Matzoh ball soup is on my mind today for two reasons: The fall weather brings cold nights and thoughts of hot soup, and one of my oldest friends came through town and spent the night with Terry and me. I’ve known Marsha since third grade, but we became “close close” friends in seventh grade when I moved into a house one street over from her.
Martha’s sweet daddy, Nathan, owned a department store in Commerce, Georgia, and we all envied Marsha’s wardrobe. I remember distinctly the year she informed all of us unfashionably-dressed eighth-graders that plum was to be the color of the year. To my conservative mother’s horror, I insisted on having deep purple as part of my school ensemble.
Marsha was the only Jewish person I knew, and although they were far from kosher I learned a lot from the Jay family and from attending temple with Marsha. So, between the stories of family, and the laughter remembering teenage exploits, I asked her if she had a recipe for matzoh ball soup (also spelled matzah and matzo). She called her son, Chan, and he shared his. Unfortunately, like so many excellent recipes, his doesn’t have quantities for the ingredients. He is a matzoh whisperer and simply knows when perfection has been achieved.
The key to tasty broth is plenty, and I mean plenty, of flavoring: salt, peppercorns, onion, carrots, celery rib and leaves and parsley. I don’t use dill or garlic or anything that gives a pronounced flavor because I don’t know what I’ll use the broth for in the future. A good broth must be cooked with chicken that has skin for the flavor of the fat and also bones for the gelatin. The recipe below is a guide.
Matzoh ball soup is often eaten as a first course for the Passover seder which is in the spring. However, since Andrew Zimmern of Food and Wine magazine referred to Passover as the Jewish version of Thanksgiving, I think it appropriate to eat it right now.
Mazel tov.
SARA MOULTON’S CHICKEN STOCK
5 pounds chicken wings
2 medium onions, quartered
2 small carrots, halved
2 celery stalks, halved
4 rinsed and dried fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs 2 rinsed and dried fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
(Source: saramoulton.com)
SMITTEN KITCHEN MATZOH BALLS
Makes 8 to 12 matzoh balls
1/2 cup matzoh meal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons chicken stock or seltzer (which both of our mothers swear by for making the balls extra light)
Put 1 or 2 balls in a soup bowl and ladle hot chicken broth over them. (Stock can be divided among several resealable plastic bags and stored in freezer.)
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