The Perfect Infant and Toddler Breakfast: Matzo Brei
Tasty, even instructive, food opportunities for your child are everywhere, most especially where you may not be looking or expecting; if you are open to them, willing to embrace and experiment with the unknown, all kinds of serendipity and joy can follow. All it sometimes takes is some (not-really) stale bread.
Matzo brei follows in a long and pan-global tradition of carbs getting repurposed into a different and altogether delicious meal: migas, bread pudding, panzanella salad–the list goes on and on. This one just happens to center on matzoh bread, a cracker-like flatbread essential to the Jewish religion and culture, but the blueprint is the same regardless of bread form: fat and heat combine with the bread to provide new tastes and textures. Here, the scrambling of eggs turn the crisp matzoh into a riot of different chews: soft, nubby, smooth. Basically, it’s the perfect baby food.
(Note: see the “Adapt” component how to make this dish with pita or other flatbreads. If you do buy matzoh, though, and are wondering what to do with the extra pieces, here you go: tomato sauce, cheese, basil; microwave until cheese melts. Pizza night.)
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep
-
Run water all over the matzoh pieces; set aside and allow to dry for 5-10 minutes. If the exterior remains hard or brittle after that time, do an additional quick run under water.
-
While the bread is drying, beat eggs and a small splash of milk (or equivalent) together until mixed.
Cook
-
Preheat a large pan at medium; once warm, put in a large pat of butter or a spoonful of bacon grease (my favorite), swirling it to ensure the entire pan is covered. Heat until the butter or oil are bubbling.
-
Crumble the bread into bite-size pieces and toss into the pan, tossing them until coated in cooking oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-
Cluster the bread bits in one corner of the pan and pour the egg mixture all over the matzo heap; toss the mess so that the egg mixture is coating the bread and not cooking separately at the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring to ensure even distribution across the pan.
-
Cook for roughly three minutes, until the eggs are no longer runny and they and the bread have melded–the product should be a dull yellow, clumpy but soft. Remove from heat and break up any large pieces that would be difficult for your child to consume.
Serve
-
Since the dish is already cut up, you can serve as is in your child’s plate or bowl; silverware is optional. Because it’s soft and simple, it’s a good vehicle for introducing seasoning, of which my default are chives and Everything Bagel seasoning. (There are people who swear by a sweet version of brei; I’ve never tried it myself. To do so, swirl maple or honey into the finished product so that it creates a light glaze.)
Adapt
-
This dish can very easily be made with pita or other flatbread; indeed, in Palestine and Israel the very thing is known as Fatoot Samneh. Because pita is significantly thicker and breadier than matzoh, though, you’ll need to both flip the bread/egg ratio–less of the former, more of the latter–and cook the bread a bit longer in order to get the desired toastiness. So: wet two pieces of the bread in the same manner as the previous recipe dictates. Cook in butter for closer to five minutes; pour in three beaten eggs, mix, and cook until egg sets.
