Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls
/The Soup…(matzo balls below)
This year we cleaned out the freezer to make the soup. And it was an incredible soup with a very rich broth. We grabbed the package of chicken feet (yes- use them. They disappear into the broth and add collagen and incredible goodness), the package of beef soup bones (that’s right, a few beef bones in a chicken soup makes it incredibly flavorful especially pre and post fast). We grabbed a chicken and a few small containers of frozen stock we had. We rinsed it all off and put it all into the big stock pot.
Ingredients ~
- Freezer contributions (see above)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 ends of celery bunch
- 1 turnip and 1 rutabaga
- One half of a clean bunch of parsley with stems on
- One bay leaf
Make The Stock
Since everything is frozen, put it all into the pot with the heat on high. Add the chopped veggies and bay leaf. Cover the contents of the pot with additional water…an inch or two above the contents of the pot. Bring it all to a boil. Turn to simmer, COVER loosely and cook for 2 – 3 hours. Cool so you can touch. Drain the stock into a pot and freeze until you can remove the fat layer. Discard the beef bones and veggies. Shred the chicken and retain some of the bigger bones to put back into the soup. The feet will have completely disappeared. No one will know you used them but you!
Make The Soup
Remove the fat. Heat the stock. Add the chicken. Now to make it traditionally, chop 6 carrots, 4 stalks of celery, 1 zucchini into small squares. Add one bunch of chopped green onions. Add some finely chopped parsley (and true confession, I always add a chopped bunch of cilantro).
Matzo Balls
I use Manischewitz matzo ball mix. Why re-invent the wheel, especially when matzo balls have been knows to weigh more than wheels? Follow instructions but add one bunch of parsley chopped fine and the green ends of a bunch of green onions, chopped fine. Let stand in the fridge until very cold, 30 minutes.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Form into balls and drop into simmering water. Cook covered for 45 minutes! The package instructions are wrong…
Drain them into a separate bowl. Do not add them to the soup. Keep them separate! That way your gluten free customers will have soup and your matzo balls won’t fall apart and disappear!
Everyone had it twice…pre and post fast…it was so good and so full of goodness!