can you spare a square?!

apparently, there's a matzoh shortage in the entire bay area! you can check out the (very brief) story here.

while it didn't help that trader joe's and costco both didn't carry matzoh this year, supposedly, the largest supplier of matzoh (hello, manischewitz) pulled a move that's reminiscent of apple computer (back in the day): it decided to heavy up on some new equipment that led to...well, *engineering delays* so they couldn't make enough matzoh for passover.

kevin and i spent some time on sunday driving to a couple stores, and then wising up and calling around for matzoh. that's when the dude at mollie stone's told me that there was no matzoh to be had in all of san francisco (me: "are you serious?!" mollie stone's dude: "as serious as a heart attack!").

so, if any of you have any "squares to spare" please let me know - kevin is running out of matzoh - he only has one square left!!!

in the meanwhile, here's the brisket recipe (you need to start it the night before) that i use every year for our seders. this time, i used grass-raised meat from marin sun farms served with potato latkes, and honey-glazed baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and roasted asparagus as sides. (i'm getting a little better at this "seasonal cooking" thing, fo' shizzle) yummy!


Passover Brisket
6 lbs beef brisket
4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
4-5 lbs yellow onions, chopped into 1" pieces
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsps Hungarian paprika
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1 tsp ground pepper, plus more to taste

Preheat oven to 375°F. Rinse and pat brisket dry. Season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsps olive oil in a Dutch oven for about 10 minutes. Roast brisket in pan, uncovered, 30 minutes, turning over halfway through.

Meanwhile, using a very large skillet (or use 2 normal ones if you can't fit all the onions in one pan), heat remaining 2 tbsps olive oil over medium-high heat and cook onions until they start to caramelize (about 10 minutes). Reduce heat to medium-low / low and continue cooking onions until they turn deep golden, stirring occasionally (about 20 minutes). Stir in garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute, then stir in 3 cups water and bring to a boil.

Spoon onion mixture over brisket and bake, covered, with lid slightly cracked, 4 hours, or until brisket is tender. Check every hour and add more water if necessary to keep meat covered. Remove from oven and let brisket cool in cooking liquid for 1 hour, then remove from pan and wrap in foil overnight. Pour onion gravy into a bowl and chill, covered, overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350°F. Spoon off fat from onion gravy, add enough water to measure 3 1/2 cups total, and using a stick blender, blend gravy until smooth; add salt and pepper to taste. Slice brisket against the grain (break out the meat slicer if you have one!) and place slices (slightly overlapped) in a large baking dish. Pour gravy over brisket, heat in oven for 30 minutes, or until hot. Serves 8-10.