www.burlingtonfreepress.com 9A Make the most of matzo Cooks find clever uses for Passover ingredient The Burlington Free Press Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Mil 41 By Susan Selasky Gannett uaran? or Miriam Baxter, the hardest part of Passover is findine things that arc different and "not having matzo in everytning. The most common ingredient used for Passover, matzo is an unleavened cracker-like bread symbolic of the bread that had no time to rise when the Jews fled Egypt. It's used in many parts of the meal, from appetizers to soups to desserts. It can be used in its sheet form, as matzo cake meal or as matzo farfel. Clever cooks find ways to put different spins on matzo preparation, using the sheets as layers for lasagna-type dishes, crumbling the sheets to use as a topping for apple crisp and using it in desserts.
And the search for creative side dishes is a common issue with Passover because starchy side dishes are limited you can't use rice, or pasta or beans. To add variety during the holiday, Baxter, 45, of West Bloomfield, includes sweet potato souffle and matzo muffins so that she offers something other than the dry matzo. What helps today, Baxter says, is that more products are available than there used to be. "I started cooking when there were already more products available and the last 10 years there's been an explosion in products," Baxter says. "They even have fake noodles and lots of syrup flavorings." Heidi Budaj, director of Jewish Life and Learning at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, says people do very traditional things at Passover, but they also enjoy the nontraditional.
"The reason Passover is so important to us is it's one way we pass on traditions from generation to generation," she says. "But it's the sights, sounds and smells of preparing for the holiday this is what creates memories." Spray a 9-inch-by-9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Place matzo sheets in 1 or 2 jel-lyroll or other shallow pans large enough to hold them in a single layer. Pour stock over matzo just to cover and allow to stand for several minutes until pliable but not mushy.
Meanwhile, pour one-fourth cup olive oil into another jellyroll pan. Add basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Place sliced zucchini, squash, eggplant and tomato slices into oil mixture. Turn each piece to coat. Place in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are slightly soft.
Remove from pan. In the prepared 9-inch pan, arrange a single layer of overlapping zucchini. Place 1 matzo on top of it. Sprinkle with one-fourth teaspoon consomme powder. Top with a single layer of overlapping squash slices.
Layer a second matzo board. Sprinkle one-fourth teaspoon consomme powder. Top with a layer of overlapping eggplant, followed by third matzo and another one-fourth teaspoon of consomme powder. Top with a final layer of overlapping tomato slices. Drizzle any oil and seasonings remaining on the baking sheet over the tomatoes.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped basil arranged in narrow rows. Serves 6. Source: "Passover by Design" by Susie Fishbein (Mesorah Publications, 2008, $34.99) Form the mixture into balls that are about the size of a golf ball, wetting your hands if necessary to keep them from sticking. Drop the matzo balls into the boiling water and cook, covered, at a slow, steady boil (not a hard boil) until tender, about 30 minutes (depending on the size of the balls).
Carefully remove the matzo balls with a slotted spoon and serve in soup. Makes 30 golf ball-size matzo balls. Source: "Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes From the Rabinowitz Family" by Judy Bart Kancigor (Workman Publishing, $1925). Matzo Primavera 3 unsalted plain matzo sheets 'l cup vegetable or chicken stock Va cup olive oil 6 fresh basil leaves, minced 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced Va teaspoon fine sea salt Va teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 zucchini, unpeeled, sliced into one-fourth-inch rounds 2 yellow squash, unpeeled, sliced into one-fourth-inch rounds 2 to 3 Asian or Japanese eggplants, unpeeled, sliced into Va-inch rounds 6 Roma tomatoes, sliced into one-fourth-inch rounds teaspoon pareve chicken or vegetable consomme powder Finely chopped fresh basil, for garnish Preheat oven to 400 degrees. certified kosher because it's a chemical rather than a natural (yeast-based) leavening agent.
If, like many observant Jews, you feel uncomfortable using baking powder during Passover, it may be omitted. Va cup melted chicken fat (schmaltz) or vegetable oil 4 green onions, including white parts and half the green parts, thinly sliced 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, finely chopped (1 to 1 and one-half cups) 1 envelope (about one-half cup) matzo ball mix 1 Vz cup matzo meal 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 1 teaspoon kosher salt Vs teaspoon white pepper 1 teaspoon kosher-for-Passo-ver baking powder 2 tablespoons club soda, chicken broth or water In a medium saucepan, heat the chicken fat over medium heat. Add the green onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the matzo ball mix with the matzo meal.
Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the mushroom mixture (with the oil), parsley, salt, white pepper and baking powder, if using. Add the club soda and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and lightly salt it.
Passover Chocolate Matzo Torte 5 eggs Vz pound bittersweet chocolate Vz pound unsalted margarine 1 cup sugar 12 whole plain matzo sheets Vz cup favorite ground nuts In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, beat the eggs well. Add the chocolate, margarine and sugar. Cook over low to medium heat until well mixed and smooth. Remove from stove. Line a sided baking sheet with wax paper.
Place 2 matzo sheets side by side. Spread the chocolate mixture on top of each matzo until it covers. A pastry brush works well. Place a second sheet of matzo on top of the first. Repeat with the remaining matzo and chocolate.
You may need more matzo. Brush the sides of the matzo with the chocolate. Place a thicker layer of chocolate on the last layer. Sprinkle the ground nuts on top of each torte. Chill overnight and serve, cutting with a serrated knife.
Makes 2 tortes (12 slices each). Source: Gail Mintz, West Bloom-field, Mich. Shiitake Mushroom Matzo Balls Kosher-for-Passover baking soda is now available; it can be VERMATZAH: First year company has made matzoh simplicity a metaphor for food production, prepara-getting back to the basics, tion and eating." Vermatzah is eco-kosher, matzo. For next year's Seder. Contact Sally Pollak at or 660-1859 reporter Adam Silverman contributed to this story.
The matzos come in a white box wrapped in parchment paper. The package includes a note about the product, which describes Vermatzah as "a symbol of Passover," Sperling said, "connecting those dots and going back to the way things were when they were handmade, fit right into what we're doing." The box comes with a packet of wheat berries. You can plant them, grow your own and make your own connecting modern ecology with ancient dietary laws and ethical standards about THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME by Mike Argirion and Jeff Knurek Daily Crossword Puzzle Yes, sir. Whatever you Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words. You don't deserve a raise WYA say, KANCK i 47 Collection agency concerns 48 "It won't be long" 49 Gas rating 50 Get riled 52 Dartboard setting 54 Pastoral poems 57 Sleeping Beauty awakener 60 Scriptural ship 61 Debtor's pledge 62 Disapproving word 36 "Gil Bias" novelist 37 Was released 38 Not many words 39 One who may converse in Erse 40 Failed to meet as planned 41 Befuddle 45 'The Story of 1975 Isabelle Adjani film 2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
All Rights Reserved, SHOCA Yl 1 i A ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: MEDOCY I I I KA I NEVER TALK TURKEY WITH YOUR BOSS WHEN YOU ARE OlB A A A PlO I E. N. jJ JL. A DOWN 1 Scow load 2 First planet discovered using a telescope 3 Weightlifter's pride 4 Casey who provided Shaggy's voice in TV's "Scooby-Doo" 5 Bugling grazer 6 See 44-Across 7 Common HMO requirements 8 URL starter 9 Push-up muscle 10 They're abuzz with activity 1 1 Gene Autry film 12Luthorand Brainiac, to Superman 14 Unsettling look 19 Treasury Dept. arm 21 Declining from old age 25 Jai 26 Sicilian pastry 28 Elevator man 31 Gas holder 34 Movie excerpt AV A JL SLIL NEW JUMBLE NINTENDOwww.iumble.comcts jarela1mcaprai WEGNIT I A a Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.
ATOMni HOjPrnL UNG I Gl lA Blu" I 0 I I LJ A Jbl1a BBERMOUTH sji Print your answer here: A A A A Continued from Page 8A you would bring to another person's home or as celebrating at your own table." The ingredients in Ver-matzah are simple: Organic wheat that is grown and milled into flour in Vermont, water, sea salt. The matzos are flattened and shaped by hand, and baked at high heat in a wood-fired stove for about five minutes. "You have to be there with an instinct," Sperling said. "It's a very artistic call, different each and every time." This is the first year Sperling and Freilich have made matzo at their bakery. They opened Naga Bakehouse six years ago, a business that usually makes a variety of breads sold mostly at farmers markets.
(The matzo costs $10 to $12 at farmers markets, Sperling said.) The Naga Bakehouse matzo has a stronger, earthier flavor than the square commercial product. The round Vermont matzos are much crunchier than the commercial variety, and take lots of chewing. "It's all experimentation," Sperling said. "We made some clunkers. We had to experiment with how hot our fire is.
We refined it in terms of how thick or thin. We're using as our template the inside of a Bundt cake pan." Sperling and Freilich make the matzo with help from their home-schooled children, Tikko, 10, and Ellis, 7. "All the different jobs, we all know how to do," Sperling said. "We really do kick in together as a team." On a good day, they can make about 20 boxes, she said. They expect to produce about 200 boxes of Vermatzah this Passover season.
"Everything we do is seasonal, it's the way we operate," Sperling said. "We've been calling this our maple-syrup product: it's our seasonal, intense burst of activity." Making handmade matzo in a wood-fired oven is in keeping with the way Sperling and Freilich run their business, she said. And matzo is part of her family's custom and celebration. Sperling's mother and mother-in-law have both requested the family save them a box, Sperling said. "As localvores, as foodies, as people who celebrate A UQE A WIHSLETUTENHU (Answers tomorrow) BASIN VESTRY EITHER mean when a husband brings home no reason" THERE'S A REASON A LKA IH AZYnTASE Yesterday's Jumbles: OCTET Answer: What it can flowers for VVE CLABBEJrG I A JT A DUO er aUmo ldy ACROSS, 1 Summon the' genie 4 Stacy who played Mike Hammer 9 Fischer man? '13 Greek goddess of discord 15 Parcel out 16 Pentathlon event 17 Almanac tidbit 18 "Show me" state? 20 Anxious feeling 22 Car loan letters 23 Lunched or brunched 24 Empire state? 27 Painful areas 29 City near Dusseldorf 30 Bringing up the rear 32 A unicycle has one 33 Optimist's credo 35 "Men in Black" extras 37 Volunteer state? 40 Broadway opening? 42 Cork sources 43 Oodles 44 With "bitter" in England 46 Francisco's farewell 51 Leading the pack 53 Beehive state? 55 Not working 56 Instrument sometimes made from koa wood 58 Campaign contest 59 Granite state? 63 Chairlift predecessor.at many resorts 64 Netizen, e.g.
65 East Asian capital 66 Trig ratio 67 "Sneaked" look 68 Turns (off) 69 Media mogul Turner 040809 xwordeditoraol.com EISoMJ3ME 1 i 2 3 I 14 5 6 7 i I 19 ho 111 12 13 14 Ti Ti 77 Is 19 2, 1 23 24" I 25" 26 27" 28" 29 30 3" 3Z 33 34 35 36 1 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44" 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52" 53 54 5l 56 5" 58 59 60 61 62 63 66 67 I 7 1 I 1 Tpl Complete the grid so every row, "12 3 4 column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 3 5 2.4 to 9 inclusively. 9 6 '75 rev'ous puzzle solution 7 2 1 9i 1 i i 7 1 6 2 4 5 9 0 4 2 5 8.3 9 7 J.6 Tol MO 7T1 6 4 2 3. J. 7 8 5.9 1 5 3 9 4,2 8 1 6i7 8 7J.5'9 6.4 2J3 3 5 7 6i8 4 2 9,1 1 1 i i i i i i 6 4 9 7 2 3 8 5 48 DIFFICULTY RATING: 2 98 15 3 6 7:4 040809 By Patrick Jordan (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc..
