Traditional Hard Matzo Ball Soup Food

MATZOH BALL SOUP

Steps:

• Trim off neck flap all the way up to the top of the wishbone. Trim fat and skin from around the back cavity of the chicken. Reserve both for schmaltz and grebenes. Cut chicken into quarters. Place meat in large pot with onions, and cover with about 4 quarts water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat , and simmer 2 hours.
• Add carrots and celery to the soup; simmer an additional hour. Season to taste with salt.
• Remove chicken pieces, and set aside. You may reserve them for another use, or shred the meat for the soup. Keep the chicken covered, and at room temperature before shredding.
• Dice reserved skin and fat into 1 inch pieces. Cook in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally. Make sure the pan never gets so hot as to cause the rendered fat to smoke. When the grebenes are crisp and brown, remove them to a cutting board and drain schmaltz into a small nonplastic bowl to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, mince the grebenes finely.
• To make the matzoh balls, blend fat or oil and eggs together. Mix matzoh meal and salt together. Combine the two mixtures, and mix well. Add 4 1/2 tablespoons soup stock or water; mix until uniform. Stir in minced grebenes. Cover bowl, and place in refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• Bring soup to a boil. Reduce flame, and drop balls approximately 1 inch in diameter into the slightly boiling water. Add dill. Cover pot, and cook 30 to 40 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE THE COVER FROM THE POT WHLE COOKING!

MATZO BALL SOUP

Steps:

• Make the broth: Put the chicken, celery, carrots, onion, tomatoes, parsley, dill, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cloves and 2 teaspoons salt in a large pot. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cook, skimming off the foam occasionally, 3 hours. Strain, discarding the solids. Let cool until the fat rises to the surface. (The broth can be made up to 3 days ahead; cover and refrigerate.) Skim off the fat, reserving 2 tablespoons fat for the matzo balls.
• Make the matzo balls: Whisk the eggs and reserved chicken-broth fat in a bowl. Stir in the shallot, garlic, lemon zest, ginger, dill, parsley, matzo meal, 1/4 cup of the prepared broth and 1 3/4 teaspoons salt. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into balls with damp hands. Cover and chill until ready to cook, up to 8 hours.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the matzo balls and reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer; cover and cook until the balls are tender, 35 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the prepared broth. Drain the matzo balls and serve in the warm broth. Top with dill.

MATZO BALL SOUP

Steps:

• Make the soup:
• Place all of the ingredients except the dill in an 8-quart stock pot and add about 3 quarts of cold water to cover. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, skimming any froth that rises to the surface. Turn the heat down to low, set the cover ajar, and simmer for about 2 hours.
• Add the dill and continue simmering an additional 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, cool to room temperature, and strain through a fine sieve. Refrigerate. If you can prepare the soup a day or two in advance, it will taste even better. Skim off any fat that coagulates on the surface and reserve the fat for the matzo balls.
• Make the matzo balls:
• A few hours before serving, prepare the matzo balls. In a large pot, bring the strained soup to a simmer. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, soup (or water), chicken fat, and salt. Beat in the matzo meal and refrigerate, uncovered, for 1 hour.
• Bring about 5 quarts of water to a boil with 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt dissolved in it. Remove the matzo meal mixture from the fridge. Wet your hands with cold water and gently shape about 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a sphere by rolling it around in the palms of your hands. Try not to compact the ball too much. Note that the matzo balls will swell to more than double their size when cooked.
• Add the rolled matzo balls to the boiling salted water and repeat with the remaining mixture. Bring the water back to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer, tightly cover the pot, and cook for about 40 minutes until the matzo balls are floating on the surface, puffed, and snowy white. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the matzo balls to the hot soup. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

TRADITIONAL HARD MATZO BALL SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Place everything for the soup except the noodles into a large stock pot.
• 2. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until meat is very tender.
• 3. To make the matzo balls, place the crushed matzo in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak 30 minutes.
• 4. After soaking, drain the matzo well. I place them in a large mesh sieve over a bowl to drip and press on them some. Set aside.
• 5. Once chicken is done, remove it and de-bone.
• 6. Discard the celery, onion, and garlic. I usually slice the carrots into the finished soup.
• 7. Strain the broth if you want a pretty soup.
• 8. Put it back into the pot and bring to a boil.
• 9. Start a pot of plain water to boil. Add salt.
• 10. Mix the matzo with the egg, oil, and enough matzo meal to make it hold together. It will be a stiff dough.
• 11. Form into balls.
• 12. Drop the matzo balls into the simmering plain water. They will float when done, about 8-10 min.
• 13. Drain.
• 14. Cover to keep warm.
• 15. Cook the egg noodles in the broth.
• 16. Add the chicken and carrots back to the broth.
• 17. To serve, place one or two matzo balls in a bowl and spoon the soup over.

MATZO BALL SOUP

Steps:

• In a medium to large mixing bowl, add the matzo meal, vegetable oil (or schmaltz, which has more flavor), stock (or water/seltzer), eggs, and nutmeg. At this point, you can add ¼ to ½ teaspoon baking powder for lighter matzo balls, or omit the baking powder altogether if you like your matzo balls denser.
• Season with a teaspoon of salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste.
• Gently mix all the ingredients together with a fork, and don't overwork the mixture. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
• To make the soup, add the chicken/vegetable stock to a pot along with the diced celery, carrots, and onion. Bring to a boil, and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
• Meanwhile, bring a wide, deep skillet or pan filled with salted water or stock to a boil. Wet your hands, and form the chilled matzo mixture into balls, each about the size of a ping pong ball. Drop them into the boiling liquid as you make them.
• Cover the pan, and simmer them for 30-45 minutes. The longer you simmer them, the lighter they will get. I usually boil mine for around 35 minutes for more al dente matzo balls.
• By the time your matzo balls are done, your soup should also be ready. Taste the soup for seasoning and add salt to taste. Transfer the matzo balls to bowls and cover with your soup. You can also add shredded chicken and sprigs of fresh dill if desired. Serve immediately!

MATZO BALL SOUP

Steps:

• For the stock the best results come from the chicken bones of an already cooked chicken - so enjoy a chicken dinner and save the bones and the close meat. Cook this until the vegetables are nearly disintegrated. Remember do not add your salt till the boil point has been reached or your stock will be cloudy. Approximately 3 hours.
• Cool and strain off all the meat, vegetables and bones. Discard.
• Cool and strain off any fats.
• For the Matzo Balls: Beat the eggs. Add seltzer,oil, salt and pepper. Mix well.
• Add Matzo meal and stir thoroughly. Refrigerate for 1/2 to 1 hour.
• Fill a 5 quart pot 3/4 full of water and bring to a rolling boil add 3/4 cup of kosher salt to the water and bring back to rolling boil.
• Moisten the palms of your hands with cold water form your matzo balls - I use a tsp to measure the amount - approximately 1/2" in diameter. Drop matzo balls into boiling water.
• Cook for at least 30 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
• Soup:.
• In a 6 quart pot add 1 tsp of olive oil when heated add your onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Over low heat bring to fork tender.
• Add the remainder of the ingredients. Add cooked matzo balls and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes.