8/13/2019 Chicken Stock and Matzo Ball Soup

1/2

Chicken Stock

The single most helpful thing you can keep on-hand if you wish to make your own soups

and stocks is a stock bag, a concept I picked up from Sara Moultonway back when. Thisis a bag you keep in your freezer with ingredients youre saing to flaor a soup base. Its

especially awesome for those of us who hate throwing things away!you neer hae to."hopping leeks tonight# Throw the tough green ends in your stock bag. $iscarding

mushroom stems# %dd them too. &nly using half that onion# $ont let it grow old andforgotten in your fridge.

This works for chicken as well. 'hen you go to buy chicken for a dish, grab a whole one

and ask the guy behind the counter to chop it for you. It costs a lot less and you can then

sae the back and wings (because who eats wings#) in a separate stock bag, so theyll beready when you are.

*ield+ Approximately. uarts

/01 to 2 /01 pounds chicken necks, backs and wings

celery ribs, cut into big chunks carrots, scrubbed and cut into big chunks

1 parsnips, scrubbed and cut into big chunks

1 onions, unpeeled and uartered/ head garlic, cut horizontally in half

/ Turkish or /01 "alifornia bay leaf

/ tablespoon black peppercorns

/ tablespoon 3osher salt2 uarts cold water

!and0or!%ny egetables you hae stashed in your Stock 4ag (described aboe)

4ring all ingredients to a boil in an 5- to /6-uart heay pot. Skim froth. 7educe heat and

gently simmer, uncoered for hours.

8our stock through a fine-mesh siee into a large bowl and discard solids. If using stock

right away, skim off and discard any fat. If not, cool stock completely, uncoered, beforeskimming fat, then chill, coered. 7esere a few tablespoons of the skimmed fat if you

wish to use them in matzo balls (below).

Stock can be chilled days in the refrigerator or frozen / month.

Matzo Ball Soup

There are two matzo ball camps+ those that like them heay and leaden at the bottom of abowl and those that like them light and fluffy!these are the latter, and in my mind, the

better ones.

http://www.saramoulton.com/http://www.saramoulton.com/

8/13/2019 Chicken Stock and Matzo Ball Soup

2/2

If you cant find matzo meal, pulse a few pieces of matzo in your food processor until it

is a coarse powder. If you cant find matzo, well, you obiously do not lie in 9ew *ork

"ity.

Makes 5 to /1 matzo balls

Matzo 4alls

/01 cup matzo meal

1 eggs, lightly beaten1 tablespoons resered chicken fat or egetable oil

/ teaspoon salt

/02 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoons chicken stock or seltzer (which both of our mothers swear by for makingthe balls e:tra light)

;or soup

1 to uarts prepared chicken stock (recipe aboe)/ carrot, thinly sliced

% few sprigs of dill

Mi: all matzo ball ingredients in a bowl. "oer and place in the refrigerator for 6

minutes.

4ring / /01 uarts of well-salted water to a brisk boil in a medium sized pot.

7educe the flame. 7un your hands under water so they are thoroughly wet. ;orm matzo

balls by dropping spoonfuls of matzo ball batter appro:imately /-inch in diameter into

the palm of your wet hands and rolling them loosely into balls. $rop them into thesimmering salt water one at a time. "oer the pot and cook them for 6 to 26 minutes.

%bout ten minutes before the matzo balls are ready, bring prepared chicken stock to a

simmer with the sliced carrot in it.