Making Matzo Ball Soup

Matzo Ball Soup Ingredients

I went to Star Market in Brookline to purchase all my materials for my big day of cooking Matzo Ball Soup. I was amazed at all the available Jewish foods. It ranged from fifty (exaggeration) types of macaroons to Kosher meats and fish. I opted to use Kosher chicken for my stock. It was pricey, but I thought it would be a fun touch. I grabbed some celery, carrots, onions, fresh herbs, olive oil, and a box of Passover Matzo Meal. I had the rest of the ingredients at my grandmother's house.

Homemade Chicken Stock

I started my cooking adventure by making the chicken stock. I roughly cut up about half a bunch of celery, five small to medium onions, and four carrots. I rinsed my cut up chicken, and I threw everything in a large stockpot with cold water. I, then, added the fresh herbs, salt and pepper. I turned the heat on high to get the water boiling, and once it started boiling, I lowered the heat to about medium, so it wouldn't bubble over.

The art of the Matzo Ball was next. Since, this was my first time, I decided to just follow the recipe on the box of Streit's Passover Matzo Meal:

Making Matzo Balls

Ingredients

1 Cup of Matzo Meal
4 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Oil or Melted Margarine
1/4 Cup Water or Seltzer
1 Teaspoon Salt or To Taste
Pinch of Ground Pepper

Cooking Instructions

1. MIX: Beat eggs. Add water, oil, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add matzo meal and stir thoroughly. Refrigerate for 1/2 to 1 hour.
2. FORM: Partially fill a large pot of water and bring to boil. Moisten palms with cold water. Form mixture into balls about 1" diameter. Drop matzo balls into boiling water.
3. SIMMER: When all the matzo balls are in the pot, reduce heat to low. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes or until done. Remove with slotted spoon to a large bowl. (Simmer the matzo balls for 15 minutes in your favorite chicken soup before serving)

Cooking Matzo Balls

I ended up adding more matzo meal - about another 1/4 to 1/2 cup - because it was too thin to form balls. When I was about half way through forming the balls and dropping them into the hot water, I ran out of space on the bottom of the pot. I tried to make room by moving them, and when I did this, the matzo balls started to float to the top. SCORE! As I dropped in the second half, I let them fall past the floating ones to the bottom. PLEASE NOTE: They expand. I ended up adding boiling water to this pot to make more room. Thank goodness for coffee mugs and microwaves for quick boiling water.

Chicken Broth

I let the stock reduce down to about three-fourths of liquid, and then I drained the liquid into another pot by using a spaghetti strainer with small holes. I forgot to get something for this part, but the spaghetti strainer worked out decently. Not much got into the clear both. Then, I threw in the matzo balls and let them simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Done!

Now the time came to see if it was Grandma approved.

Effort: A+, She said I did a great job putting it together.
Matzo Ball Soup: B, She said it was too salty for her, and there were too many eggs in the matzo balls. She also said it is better than something she could make, and she would try my next batch.

Sarah Sparks' Homemade Matzo Ball Soup

This is when I learned that Kosher meat is salty. I did not realize that or else I would of added way less salt. Noted for next time. It was pretty easy to make the soup. I thought it would of been a lot harder, but making stock is simple, and if you make pancakes from a box, you can make matzo balls. 

I was proud of myself that I made homemade stock for the first time. I did work in kitchens where I helped make different kinds of stock. I used to get upset throwing away the chicken and veggies. I asked once why we had to throw it out, and I was told it loses all its flavor.

Sarah Sparks' Homemade Chicken Salad

As I was staring at the bottom of the stockpot hesitating on discarding these scraps in the trash, I decided to make chicken salad. I pulled all the chicken meat off of the bones, making sure there were no hidden little bones. I threw the meat into a mixing bowl with a couple tablespoons of the stock, mayonaise, two or three stalks of diced celery, and about two slices of diced red onion. I got an A+ for my chicken salad from my grandmother.

My mother was the one who ended up eating all the chicken salad, and this made me so happy. I never cooked for her before, so it was nice to make something that she enjoyed eating. - Sarah Sparks

Soup of the Day: Scotch Broth

My last Chef stint was as the opening Chef at The Haven in Jamaica Plain, Boston's one and only Scottish gastropub.  In doing menu research, I found that some Scotland's best recipes were found in its rich tradition of funny-named soups.  I created my own versions of Scottish staples like Cock a Leekie and Cullen Skink, but perhaps my favorite was Scotch Broth, a hearty wintertime soup of lamb, barley, and root vegetables.  Here's my recipe for Scotch Broth:

1 lamb shank
1 onion, large dice
1/2 bunch of thyme, 3 bay leaves
Chicken stock (homemade is best, low-sodium store-bought is fine)
2 cups pearl barley
1 rutabaga, 2 parsnips, 2 carrots, peeled, large dice

Pre-heat a pot to medium high.  Season the lamb shank thoroughly with salt.  Add a bit of canola oil and sear the lamb shank, turning it every minute or two so that all sides get well browned, and remove.  Turn the heat down to medium low, add the diced onion and a pinch of salt, and sweat until translucent.  Tie the 1/2 bunch of fresh thyme with butchers twine so the stems can be removed later, add the tied thyme, the bay leaves, and the browned lamb shank.  Add enough chicken stock to cover the shank by 1".  On high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 2-3 hours, or until the shank is tender.

Meanwhile, toast the barley in the oven on a sheet tray until is is golden brown.  Make sure you open that oven up a few times and stir that barley, don't let it burn.  Dice your root vegetables.  When the shank is tender, remove it from the broth, and add the barley.  Cook the barley until it is just tender to the bite.  Meanwhile, pick the meat off the shank, and add it back to the broth.  When the barley is minutes from being ready, add the root vegetables, and cook for a few minutes until vegetables are tender but not mushy.  Season to taste with salt (if you use store bought chicken stock, there is already sodium in it and you may not need to add much salt, if any).  Remove the thyme tie and bay leaves, ladle and serve.

This yields a good amount of Scotch Broth.  You can freeze the leftovers in single portions for future use.  It's a great soup to make in bulk, so don't hesitate to double it if your freezer is empty, you can reheat it from frozen in a pot or in the microwave.  It's a meal on its own, and it's also great when you're feeling sick.

Optional: At The Haven, we served our Scotch Broth in a bowl with a roasted 2" beef marrow bone with a straw, so customers can slurp the marrow and broth in a fun, fatty, silly, delicious way.  Also, this soup is rich on its own, the marrow made it over the top, (plus I added a pat of butter to each soup wink wink), so we garnished the soup with chopped fresh parsley and lemon zest (gremolata), which I recommend, whether you use go the extra mile with the marrow or not.

-Chef Wax