I make a MEAN chicken matzo ball soup

[Ellen Forradalom]

Make my own chicken broth from a stewing hen, carrots, celery, parsley, onions, garlic, fines herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.) and salt and pepper.

Then I use the Manischewitz matzo-ball mix, but I skim some of the chicken fat and use it instead of vegetable oil, and cook the matzo balls in the broth. My mother-in-law told me to drop the matzo ball mix from a spoon instead of rolling it into balls to insure a light texture. Who says mothers-in-law aren't good for anything?

My brisket ain't too shabby either; my latkes are getting there, and I make a decent batch of hamentaschen. Not bad for an Episcopalian.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

1. I love matzo ball soup.

I had a friend who used to beat egg whites into the batter. They were light and fluffy.
Your stock sounds incredible.

[LeighAnn]

2. Happy End-of-Yom Kippur!

On edit: Oops! Missed the "Episcopalian" line!


Is the sun down yet in your part of the world?

All that talk would have driven me crazy a couple of hours ago.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I want to come to your house!

Yum yum. I love matzoh ball soup.

How's your borscht?

Congratulations on doing so well in the Jewish kitchen as an Episcopalian. Kudos to you! You're such a mensch.

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. My husband is Jewish

and we're raising the kid Jewish. So I have to master the food :-)

Haven't tried borscht yet. Cooked vegetables in any form don't go over so well in my household. I used to work in a restaurant that made a cold borscht consisting of canned beets, buttermilk and fresh dill. Yummy and refreshing, if pink as Pepto-Bismol.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. And Challah? Do you make a mean challah?

Yum yum!

[Ellen Forradalom]

11. So far I've been using the frozen dough

but I do bake pretty well so I plan to try my hand at challah at some point.

[Senior citizen]

12. The secret to challah is saffron.

Don't use a recipe without it.

When it was my turn to make the challah at Chabad House many years ago, I insisted on using saffron. Good thing I got a taste of it after baking, because the Rabbis' wives took home every crumb that was left over.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. Thanks for the tip!

Will do!

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Wow! never had challah with Saffron, let alone ever make it that way

Sounds delicious!

How much saffron do you put in?

[Senior citizen]

15. I can't remember--it was a long time ago. I used a recipe.

I seem to remember something about boiling the saffron and straining it through a cloth. The stuff is expensive, but you don't need much of it.

I don't think I've done any "from scratch" baking since, and that was a long time ago. But I do remember that I'd found lots of recipes and there were many that didn't use saffron and a few that did. I chose right and was getting compliments for months afterwards.

The tricky part is the 7-strand braid. Best to follow a diagram on that one.

On edit: Hmmmmm...... I seem to have a kitchen with an oven, so if I went to the library and found a recipe, bought the ingredients and baked myself a challah, I wouldn't have to worry about getting to eat some of it -- I'd have the whole thing to myself unless I chose to share. Okay, if Kerry wins, that's how I'll celebrate, and since there are quite a few Kerry supporters in my building and at the senior center, I know who I'll share it with. In fact, my Social Security comes at the beginning of the month and I have very little on my calendar for the 1st week in October--I'll bet that the people at the local Kerry campaign headquarters would appreciate some fresh-baked challah. You just never know what a DU thread will lead to.....

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :grouphug: :kick:

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. well, saffron is tasty enough that even if you use too much,

it's still tasty. :-)

I'm gonna put some saffron in mine next time!

never thought of it.

[4morewars]

4. Mazel Tov !!!

[salib]

5. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[Zomby Woof]

7. how about cherry pie for dessert?

:D

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. I did bring our hosts tonight a jar of my homecanned cherries

as well as the chicken matzo-ball soup.

[Zomby Woof]

9. sounds really damn good

I am glad I just ate... :-)