Chicken Soup & Matzah Balls - (Passover & Year Round)

Chicken Soup. Jewish Penicillin. The cure for the common cold. What else can be said about it. Seems simple to make and yet...well much can be said about it.

And then the Matzah Balls. Some people love them others can live without them. They are usually associated with Chicken Soup but can be put in any soup actually or eaten alone. And truth be told the recipe for Matzah Balls that was posted a few days ago in the post, Grandma (Bubby) Sarah's Matzah Balls, is really fine. But I am going to change a bit of it, (just a little), and for those who want, just choose.

Remember though: Matzah Balls are exactly that. Matzah Meal formed and cooked into a ball. The trick is to keep them light and fluffy. And this is done with eggs and possibly the Seltzer mentioned in the post above.

Chicken Soup & Matzah Balls

Chicken Soup

Ingredients: (For an 8 liter pot = 2 Gallons)
This assumes you are using fresh chicken. If not you can use frozen as well.
The chicken parts supply the "Chicken" part of the soup. This is what I call "pure" chicken soup. NO CHEMICALS. NO SOUP MIXES ADDED IN.

1. Around 6 Chicken Necks (or more), and if you can get it with part of the rib cage. Ask your butcher for these as many discard the chicken necks and they are really cheap. These are great sources of the chicken fat for the soup. The more the better!
   
2. 3-4 Chicken Wings or Chicken Legs
3. *** Totally Optional: One Chicken Breast (or partial)
   
4. 3 Onions cut into quarters
5. 4-5 Carrots
6. 1 Whole Garlic - cloves cut and ready
7. Fresh Basil (leaves washed and put in)
   
8. Fresh Parsley (as much as you like)
   
9. 5 Tablespoons of Honey
10. 1 Teaspoon of White Pepper
11. **NOT ON Passover - 2-4 Tablespoons of Turmeric
    

Directions for Chicken Soup:

1. Fill up the pot 3/4 with water
2. Put on flame
3. Unceremoniously dump in the chicken
4. Follow that with the onions, carrots and spices
5. Bring soup to boil then turn down flame and let it simmer.

Let the soup cook like that for 2-3 hours (on a small flame).

Matzah Balls with Chicken Soup

These are the ingredients for Matzah Balls that are cooked with chicken soup. To make plain Matzah Balls separately, take a look at, Grandma (Bubby) Sarah's Matzah Balls.

Ingredients:

1. One Cup Matzah Meal
2. 4 Eggs
3. 1 Teaspoon of Salt

The basic recipe is for every cup of Matzah Meal use 4 medium eggs. Fluffier means a bit more eggs.

Directions:

1. Mix the Matzah Meal and eggs together. Mix them well!
2. Add the salt
3. Mix again WELL!
4. Take the mix and cover it with saran (plastic wrap) and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will last for 24 hours (no longer) if you are preparing early.
5. Your chicken soup should already be simmering on the stove for at least an hour.
   
6. Place the Matzah ball mix next to the pot with a bowl of water.
7. Dip your hands in the water and make a small ball from the mix. (Keep it small. Matzah Balls expand like blowing up balloons!)
   
8. Dump it in to the boiling water.
9. Finish the mix you made and let them cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour on a medium flame in the soup.
10. Matzah Balls should get the flavor of the chicken soup.
    
11. If you wish to let the soup simmer on a small flame or electric plate (for Sabbath) just let it go on.

*Note: The more hours the Matzah Balls cook, the less "fluffy" they become. Bear that in mind.

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Between the soup and the Matzah Balls we will leave this at a three star. But if you wish to make Chicken Soup for someone sick, (and it does work!) just make the soup and let it cook for 90-120 minutes.

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