Monday, April 12, 2010

Leftover Matzoh = Mom's Vegan Matzoh Brei

With her uncanny ability to veganize just about anything (still waiting for a Whatchamacallit! and a yodel), this is my vegetarian Mom's veganized matzoh brei*.


Mom's Matzoh Brei (serves 4)
prep time: ten minutes, cook time: ten minutes

1 block firm tofu: rinsed, drained, cubed or crumbled (not pressed)
1 cup water (plus more for soaking matzohs)
3/4 cup maple syrup, divided
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cinnamon sugar (more for sprinkling)
8 matzohs
1 tbsp butter/margarine
grape jelly

  • Puree tofu with water, 1/2 cup maple syrup, cinnamon and cinnamon sugar.  Consistency should resemble thin pancake batter; pour into a bowl.
  • Break eight matzohs into shallow bowl of room temperature water to soak for a few minutes.  Drain in a colander, pressing to remove the bulk of the water. 
  • Add matzohs to mixture and combine.
  • Melt butter in large frying pan on low to medim heat and pour in mixture.  While the bottom is browning, generously sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.  Once bottom is brown, use spatula to turn in sections.  Neatness doesn't count; you will wind up with ten sections of varying size. 
  • After that side has cooked a bit, drizzle 1/4 cup maple syrup on top of brei.  It will seep between the sections and sizzle for a bit; that's good. 
  • Cook until as dry or soft as you like your eggs (runny isn't really an option for brei).  Serve sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and accompanied by jelly (I used blueberry, but grape is standard).
Repeat until your free five pound box of matzoh is no longer taking up space in the pantry.


*For those of you who don't know, matzoh brei is a dish served in Jewish households primarily after Passover when there is an abundance of matzoh in the house and the charoseth** is long gone. The "original" version is kind of like a matzoh-filled omelette, but since it's sweet it is usually compared to french toast. No matter what, it was surely invented by someone overloaded with matzoh and running out of ideas.


**Charoseth is a mixture served with matzoh on Passover that usually consists of apples, walnuts, wine, and cinnamon.  It is delicious and always causes people to wonder aloud why it's only enjoyed at the holiday since the ingredients can be found all year round.  Yet, inevitably another charoseth-free year passes and the same remark is repeated.

1 comment:

  1. As a matter of fact, I do happen to have a box of matzoh sitting in the pantry. Perhaps I should make some brie!

    ReplyDelete

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