Editor’s note: For 12 days leading up to Christmas, St. George News is featuring staff members’ favorite holiday recipes. Here’s the latest installment.
ST. GEORGE — It’s not meant to be just a Hanukkah meal, but in my Jewish house when I was growing up, matzo brei was a go-to staple for many mornings when my mother didn’t want to make a complicated breakfast or leave us to the Cocca Puffs and Lucky Charms.
My mom had always pronounced the “brei” in matzo as “bra” – as in the undergarment. Only recently, I learned that in the correct Yiddish, “brei” is pronounced like “dry.”
However it’s pronounced, matzo brei has the savory taste of French toast and scrambled eggs and is as simple to make as a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box – and just as satisfying no matter your heritage.
Matzo brei doesn’t date back to the Old Testament or the Maccabees, but to Eastern European Jews who brought their traditions to America in the early 20th century. The following recipe was passed down from Saundra Detiege Reed Kelly and still gets made in the Reed household on a lazy weekend morning.
Matso Brei
Ingredients (to serve two):
- 3 matzo sheets (add another sheet for each additional person)
- 6 eggs (add 2 eggs for each additional matzo sheet)
- Large bowl full of water (big enough to fit the matzo)
- Half a stick of butter
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 3 teaspoons pepper
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
Take the matzo sheet together as a stack, immerse and soak in the bowl with water for 1 minute to soften. Remove water using a strainer leaving the softened matzo in the bowl. Using your hands, crunch and mulch the matzo into small pieces without making it mushy. Add eggs, salt, pepper and onion powder then thoroughly mix together.
In a skillet on medium heat, melt the butter then pour in the matzo-egg mixture. Flip and stir continuously in the same way you would cook scrambled eggs until it is no longer runny.
Remove from heat and serve.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.