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Photo: Ali Redmond
Active Time:20 minsTotal Time:4 hrs 5 minsServings:8Jump to Nutrition Facts
Active Time:20 minsTotal Time:4 hrs 5 minsServings:8
Active Time:20 mins
Active Time:
20 mins
Total Time:4 hrs 5 mins
Total Time:
4 hrs 5 mins
Servings:8
Servings:
8
Jump to Nutrition Facts
Jump to recipe
My Grandmother’s Passover Matzo Balls Had Plenty of Schmaltz, But the Secret Ingredient Was Her Zest for Life
My grandmother’s matzo balls were hard as rocks. It was a familial joke: great flavor, but grab your knife and fork. This is not to say that we found her lovingly crafted matzo balls unenjoyable. You could say a lot of things about my grandmother, who tended to an acres-large former poultry farm turned toy and sundry business in central New Jersey, but you could never say that her fêtes were un-fun. They were fun.
At Passover, my grandmother’s zest for life was always on display. I don’t know what year it was when she bought the meshuggenahPassover Haggadah(a book containing the story of Passover) that featured puppets affixed to Popsicle sticks, but that version of our family Seder stayed with us for a long time. It was a well worn, fun, time-honored tradition. The kind of family fun you took for granted: that someone would have to play the sheep (why was there a sheep?) and that one of the desserts on the table would be nothing more than a giant bowl filled with scoops of different ice cream flavors.
Getty Images / patrickheagney
Prepared in her yellow enamel Dansk pot that was part of a set received at her wedding, my grandmother’s matzo ball soup was the type you’d have to eat with a fork and knife—we joked. Family gatherings are not necessarily about the food so much as they are about the memory, after all. My grandmother, into her 90s when she died almost four years ago, loved to tell us how she couldn’t stand chicken soup anyway. (The stock, if you’re curious, was a thing she made with expert precision. I learned her special ingredients after she died: a cube of bouillon and a pinch of sugar. I guess the secret was MSG.)
What made her matzo balls a little heavy on the stomach also made them delicious. It was the fat—a thing my grandmother always loved. When she ordered pastrami: extra fatty. She was a woman who didn’t shy away from the marrow of life, the literal marrow. The fat.
Now, when I make my own matzo balls, maybe I don’t use quite so much schmaltz, the Yiddish word for rendered chicken fat. It’s not that I have a Snackwellian fear of the stuff. I just prefer that my matzo balls float and not sink. But I do think she knew a thing or two about food, about entertaining, about the room in which we gather. You can borrow a tradition and make it your own. It’s what I’ve done, taking a recipe that maybe I didn’t love, twisting it on its axis, and, in honor of those puppet-crazed Seders—in honor of all the riotous fun we used to have—making it float.
Cook Mode(Keep screen awake)Ingredients4large eggs¼cupschmaltzorrendered chicken fat2tablespoonslow-sodium chicken broth plus 8 cups, divided1cupmatzo meal2tablespoonsfinely chopped fresh dill, plus sprigs for garnish3teaspoonssalt, dividedGround pepper to taste2tablespoonsseltzer1cupsliced carrots, cooked until soft
Cook Mode(Keep screen awake)
Ingredients
4large eggs
¼cupschmaltzorrendered chicken fat
2tablespoonslow-sodium chicken broth plus 8 cups, divided
1cupmatzo meal
2tablespoonsfinely chopped fresh dill, plus sprigs for garnish
3teaspoonssalt, divided
Ground pepper to taste
2tablespoonsseltzer
1cupsliced carrots, cooked until soft
DirectionsWhisk eggs, schmaltz (or chicken fat) and 2 tablespoons broth in a large bowl. Add matzo meal, dill and 1 teaspoon salt; mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. If desired, add a few grinds of pepper. Slowly add seltzer and mix until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.Fill a deep pot or Dutch oven with water and add the remaining 2 teaspoons salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Wet your hands and mold 16 golf-ball-size balls from the chilled mixture, gently dropping them into the boiling water as you form them.Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook the matzo balls for 45 minutes.Meanwhile, bring the remaining 8 cups broth to a simmer in another soup pot. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked matzo balls to the hot broth.(Alternatively, transfer the cooked matzo balls to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Do not hold the matzo balls in liquid, as they will lose their shape and integrity.)Divide the soup among 8 bowls and add 2 tablespoons cooked carrots to each. Garnish each bowl with a sprig of dill, if desired.To make aheadPrepare matzo mixture through Step 1 and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Refrigerate cooked matzo balls (Step 3) for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.EatingWell.com, April 2022
Directions
Whisk eggs, schmaltz (or chicken fat) and 2 tablespoons broth in a large bowl. Add matzo meal, dill and 1 teaspoon salt; mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. If desired, add a few grinds of pepper. Slowly add seltzer and mix until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.Fill a deep pot or Dutch oven with water and add the remaining 2 teaspoons salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Wet your hands and mold 16 golf-ball-size balls from the chilled mixture, gently dropping them into the boiling water as you form them.Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook the matzo balls for 45 minutes.Meanwhile, bring the remaining 8 cups broth to a simmer in another soup pot. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked matzo balls to the hot broth.(Alternatively, transfer the cooked matzo balls to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Do not hold the matzo balls in liquid, as they will lose their shape and integrity.)Divide the soup among 8 bowls and add 2 tablespoons cooked carrots to each. Garnish each bowl with a sprig of dill, if desired.To make aheadPrepare matzo mixture through Step 1 and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Refrigerate cooked matzo balls (Step 3) for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Whisk eggs, schmaltz (or chicken fat) and 2 tablespoons broth in a large bowl. Add matzo meal, dill and 1 teaspoon salt; mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. If desired, add a few grinds of pepper. Slowly add seltzer and mix until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.
Fill a deep pot or Dutch oven with water and add the remaining 2 teaspoons salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Wet your hands and mold 16 golf-ball-size balls from the chilled mixture, gently dropping them into the boiling water as you form them.
Cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook the matzo balls for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring the remaining 8 cups broth to a simmer in another soup pot. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked matzo balls to the hot broth.(Alternatively, transfer the cooked matzo balls to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Do not hold the matzo balls in liquid, as they will lose their shape and integrity.)
Divide the soup among 8 bowls and add 2 tablespoons cooked carrots to each. Garnish each bowl with a sprig of dill, if desired.
To make aheadPrepare matzo mixture through Step 1 and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Refrigerate cooked matzo balls (Step 3) for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
To make ahead
Prepare matzo mixture through Step 1 and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Refrigerate cooked matzo balls (Step 3) for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
EatingWell.com, April 2022
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Nutrition Facts(per serving)170Calories9gFat14gCarbs7gProtein
Nutrition Facts(per serving)
- Daily Values (DVs) are the recommended amounts of nutrients to consume each day. Percent Daily Value (%DV) found on nutrition labels tells you how much a serving of a particular food or recipe contributes to each of those total recommended amounts. Per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the daily value is based on a standard 2,000 calorie diet. Depending on your calorie needs or if you have a health condition, you may need more or less of particular nutrients. (For example, it’s recommended that people following a heart-healthy diet eat less sodium on a daily basis compared to those following a standard diet.)
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a special diet for medical reasons, be sure to consult with your primary care provider or a registered dietitian to better understand your personal nutrition needs.
