Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (2024)

Matzo Ball soup is one comfort item I go to every time I’m sick, or just need somehome cooking. My cousin, Jess, refers to it as “Jewish penicillin.”

It is a classic Ashkenazi soup but is a diasporan dish that has become a part of American cuisine. Every Jewish family has their version. I have never seen an adaptation like my grandmother’s, which contains a secret ingredient. Every time I make it, I have requests for the recipe. When my grandmother gave me the instructions she told me it was a “secret.” I believe in sharing good food, and so it will be a secret no more.

My grandmother Zelda was born in 1920 in Camden, New Jersey. Her parents were Eastern European Jews who immigrated from what is now part of the Ukraine. Her father, who was married previously, lost his first wife during the flu epidemic of 1918, leaving him alone with three young children. After her death, he placed the children in an orphanage as he could not work and care for them. He remarried (whether arranged or a love match is unknown). His second wife bravely took on all of the children and then they had Zelda.

In the 1920’s, Camden, NJ was a melting pot of immigrants. One of my favorite stories about my Grandmother’s childhood was that a neighborhood friend came to the window asking her to play. Like many Jewish immigrants at that time, Yiddish was the language spoken at home. She yelled to her neighbor who hada profoundly Irish name like, Michael O’Flannery, “I’ll be out as soon as I finish my tsimmes!” Her mother rebuked her saying that a kid with a name like O’Flannery probably doesn’t know what tsimmes is. (For the record, tsimmes is a stew sweetened with dried fruits like apricots and/or prunesand sometimes mixed with meat).

Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (1)

Zelda at about age 4

and as a young woman

high school graduation 1938

Zelda married my grandfather, George Bryen in 1940 at the age of twenty.


Exactly two years later, my father, Stephen was born. Three more children followed: Bob, Lora and finally Cindy. She was a complicated individual but was a consummate hostess.

Zi iz geven a gut baleboste. (She was good as the head of her home)

You never left her table hungry, and the food was delicious. My grandparents made the world’s best coffee in a stove top percolator. Although talented in the kitchen, Zelda was a notoriously bad driver, once driving through her den wall!. She loved her children fiercely and never met a stranger. Everyone was welcome in her home.

Even into her 90s, she was a snappy dresser who was a good conversationalist. She enjoyed following the news and the Eagles. She passed away in 2015 at the age of 95. Sharing this recipe is a tribute to her, and anyone who knew her knows she couldn’t keep a secret.

Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (7)

“You want my soup recipe? Well here you go!”

Matzo ball soup was originally a Passover dish made with matzo for a time of year that eating products with leavening are forbidden.

In our family, it is a soup course at a Passover seder, but eat it whenever you wish. A matzo ball is just a giant dumpling. It is perfectly acceptable to use any other filler, (noodles, rice, potatoes) if you don’t have matzo meal on hand or don’t like matzo balls.It is a thrifty supper designed to use the last bit of meat from a roasting chicken.

The dish is made in two parts, the stock and the soup.

The secret ingredient is sweet potato! It gives the stock a hint of sweetness. Use an orange sweet potato or a yam.

First the stock:

Created by gabrielle.bryen on September 20, 2016

Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (8)Facebook Comments

  • Prep Time:10h
  • Cook Time:1h

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken or turkey carcass and a few extra pieces of poultry if you have them
  • 1 cup quartered carrots
  • 1/2 sweet potato (sliced in half)
  • bayleaf (whole)
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon (optional)
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Instructions

  1. 1.Place carcass (and/or other poultry bones) and all other ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to a rolling boil.2. Once the pot has come to a boil, lower temperature to simmer3. Simmer for about 60 minutes until carrots and sweet potato are fork tender4. Cool to room temperature5. Strain out vegetables. Remove any large pieces of chicken that remain and add them back into stock ingredients.6. Transfer stock to refrigerator and let chill. Remove all congealed fat on the top of broth. Use within 24 hours or freeze for future use.
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Then the soup:

Created by gabrielle.bryen on September 20, 2016

Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (9)Facebook Comments

    • Category:Jewish cuisine, Main dishes

    Ingredients

    • 2 quarts homemade chicken stock
    • 1 cup carrots, diced
    • 3/4 cup celery, diced
    • 1 cup chopped chicken (I prefer a mix of dark and light)
    • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon or to taste
    • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp dried dill (to taste)
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

    Instructions

    1. Using a large soup pot, add broth, and all veggies and cook until al dente. Then add chopped chicken, dill, bouillon and salt to taste. If you are adding potatoes, rice or noodles add them at a rolling boil and simmer until tender. If you are using matzo balls, add them when soup is almost finished and cover with a lid so they can steam as the cook. They will increase in size in about 5 minutes. Serve immediately when balls are big and fluffy.
    • Print

    I use Tori Avey’s floater matzoh ball recipe.

    It is foolproof and very easy. Tori breaks it down step by step.

    If you are in a hurry, you can also buy theManischewitz Matzo Ball Mixbut making your own is very satisfying.

    Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (10)

    matzo balls in a pot

    Enjoy!

    A fun listen while making soup is classic klezmer. I like thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K74sXKKus1w

    .

    Az dos harts iz ful, geyen di oygn iber

    When the heart is full, the eyes overflow.

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    Jewish cooking

    Zelda's Famous Matzo Ball Soup Recipe - Dollars And Sense Times Two (2024)

    FAQs

    What is matzo ball soup made of? ›

    Matzo ball soup is a soup consisting of dumplings made from matzo meal, eggs, and chicken fat, that are then cooked and served in chicken soup. It stems all the way back to the 19th century, where Jewish people would make matzo balls from leftover crumbs of Matzo bread.

    Is matzo ball soup healthy? ›

    Add to that the benefits of vitamins A, C, and D in the broth, the anti-inflammatory properties of the soup vegetables, and a boost of energy from the carbohydrates in the matzo balls, and you've got a recipe for feeling better!

    What is the soup in the Legend of Zelda breath of the wild? ›

    The Creamy Meat Soup is an item from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is a curative item that restores Link's health with some Heart Containers. Link can make it by Cooking any meat with Fresh Milk, Rock Salt, and any herb or vegetable.

    Can you use olive oil instead of vegetable oil when making matzo balls? ›

    Just imagine how much prouder you'll be of your impressive, light-as-air matzo balls this Passover, or anytime you want to impress that certain someone's Bubbie. Whether to use schmaltz, olive oil or tried-and-true canola is up to you.

    Why is matzo so expensive? ›

    The extra level of scrutiny — and the labor-intensive process required to make handcrafted matzah — is largely what accounts for its high price: anywhere from $20 to $60 for a single pound.

    Why do Jews use matzo? ›

    The Passover meal, known as a Seder, is all about remembering Jewish history. Much of the food is deeply symbolic. Matzo represents the unleavened bread the Jews ate while fleeing Egypt, for example, and horseradish is a symbol for the bitterness of slavery.

    Why do people eat matzo ball soup? ›

    Traditionally, matzo ball soup was a Passover meal, consumed in remembrance of the unleavened bread that Jews ate when they were fleeing Egypt. During Passover, Jewish people would buy Matzo bread from their local bakery and use day-old leftover crumbs to make the balls.

    Are matzo balls hard to digest? ›

    Compared to airy, leavened breads, however, matzoh is dense and somewhat gluey once chewed and swallowed. Too much matzoh is bad news for the Jews who are prone to constipation, and this is particularly so for regular and egg Matzohs made from white flour.

    Can you eat matzo ball soup when you have diarrhea? ›

    Stay home and rest and drink juice. Rest is very important. Chicken noodle soup is good, matzo ball soup, eggs, things that are light.

    What is the pink stuff in Zelda? ›

    Breath of the Wild

    Malice is a thick, black-and-magenta tar-like substance that can be found in several locations throughout Hyrule Kingdom. Malice can damage Link upon contact. Malice is typically found in large pools on the ground, but can also cling to the sides of rocks and buildings.

    Why is Zelda crying in Breath of the Wild? ›

    Zelda believes it is all her fault, since she was unable unlock her sealing power. Crying, she states that everything she has done up until now has all been for nothing, and she calls herself a failure. Zelda laments that she has failed her friends, Hyrule, and her father, leaving them all to die.

    What happens if you cook chuchu jelly? ›

    As a Monster Part, Cooking with Chuchu Jellies will result in Dubious Food. However, if Link Cooks them with critters, he can make a variety of Elixirs. They can also be sold to Kilton at the Fang and Bone for Mon or used at the Kochi Dye Shop to make Light Blue Dye.

    Why did my matzo balls sink? ›

    It comes from the ratio of eggs to matzah meal and the amount of air whipped into the eggs. Too much oil added to the mix will make them sink, as will removing the cover while they cook.

    Why did my matzo balls fall apart? ›

    A quiet murmur: You don't have to worry too much about over-handling your matzo balls, but you should consider the vigorousness of your boil. Molly says it's incredibly important that your matzo balls cook at a simmer, because a roiling boil will be too harsh and could cause them to disintegrate.

    Is it matzo or matzah? ›

    In the food industry, it is almost always spelled “matzo.” Thus, you will see recipes for matzo brie and boxes of matzo ball mix. On the other hand, in a religious context (such as Chabad.org), the preferred spelling is most often matzah.

    What is matzo made with? ›

    Matzo (also sometimes spelled matzah or matza) is an unleavened bread made from flour and water. It's crunchy, very mildly flavored, and resembles a giant water cracker. The matzo we see in America is of the Ashkenazic tradition. Sephardic matzo is softer and thicker.

    What does matzo ball taste like? ›

    The lightest matzo balls will taste almost entirely of broth, with a very subtle matzo flavor.

    Are matzo balls the same as dumplings? ›

    Matzo balls are a form of dumpling, but instead of a biscuit-type dough, they're made with matzo meal, a traditional Passover ingredient. As they cook in the broth, matzo balls lighten and become fluffy.

    Is matzo ball mix just matzo meal? ›

    RC Matzo Ball Mix is a dry mix containing matzo meal, leavening agents and seasonings. Prepared as directed, it yields consistently light and tender matzo balls. This product is certified as Kosher Pareve by Star-K.

    References

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