HOMEMADE JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP
1 chicken, at least 3 - 4 pounds, cut up into 8 or 9 pieces
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch dill
1 bunch celery
1 lb carrots
2 large onions
2 or 3 parsnips
lots of water
salt & pepper to taste
Matzoh Balls
These are delicious, not required, and certainly the least healthy part of the
soup. You can use noodles or rice instead. If you do go for the matzoh balls,
cook them
separately and add to each bowl as you serve. Since the soup is so thick, it's
also fine without a starch.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of melted chicken fat (or use vegetable oil
to cut down on cholesterol)
4 large eggs (I use jumbos)
1 cup matzoh meal (Add ¼ cup more if you like them hard;
use 1/4 cup less for airy balls. We prefer harder ones.)
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons of soup stock
Directions:
1. Beat the eggs slightly and then add the fat. Mix well.
2. Add the matzoh meal and the salt. Mix well.
3. Add the soup stock. Again mix well.
4. Refrigerate for ½ hour or more.
5. About 45 minutes before the soup is to be served, form little matzoh balls
and drop them into the pot of boiling water. You should end up with about
8 to 10 balls. Keep pot covered as the matzoh balls cook, and turn them a couple
of times.
There is a certain popular belief that chicken soup is Jewish. I don't know how
that came to pass, but I do know that a good chicken soup is an amazing dish;
Not only can it be used as the base of other great soups (e.g. garlic soup,
tortilla soup, etc.,) but it is also by its other (secret?) identity: Jewish
penicillin. I cannot say that it actually cures anything, but it sure is an
amazing balm when you have a cold. I once knew a guy who owned a restaurant and
once gave an interview to a local paper, about the greatness of the chicken
soup. The clip was picked up by USA today and wouldn’t know it? He started
getting orders for chicken soup from places as far as the other coast. For a
while he used to Fed-Ex overnight chicken soup in gallon containers. In any
case, I do enjoy my chicken soup, I hope that you will too.
Bon Apetit!!!
Copyright © 2006 by Ernest Samuel Leibovitz