Matzoh Savory and Sweet

 Matzoh is one of those Passover essentials that can be used in a variety of different ways.It is a bread substitute as well as a flour one. It can be used for both savory and sweet recipes, all adding to the seder.

Matzoh is eaten during the entire Passover  and can be served soft like pita or crispy like crackers It has to be made from one of the five ancient grains, wheat, spelt barley rye or oat. Some sephardic communitiies allow it to be made with eggs ot fruit juice.it not only symbolizes redemtion and freedom but also humbleness , being called poor man's bread. It also commemorates when the Jews had to flee Egypt  and couldn't wait for their bread to rise. it can be used in all sorts of recipes. One of the most traditional is matzoh brei, an egg and matzo combination.This makes for a good breakfast or even a light lunch.It's  a mix of crumbled sheets of crumbled matzohs , caramelized onions and eggs. You can add chives if you want for more color or flavor. Of course there is matzoh ball soup, These are made with matzoh meal, eggs , chicken stock and schmaltz or chicken fat. If the last is too fatty for you then use kosher vegetable oil.  The're shaped into ping pong ball sized rounds and thne dropped into lightlly salted water to cook. They're then transferred to chicken broth for a satisfying light dinner.

Matzoh can do double duty as a base for sweet recipes. Keep in mind that matzoh brei can also be made sweet.It's still the same egg and crumbled matzoh base but orange water and a pinch of sugar are added.It's cooked in butter and served garnished with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Kosher apple sauce or jam can also be served with it.Matzoh is becoming popular in holiday candies. There is the famed matzoh crack which is homemade butter toffee evenly spread over four sheets Dark chocolate chips are scattered on top to melt over the hot toffee. Use a spatula to spread the chocolate over the sheets and top with chopped pecans and sea salt. Place the entire pan in the fridge to set and chill for forty-five minutes. Cut into squares and serve.Surprisingly enough matzoh can be turned into an ice box cake. Layers of matzoh are interspersed with vanilla or chocolate pudding mixed with Cool Whip. It's topped with a mocha ganache icing and then chilled.It can even be turned  into tiramisu . Soak the matzohs in a good strong brew and layer with a chocolate creme. Top with a chocolate ganache and sprinkle with espresso.

Matzoh can be in both savory and sweet dishes Try it as a savory lunch or a delicious dessert. It's versatile anyway you use it.

Your Personal Spice Mixes

 Spices are a home chef's best friends. They add zing and oomph , giving any dish from dinner to dessert flavor. Imagine creating your own blends to be used as much as you like . You can. even the most complex blends can easily be replicated. 

Melissa Clark write the article and how to on them in today's New York Times Food section. She hits on some of the most popular such as za'atar and Chinese Five spice. There are a multitude of different recipes that are vital to flavorful cooking and baking. Best of all even a novice home chef can create these at home without any problems. Why make them at home? Because you get better flavors when you mix them yourself.  Also spice blends can be pricey, especially if you go for the organic ones.Once you've mastered the blends you can experiment with variations. Those that hate licorice can nix fennel seeds while those who love a good heat can amp up the chilis and peppers.Once made, keep the blends away from light and heat because they'll lose their flavor. Don't store them by the stove. Think a cool pantry or even your basement.As far as buying the spices, get them from a reputable spice purveyor. Ms. Clark has found out that spices tend to be passed from the distributor to the middleman , then stashed in stores for years before they finally get to the consumer. Try a company like the online Spice House for your basic blends (although they also sell blends too).

The blends are amazing and easily made. For those who make a lot of Chinese dishes, especially duck and goose along with pork belly there is the famed Five Spice. This is a mix of cinnamon stick or cassia bark, fennel seeds, star anise pods and Szechuan peppercorns. Cloves are added for a numbing sweetness.  Of course, there is garam masala, the must have for those who love Indian cooking. This is a marriage of black and green cardamon pods with mace blades, cloves and cinnamon sticks,Indian bay leaves are also added.One of the best spice blends out there is za'atar. This is flavorful mix of sesame seeds, marjoram, thyme and oregano, all dried. Sea salt is added to bring out these flavors. Then there's the lesser known Baharat blend. Cumin, coriander and peppercorns are ground with cinnamon sticks,cardamon, and allspice. Whole cloves, nutmeg and cloves are also put into the blend. This is an Egyptian blend that's great in meatballs and pilafs.  For bakers there's  sweet baking spice. This is a mixing of broken cinnamon sticks, cardamon, nutmeg allspice berries and white peppercorns. The last is for a jolt of heat that adds definite zing to anything you make with it. Try it in a shortbread recipe or to zing up hot cocoa and cappucino.

Mixing your own spices is a rewarding and flavorful way to flavor up recipes. Try these or create your own once you;ve mastered the basic recipes. They're a way to excite any type of dish , whether sweet or savory.

Culinary Time Travel

 Wouldn't it be something if we can time travel back to the past? Imagine the famed people we'd see or get to connect with ancestors we've only heard of in family lore? In a way you can, and it doesn't have to do with Einstein's theory of Time Constant. You can easily do it with cooking and baking.

Before you start pick an era that really sings to you. If you adore it, then odds are you've already tried recipes form that period of history. if not , there are a lot of eras to explore from a culinary side Everyone is jumping on the Paleo diet but what did real cave people eat? Luckily there's no cooking here. Our first ancestors were big fruit eaters, getting their nutrients from dates, oranges, apples and grapes. There were no roasted meats and veggies. That came later, by a few centuries. If you want really good eating then look to the Romans. They knew how to feast. They also created a forerunner of polenta called puls made with  a kind of wheat. It was served with veggies and cheese or eggs. Sometimes it was served with meat and fish on special occasions. Keep in mind that tomatoes and  potatoes along with corn were not introduced  until the Columbian Exchange The same goes for spinach and eggplant which came with the Arabs. Yet there was plenty of olive oil and bread so you could make focaccia and serve it with caramelized onions and leeks. The Romans were big on sausages, especially pork ones. You could create a dish with modern day polenta , tomatoes and sausage to recreate this.

Most home chefs have been to their local Renaissance fairs. These fun fests are not exactly an homage to the 1400's and 1500's. They serve fajitas and corn dogs along with pierogies and cotton candy so far away from the real recipes of that time. The Elizabethans were big on seafood such as lobsters and crab along with salmon and trout. Think lobster with butter  with maybe a side of salad (brought from Spain by Henry VIII's first wife the Spanish queen Catherine of Aragon). Chicken was also popular and you can easily roast one and serve it with homemade bread. The Europeans weren't the only ones with centuries of interesting dishes.African cuisine was mostly vegan for millennia, with cattle being held in high esteem, They relied on grains and vegetables for food. Think about making rice with a variety of different veggies such as eggplant or green beans. Amaranth flour was also used and it can be used to create various breads like the Ethiopian teff. The Ancient Egyptians took it a step further and had beer with their meals. They also had chickpeas and different veggies that easily can be made into a salad or grind the chickpeas into hummus.

Yes, you can time travel. Just find any recipe from the past and adapt it to fit modern cooking or baking. It's like a time capsule for your palate.

Matzoh - The Backbone Of Passover Dining

Like any religious holiday one aspect of Passover centers around food. Each dish is symbolic of the exodus from Egypt. There are the bitter herbs and chariest alon g with the most well known symbol. Matzo or matza. It is not just the bread of the holiday but can be used for so many things. It truly is the backbone the holiday table.
Matzo came about when the Jews had to flee Egypt and hastily brought unleavened bread with them. To this day any yeast derived pastry or breadstuff is denied until Passover is over. It is made primarily from wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt and is quickly mixed and rolled out. it’s quickly docked with a fork to prevent any puffiness or rising(other wise it would look like a tortilla or pita bread. It is cooked at high heats to encourage brown spots and quickly taken out of the oven to cool. This last ensures that the bread will have a cracker like crispness and crunch. Some cooks make their own and it has a different texture than store bought commercially made ones. Homemade is denser and chewier while the other is light and crumbly.
Matzo can also be ground up and used in Passover recipes. it’s primarily used to make matzoh balls, These are huge dumplings that range from golf ball to softball size and can be eaten in soup or on their own. Cooks usually add chicken meat fat and th e crackling call grebenes to the meal along with eggs to give them texture. They are boiled in soup, water, or a vegetable broth. Ground matzo is also used instead of cake flour during this time. There are many different recipes that have it as the base. It results in a denser , chewier and richer taste and texture than cakes made with regular flour.

Matzoh is truly the backbone of the Seder. It is considered both the bread and an ingredient.. This simple bread links all the foods and traditions together during this holy time.