Matzo Ball Soup

‘Tis the season for colds and flu.  Here is my matzo ball soup recipe, the cure and fix all for feelin’ under the weather, plus it tastes wonderful on a cold winter’s day.  I find the Manischewitz Matzo Meal mix in the health department at HyVee.

Make your matzo ball dough first and refrigerate it while you make your broth. 

Matzo Balls

1/2 cup matzo meal

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons seltzer (Hint I picked up along the way.  It makes the balls extra light)

For soup

2 to 3 quarts prepared chicken stock (recipe below). 

Josh loves this so much, he complains there are not enough matzo balls, so I double the recipe.  You may wish to also.  I also make my balls about the size of walnuts.

Mix all matzo ball ingredients in a bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Bring 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of broth to a brisk boil in a medium sized pot.

Reduce the flame. Run your hands under water so they are thoroughly wet. Form matzo balls by dropping spoonfuls of matzo ball batter approximately 1 inch in diameter into the palm of your wet hands and rolling them loosely into balls. Drop them into the simmering broth. Cover the pot and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes.

Broth

Left over demi glace from roast chicken for extra flavor

Whole chicken carcass with left over meat on it

1 whole quartered onion

2 whole carrots cut up

2 celery stalks cut up

2 bay leaves

Handful of fresh thyme

Kosher Salt and pepper

Enough water to cover the chicken carcass  (About 2 ½ quarts)

Simmer the mixture until the veggies are tender.  Strain the broth through a colander into a large pot.  Toss all the veggies away and pick the chicken from the bone and add it back to the broth.  You may use 2 large chicken breasts if you do not have a left over roast chicken or you may use a whole chicken and save part of the pulled chicken for another recipe.

If you don’t have demi glaze because you are not using a left over chicken, you may also add Swanson’s Flavor Packets.  They give a lot of great flavor. 

  

My Variation:  To add my twist, I like to add cream of chicken soup to the broth to add even more flavor.  You can use my dried condensed cream soup mix or canned cream of chicken soup.  Personally, I’ve stopped using the canned.

4 cups instant non-fat dry milk

1/2 cup of dairy creamer

1 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup chicken bouillon 

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

The full recipe is under a blog in October, 2012.  Just use 1/3 cup of the mix.  That equals 1 can of soup.

I love to try new ethnic foods and when I find one that I love, I latch onto it and recreate it again and add my own twists.  Don’t wait until your sick to try this.  I have also had matzo balls served as dumplings on top of homemade chicken and noodle soup.  It was outstanding.  In fact that is how I was introduced to it.  Jack Rosenberg shared it at Men Can Cook years ago and gave me the recipe.

Tomorrow I’ll share a spinach cake (Turkish recipe) I found that I had to try.  I love zucchini or carrot cake, so thought why can’t you add any veggie you like to make a cake.

Stay healthy and happy.  May God bless you and yours.