Soup Week Round-Up. Recipes from friends

The minute I posted about Soup Week on facebook, a cavalcade of responses came in. Seems like everyone was making soup. Italian Bread Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, Matzoh Ball Soup and so many others. I decided to post a few recipes from friends as my final post for Soup Week.

Both these women are from the old neighborhood. One rode trikes with me, the other was my neighbor. And both of these women know a thing or two about cooking. Neither take short cuts in their recipes here, and the extra time to make stock from scratch, as well as the noodles or matzohs, make them truly special.

Cheryl shares her homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with hand made noodles on her own blog. The hand made noodles look amazing and easy. I like her suggestion to try it with grilled chicken too!

Sara shares her homemade Matzoh Ball Soup recipe here. She made it during Hanukkah, but it reminds me to make this soup at other times. I love Matzoh balls! Her picture is above. Here is her recipe, adapted from “Grandma Florrie’s Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls”, from the New England Soup Factory Cookbook by Marjorie Druker and Clara Silverstein.

Sara Webster – Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls


Matzo Balls

7 eggs separated
1 tbsp kosher salt divided
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 ¾ cups matzo meal
2 ½ tbsp club soda (see notes)
2 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

Soup

One whole chicken (6 lbs) -or- 3 lbs of chicken thighs*
1 beef bone (or veal bone)
2 onions – yellow or sweet – pealed and diced
4 ribs celery diced
10 carrots peeled and sliced
12 cups water plus additional as needed
1 large sweet potato peeled and diced
2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley

For Matzo Balls – fill an 8 quart pot three quarters of the way with salted water or chicken stock (I used water). Bring to boil.

Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In separate bowl mix together the egg yolks, salt, oil, matzo meal, club soda, onion powder and parsley. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Using your hands roll the batter into walnut-size pieces. Drop the matzo balls in the water and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 35 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. 12-15 matzo balls.
For Soup
In large stockpot combine boil the chicken, beef (or veal bone), onions, celery, and carrots. Add the water and salt. Bring to boil over medium high heat. Remove any foam that rises to the surface using slotted spoon or strainer. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 2-4 hours. If the liquid becomes too concentrated, add more water during the cooking time. Add the sweet potatoes and parsley. Simmer for additional 45 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove chicken and beef soup bone (discard). Pull skin of chicken and remove chicken meat (as much as you can) – toss carcass and place chicken meat back into the soup. Serve soup with matzo balls floating on top.


Notes: Original Recipe called for 3 lbs of chicken thighs, I used a whole chicken. Thighs have more flavor, but I like working with whole chickens – so I’ve adopted that change. Original recipe cooked for nearly five hours – I was able to do in about 2.5 hours and still very good. I also skipped the club soda step the second time I made it and worked fine. Club soda will make the matzo balls very light and they float better but I didn’t notice this as problem by omitting the soda.

Thank you, friends. And if you readers still need "more soup for you", here are some of my past soup posts to try.

Smoked Turkey Soup

Chicken Soup with Rice (is nice)

If all else fails, throw it into a pot and stir. Happy soup making everyone!