All Day Matzo Ball Soup

A cold and rainy day just calls for soup! It's finally been cold in Florida for the last week, and by cold I mean the high was in the 50s for at least two days straight.  It may not be much to you, but winter in Florida normally means highs in the 60s and 70s.  With weather like that, a day of cooking doesn't sound so promising.  A few times a year, I have a craving for chicken soup and it struck yesterday.  I had a full day off today (bonus, it was rainy and gross!) and a clean house, so why not spend the day stocking the fridge with chicken soup!!!

This is not a quick soup by any means, but it is worth it to have homemade chicken broth waiting for me in the fridge.

My soup starts with a whole chicken and the type of chicken makes a difference.  Only a kosher chicken will do in my chicken soup, and at Whole Foods, I found hormone free kosher chicken which made me day!  Check it out. 

My husband and I have an ongoing argument about whether using kosher chicken makes a difference, and I maintain that to make Jewish Penicillin it must start with a kosher chicken.  He hasn't ever been convinced, but I am the one cooking so I make the choice.   

In a large hot soup pot, sear the chicken parts skin down in a few tablespoons of oil.  When the chicken skin has started to brown, flip the chicken over.  This is about 3 minutes per side.  The goal is not to cook the chicken, just to sear the skin and render the fat a bit.  It helps to round out the flavor of the soup, I promise.  It doesn't look like much now, but just wait. 
 

Once the chicken is lightly browned on all sides, add enough water to cover the chicken and stop the browning process.  Turn down the heat to low and be careful of the steam!!!

At this point, add half a stalk of celery, four carrots, two turnips, one yellow onion - skin on, two parsnips, a tablespoon of black peppercorns and 4 garlic cloves.  Smash the garlic cloves just enough to remove the skins.  Cut the celery, carrots, turnips, parsnips and onion in half.  Cover the vegetables with water and then cover the pot. Keeping the onion skin on helps to color the broth, so don't skip this step.  Don't bother peeling the vegetables, they will not used in the finished soup.  I hear they are great in dog food, but I don't have a dog.  I end up nibbling on the vegetables while the soup is cooking.  They give the soup everything they have, so they aren't the most flavorful vegetables any more but they are filling while I am busy in the kitchen.

After one hour, take the chicken, vegetables and anything else left floating from the soup pot and allow to cool off in the fridge. 

Return the pot to the stove on low heat and cover. When the chicken is cool enough to touch, add the skin and bones and cartilage back to the pot and leave the chicken in the fridge to be added to the soup at the very end.  These other bits will flavor the broth so take care to add it all back to the pot.  Leave on the stove on low for about 3 hours.

During this slow simmering time, prep the vegetables that you will serve in the soup.  Trim, peel and dice half a stalk of celery, 4 carrots, 2 turnips and 2 parsnips.  After about three hours, add these prepared vegetables to the soup pot.

While these are busy cooking away in the soup pot, begin the matzo balls if you want them.  Not every chicken soup is matzo ball soup, but that's my goal here.  I am not making my matzo balls from scratch because I come from a long line of women using Manichevitz mix as a great short cut.  According to kosher traditions, eggs are not added directly to a dish, but are instead cracked into a small dish first to check for bloodspots which are not kosher.  I do not keep strictly kosher, but this tradition has its hold on me.

I follow the box's directions.  Why mess with family tradition?  I used the whole box, because this soup makes a LOT and I really like matzo balls.  When following the directions, the mix ends up looking like this:

When rolled into balls between oiled palms, the raw matzo balls end up looking like this:

Add these to their own pot of salted water and boil for about 15-20 minutes until they float and have doubled in size. 

This is a good time to skim the soup of any brown scummy bits that may be floating on top.  Add the chicken back to the pot when adding the matzo balls to their own pot, or about twenty minutes prior to serving if not making matzo balls. 

Following a great idea on canning, I made two Bell jars full of soup for lunches this week while plating up the soup for dinner.  The Bell Jars are water tight and are supposed to be great for a plastic-free packing alternative.

I packed up the soup in one large plastic container for meals during the week.

 Then, I packed up the remaining broth in other containers destined for the freezer. 

 Do you really need a verdict?  It's matzo ball soup, how can it possibly be bad?!?  Oh, and the husband finally agreed today that the chicken makes a difference.  I have soup and vindication!  My day can't get any better.