PrintMatzo Ball Soup, Help a non-Jewish girl out!
I need a recipe for matzo ball soup. My boyfriend's Bubbe passed away recently and he has been craving her soup. Unfortunately she did not leaved her recipe behind, like a good Bubbe she knew it by heart.
Please help a non-Jewish girl out. I bought matzos, should I have bought matzo meal? How do you get your matzo balls light and flavorful?
PS. I am very open to gourmet twists on this classic comfort food.
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17 Comments:
Usually matzoh ball soup is made with matzoh meal, but here is a recipe that uses crumbled up matzoh bread. It is non traditional though:
http://www.tastingmenu.com/recipes/2003-pesach/cajunmatzahballs.htm
seyo at 1:35PM on 02/14/08
PS: You can omit the scallions and cayenne pepper if you dont want it to be "cajun" and these will be perfectly "traditional" tasting. Chicken soup is another topic, and is extremely important too....
seyo at 1:40PM on 02/14/08
I have read some recipies calling for baking powder (which is probably in the matzo meal), and some for mixing club soda into the matzo...any ideas on these methods, do they make the matzo balls lighter? I think making the chicken broth will be the easiest part since I often make my own stock.
jhendricks215 at 2:06PM on 02/14/08
This is incredibly sweet of you - I hope your boyfriend kvells!
I've been making these matzo balls for Passover for years, and they're delish (even my MIL approves):
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/1625
Make them small -- they will expand a lot while cooking. And you MUST make your own soup -- that is imperative.
Also, before you do anything -- did your bf's bubbe make her matzo balls firm or fluffy? This is a serious question -- people are very particular about the texture of their matzo balls. If he likes them firm, use water instead of ginger ale or seltzer. The carbonated stuff will make them fluffier.
Good luck - let us know how it turns out! Again, I think this is such a kind and sweet gesture, I'm sure your boyfriend will be so touched. All the best!
CookiePie at 2:38PM on 02/14/08
Most people use matzo meal. The recipe is on the package. After preparing the dough according to the directions, let it rest, covered, for at least an hour. This helps the meal to get fully saturated which will guarantee light matzo balls. Other than that little trick, just follow the directions exactly.
Kerosena at 2:40PM on 02/14/08
I always use the recipe on the matzo meal package. But the real key to a light kneidl is not to handle it too much. I just use a spoon to scoop from the bowl and try not to even touch it, just plop it right into the boiling water. Give it a little push if it sticks to the spoon. No molding!
wellred at 2:48PM on 02/14/08
Thanks for your help, I will go out and get some matzo meal. I remember her matzo balls being light and on the small side. I am making these tomorrow for a post v-day treat.
jhendricks215 at 3:15PM on 02/14/08
It is incredibly sweet of you! I usually use a small melon baller (as CookiePie noted, they expand a lot), and dip it in cold water before scooping each matzo ball to ensure they slide right off the spoon. I also use the recipe on the box, but usually add an extra egg, and sometimes, some extra water, depending on the size of the eggs. You want your initial mixture to be relatively "watery" - as Kerosena said, you need to let it rest for at least 20-30 minutes, up to an hour, and it will become significantly thicker as the matzo meal absorbs the moisture (If the mixture is thick to begin with, the matzo balls will end up being too "dry"). The home-made (slow cooked) chicken soup is the key, so you should be just fine:-). Good luck!
brooke29 at 3:37PM on 02/14/08
This is my great-grandmother's recipe. My mother had to try to sneak peeks at the process, but my gg didn't really want to pass it on. After 14 years of Passovers my mother finally got it just the same texture (though she uses veg. oil instead of rendered chicken fat). DO NOT make this in the chicken soup. Make is salt water and add to soup when they're done.
1/2 cup matzah meal (finely crushed matzah)
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
2–3 tbsp chicken broth (i guess veg would work too)
salt and pepper
In a bowl, whisk together the oil, broth, eggs, salt and pepper.
Stir in the matzah meal.
It should have the consistency of loose pudding.
Refridgerate for 1/2 hour.
Bring some water to a rolling boil and salt it up.
Dip your hands in cold water and then scoop up the firmed matzah mix with three fingertips, rolling it into a small ball and drop it into the salted water.
Continue to boil for at least a half hour. They should be floating and will have expanded to about 1.5 times their starting size.
Stufsocker at 3:57PM on 02/14/08
I say buy any brand of kosher matzoh ball soup mix (throw away the soup seasoning, just use the matzoh meal micture. Prepare the matzoh ball mix as directed, usually with an egg and some oil, so basic.
I always boil the matzoh ball seperate from my soup, this way my soup stays clear and the matzoh balls dont get soggy and fall apart while sitting in soup... I swear that the boxed mix are the softest must delicious matzoh balls I have ever had.
allakarasik at 4:14PM on 02/14/08
My family recipe which was passed down from my Great Great Aunt Ida uses whole matzo. They are the most elegant matzo balls you will ever taste. Very different from the leaden golf ball sized ones you get at the deli.
The recipe is as follows:
Great Great Aunt Ida's Matzo Balls
12 matzo soaked in water until moist and then sqeezed out w/ tea towels
12 tbsp chicken fat aka shmaltz (sold at kosher groceries) *
1 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tbsp chopped parsley
4 eggs, lightly beaten
matzo meal as needed
heat chicken fat over medium high heat
Fry onions in fat until golden brown
add matzo and seasonings
fry until the matzo is dried out and beginning to brown
remove from pan and let cool a bit
taste for seasoning - add more salt and pepper if needed, but not more ginger. ginger flavor should be subtle
add eggs and parsley and mix with hands until eggs are incoporated
shape into walnut sized balls, using matzo meal only if necessary to form the balls
refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight
boil chicken broth and add matzo balls. when they float to the top they are done.
* you can use butter if you can't find shmaltz. I usually only use 8 tbsp of either butter or shmaltz.
delicata at 4:18PM on 02/14/08
This is no fail...tried and true....the matzo balls are so easy it defies belief and delicious....
for the soup...
1 3+ pound chicken (or 5 lbs of chicken parts or backs and necks)
2 or 3 large onions
5 stalks of celery (use the leaves too if you have them)
8 carrots (I use the whole 1 lb bag of organic carrots)
1 parsnip
1 small turnip (optional)
1 or 2 small zucchini
1 bunch of Italian parsley
1 bunch of dill
3 whole cloves of garlic
Salt to taste
Wash chicken in cold water and place in a large pot. Peel onions and place whole in pot. Wash celery and cut stalks in half and place in pot. Peel carrots wash and place whole in pot. Peel parsnip, wash, cut into pieces and place in pot. Wash zucchini and cut into 4 pieces and place in pot. Peel garlic and place in pot. Cover all the ingredients in the pot with cold water. There should only be about an inch of water above all the ingredients. Do not use too much water!!!
Bring the soup to a boil and skim any foam off the top. Wash the parsley and the dill and place on top of the soup. Cover the pot but leave the cover slightly askew. Add salt to taste. Simmer for about three hours. Remove the chicken and veggies from the soup. Strain the soup through a strainer. Slice the carrots and add to the soup. You can use the cooked chicken for something else or shred the meat and add it to the soup. Serve with cooked small noodles such as orzo or egg barley. This soup will cure colds, flu, and just about anything that ails you.
Keep the noodles separate from the soup or else they will "suck"up all the broth. Put a portion of noodles in the bowl and then ladle soup over top. This soup is also great with Matzo balls.
I always used a Joan Nathan recipe for Matzo Balls and I was very happy.
In a pinch I have used Manishevitz Matzo Ball Mix which is really pretty good...but these are beyond easy and wonderful...you could season them with some cayenne pepper...go wild...they are a blank canvas...
Matzo Balls...
adapted from Claudia Roden'sClaudia Roden's recipe (from "The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York").
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon salt
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the lightly beaten yolks, as well as the matzo meal and salt until well amalgamated. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In a pot of well-salted boiling water, roll dough into 3/4-inch (2-cm) balls and simmer in the water for 20 minutes.
The recipe also gave the option of adding a little ground ginger or finely chopped parsley to the dough -
Enjoy....your boyfriend will love the soup and you!
jazzymom at 7:21PM on 02/14/08
I'm of the "I like hard matzoh balls" camp, actually. To me, if they're fluffy, they're annoying. Therefore, I use the recipe on the package, then add extra matzoh meal before sticking them in the fridge.
However, what I do to make them tasty is this: add in an awful lot of celery salt, a good handful of marjoram that I crush right in my palm, before dumping those in the eggs, and a little basil, treated the same way. If you want them to be REALLY good, instead of using water to add to the batter/dough, use chicken soup. (BTW, if you use bouillon, I advise Carmel's brand of chicken bouillon, it's like having Bubbe's soup, if not quite as good.)
I also roll them into balls with my hands, to add to the density.
ErisianSaint at 8:28PM on 02/14/08
i like to add grated onion, ginger, nutmeg, and parsley to mine...
cybercita at 8:38PM on 02/14/08
You're such a great girlfriend! I think it's so nice that you're trying to make him matzo ball soup.
A piece of advice I have is to make the matzo balls IN the soup, not in separate water. Make them up from the matzo meal (Manischewitz sells a good matzo meal for matzo balls) and then let them cook in the soup broth. That way they take in flavor and they're fluffy! Shhh...it's my mom's secret :)
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:24PM on 02/15/08
@ Hillary - for sure! always boil matzoh balls in the soup! they taste better, and who wants to wash another soup pot?
supposedly the trick to light and fluffy matzoh balls is seltzer? does anyone know anything about this?
redhead at 12:20PM on 02/16/08
Go out and buy Croyden House Matzo Ball Soup Mix and follow the directions. That's Croyden House, not Manischewitz, not Streich's...you can't go wrong. The flavour is the best and the Matzo balls are always fluffy. Runs about $ 2.50 USD a package............
katgng at 12:28AM on 04/22/08