Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls

I think every family has a "sick plan". You know, the things that parents do to make their kids feel better. Well growing up my family's sick plan was matzo ball soup. My grandmother would have my grandfather make the soup for us. It was funny actually, because he was never allowed to make any food other than chicken livers and matzo ball soup. And boy how he made them. Now I don't make chicken livers. I leave that up to my Aunt Marcia. And I don't make my matzo ball soup from scratch (boiling the whole chicken and all). I know. I know. Alert the presses! There is something I take a shortcut with!! 

But I just don;t have all day to make up soup especially if I have small people or Sweet and Charming asking to have it for dinner at 3:00 pm. 

So here's my recipe. I call it chicken soup with matzo balls because I since I take a shortcut I can;t bring myself to call it matzo ball soup. 

NOTE: There are 2 types of people in the land matzo balls. There are those that like "sinkers" and those that like "floaters". The difference is just like it sounds. Sinkers are matzo balls that are dense and sink straight to the bottom of the bowl. And floaters are light pillowy balls that...well...float. I am a floater.

The problem is that I always made sinker matzo balls. No matter how hard I tried. Sinkers they were. So last Spring Sweet and Charming and I went to a Passover Seder at the house of a long standing family friend. She has floaters. I picked her brain during dinner and behold!! Floaters. (Yay!!)

At long last, the recipe:

Matzo balls:Ingredients:

• 4-6 eggs 
• Matzo meal
• Few pinches of salt
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 Tbs dried dill

Beat the eggs lightly with a fork in a bowl. Add spices and salt. Then you add matzo meal stirring lightly (think dragging your fork through the mixture, not really "mixing"). Keep adding matzo until it looks like slightly runny oatmeal. I know there is no measurement for the matzo meal. Sorry. But it depends on so much. The size of your eggs, the moisture in the air... So no measurement. Just keep adding in little bits until you get the slightly runny oatmeal. Then toss the bowl in the fridge and let it sit for about 30 mins. During that time it will firm up enough so you can handle it.   

Wet your hands with cold water and form the matzo balls into small walnut size balls. These things plump a LOT when cooked, so be mindful of that when you decide how to big to make them. Then put them in a pot of salted boiling water and cook for at least 40 minutes. 

While the matzo balls are doing the firming and boiling thing make the soup!

Soup:
Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tbs olive oil
• 8 chicken thighs (or 4 breasts- thighs taste better) skinned and boned
• 3 carrots, sliced 
• 2 cups (or 1 large) onion
• 4 ribs celery, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oregano (optional)
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb dried egg noodles

Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Slat and pepper the thighs. Brown the chicken on all sides, working in batches if necessary. You do not have to cook the chicken all the way thorough, just brown it. It really gives the soup SO much more flavor. (I guess you don't have to brown the meat, but you're missing out.) 

Remove the thighs from the pot and put it on a plate. 

Add the veggies and sweat them for a few minutes. Add the garlic and oregano. Bloom for 30 seconds. Add the white wine and deglaze the pot. Reduce by half. 

Add the stock and chicken pieces. Let simmer for 30-40 mins. 

You can add the noodles and the matzo balls to the soup pot about 10 minutes before serving. I recommend cooking the noodles in a separate pot until they are just shy of al dente. Then add them to the soup pot just before serving.