Lots of cooks have signature dishes, and this week I’m going to share mine.
Okay, so maybe I didn’t create this recipe myself, but I’ve made it a lot of different ways since I first discovered it. Also, I made up a name for it, something I am still very proud of. I called it matzohtoff because it combined the matzoh and the toffee that are both present in the recipe, and because it sounds like ‘mazel tov,’ which means ‘congratulations’ in Yiddish.
Speaking (of) Yiddish, if you’re looking for new and different ways to complain and insult people, visit this Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Yiddish_origin. This list includes such cultural favorites as schlemiel and schlimazel. Of “Laverne and Shirley” fame, these words are used to describe a clumsy person and a repeatedly unlucky person, respectively.
This dish is a little bit sweet, a little bit salty, a little bit Jewish. But don’t worry, you don’t have to be Jewish to make it.
In fact, for all of my gentile readers (not ‘gentle’ like Asimov or Abby, but ‘gentile’ as in ‘non-Jew’), Passover is upon us and I see fit to have a column that includes matzoh.
Passover is also referred to as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because of the importance that matzoh takes on during this time. Matzoh is an unleavened bread made from only flour and water. Traditionally it is eaten to commemorate the time when the Israelite slaves fled from Egypt during the Exodus in order to seek refuge in Israel. Since they left in great haste, they didn’t have enough time for their bread to rise. Thus, they took the Matzoh with them on their journey.
This dish is always a big hit at my family’s annual Hanukkah cocktail party (as you can probably tell by now, we’re on the liberal side of Reform Judaism) and it’s very easy to make. Feel free to experiment with the chocolate chips you sprinkle on top: I’ve used white chocolate and bittersweet marbled together, milk and dark.
Matzohtoff!
INGREDIENTS:
4-6 salted or unsalted matzohs
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (margarine can be substituted for those keeping kosher)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a large baking sheet with foil, and put a layer of baking parchment on top of the foil.
2. Places matzohs in a single layer in the baking sheet, using broken pieces to fill in all the space.
3. In a medium sized saucepan, combine the butter and sugar and heat on medium while stirring until it begins to boil. Continuing to stir, boil the mixture for three minutes. Pour the mixture over the matzoh, spreading it to cover the matzoh completely.
4. Place the pan in the oven, and reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Bake it for 15 minutes, watching to make sure it doesn’t begin to burn.
5. Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the matzoh/caramel. Wait five minutes (for the chips to soften), then spread the chocolate over the matzoh with a spatula.
6. Stick the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or until the chocolate sets. Before serving, break the matzoh into bite sized or larger pieces, depending on personal preference.