Matzo Crack

Years of growing up in a predominantly jewish town left me with all sorts of envy - how come we didnt have a menorah?  how come we didnt have matzo in the house?  how come my parents didnt know a place in the city that they drove 1.5 hours to just for bagels?

yeah, yeah, santa claus, easter bunny, italian pastry, blah blah blah.

However, one of the best parts of growing up in said environment and not being jewish is it meant i was able to selectively partake...  so even though the girl who's name translates to 'follower of christ' probably didnt need to buy the matzo/butter for lunch during passover, the nice lunch ladies let me anyway...  and in 9th grade home ec, they taught me how to make matzo brei...  (more on that later this week, hopefully...)

it really was no wonder i ended up marrying a jew, is it?  we now have all of the benefits of 2 religions!  lasagne, bagels, pastry, matzo brei! (have i ever mentioned that my absolute favorite part of any holiday is food?)

anyway, enough about me and my envy - this is about what you are going to bring for seder dessert tonight...  (or next year if you dont manage to catch this on April 19... or just eat whenever you want if you arent jewish but have distinct envy like i did...)

This matzo crack is so incredibly easy to make - I started on it at the same time jordan took the dog for her afternoon walk, and i was finished (save for the chilling) by the time he got back in...

There are a million ways to adapt this - a quick google search will tell you others have used almonds, coconut and a whole host of other things to top this off...  we went for the standard presentation and while it would be fun to experiment a little, it really is quite amazing even in this, its simplest form...

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Matzo Crack
adapted from of Marcy Goldman - A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking

4-5 unsalted matzos
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 c firmly packed light brown sugar
scant 1 c bittersweet chocolate chips
fleur de sel/sea salt

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Preheat oven to 350°

Cover a baking sheet entirely with aluminum foil and then place a piece of parchment on top of the foil (helps with sticking.  the internet says you could butter the foil instead but the parchment worked wonders...)

lay matzo out so that it covers the entire thing, breaking pieces up to ensure full coverage

place butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and turn heat up to medium.  When butter is mostly melted, add in the brown sugar.  stir, continuously, to incorporate.  When mixture starts to bubble, start your timer.  continue to stir mixture for about 3-4 minutes.  at some point during that time, you will notice that the butter/sugar is starting to come together and the mixture is getting less liquid and more almost marshmallow-fluff-ish.  this is a good thing.  If you think its getting too hot, briefly pull off of the heat and then return it a few seconds later.  (stir the whole time...)

remove from heat and pour over the matzo.  using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture evenly over your matzo.

place the cookie sheet in the oven and set your timer for 13 minutes.  After about 5, you will see that the mixture has started to bubble up.  this is a good thing.  check it every 3 minute or so to ensure that its not cooking too fast (getting darker brown would be a good indication)...  I opened my oven a few times to let some heat escape and turned the tray around once.  The minute you smell a hint of burning, remove the tray from the oven.

immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the toffee and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

after 5 minutes, spread chocolate chips around with a rubber spatula until the entire tray is coated in a layer of chocolate.

sprinkle with fleur de sel/sea salt and place in the freezer.  After about 15 minutes, remove and score into whatever size pieces you wish to have and return to the fridge (if you have plenty of time) or freezer (if you are making this 45 minutes before you are supposed to head across town...)

once fully cooled, break into pieces and enjoy.

a convenient excuse...

it has been determined that my real hobby is shopping for hobbies... i have a yarn stash that rivals even some of the most serious of knitters. i have 3 or 4 yoga mats as well as a ton of other random props. i own enough raw silver and jewelry tools to make a new jewelry wardrobe.
therefore, it should be no shock that i LOVE to go to the grocery store. or bed bath and beyond. or target. but mostly the grocery store. (because while i can always find one more nook or cranny in which to shove my latest food aquisition, the same cannot always be said for things bought at the kitchen section...)

the thing is, sometimes i get silly about my hobby shopping. yarn - what can i make with it (even if i never will). jewelry - what will it soon become? (even if only in my head) and the same can be said for any food product that is either perishable or costs more than a few dollars...

so what's the point of all of this?

Fleur de sel

i'd heard of it, therefore i wanted it. knew it was supposed to kick all sorts of ass, but the fact of the matter is, i really dont know why its better than regular sea salt... i mean, you can TELL ME, but i probably wont understand you...

or, i wouldnt. until the chocolate show, that is...

we went to see Charles. now, i'd like to believe that the adorable older man behind the booth was charles himself, and i'd rather you didnt tell me that i was wrong, ok? i'd also like to believe that good ol' chuck makes his chocolates all on his own. particularly the Fleur de Sel Caramels. because as awesome and amazing as these things were, they are even more awesome and amazing if that adorable little man made them for me with his own hands...

regardless... i'd never made caramel before, and i'd never used Fleur de Sel before, but this was just the excuse i had been looking for...



because my god, i now have 2 goals in life - to be an invited guest on the Today Show and be interviewed by Matt Lauer (for something good - not for something tragic) - and to replicate those caramels...

this was attempt #1...

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Fleur de Sel Caramels
courtesy of Gourmet - October 2004

Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon fleur de sel (note: i used somewhere between 1.5 and 2 tsps as per the recommendations on epicurious.)

1 1/2 cups sugar (note: i used organic turbinado sugar. because i had it.)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water

Special equipment: parchment paper; a deep-fat thermometer


Preparation
Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, then lightly oil parchment.

Bring cream, butter, and fleur de sel to a boil in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and set aside.

Boil sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Boil, without stirring but gently swirling pan, until mixture is a light golden caramel. (note: this is hard to tell when you use turbinado sugar)

Carefully stir in cream mixture (mixture will bubble up) and simmer, stirring frequently, until caramel registers 248°F on thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes.

Pour into baking pan and cool 2 hours.

Cut into 1-inch pieces, then wrap each piece in a 4-inch square of wax paper, twisting 2 ends to close.