Welcome! + Matzo Ball Soup

Well, here it is.  Another food blog.  With so many out there, what makes this one any different?  I can't really promise that it is any different.  But I'll tell you something: this cooking blog will start out on a complete cooking failure.

Go ahead, you can admit it.  You've been there.  You take time to pick out the perfect recipe, drive to the store, select only the best ingredients (and dump an unreasonable amount of money for one meal), spend hours over the stove and...ruin.  That's where this story begins.  But we'll get to that.

A little bit about me: I'm not a homemaker, I'm not a professional chef or a line cook.  I'm a twenty-something female in Minneapolis who has realized that cooking is one of the best stress relievers.  And as a recent Master's graduate looking for full-time employment, I have a little bit of time on my hands.  So here we are.

Over the last year I've come up with a list of rules to follow while cooking:

1. Drink:  Whether it be a glass of white wine, a Skinny Girl Margarita, or a Vodka Shirley Temple (and no, those are not random selections, those are my go-tos), cooking should be both relaxing and enjoyable.  And after a long day of doing whatever it is that you do, you deserve it!  
2. Prep:  Before I even pre-heat the oven, I read over my recipe.  I do all of the prep work that is necessary before I begin cooking.  That way I'm not madly chopping or dicing to get something in the oven before the timer goes off and lose a finger.  I'm a big prepper.
3. Clean-as-you-go: No one wants to spend an hour or two cooking to have to tackle a massive pile of dishes.  If there is any down-time in a recipe, I load the dish washer or wash what needs to be washed by hand.  Then when it's time to sit down and enjoy a meal, I don't have dirty dishes nagging at me the whole time.  

When it dawned on me this morning to start a cooking blog, I decided to tackle the Holy Grail of Jewish cooking: Matzo Ball Soup.  With a year of cooking behind me and a bunch of brand new tools in the kitchen, I decided to follow in the footsteps of my grandmother and great-grandmother.  Believe me, I knew it wouldn't be easy.  It's one of those things that Jewish women spend their whole lives trying to perfect.  And though I don't want to foreshadow too much, I'm glad I was following rule number one on my first try.  

THE MISSION: Matzo Ball Soup, adapted from Linda Doeser's 1 Stock, 100 Soups.  (Yes, I just cited a book in a blog post.  Can't take the 'nerd' out of 'grad student.')

THE INGREDIENTS: For the soup: 2 chicken quarters, 11 and 1/4 cups vegetable stock, 2 chopped onions, 2 chopped celery stalks, 2 chopped carrots, 2 fresh parsley sprigs, 2 ounces of Vermicelli, S&P.  For the Matzo balls: 4 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 grated onion, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon of water, 2 cups crushed Matzo crackers, S&P.  

RACHEL'S MOST IMPORTANT COOKING TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE: Skinny Girl Margaritas and two episodes of 'Judge Judy.'  I may or may not have watched an episode or two of 'The Real Housewives' as well.

The recipe has you make the matzo balls first, to give them time to come together in the refrigerator while you're working on the chicken and stock.  This was very exciting for me because it provided me with the first opportunity to use my new mixer.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small skillet, add the grated onion and cook on low heat for about five minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool.  While the onion is cooking, beat the remaining butter in a bowl until fluffy and then gradually beat in the egg and egg yolk.  Add the parsley onion, S&P, and mix well.  Then beat in the water.  Mix in the matzo crumbs until thoroughly incorporated, cover, and let rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.  

Put the chicken in a large, deep pan (or stock pot, if you have one) and pour in the vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium-low heat, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Add chopped onion, celery, carrots, and parsley and season with S&P.  Reduce the heat and cover, simmering for 50-60 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.  

With about 15 minutes left on my cooking time, I took the matzo mix out of the refrigerator and started shaping the matzo balls.  

As I started to shape the matzo balls - and after nearly 2 hours of work - I started to feel slightly nervous that this might just not pan out as well as I thought it would.  The matzo balls didn't feel sticky and were difficult to form.  But as a novice at this whole making-matzo-balls thing, I really had no ideas about what they were supposed to be like.  So I made 12 and put them back in the fridge, hoping that the extra time in there would help solidify them.  

Yeah, I'm with you...something just doesn't seem right here.  

Strain the soup into a clean pan, reserving the chicken.  Remove and discard the skin and bones and dice the chicken into bite-size pieces.  Add the chicken, pasta, and matzo balls to the pan, cover, and simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.  

Here is where my heart really sank.  After straining the stock and chopping the chicken, I attempted to add my amateur matzo balls to the soup.  Immediately they dissipated.  Not one of them held together.  All I could see in my mind was a window opening and money flying right out of it.  Even so!  I added the vermicelli and chicken and cooked it, per the directions, for about 25 minutes.  

MISSION COMPLETE:

Yes, it looks awful.  I know.  It looks more like a curry than matzo ball soup.  My grandmother and great-grandmother are probably a little disappointed that their little Rachela doesn't have a natural gift for making matzo balls.  But that's okay.  Because, more than surprisingly, it actually tasted really good.  The broth was fantastic and it was kind of like eating 10 mini matzo balls in each bite.  

Not to say that it was perfect.  Far from it.  But there are lessons learned.  

DEBRIEFING: 

In hindsight, I probably should have made an executive decision and chucked the first batch of matzo balls.  When I tackle this recipe again (or if you make a go at it!) make sure the crumbs are very, very fine.  I think my biggest mistake was that I didn't make the crumbs small enough.  I'd probably also add another egg to this recipe as an extra binding agent.  They just wouldn't stick together as well as I wanted them to.  

Also, the recipe calls for 2 chicken quarters.  I've made other soups using chicken breasts and I actually liked them better.  I think I would substitute chicken breasts for the quarters.  

My goal is to keep this blog up, with at least one post a week (hopefully more).  I'm not exactly sure that anyone will read it (outside of my parents, Hi Mom!  Hi Dad!) but I know I'll enjoy it.  And I hope my cooking will continue to improve.  I strive to be my Grandma C.  She's one of those special ladies who can just see a bunch of ingredients - often leftovers -, throw them together, and serve you the best meal you've ever tasted.  She's my inspiration for this cooking adventure.  

I know there are tons of people just like me out there, so let's learn to cook together.  And on the one-year anniversary of this blog, I will tackle matzo ball soup once again.  And will make the crumbs more fine, of course.  

Cheers,

Rachel