- [Molly] Sorry, I need
a tablespoon measurer!
- I don't know
- Us?
- [Adam] We're trying
to make matzo ball soup.
- We're making matzo ball soup, dude!
- [Adam] But Baz keeps leaving the set.
- There's not a single tablespoon measurer
in this [bleep] kitchen.
- We have one right here
- Okay.
[lively music]
- We're back!
- Yes!
- And today we are making
BA's best matzo ball soup
which is a recipe that
I developed last year
in time for the high holidays.
And Adam
- Tell you what
not the high holidays
- Is that wrong?
- Passover
- What's the high holidays?
- That's like Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
- Do you not eat matzo ball soup in those?
- I mean you could, but
it's a Passover thing,
the matzo, anyway so she
developed it for Passover.
- So I took a lot of care
in developing this recipe.
Adams never made matzo ball soup
as I just learned.
- That is true.
So I'm looking to learn today.
- Oh that's so nice, okay well
let's start learning then!
We're gonna break this up into
the stock, the balls, and the assembly.
So, first things first, we're
gonna build a very beautiful
chicken stock and that is going to start
with chicken wings.
- Where are the wings?
- They're in the oven!
- Behind door number one.
Oh!
- Oh look,
they're in the oven!
Okay these have been in
the oven for 40 minutes
and we are just roasting them
until they get nice golden
brown color to develop some
flavor before they go into
the stock so that's the
first step of this recipe.
- So what does the roasting do?
- Concentrating and caramelizing
the flavors of the chicken
and activating the maillard
reaction that is that delicious
golden brown caramelization that
happens when you cook something.
- All right so we got the bones in there,
now we're gonna have the veg.
All right, one thing,
correct me if I'm wrong
but when you're making stock
you don't need to peel the veg right?
- You're not wrong.
- [Adam] All right so we're doin' what,
got one carrot, just rough chop?
- [Molly] Yeah, rough chop,
doesn't need to be precise.
- [Adam] Watch your fingers.
- [Molly] It's all gonna get
strained out in the end anyway.
Two stocks of celery, also rough chopped.
- Okay this is a parsnip,
it lends a nice sort of
subtle sweetness to the soup
- Yeah
- Which I love
I never used to do before,
and now I always do it.
Yeah, so I'm a big fan of that.
Now what about, are we doing both onions?
- Yeah, we're doing both onions
and we're leaving the skins on.
- I've heard, correct me if I'm wrong,
that the skins actually
impart color to the stock.
Is that true?
- Look at the color
of the skins!
- All right,
so just a quarter is fine?
- Yeah!
Quarter quarter.
- What about this, this
is a lot of parsley.
- Parsley in
- All of it?
- Yep, just go in
- All of it?
- In, yep!
- I'm just gonna chop it
like a coupe of times.
- [Molly] Okay you don't need to do that.
- [Adam] Well it's more
manageable that way,
it's not all like lumped together.
- So I think
- Like am I doin' a little
lateral sort of thing here?
- Doin' a lateral thing.
- Elliptical, whatever the word is.
- Cross-wise.
- There you go,
boom, peppercorns?
- Yep, whole!
- Okay, okay, water.
- Yep!
- So what's your sort of
guide for how much water to add.
- 16 cups, so four quarts.
And really you just want enough
to kind of cover everything
so that nothing is popping out.
- All right so we're just
gonna bring it to a simmer
and then reduce it?
- Yeah, once it comes to a simmer,
bring it down so it's
very gently simmering.
- All right so this is
gonna cook for about
an hour and a half total,
till it smells amazing,
nice golden, amber color.
- Yes
- Correct?
- But
- But!
- Halfway through so
at the 45 minute mark,
we're going to add these
chicken legs into the soup.
I'm going to season these legs with salt
to allow them to get seasoned
all the way throughout
so they'll sit for 45
minutes with this seasoning
on them and then well add them in.
- All right, so this stocks
been going for about 45 minutes,
so at a low burble, so now
the nicely salted legs,
they're gonna go in and they're
gonna cook or 45 minutes.
- Yeah, so they're basically
gonna like braise more or less
in this broth until
they're impossibly tender.
- [Adam] I love, look at
the color of that broth.
- [Molly] Yeah, already and
we still have 45 minutes!
- [Adam] Yeah, it's so rich,
you get like the roasted wings,
the onion peel, get a little
fat and everything, the fond.
- And it smells friggen delish!
Let's talk about matzo balls.
- Yes
- I feel like
slash know that you have
feelings about them.
- I think so much of matzo
balls come down to the texture.
- Yeah
- And that's where people
either differ in their
opinions or they complain.
- I think these are a happy middle ground.
This matzo ball mixture has
six eggs which I will beat
as I chat, the egg yolks
are going to give richness
to the balls and the egg
whites are gonna give them
some of that levity and fluffy texture.
So, beating the six eggs first
until there's no more streaks
I also have one half a
cup of melted schmaltz
which reminder is rendered chicken fat.
- Okay, couple questions
- Yes!
- [Adam] If you can't find schmaltz,
you still need some sort
of fat in there, correct?
- Yes
- So what would you use?
- I would recommend using
a neutral tasting oil
like vegetable or canola oil,
I tested this with melted butter actually
and just found the flavor
to be very bizarre.
- Too much
- The next thing
that's going into this bowl
is six tablespoons of chicken
broth which is taken
right out of that pot.
So you don't necessarily need
to use chicken stock or broth
you could use water but
since we already have
that flavorful liquid right on the stove,
why not add it in here.
And then finally, oh, this
is approximately three
tablespoons of chopped dill.
- [Adam] Really really nicely chopped.
- It is beautiful!
One and a half teaspoons of salt,
it's really important to
season your matzo mixture
otherwise it will taste like nothing.
And lots of black pepper.
- Wait, she just did three teaspoons.
- [Molly] No, those are half teaspoons.
- [Adam] Oh those are half teaspoons.
- And now we are whisking
in one and a half cups
of matzo meal, so what
happens now that everything
is combined is we're gonna let this sit
for at least 35 minutes
and up to two hours
and the matzo meal is going
to hydrate from all of that
liquid and the consistency of
this batter is gonna change
pretty dramatically over
that period of time.
- When letting sit do we
refrigerate or room temp?
- Refrigerate and we'll cover it also.
- [Adam] Okay!
- Look at that!
- Wow, look at that.
- Look how much it firmed up.
Can you see that?
- It reminds me of like
when you make falafel.
- Yeah, it does look like falafel mixture.
- All right, so what are we doing?
- All right, so we're
gonna roll these into
one and a half inch balls.
- Okay
- Bearing in mind
that these are going to
almost double in size
- Wow
- When they cook
because there's eggs in
them, they're gonna puff.
- So you want 'em like that size to start?
- Yeah, go in for like a little pile.
- [Adam] You gotta get
your hand wet first!
- [Molly] It's okay, this
is gonna get really dirty!
- [Adam] Okay.
- [Molly] And then yeah,
using damp hands will help
the matzo meal not stick to your fingers.
And then these poach for 30 to 40 minutes
which is a really long time,
and if you were to open
the pot like 15 minutes in,
you'd think that they are done
because they look big
and puffed but actually
they're only cooked on
the outside and they still
need to cook on the inside.
So you really need to follow the recipe.
- If you have leftovers, as we often do
when Maxine makes hers, the next day,
take the leftover matzo
balls, slice 'em in half
or into like chunks and
fry 'em up in butter.
- Stop!
- And have them
with your scrambled eggs in the morning,
they are so good to get
fried, crispy, matzo ball
- Oh my God!
That is genius!
- Patties.
- We have a pot of
boiling water and there is
exactly three quarters of water in here,
this is a measured amount of water
and a measured amount of salt
so that we have properly
seasoned matzo balls at the end.
So, you gotta measure.
- How much salt?
- Three tablespoons.
And then just use a spoon
to gently lower them
into the pot, so this will
come back to a simmer,
they're already starting to float.
And once it comes to a
simmer, we'll cover it
and we'll set a timer for
30 minutes and at 30 minutes
we'll come check on
our tester matzo balls.
[magical chiming]
- Okay!
- Okay [laughs]
- We're bringing the soup over!
- Yes!
Thank you!
- All right
- You're so strong.
- How gorgeous is that?
You're gonna take the chicken out.
- So just to recap.
This is one and a half hours of simmering
and I am now taking the
legs out and leaving behind
the wings, 'cause the legs
are gonna make their way
into the final soup later on.
- [Adam] The legs have cooked
for a total of 45 minutes
which is enough to get
them tender, fall apart,
but not get them over cooked.
- Correct.
- Hold that, yeah.
Watch out for the splish splash.
- I gotchya!
- [Adam] Get in there guys, oh wow.
- [Molly] Smells good!
- It smells so good!
- Wow.
- [Adam] And the steam
is good for your face!
- Yeah, the facial.
- The chicken stock facial.
- Yes I will do the shreddage,
which you can also just do with your hands
but this is very hot.
And then it's gonna go back in the soup!
- Okay then carrots also?
- Yes, with the intention
of staying as nostalgic
as possible, we decided to
cut them into carrot coins
which probably we would never do now.
- Okay, so I'm just doin' like that?
- Not even like
- Not even on the bias
- Yeah, like coins
- Wow, old school.
- Yeah like let's go for
if we're gonna go for it.
- All right
- [Molly] We're kind
of into the retro look.
- So like that
- Yeah!
- That's cute.
- It's cute,
I mean honestly you can
cut 'em however you want.
Most important thing is that
you're slicing them evenly
so that they simmer and cook
through at the same rate.
So let's go back in with
the shredded chicken.
- Wow, I almost spilled all of that.
- Can you imag?
- No!
Oh my God, that looks so good!
- [Molly] Yeah, it is so good!
- [Adam] It's like a golden elixir.
- Okay so the chicken is going back
into the soup to warm
through and now we're going
to add the carrots
because they need to cook,
we'll bring it over to the stove.
- Stove
- For the last few minutes.
- For a carrot that thick,
we're like 10 minutes max
over sort of a low simmer?
- Yeah, I think mine were a little thinner
so mine were like a four
to five but you know,
you just taste one.
- We're gonna bring this back to a simmer
and then the matzo balls
go in here, correct?
- Actually
- No
- Matzo balls can go straight
into their serving bowls
- Into the bowl, oh so the matzo balls
never get to hang out in the hot tub.
- They don't need to
I mean they're cooked,
they're gonna get combined in the bowl,
they don't need to be cooked any further.
Like we don't wanna sully the broth.
- Okay
- We just keep
'em separate!
- All right!
It's gonna be about eight
more minutes on this guy.
- [Molly] Yeah, just bring
it to a simmer again.
We're gonna check on the matzo balls!
- Let's go!
- So they are poaching!
- They're gorgeous.
- Let's, you know what,
let's take one over to the cutting board.
- [Adam] Here you go, here
you go, slotted spoon.
This guy
- Yep!
- [Adam] Oh it's so light!
- So part of a good matzo ball
is that nice beautiful, oh!
- Uh-oh!
- Not ready.
- [Adam] You can tell by
the color also, right?
- Yep!
It's still, it's dense in
there, you can see that
and it's still that like
dark matzo meal color
versus the outside which has
that lighter cooked color.
So, these need to go longer!
- That should, so it should be that color
consistently all the way through, right?
- Yes this outside color.
I'm gonna bring these over
because they've now been
cooking for another 15 minutes or so.
- Okay
- So let's give that
a spoon test
- Spoon test!
- [Molly] Feels, oh!
That feels nice!
- Oh my God
look at that
- Look at that!
- So look at the difference right there,
that's totally consistent
and that's totally underdone.
- When you look at it you
can see that this is dense
and this is very like if you
squeeze it there's so much
moisture in there,
versus here, no moisture,
the waters not inside there yet.
How are these?
- Mmm!
It is that kind of like consistent,
it's got some body to it
- Mhm
- But it's still
fluffy almost
- Right?
- And it's nicely aerated throughout.
- It's a happy medium!
- Yeah.
- They're delicious!
- All right.
All right, so you got the soup.
- So good
- Okay,
let's talk seasoning 'cause right a of yet
we have put no salt in there.
- Except for the salt that
is already on the chicken.
- Yes
- And in the matzo balls
- Okay good point, yeah.
- You wanna do it?
Because I feel like
you're gonna get offended
by how much I put.
- We should let like
the home viewer decide
how much we put in.
- No they can decide
in their own freakin' kitchens.
Wait, that's way more than I
thought you were gonna put.
- Is that way more?
But that's, I don't know!
- No, I love that for us!
- I don't make soup!
That seems like a decent amount,
that's a lot of liquid.
- She's perfect.
- Perfect, all right.
- How many balls would you like?
- I would like two matzo balls please.
- No problem, coming right up.
Let me find you the most beautiful ones.
So a slotted spoon so
that you don't carry over
any of that very salty
liquid into the soup.
Two balls for you.
I'm gonna do two also,
I haven't had anything to eat yet today.
Okay and then we're just ladling in.
- [Adam] I would like
carrots with mine please.
- [Molly] Great, I'm gonna
give you extra carrots
and give me less, okay.
- [Adam] Oh my God, look
at the color of that soup.
- Dude
- Like the orange
and the green of the dill,
can I put the dill in now?
- Yeah dill and black pepper.
- Oh dill and black pepper.
Again, so if you're
doing this for Passover
or any meal, add the
dill at the last minute.
You want it to be fresh,
and also what's really nice about the dill
when you bring it to the table,
you smell that fresh dill.
- Yes
- Which is really nice
- 'Cause it just hits the soup.
- [Adam] Yeah
See what I like about this recipe,
I think it's like the sort of,
the best version of a classic
as opposed to trying to reinvent something
that doesn't need to be invented.
- Might you call it BA's
best matzo ball soup?
- I might call it BA's best!
- I mean, just suggesting.
Okay, I want, I'd like to eat this now.
- I would very much like to eat this now.
- Let's see how we did.
- Awesome.
It's so good!
- Delicious, absolutely delicious.
- I mean it's perfect.
Mmm!
- Hear that?
- I just love it 'cause
like there's so much flavor
but there's no one over riding flavor.
It's just like
- Yeah
- [Adam] Delicious matzo ball soup.
- That's why we call it BA's best!
- Molly Baz, happy Passover to
you and your husband!
- Happy Passover!
Cheers!
- Cheers!
Mmm!
