Savory Brei

With Passover comes dietary restrictions.  I have two lists on the pantry door in the kitchen: the chametz list and the kitniyot list.  Chametz, which means "leaven," includes the five types of grain: wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt.  Those grains are absolutely, no question about it, forbidden during Passover.  In this gluten-free age, it's not so hard to avoid those five grains.

The kitniyot list is more tricky. Ashkenazic Jews observe this, while Sephardic Jews do not.  Kitniyot, which translates into "small things," are basically foods that could be mistaken for chametz.  This list is quite long and more challenging: legumes, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, rice, corn (this includes ketchup because most ketchups are made with corn syrup!), mustard, peanuts, green beans, and so on.  The list goes on and on.

Yesterday I slathered a hearty helping of Tofutti cream cheese on my matzo cracker.  Then it dawned on me that tofu is made of soybeans.  Legumes!  Oops.  See how tricky this can get?

For breakfast we made savory matzo brei.  Brei is pretty easy to make--the basic recipe calls only for eggs, soaked matzo crackers and butter served with a side of applesauce or maple syrup.

When it comes to cooking, I like to stray from the basic recipe.  Herbs, cheese and onions can make things savory and interesting fast.

3 matzo crackers
2 eggs
salt/pepper
ghee (you could use butter or oil--I just happened to have some ghee on hand)
fresh thyme
1 cup grated cheese (I used mozzarella)
half an onion, diced

Put matzo pieces into a bowl and pour boiling water over the crackers.  Squeeze dry.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and season to taste with salt and pepper.  

 Heat ghee in skillet; saute onions.

Add softened matzo to the pan and cook for a minute more.  Add eggs, cheese, thyme and cook until done to your liking. Yeah, the skillet I used was a mite too small.  Learn from my mistakes!

Serves two adults and one teething toddler.