Matzoh Beyond Passover

In our family, we have the advantage of not being religious so we don’t survive on matzoh alone for the entire week of Passover. This may be why we can love and appreciate this flat crunchy not at all bread-like substance so much. Either that or butter makes everything better.

For my daughter, myself and my dad, matzoh is a treat. We all love it warmed up with butter gently melted on. We like it cold with butter or honey. I like to use it as a water cracker for cheese, or cucumber and smoked fish.

My friend and fellow blogger Debbie, recently brought over some new unique matzohs that were sent to her by The Matzo Project. The Matzo Project is based in Brooklyn and has decided to give matzoh a bit of a makeover.

I am a bit of a purist when it comes to matzoh so I was bracing myself for something that looked cute but maybe was better in theory than in practice. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. The chips were thin enough to have a nice crunch and avoid being stodgy. The Everything Matzo Chip was full of flavour and I can imagine eating with so many dips from hummus and bean dips to tzatziki and ricotta with a little lemon zest.

Debbie and I sampled the matzoh chips and came up with a few tasty ways to enjoy them.

This blueberry baked “French Toast” can be made in advance and served family style or cut up and served in individual baking dishes. The recipe for the French Toast can be found here. Otherwise just make your favourite French toast recipe and then mix some crumbled up sugar and cinnamon matzo chips with a little melted butter and sprinkle it on top. You can either throw the cinnamon chips into the pan that is melting the butter and toast them up in there or stick the topped French toast under a broiler for a minute (keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn) and enjoy when golden brown.

Another of my favourite party dishes are stuffed mushrooms. They are simple to make and can be served at room temperature.

1970s Throwback Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

white mushrooms
fresh herbs, we used thyme
Parmesan
Matzoh Chips Crushed, we used Everything
Matzoh Chips from The Matzoh Project.
salt and pepper
1 – 2 shallots
olive oil

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
Wash white mushrooms and trim just the end of the stems. You can make as many as you like. Then carefully pop the stems out and mince them.
Pour a little olive oil into a pan just to thinly coat the an (2-4 tsp. of olive oil) and heat it until very hot. Add the minced mushroom stems and cook until they begin to brown over medium high heat.
While the mushroom stems cook, thinly mince the shallot. Toss the shallot in with the mushrooms add just a pinch of salt and pepper.
Once the shallots are cooked and soft, put the mixture into a bowl and let it cool.
Crush up some Matzo Chips until you have about 1/4 cup or about a quarter of the amount of mushroom and shallot mixture you have. Grate the same amount of Parmesan cheese. Stir the cheese and crushed Matzo Chips into the mushroom mixture. Exact proportions don’t matter too much here. You may make them too dry if you add too many crumbs though.
Drizzle a little olive oil onto a baking tray or casserole dish. Place the mushrooms in with the stem side facing up.
Chop up some fresh herbs to add into the mushroom and shallot mixture. Taste for seasoning. Scoop a generous spoonful into each mushroom cap.
Cook the mushrooms for 15-25 minutes in the oven or toaster oven. They will be golden brown when ready to serve.

Round out the party with some fresh fruit and a little salad, a lavender lemonade or G&T, and this French Onion dip and you have a quick and easy party. The dip is easy to make and delicious served with veggies and shards of matzoh. The onion dip is a classic: It is sour cream mixed with French Onion soup mix. We updated it by adding in some caramelized spring onions and added a layer of Gruyère on top which was then stuck under the broiler to brown.

So there you have it. Some fun ways to use matzoh year-round.