I know that in most homes, Matza Brei is scrambled eggs with a sheet of matza, a sort of Passover French toast.
This is not what I grew up thinking Matza Brei was. My father loved to cook. He would often re think a dish, often something he had heard about and never tasted and create his own take on what that dish ought to taste like.
When I was in high school he came up with something he called Eggplant Parmesan. It was good, it was made with eggplant, but I don’t think anyone else would confuse it with Eggplant Parmesan. Sometimes these experiments were less than wonderful. My father called many of his sweet bread experiments babka. They were all sweet doorstops. You could have used a slice to incapacitate a mugger.
His Chicken Fricassee did not resemble any I have seen in a cook book, but was one of my favorite meals growing up. (It was a sweet and sour tomato based chicken stew made with wings gizzards and necks.)
But my father’s Matza Brei is one place where my father’s experimentation paid off. It is our usual Passover breakfast. The result is soft matza in a custard. It’s comforting. This is how you make it.
Break up a few sheets of matza. Put them in a bowl and add milk. let the mixture sit for a few minutes. Make yourself a cup of coffee or check your email.
Add three eggs to the matza and milk and mix well.
Put a pat of butter in the bottom of a heavy sauce pan. My father did not own a heavy sauce pan for Passover. His Passover dairy pots were so thin you could almost read a news paper through them. He used to cook his Matza Brei in the top of a double boiler.
Melt a pat of butter in your pot.
Add the matza, milk and egg to the pan after the butter has melted. ( I used 3 sheets of matza but you can use as many as 6 sheets for the 3 eggs) Lower the heat to somewhere between low and medium.
Add
to taste. I know I have the fancy 3 color grind your own pepper, but any pepper right out of the shaker will do.
Cook until custard has set.
Eat breakfast.
This is not what I grew up thinking Matza Brei was. My father loved to cook. He would often re think a dish, often something he had heard about and never tasted and create his own take on what that dish ought to taste like.
When I was in high school he came up with something he called Eggplant Parmesan. It was good, it was made with eggplant, but I don’t think anyone else would confuse it with Eggplant Parmesan. Sometimes these experiments were less than wonderful. My father called many of his sweet bread experiments babka. They were all sweet doorstops. You could have used a slice to incapacitate a mugger.
His Chicken Fricassee did not resemble any I have seen in a cook book, but was one of my favorite meals growing up. (It was a sweet and sour tomato based chicken stew made with wings gizzards and necks.)
But my father’s Matza Brei is one place where my father’s experimentation paid off. It is our usual Passover breakfast. The result is soft matza in a custard. It’s comforting. This is how you make it.
Break up a few sheets of matza. Put them in a bowl and add milk. let the mixture sit for a few minutes. Make yourself a cup of coffee or check your email.
Add three eggs to the matza and milk and mix well.
Put a pat of butter in the bottom of a heavy sauce pan. My father did not own a heavy sauce pan for Passover. His Passover dairy pots were so thin you could almost read a news paper through them. He used to cook his Matza Brei in the top of a double boiler.
Melt a pat of butter in your pot.
Add the matza, milk and egg to the pan after the butter has melted. ( I used 3 sheets of matza but you can use as many as 6 sheets for the 3 eggs) Lower the heat to somewhere between low and medium.
Add
to taste. I know I have the fancy 3 color grind your own pepper, but any pepper right out of the shaker will do.
Cook until custard has set.
Eat breakfast.
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