My Jewish friend once invited me to a Passover Seder. When I mentioned that I had never been to one, she said, "Oh, everyone's a little bit Jewish during Passover."So, as inspired by the season, tonight's culinary adventure: matzoh ball soup. From what I've heard (and tasted, in the limited sampling I've done personally), I think I was relatively successful in making a nice, fluffy matzoh ball. I think it helped that I refrigerated the dough (or is it batter?) overnight, so the fat really had time to set up. Alas, I wasn't able to track down chicken fat for the occasion, but shortening did just fine. I cobbled together a few recipes from the Internet (borrowing most heavily from Ina Garten), bringing together the final recipe.
Ina suggests taking the fat off the top of your homemade chicken stock and using that -- while homemade chicken stock is something of a personal passion (my freezer always has at least one quart sitting around), only the tubs of stock from the top of the pot have the nice layer of fat that rises to the top when frozen. As I'm nearing the end of a batch, only skimmed soup was available. Oh well, it was still quite tasty.
I realize the peas are probably not totally orthodox (no pun intended), but I just love the little sweet pop--and fresh color--they add to chicken soup.
Chag Sameach, friends!
~
Matzoh Balls
1 c matzoh meal
4 eggs
1/4 c shortening
2 t salt
1/4 c hot water
Directions: Beat the eggs together with the shortening, then combine with the rest of the ingredients. Refrigerate overnight. Boil three quarts of water, salt liberally, and cook, covered, for 20 min. Add to tasty chicken soup, and serve! (I added egg noodles, peas, celery, and carrots to mine.)
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