the broken matzos and let it soak for about 10 min. The soaking can be skipped if half of the liquid is reserved. Heat up the oil in the frying pan and pour the matzo in it. As the pan is hot and frying the matzo, pour the rest of the liquid in the pan, that creates hot steam that gets the matzos to exact consistency of soft and crunchy as it fried at the same. If matzo is stirred while it is cooking , it will be separated in individual pieces. If it is left alone without stirring it becomes like a large pancake that is flipped over midway trough the cooking. that way it somewhat resembles a bread and can be cut in wedges and eaten like such.



Frittata with matzo

  I have also made a Frittata with matzo for breakfast for the kids.

1 small chopped onion

1 small chopped pepper

1 tomato cut in cubes

6 eggs

1/4 c milk

oil for frying

1/4 shredded cheese

1 tsp of spices like herbs de Provence or Italian seasonings

Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F. Start by sauteing onions and peppers in a frying pan that is safe to be put in the oven. Beat the eggs with milk and pour in the frying pan, then add the crumbles up broken pieces of matzo, pushing it and sinking towards the bottom of the pan. Give it a stir and add the tomatoes and cheese at the top. Place in the oven for about 20 min. I usually make this frittata with croutons but the matzo is a good substitute during Passover.



Fritatta with croutons