Recipe
January 4, 2015
Chicken Matzo Ball Soup
While you can make perfectly delicious matzo balls with vegetable oil, duck fat will yield the most sublime results. Jewish cooks traditionally save the fat skimmed from making chicken stock — called schmaltz — for these dumplings.
Directions
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
- To make matzo balls, whisk together eggs, duck fat or oil, baking powder, salt and stock. With a rubber spatula, fold in matzo meal until combined. Cover and refrigerate dough at least 3 hours.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. With oiled hands, form heaping tbsps of dough into 1 1⁄2″-diam. balls. Add balls to water. Cover. Adjust heat to maintain lively simmer. Boil until cooked through, 45 to 50 minutes. (When cooked through they will be a uniform color; if undercooked the center will still be dark.) Carefully transfer to tray with slotted spoon.
- To make soup, bring stock to a simmer. Season with salt. Add celery, carrot and leeks. Simmer until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chicken and matzo balls. Cook until heated through, 2 minutes. Ladle into warm bowls. Garnish with dill.