Recipe: Matzoh Ball Soup, Two Ways
Nov. 4th, 2009 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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rowr, who's coming down sick. jmpava told her that she should get me to make her matzoh ball soup, since he thinks I make it well. (Which is quite a compliment, since I'd never made it before I met him! Although I'd made a great deal of chicken noodle and chicken rice soup. I made soup probably twice a week in high school.) Unfortunately, since she's in California and I'm in Washington, the recipe is the best I can do!
Anyway, this is easy, and quick, and not too expensive, and also warm and filling and comforting. Quantities are for two, but it scales up well. I'm including one recipe with chicken and one that's vegetarian -- the vegetarian is the one I make for Passover, becausejmpava's mother is allergic to poultry; the chicken one is the one I make for jmpava when he's not feeling well. :)
Chicken Matzoh Ball Soup
For the matzoh balls:
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or schmaltz, if you have it -- schmaltz is great -- but I'm guessing many of you don't have any)
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup matzoh meal
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (not terribly traditional, as far as I know, but makes the balls lighter; you can leave it off if you want)
* 2 teaspoon salt
* black pepper, a few pinches/grinds
* 2 tablespoons water or broth
(Note: This will make about four one-inch matzoh balls. If you want more matzoh balls, you can increase the quantity.)
For the soup:
* 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or, again, schmaltz is good if you have it)
* 1/2 onion, minced
* 1 rib celery, thinly sliced
* 1-2 carrots, diced (depending on how big the carrots are, and how much you like carrot)
* salt
* pepper
* 1 clove garlic, minced (or more if, like me, you really like garlic)
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 quarts chicken broth or stock (homemade is nice if you have it, but packaged is fine)
* 2 chicken thighs (or breasts, if you want less fat, but thighs have more flavor)
* a sprig of fresh thyme, or sage, or tarragon, or parsley, or dill, or really, almost any herb you like (optional)
* a spritz of lemon (optional)
First, make the matzoh balls. Combine the oil and the eggs, breaking up and beating the eggs just until well combined. Stir in the matzoh meal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add the water or broth and stir well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. (You can do this part up to a day in advance, or you can move straight on to the next steps. It should sit in the fridge and chill for at least half an hour, but the making-the-soup part will probably take that long anyway.)
In a heavy saucepan or soup pot big enough to hold two quarts, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion, sliced celery and diced carrot, sprinkle with salt (about a teaspoon, say) and pepper (to taste). Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion has wilted and is just starting to brown. (If the onion starts to burn, turn down the heat; if it doesn't take on any color at all, jack the heat up to high for a minute, but watch it carefully.) If the veg starts to stick, you may need to add a bit more of the vegetable oil.
Then turn the heat down to low, give it a few more stirs, and let it cook quietly for about fifteen minutes, during which it should all turn very soft and translucent and smell like heaven. You don't need to stir it more than two or three times during this part.
Add the garlic and the bay leaf and let them cook another minute or two, until it starts to smell good and garlicky. Then add the chicken stock or broth, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, get out your chicken. If it's boneless, that's fine, but if it's bone-in, go ahead and leave the bone in. You do want to remove the skin, though, or it will make the soup oily. Once you have your thighs or breasts, skin-free and with bone optional, slip them into the boiling stock. Let it boil for about thirty seconds, then reduce the heat until you have a gentle simmer -- no big bubbles or roiling, but still good and hot. This is usually medium-low for me.
Basically, what you want to do is to gently poach the chicken in the stock until it's cooked through but not overcooked. This can be tricky, but fortunately, since you're shredding the meat for soup anyway, you can always fish out a piece and cut it open to see if the inside is still pink. Or if you have a thermometer, you can use that.
When the meat is cooked through, fish it out and put it on a plate and let it cool enough that you can handle it. You can let the stock keep simmering as you do so. If you worry about cloudy soup, you may want to skim it occasionally; I don't bother.
While the broth is simmering, pull out the matzoh ball mixture and form it into 1 inch balls. Drop the balls into the soup and let simmer for at least half an hour.
When it's cool enough, shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork, into bite-sized shreds. Add back to the soup pot, along with the optional fresh herbs. Simmer 10-15 minutes.
Just before serving, taste and adjust the salt, and if you like, you can brighten the soup with a squeeze of lemon. The bay leaf and springs of herbs shouldn't be eaten; if your diners aren't good at fishing them out themselves, you might do it for them.
Vegetarian Matzoh Ball Soup
This recipe is designed to use water, and makes its own broth, because I've had trouble finding a packaged vegetable broth that I like. If you do have a veg. broth you like, you can use that instead.
For the matzoh balls:
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup matzoh meal
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (not terribly traditional, as far as I know, but makes the balls lighter; you can leave it off if you want)
* 2 teaspoon salt
* black pepper, a few pinches/grinds
* 2 tablespoons water or broth
(Note: This will make about four one-inch matzoh balls. If you want more matzoh balls, you can increase the quantity.)
For the soup:
* 1 tbsp vegetable oil
* 1 onion, minced
* 3 celery stalks, sliced thinly
* 3 carrots, diced
* salt
* pepper
* 2 garlic cloves, minced (or more if you like garlic -- I've been known to take it up to 6 cloves)
* bay leaf
* 2 quarts water
* 1 cup leafy green vegetable, sliced in narrow ribbons (any of raab, kale, chard, spinach, turnip greens... whatever you like and have available)
* a few sprigs of fresh thyme, or sage, or tarragon, or dill, or really, almost any herb you like
* good handful chopped parsley
* 1 lemon
First, make the matzoh balls. Combine the oil and the eggs, breaking up and beating the eggs just until well combined. Stir in the matzoh meal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add the water or broth and stir well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. (You can do this part up to a day in advance, or you can move straight on to the next steps. It should sit in the fridge and chill for at least half an hour, but the making-the-soup part will probably take that long anyway.)
In a heavy saucepan or soup pot big enough to hold two quarts, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion, sliced celery and diced carrot, sprinkle with salt (about a teaspoon, say) and pepper (to taste). Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion has wilted and is just starting to brown. (If the onion starts to burn, turn down the heat; if it doesn't take on any color at all, jack the heat up to high for a minute, but watch it carefully.) If the veg starts to stick, you may need to add a bit more of the vegetable oil.
Then turn the heat down to low, give it a few more stirs, and let it cook quietly for about fifteen minutes, during which it should all turn very soft and translucent and smell like heaven. You don't need to stir it more than two or three times during this part.
Add the garlic and the bay leaf and let them cook another minute or two, until it starts to smell good and garlicky. Then add the water, raise the heat, and bring to a simmer.
Once the broth is simmering, pull out the matzoh ball mixture and form it into 1 inch balls. Drop the balls into the soup and let simmer for at least half an hour.
Add the thinly sliced leafy greens to the pot, along with the herbs and the parsley. Simmer 5-10 minutes, depending on the type of greens, until they're cooked through and tender but not too soggy. (Some particularly sturdy greens, like some varieties of kale, may take longer to cook. Just fish a ribbon out and taste it, and keep cooking until it's the texture you'd want to eat in soup.)
Just before serving, taste and adjust the salt, and then brighten with the juice from the lemon. The bay leaf and springs of herbs shouldn't be eaten; if your diners aren't good at fishing them out themselves, you might do it for them.
Adjustments to make itfaithhopetricks-compatible (or anyone else with alium intolerances)
Nix the onion and garlic. You can leave them off entirely -- the celery and carrot will provide a good bit of flavor, especially if you let them caramelize a bit more -- but if you want to replace them with other aromatics, you can add 1 bell pepper, diced (red is nice, because it's pretty in the bowl, but any color will work), and/or half a fennel root, shaved, and/or half a celeriac root, shaved. Just saute them with the carrots and celery as you would the onion. You can also increase the herbs to increase flavor. Just leave the lemon off; it's not vital anyway.
If you're afraid there won't be enough flavor, a half a teaspoon of ground cumin, added to the pot when you sautee the aromatics, can punch up the flavor a bit.
rowr, who's coming down sick. jmpava told her that she should get me to make her matzoh ball soup, since he thinks I make it well. (Which is quite a compliment, since I'd never made it before I met him! Although I'd made a great deal of chicken noodle and chicken rice soup. I made soup probably twice a week in high school.) Unfortunately, since she's in California and I'm in Washington, the recipe is the best I can do!Anyway, this is easy, and quick, and not too expensive, and also warm and filling and comforting. Quantities are for two, but it scales up well. I'm including one recipe with chicken and one that's vegetarian -- the vegetarian is the one I make for Passover, because
jmpava's mother is allergic to poultry; the chicken one is the one I make for jmpava when he's not feeling well. :)Chicken Matzoh Ball Soup
For the matzoh balls:
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or schmaltz, if you have it -- schmaltz is great -- but I'm guessing many of you don't have any)
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup matzoh meal
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (not terribly traditional, as far as I know, but makes the balls lighter; you can leave it off if you want)
* 2 teaspoon salt
* black pepper, a few pinches/grinds
* 2 tablespoons water or broth
(Note: This will make about four one-inch matzoh balls. If you want more matzoh balls, you can increase the quantity.)
For the soup:
* 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or, again, schmaltz is good if you have it)
* 1/2 onion, minced
* 1 rib celery, thinly sliced
* 1-2 carrots, diced (depending on how big the carrots are, and how much you like carrot)
* salt
* pepper
* 1 clove garlic, minced (or more if, like me, you really like garlic)
* 1 bay leaf
* 2 quarts chicken broth or stock (homemade is nice if you have it, but packaged is fine)
* 2 chicken thighs (or breasts, if you want less fat, but thighs have more flavor)
* a sprig of fresh thyme, or sage, or tarragon, or parsley, or dill, or really, almost any herb you like (optional)
* a spritz of lemon (optional)
First, make the matzoh balls. Combine the oil and the eggs, breaking up and beating the eggs just until well combined. Stir in the matzoh meal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add the water or broth and stir well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. (You can do this part up to a day in advance, or you can move straight on to the next steps. It should sit in the fridge and chill for at least half an hour, but the making-the-soup part will probably take that long anyway.)
In a heavy saucepan or soup pot big enough to hold two quarts, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion, sliced celery and diced carrot, sprinkle with salt (about a teaspoon, say) and pepper (to taste). Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion has wilted and is just starting to brown. (If the onion starts to burn, turn down the heat; if it doesn't take on any color at all, jack the heat up to high for a minute, but watch it carefully.) If the veg starts to stick, you may need to add a bit more of the vegetable oil.
Then turn the heat down to low, give it a few more stirs, and let it cook quietly for about fifteen minutes, during which it should all turn very soft and translucent and smell like heaven. You don't need to stir it more than two or three times during this part.
Add the garlic and the bay leaf and let them cook another minute or two, until it starts to smell good and garlicky. Then add the chicken stock or broth, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, get out your chicken. If it's boneless, that's fine, but if it's bone-in, go ahead and leave the bone in. You do want to remove the skin, though, or it will make the soup oily. Once you have your thighs or breasts, skin-free and with bone optional, slip them into the boiling stock. Let it boil for about thirty seconds, then reduce the heat until you have a gentle simmer -- no big bubbles or roiling, but still good and hot. This is usually medium-low for me.
Basically, what you want to do is to gently poach the chicken in the stock until it's cooked through but not overcooked. This can be tricky, but fortunately, since you're shredding the meat for soup anyway, you can always fish out a piece and cut it open to see if the inside is still pink. Or if you have a thermometer, you can use that.
When the meat is cooked through, fish it out and put it on a plate and let it cool enough that you can handle it. You can let the stock keep simmering as you do so. If you worry about cloudy soup, you may want to skim it occasionally; I don't bother.
While the broth is simmering, pull out the matzoh ball mixture and form it into 1 inch balls. Drop the balls into the soup and let simmer for at least half an hour.
When it's cool enough, shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork, into bite-sized shreds. Add back to the soup pot, along with the optional fresh herbs. Simmer 10-15 minutes.
Just before serving, taste and adjust the salt, and if you like, you can brighten the soup with a squeeze of lemon. The bay leaf and springs of herbs shouldn't be eaten; if your diners aren't good at fishing them out themselves, you might do it for them.
Vegetarian Matzoh Ball Soup
This recipe is designed to use water, and makes its own broth, because I've had trouble finding a packaged vegetable broth that I like. If you do have a veg. broth you like, you can use that instead.
For the matzoh balls:
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup matzoh meal
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (not terribly traditional, as far as I know, but makes the balls lighter; you can leave it off if you want)
* 2 teaspoon salt
* black pepper, a few pinches/grinds
* 2 tablespoons water or broth
(Note: This will make about four one-inch matzoh balls. If you want more matzoh balls, you can increase the quantity.)
For the soup:
* 1 tbsp vegetable oil
* 1 onion, minced
* 3 celery stalks, sliced thinly
* 3 carrots, diced
* salt
* pepper
* 2 garlic cloves, minced (or more if you like garlic -- I've been known to take it up to 6 cloves)
* bay leaf
* 2 quarts water
* 1 cup leafy green vegetable, sliced in narrow ribbons (any of raab, kale, chard, spinach, turnip greens... whatever you like and have available)
* a few sprigs of fresh thyme, or sage, or tarragon, or dill, or really, almost any herb you like
* good handful chopped parsley
* 1 lemon
First, make the matzoh balls. Combine the oil and the eggs, breaking up and beating the eggs just until well combined. Stir in the matzoh meal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add the water or broth and stir well to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. (You can do this part up to a day in advance, or you can move straight on to the next steps. It should sit in the fridge and chill for at least half an hour, but the making-the-soup part will probably take that long anyway.)
In a heavy saucepan or soup pot big enough to hold two quarts, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced onion, sliced celery and diced carrot, sprinkle with salt (about a teaspoon, say) and pepper (to taste). Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion has wilted and is just starting to brown. (If the onion starts to burn, turn down the heat; if it doesn't take on any color at all, jack the heat up to high for a minute, but watch it carefully.) If the veg starts to stick, you may need to add a bit more of the vegetable oil.
Then turn the heat down to low, give it a few more stirs, and let it cook quietly for about fifteen minutes, during which it should all turn very soft and translucent and smell like heaven. You don't need to stir it more than two or three times during this part.
Add the garlic and the bay leaf and let them cook another minute or two, until it starts to smell good and garlicky. Then add the water, raise the heat, and bring to a simmer.
Once the broth is simmering, pull out the matzoh ball mixture and form it into 1 inch balls. Drop the balls into the soup and let simmer for at least half an hour.
Add the thinly sliced leafy greens to the pot, along with the herbs and the parsley. Simmer 5-10 minutes, depending on the type of greens, until they're cooked through and tender but not too soggy. (Some particularly sturdy greens, like some varieties of kale, may take longer to cook. Just fish a ribbon out and taste it, and keep cooking until it's the texture you'd want to eat in soup.)
Just before serving, taste and adjust the salt, and then brighten with the juice from the lemon. The bay leaf and springs of herbs shouldn't be eaten; if your diners aren't good at fishing them out themselves, you might do it for them.
Adjustments to make it
faithhopetricks-compatible (or anyone else with alium intolerances)Nix the onion and garlic. You can leave them off entirely -- the celery and carrot will provide a good bit of flavor, especially if you let them caramelize a bit more -- but if you want to replace them with other aromatics, you can add 1 bell pepper, diced (red is nice, because it's pretty in the bowl, but any color will work), and/or half a fennel root, shaved, and/or half a celeriac root, shaved. Just saute them with the carrots and celery as you would the onion. You can also increase the herbs to increase flavor. Just leave the lemon off; it's not vital anyway.
If you're afraid there won't be enough flavor, a half a teaspoon of ground cumin, added to the pot when you sautee the aromatics, can punch up the flavor a bit.
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