Скачать или смотреть WPL Cooks! Laura's Chicken Soup and Matzo Balls

Grandma Alice Bernheim's Chicken Soup and Matzo Balls

For the Soup
Ingredients
4 Double Chicken Breasts or One Whole Chicken (I use a bunch of parts of the chicken that I buy separately, including thighs, breasts, legs, etc. for a combination of dark and light meat. This allows for me to use a smaller pot since a whole chicken takes up so much room without breaking apart. If using a whole chicken, don't forget to remove any innards such as the giblets, left over kidneys, etc.)
6 Carrots
1/2 bunch celery
2 parsnips
Bunch of Dill (Make sure it's fresh dill!)
Bunch of Parsley. (I recommend tieing it with string)
1 large onion (any kind but I use white)
1 large potato (any kind but I use russet)
1 large tomato (any kind but I use heirloom)
Salt (I use regular salt. This is one of the few times I don't use Kosher or Sea Salt)
Water

Directions: Put all of the dry ingredients in a large soup pot. I put in the vegetables first but it doesn't matter. If you're using a whole chicken that you don't take apart, you should put that in first. Pour in a small handful of salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix the salt around to distribute evenly. (You can also add the salt after the water is added. As long as you mix slightly, it's fine.) Pour in enough tap water so that it's just under being full. (It will run over once it boils, otherwise.)
Set the pot on the stove and set heat to medium or medium-high. Leave it uncovered for 1.5 - 3 hours. Start to taste test after 1.5 hours. Soup is usually ideal around 2.5 hours.
After soup is done, set another large pot in the sink and put a large strainer on top. Pour the soup in the strainer so that all of the soup goes into the second pot and the the vegetables and chicken go into the strainer. Discard parsley, dill, and onion. Separate the rest of the vegetables into a container. Separate the cooked chicken into another container. You can serve the vegetables as a side dish or put them into the soup when you serve them. (The carrots, enhanced with the dill, are especially delicious.) The chicken is ideal for chicken salad but you can also put it in the soup when you serve it.
You can keep the soup up to a week in the refrigerator or several months in the freezer. The soup is best served the next day so I recommend making it at least the day before you plan on serving it, rather than the same day.

For the Matzo Balls
Ingredients
4 large eggs
Matzo Meal (make sure you use actual Matzo Meal and not Matzo Ball Mix)
Salt
Large glass of cold water
Note: This makes a fairly small quantity. Rather than double the recipe, though, you should go through it twice. If you double the recipe, you run the risk of klunker matzo balls.
Beat eggs thoroughly with a whisk or electric mixer (either hand held mixer or stand mixer will do). The foamier the eggs, the fluffier your matzo balls will be.
Add a couple of pinches of salt in the eggs and mix by hand with a whisk one or two turns.
Pour 1/4 cup matzo meal into the egg/salt mixture and mix. Continue putting in small amounts of matzo meal, beating after each addition until it's just starting to get difficult to mix. You may need to use your hands to blend in the final amount of matzo meal.
Put your hands in the cold glass of water and then take a small amount of the matzo meal mixture and form a small ball with your hands. Put each ball into a Pyrex dish, cookie sheet, or large platter and set aside. If it's especially warm out, you can put them in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water (with a pinch of salt added) to a boil. Carefully place each matzo ball into the pot of boiling water. Place a lid slightly ajar on top of the pot.
Set a timer for 30-40 minutes. (I usually do 40 minutes). Put a strainer in the sink and pour out the matzo balls into the strainer as you would pasta. Put the matzo balls in a sealed container. Don't put them into the soup until you're ready to serve. If heating up the soup to serve, you can heat up the matzo balls in the soup, but don't heat up more than you're planning to serve at that time. The matzo balls can be in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for a few months.