Passover

Tonight was my annual passover dinner with my friend Boston, and I made dinner and she made apple cake and thumbprint cookies for dessert.  (Plus we had salted caramel matzoh.)  For dinner we had:

Patatas Bravas - and now we have a ton of delicious aioli leftover

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel - this recipe has some serious delicitude going on. 

Matzo Brie, topped with cheese and zucchini
Ingredients
4 sheets matzoh
2 eggs (or one egg and two egg whites, if you also made the aioli.)
salt
pepper
dash of milk (about one tablespoon)
boiling water
cheese
small zucchini, sliced thin

Procedure
1. Heat a skillet on medium heat until pretty hot (I actually baked my cast iron one in the oven at 400 for thirty minutes and then put it on the stove on medium heat). 

2. Break matzoh up into small-ish pieces (no bigger than two inches square), put in a colander, and pour boiling water over matzoh. 

3. Press matzoh dry with paper towel, squeezing water through colander.  Put matzoh in a shallow pan.

4. Combine eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and pour over matzoh. Allow to soak for about 5-10 minutes. 

5. Grease pan.  Be generous.  Pour matzoh and egg mixture into pan into a big pile of eggy-matzoh-ness. 

6. Add zuchinni slices if there is room around the matzoh. 

7. Once matzoh/egg has cooked on one side, flip the whole thing and cook on the other side. 

8. Flip the zucchini. 

9.  Remove matzoh from heat, top with cheese, and then zucchini. 

You. Must. Make. This.

Tonight we had our annual passover dinner, my friend Boston and I.  I feel the need to explain to my newer readers that I'm not Jewish, but I grew up in a community where I have a lot of Jewish friends, and I have many family members who are Jewish via conversion and marriage.  So, every year, we get together for Passover.  Boston makes traditional Jewish Passover foods, and I embrace the challenge of cooking dinner without using anything leavened.  Or any kind of legume.

This year, my old roommate Sam came along as well, and we had a lovely unleavened meal together, although not a traditional seder, as I did not clear a chair for Elijah or hide any matzoh.  I learned the hard way today that downtown Baltimore is a hard place to find matzoh or kosher for Passover chocolate chips.  Fortunately, Sister Barefoot (one of the aforementioned family members married to a Jewish person) had recently stocked up on matzoh, and Boston said that the regular chocolate chips would be okay, so I just used semisweet store brand.

I used this recipe, but reduced the amount of butter and sugar by a little bit.  I would say that I used 4.5 sheets of  matzoh (unsalted), 1/2 cup plus two tablespoons butter, and 3/4 cup brown sugar.  I did not use the vanilla, since my vanilla was kosher but not for passover.  I'm going to repost the recipe here, which is the creation of David Liebovitz, for posterity.

Because if I lose this recipe, my life will become sad and empty.

4 to 6 sheets unsalted matzohs
1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup (215g) firmly-packed light brown sugar
big pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (160g) semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate)

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet (approximately 11 x 17″, 28 x 42cm) completely with foil, making sure the foil goes up and over the edges. Cover the foil with a sheet of parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

2. Line the bottom of the sheet with matzoh, breaking extra pieces as necessary to fill in any spaces.

3. In a 3-4 quart (3-4l) heavy duty saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is beginning to boil. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add the salt and vanilla, and pour over matzoh, spreading with a heatproof spatula.

4. Put the pan in the oven and reduce the heat to 350F (175C) degrees. Bake for 15 minutes. As it bakes, it will bubble up but make sure it’s not burning every once in a while. If it is in spots, remove from oven and reduce the heat to 325F (160C), then replace the pan.

5. Remove from oven and immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then spread with an offset spatula.  Allow to cool (preferably in the fridge) and then crack matzoh into pieces by essentially folding the parchment paper into sections to break off pieces.  

Salted caramel is really in lately - sea salt & caramel brownies, etc. are popular in cities that are not slow to food trends, so this is a great recipe to use to impress your friends. (Baltimore now has cupcakes, and we're starting to get fro-yo.  Sadly, not near me.)

What is neat about this recipe is that you actually make caramel. I've been terrified of making caramel for a long time now, but it turns out that, like fudge, or salad dressing, it's pretty easy to do.  The biggest tip I can give you is that if you turn the back burner on, but then move the pot to the front burner, don't wonder why the brown sugar and butter aren't properly melting.  It's because you took the pot off the heat.

So everybody is going to head to their nearest grocery store, grab a box of matzoh, and make this tonight, right?  Don't wait until next year!  I think I'm bringing this to Easter even.  I may actually grab a box of matzoh to keep until Christmas, because my mother in law makes this with saltines, but I think the matzoh gives the brittle a bit more heft.

Passover

Judaism, in general, is a food based religion. Okay, so there is some stuff about G-d in there too, but mostly, its about the food - I only know this because I'm not actually Jewish, and when you are friends with a number of reform/liberal/non-practicing Jews you realize that the only thing they really connect with in their faith is the food. The High Holy Days - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippour both involve eating massive amounts of food. Yom Kippour also involves the fast, as it is the day of atonement.
Passover is every Jew I know's least favorite holiday. For more information check out http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm. Passover, which exists mostly to remember the Exodus from Egypt, lasts for approximately a week (again, I'm not actually Jewish), and involves eating nothing with leavening. "This commemorates the fact that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry, and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the "puffiness" (arrogance, pride) from our souls." Different denominations of Judaism observe the rules of Passover differently - Reform tends to eat pretty liberally, just not eating breads and things with flour, etc.; some Jews also don't eat rice, corn, peanuts, and legumes (beans) - which includes corn syrup, which is in nearly everything in American pre-prepared foods.
If you're a vegetarian on passover, it can be very difficult, because Matzoh is not a great source of protein, and it is incredibly high in carbohydrates. Meats are still available to those who eat them, and fish for the pescetarians, and for the Vegetarians the options are pretty much down to mushrooms and animal proteins such as eggs and cheese.
I had this at a Seder last night, it's called Matzoh Brie and it is basically scrambled eggs with Matzoh in it. This is a smaller recipe, probably good for the individual on passover who is trying to eat.

Ingredients

• 1 Passover matzo (can be found in most supermarkets)
• 1 egg, beaten
• Butter/Cooking Oil Spray
  
• Salt, to taste
• Syrup, jam, etc. for topping
  

Equipment

• 2 large bowl
• Cold Water
• 1 frying pan/skillet

Procedure

1. Break the matzo into medium-sized pieces.
2. Put them in a small bowl, cover with cold water, and let them soak until soft.
3. Add the pieces of matzo to the beaten egg, stirring once or twice to coat. Season with salt.
4. Grease a small or medium skillet and pour in the egg mixture.
5. Scramble matzoh/egg mixture like scrambled egg (push around in skillet).
   
6. Turn off the heat when the mixture starts to brown.
   
7. Serve with jam, syrup, or a topping of your choice.

To the Seder I, with my Unitarian Universalist upbringing, brought mashed potatoes with garlic and cream cheese. To make these you will need:

Ingredients:

• 3-6 potatoes (I like to use Yukon Gold and leave the skin on)
• 3-12 cloves of garlic (I like garlic)
• 1 tbsp. butter
  
• Cream Cheese (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
  
• Pepper (to taste)

Equipment:

• Vegetable brush
• Cutting board/sharp, heavy knife
• Mixing bowl
  
• Large Pot
• Colander
  
• Stove
• Potato Masher or electric mixer
  

Procedure:

1. Scrub and peel potatoes (leaving the skins on is a matter of personal taste and also largely depends on the type of potatoes - Yukon Gold and Redskin potatoes are good with the skin still on, some other types aren't - its entirely up to you.)
2. Cut potatoes into small chunks - 1 inch cubes or a little bit larger - they will boil much faster.
3. Put potatoes into a pot of water and bring it to a boil.
4. Chop garlic
   
5. When potatoes are soft enough to be smushed against the side of the pot with a fork, empty them into the colander.
   
6. Melt the butter into the pot and cook the garlic for a few moments, then add the garlic and the potatoes to the mixing bowl.
7. Add the cream cheese to the top of the bowl and stir it in, then use potato masher or electric mixer on a low speed.
   

Enjoy!