Serves: 6
Prep time: one hour to prepare the soup, 40 minutes for the matzoh balls
For the soup:
Ingredients
- 12 cups of chicken stock (I happen to like Knorr chicken bouillon cubes, but that is just my personal preference. People have strong opinions about what constitutes the best chicken stock.)
- 6 chicken breasts, with the bone left in
- 2 cups carrots, chopped
- 2 cups celery, chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
Directions
- Place chicken stock, chicken breasts, carrots, celery and onions into a large stockpot and allow it to simmer for an hour.
- When the meat is cooked through, remove from the stock, allow to cool, and chop into chunks.
- Return chicken to the soup and set soup aside.
For the matzoh balls:
Ingredients
- 6 eggs, separated
- ¾ cup matzoh meal
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 3 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
- 8 cups water 2 chicken bouillon cubes
Directions
- Beat egg whites in a mixer until they are very stiff.
- Add egg yolks and gently fold together.
- Sprinkle a quarter of the matzoh meal over the egg mixture at a time, until you have incorporated all of the matzoh meal. Do not overbeat.
- Add salt, pepper and dill, mix and refrigerate for ten minutes.
- Bring the water to a boil in a wide-mouthed pan and add bouillon cubes.
- Lower temperature to a simmer. Moisten your hands with water and form a 2-inch diameter ball of the matzoh mixture, and drop it into the simmering water. (This takes a little practice, and I usually switch the matzoh ball from hand to hand, turning it to create a more circular shape before plopping it gently into the water.)
- Continue to add other matzoh balls to the water, keeping the pot simmering.
- Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
- The matzoh balls should be floating on top of the water and firm enough to be easily removed from the pot.
- Remove matzoh balls with a slotted spoon and, if serving immediately, place in the soup and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.
- If serving later, matzoh balls can be placed in a roasting dish, covered and stored in the refrigerator until ready for use.
- If you have leftover matzoh balls, they are delicious when roasted with a chicken, where they soak up the pan drippings and form a kind of matzoh stuffing.
