Passover Goes South...

Day 6, and I don’t think I’ll make it out of here, alive....oh wait, I’m not on some deserted island, or locked in a terrible French jail w/ Hugh Jackman?  

No. It is just the annual, 8 days of repeat meals, constipation, and, “oh you don’t have potato vodka? I’ll just have a soda water, thanks.”  Yep, still Passover, and if I eat one more bite of tuna or Manichewitz macaroon, I’m gonna punch Baby Moses in the face.  Take that Uncle Moshe!  

It is about this time every year when my supplies start to run low, and the matzo starts to interfere with my brain functions.  From my apartment in Adams Morgan, my mind begins to wander back home.  To the South.  Where our K4P foods used to come shipped CSA style (Jews are always so ahead of their time) from the big cities of Atlanta and New Orleans, where there were Kosher butchers.  Could the place of my birth inspire me to get through these final days?  Well, for one day, at least, the answer is a resounding HELL YEAH!

A few weeks ago I took off for the Republic of Texas for a twofer trip.  I started my journey in Austin to see my bestie, Rachel, who I’ve known since I was 2 yo. and who had moved there a little over a year ago.  

The second half of my trip was spent, mainly in the Westin Galleria in Dallas for the Jewish Federation of North America’s National Young Leadership Conference.  But it was those first days in Austin that inspired my Passover Sunday Brunch.

I’m a planner.  I’m not going to hide it.  I get it from my mother, who would schedule every minute of our vacations, and be on a first name basis with both hotel and restaurant staff wherever she goes.  That trait ensures that wherever I travel in life, I will have an itinerary prepared, and it is dictated by where and when I am eating.  Since this was my first time to Austin, I was sure to consult anyone and everyone I know who lives or lived there.  That led me to reaching out to my friend Becca; an Austin-native, and like me, loves nothing more than giving visitors to our hometown’s a detailed list of things to eat, see and do.  I’ve heard of this mysterious breakfast dish called migas, for a while.  Some tex-mex thing everyone in Austin eats, but I wasn’t sure, 1. what it was? and 2. where do you go to get it?  Becca sent me and Rachel to Juan in a Million; a local jewel and the kind of place that started as a tiny establishment, and then awkwardly built onto the original building every few successful years.  

Migas ordered, and a few minutes, and crap ton of chips and salsa later, a plate of fluffy eggs with bits of red and green peppers arrives at our table.  Rachel and I go silent as we dive into our first plate of migas.  Simple Googling post-meal gives me Migas 101. Eggs, peppers, onions, jalapeño, tomatoes, cheese, tortillas. So simple, so delicious.  

Fast forward two weeks, and my mind is on Pesach-mode.  Passover breakfast is almost always eggs in some form or fashion.  One particular favorite dish, is our wannabe-French toast dish called, Matzo brie.  Basically you coat matzo in egg and fry it up and top with honey, cinnamon and sugar, jelly, or go the savory route with onion, or ketchup, maybe salmon.  Got me thinking...how would it turn out if I tossed out the not-Kosher-but-oh-so-delicious-corn-tortilla and threw in some matzo?  Welp, y’all.  The answer is, DELICIOUS!!!  

Ben's Matzo Migas! 

(serves 6-8)

*Adapted from the Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

1. 4 whole matzo
2. 1 whole Jalapeno, Seeds And Membranes Removed, Finely Diced
3. 4 whole Plum Tomatoes, Roughly Chopped
4. 1 whole Green Pepper, Roughly Chopped
5. 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Roughly Chopped
6. 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
7. 12 whole Large Eggs
8. 1 cup of cheese. (I found colby jack at Brookville market that was K4P)
9. 1/3 cup Cilantro, Chopped
10. 1 Tablespoon Butter
11. 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
12. 1/4 cup milk or half and half

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Salt and pepper eggs, then set aside.

Soak matzo with enough water to make it maliable (like you would for a matzo lasagna) and cut into small pieces, and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the olive oil with the butter. Add onions and bell peppers and cook until starting to turn brown/black, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add in diced jalapenos and stir to combine. Add tomatoes to the skillet and stir around, then add matzo pieces, stirring gently to combine.

Reduce heat to low.

When the heat has decreased, pour egg mixture into skillet. Stir gently to cook with the peppers, folding mixture very gently as it cooks. Add in grated cheese and chopped cilantro, and stir to combine. Serve immediately. Give a few shakes of your favorite Kosher hot sauce to a little added kick.

Ok, so breakfast is covered, but I still am not satisfied.  And why? Because I'm Southern, and the fact that I haven’t had fried food in a week is really starting to mess with my stomach.  Oh, another Mandarin orange?!?  Where am I from??? California???

Time to break out the chicken breasts i forgot were in the back of my fridge and get to work, y’all.  If you’ve never made fried chicken before, you basically set up an assembly line with a wet station, a dry station, and then whatever you are using to cook up the chicken.  Since I don’t have a deep fryer, I decided it was best to save my apartment from being coated in grease, and go the oven-fry route.

1lb of boneless skinless chicken breast
2 and 1/2 matzo ground up (or about a cup and a half of matzo meal)
salt
pepper
additional seasonings
olive oil

Put a piece of heavy duty foil lightly greased with olive oil on a cookie sheet or baking dish

Take your chicken breasts, pull off the tender and set aside.  Wrap your chicken in plastic wrap and use a kitchen hammer or can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and beat it up till you’ve got a cutlet about 1/4 inch thick.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and get your stations ready.

Station 1 (wet): Olive oil (enough to coat desired amount of chicken)

Station 2 (dry): Matzo meal, salt, pepper and seasonings mixed

As far as what seasonings to use, you can’t go wrong with just salt in pepper, but maybe shake a bit of garlic powder, some dry parsley, paprika, lemon zest, zaatar, Let you freak flag fly.  Dredge your chicken in the oil till lightly coated and press into the dry ingredients, flip and repeat till the chicken is coated and loose breading falls off, and place on the greased baking sheet. Give each piece a little shot of salt and pepper and a light drizzle of olive oil and place in the middle rack for about 15 minutes. Turn the baking sheet around to help ensure the heat gets distributed evenly, and switch to broil for 10 minutes, keeping a close eye on the chicken.  If it starts to burn, switch back to 400. 

They turned out crispy and delicious!!!  Just what I needed to get me to the end of Pesach 5773! Bread, we'll be reunited in no time.

The Passover Dessert Scene

I'll just start by admitting what you all probably already know, I loved Hebrew School.  

My brother liked Hebrew School too...for the most part...I think. We each had our separate reasons for adoration though. While my brother's fondness was couched in a combination of the spoils of the bribery my mother washed over us every Sunday morning to lure us out of bed and out the door (RIP Marvelous Market french toast, because I'm pretty sure they don't make it anymore), and the actual learning about our religion part, mine was based primarily on the social scene (I know, SHOCKING). 

I was smitten with the Temple Sinai social scene. In addition to being surrounded by friends I'd known for-eva, there were BOYS, occasionally the opportunity to drink wine, and what seemed like a constant parade of festivals and parties. 

But I too, occasionally, listened and absorbed a lesson or two.  Like the one about inviting strangers to your Passover table. Over the years I've only gotten better at that one and it's spread to just about every holiday, Jewish or not. Thanksgiving? Awesome, count me in mom, I'll need a plus 5. Christmas Eve Chinese? I met a few people volunteering at the J today... I can't help it, I just love bringing new people into every celebration. So to atone (wrong holiday) for my over-extension of invites to my mother's table this year I plan to whip up some extra goodies (plus-ones?) in addition to the haroset I was tasked with this year (oh did I mention I bought myself a 14-cup Cusinart food processor?!). 

In addition to my parent's seder, I'm heading to a friends on Tuesday so I'll have plenty of opportunities to try out a few of the Passover recipes I've been eyeing. 

A round up of some gems from my Pinterest Board (who am I kidding, this will mostly just be a paean to Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen)...

• I'll start with a perennial family favorite, Ann Amernick's Passover Chocolate Cake (this gem lives in Joan Nathan's cookbook The Jewish Holiday Baker which incidentally was a bat mitzvah gift from Mother Would Know) 
• Coconut-Almond Macaroons from the fabulous Laura Kumin of Mother Would Know
• Chocolate Caramel Crack(ers) from Smitten Kitchen
• Chocolate Hazelnut Macaroon Torte also from Smitten Kitchen 
• Haroset Balls from Susan Barocas h/t my awesome friend Ben
• Chocolate Passover cookies from Martha Stewart
• François Payard’s Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies h/t Smitten Kitchen

Happy Passover baking y'all! Would love to hear what you're baking this weekend in the comment section below. 

And remember, friends don't let friends buy Passover cake mixes. 

PS: Don't forget a Pesach-friendly Bloody Mary to wash it all down!