"Dirty Matzoh" Dressing Recipe
“This is really a country Jewish recipe concocted by my mother, Myrtle Zoller, and our housekeeper, Vinie Williams, to be served at Passover,” recounted Anne Zoller Kiefer [of New Orleans, Louisiana].
Game plan: For a vegetarian version, instead of adding liver or giblets, sauté 2 cups of sliced flavorful mushrooms in the olive oil and use vegetable broth. Ms. Kiefer likes to serve this “yummy, not bland dish” with turkey gravy, but not for her vegetarian daughter.
Note: Recipes in Marcie Cohen Ferris’s book Matzoh Ball Gumbo were compiled from a diverse mix of Jewish Southerners who have blended religion and region through home cooking.
This recipe was featured as part of our Southern Seder story.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (omit if using cooked giblets)
- 1 cup chicken livers (about 6 ounces), trimmed and halved, or finely chopped cooked giblets
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 9 unsalted matzohs, broken up
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter or pareve margarine
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 3 to 4 teaspoons creole seasoning (Anne uses Tony Chachere’s)
- 1/2 cup chicken or turkey broth
- 1 large egg
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously grease a 9 × 9 inch glass baking dish or casserole.
- If using the livers, heat the oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Carefully add the livers and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon each kosher salt and pepper. Cook, turning often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until livers are browned but still pink in the center, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl (don’t wash the skillet). Let livers cool slightly and then chop.
- Meanwhile, place the matzohs in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Let stand, pressing them down into the water, until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain in a fine-mesh strainer, pressing out the water and breaking up the matzohs with your hands. Dry the bowl; return matzohs to the bowl.
- In the same skillet, over medium heat, melt all but 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook, stirring often, until tender, 8 minutes. Stir in the parsley, creole seasoning, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring, 1 minute. Scrape the mixture into the matzohs.
- Add the livers or giblets (or mushrooms), broth, and egg and mix well. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and dot with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter.
- Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake until the surface is browned and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes longer. Serve hot, with turkey gravy if you like.
From MATZOH BALL GUMBO: CULINARY TALES OF THE JEWISH SOUTH by Marcie
Cohen Ferris. Copyright © 2005 by Marcie Cohen Ferris. Used by
permission of the University of North Carolina Press.
This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food
team.
This is a very nice recipe but it is ironic that if you make this with liver, (as described in the recipe) your passover dish will not even be kosher.
Liver is a meat which in order to be make Kosher, must be salted then broiled (with salt on it) on an open flame , letting drippings fall away from the meat. Then the liver must be rinsed. After this preparation, you can saute chop cook...+READ
This is a very nice recipe but it is ironic that if you make this with liver, (as described in the recipe) your passover dish will not even be kosher.
Liver is a meat which in order to be make Kosher, must be salted then broiled (with salt on it) on an open flame , letting drippings fall away from the meat. Then the liver must be rinsed. After this preparation, you can saute chop cook further.etc.
PS if the liver is not kosher to begin with it won't be kosher no matter what you do to it.
Enjoy the holiday-COLLAPSE
Perhaps if the matzah was kept whole, oiled lightly on one side to prevent the uptake of water and then placed in a steamer for a few minutes, they won't get so soggy.
Another option would be to bake the soggy matzahs separately in a pizza pan so that you get rid of some of the excess water. Or you could add potato starch to act as a binder.
I made it for the Seder using the chopped chicken livers option. I used 8 oz. instead of 6 oz. because that's what I had on hand. I may have overchopped the cooked liver since you don't really notice it either texturally or taste-wise. I even served it to my liver-hating father who had absolutely no complaints. Also, even though I squeezed the daylights out of the soaked matzah sheets I still...+READ
I made it for the Seder using the chopped chicken livers option. I used 8 oz. instead of 6 oz. because that's what I had on hand. I may have overchopped the cooked liver since you don't really notice it either texturally or taste-wise. I even served it to my liver-hating father who had absolutely no complaints. Also, even though I squeezed the daylights out of the soaked matzah sheets I still found the final texture a bit too damp for my liking.
Having said all that, I liked the flavor on the whole and enjoyed the spice level it brought to my normally heavy haimish seder recipes. I might very well make it again but had no demands from the family to add it to the standard repetoire. It's certainly worth a try if you like Cajun/Creole flavors.-COLLAPSE
I make my own because they all have a boatload of salt. I like the "Essence of Emeril" recipes (just google and you'll find it) and leave out the salt.
kmc,
Thanks for listing the ingredients, as I am positive that finding kosher for passover "creole seasoning" would be impossible.
p.j.
There are many brands of creole seasoning that can be found in most supermarkets in the spice aisle. But creole seasoning generally consists of onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil,dried thyme,black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, celery seed and sweet paprika.
What can be substituted for creole seasoning? Old Bay?
What *is* creole seasoning made of?