Teddy's Matzah Brei

My son, Aviad, said I would never post my Matzah Brei recipe, simply because I keep this a secret from everyone. Well... just to show the big mouth kid... here is Teddy's Matzah Brei Recipe.

What is Matzah Brei? Oh boy! As you know on Passover we eat only Matzah. No bread or bread products allowed. Now some people will not eat what is called Yiddish "Gebruchts" on Passover as well. Basically this means they will eat nothing that has matzah which is then cooked in water or anything else. This means no Matzah balls and no Matzah Brei. I feel sorry for those who won't eat Gebruchts. But hey, if it floats their boat who am I to argue with it?

Matzah Brei night in the Gross Household is officially the night after the Seder. First we clean up and everyone hangs around for me to make the Matzah Brei. Kind of like finishing off the first day of the holiday on a good note.

Many people call Matzah Brei - "Fried Matzah". THAT IS SOOOOOOOO WRONG! Matzah Brei well is Matzah Brei - it is NOT fried Matzah or the junk that they serve at Kosher For Passover Hotels or Restaurants. Don't even come close!

Here is a recipe that has two sources. Pop used to make it when I was really young. Then Thelma learned the recipe and in her magic in the Kitchen made it even more yummy. You cannot mess with the ingredients here and you have to work fast. And if you have kids like I do, don't even hope to sit down with them while they gobble it up. You will be making batch after batch of the stuff. So hang on to your hats.

Utensils:
  1. Two flat aluminum pans or pans that can hold at least one half of a Matzah (preferably a whole one).
  2. A Matzah Brei skillet. I kid you not. This should be a large Teflon coated frying pan.
  3. 1 Spatula
Ingredients: (Assuming 5-6 people)
  1. 8 Medium sized eggs
  2. 4-6 cups of Milk
  3. 4 Tablespoons of Salt
  4. 2 Tablespoons of Garlic Powder
  5. Lots & Lots of Salted Butter (Salted - if you can't get salted then use regular BUT not oil and nor margarine. This is a BUTTER recipe!)
(Yep that is it!)

Directions:
Hang on to your hats!
  1. Fill one pan 1/2-3/4 with water.
  2. In the other pan, put in the eggs and the milk. Mix well. The mixture should be a bit yellow from the eggs. If it is too yellow then add another cup of milk. If not yellow enough add an egg. (get the drift?)
  3. Add the salt and garlic and mix well.
  4. Take out 4-5 whole Matzah and put them in the pan filled with water for no longer than 1 minute. They should NOT be soggy.
  5. Immediately take them out and put them in the egg-milk pan and let them soak.
  6. Run to the oven top, turn on the flame and put the skillet on top. Put in a dab of butter and wait till it melts from the heat. You put in too little! Sheesh. More butter!
  7. Now one at a time take the Matzah out of the pan and place it lovingly in the melted butter on top of the stove. If the pan is really hot, wait 1.5-2 minutes and then turn the Matzah over. Don't worry if it breaks into pieces. Now if you have those who like it well done, and others who like it "rare" or "medium rare" just time your Matzah on the flame.
  8. Dump into a serving dish, scream out - "First Batch is ready" and watch them run to get it.
  9. Repeat this process until your hands fall off or you run out of egg batter.
All other Matzah Brei bites the dust compared to Teddy's Matzah Brei. Trust me on this one!

Sound's simple, right? Well what you really need here is LOVE. And patience for all those friends who drop by during Passover and sheepishly say, "Oh, I thought you were making Matzah Brei today!" And out comes the pan, the eggs, the butter and all that. Love - that is what makes the difference between Matzah Brei and MATZAH BREI!

Comments

This sounds delicious.. but um, what happened to the pictures?? Did they get eaten so fast that you were unable to photograph them?
Deborah Dowd said…
Okay, now I show my ignorance of Kosher foods- in what shape are the Matzah Brei formed? Are they shaped like latkes?(what kind of question do you expect from a Catholic?) These sound wonderful, and I'd love to try them! A very blessed and meaningful Passover to you and your's (maybe there will be a few crumbs left!)
Ted Gross said…
The Matzah Brei looks just like Matzah..except sometimes it breaks up due to the fact that it is wet. It may break up into little pieces (happens to the last batch usually). But usually you will have halves or quarters of Matzah. They don't look like latkes or anything like that. (Though I have seen Matzah Brei that does and it is YUCK!)

By the way...

Catholics are very familiar with Matzah. This is actually the last meal of Jesus which was a Seder (according to the Gospels). Indeed the Eucharist (and the idea of transubstantiation) comes from the Seder. The Wafer is to symbolize the Matzah; The wine is part of the four cups of wine we drink at the Seder.

Teddy
Deborah Dowd said…
Teddy- we have tried the last two years to have foods on Maundy Thursday that might have been eaten at the Last Supper. I am definitely going to do your Matzah Brei next year - thanks for the history lesson, and the recipe!
Wendy said…
just stumbled onto your blog - very interesting. Bravo.

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