When it tastes insane – and works health miracles…
If you’re warding off the chills, add traditional Jewish dumplings (kneidlach), and this homemade chicken broth will restore your faith in goodness.
Basic Chicken Stock
Chicken stock is really easy to make: just add all the ingredients to one pot, bring to a simmer, then let it burble away happily for an hour or two. Use cost-effective chicken wings or the carcass of a roast or rotisserie chicken – just freeze until you’re ready to turn it into soup.
What You Need
1 pack chicken wings
1 carrot, peeled and halved
1 celery stick, halved
1 onion, halved
Handful of parsley (if you have it)
2 bay leaves
5 peppercorns
Method
1/ Add all the ingredients to the pot and cover with cold water. Slowly bring to the boil over medium heat and skim off any foamy scum that rises to the surface.
2/ Just as it’s about to come to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for one and a half hours.
3/ Drain and cool.
READ MORE: 4 Quick Protein-Powered Recipes That Take Eggs Way Beyond Breakfast
Jewish Chicken Soup
Chicken soup with kneidlach is the traditional first course at the Seder meal during Passover. Food writer, chef and Jewish food expert Oded Schwartz of Oded’s Kitchen shares his recipe for kneidlach below. His dumplings are made airy with soda water and use extra-virgin olive oil instead of schmalz (chicken fat). “I also serve the kneidlach as one would gnocchi, with a home-made tomato sauce,” says Schwartz. “It’s basically the traditional 2/3/4/6 recipe [ratio of ingredients to each other; increase accordingly]; I usually use six heaped spoons for kneidlach and seven for gnocchi.”
For the soup:
Make the chicken stock as above but add two leeks (sliced and washed well), two turnips (peeled and halved) and 100g of pumpkin (peeled and roughly chopped). Reserve some of the stock for cooking the matzo ball For the kneidlach:
What You Need
2 eggs
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp soda water or very
cold water
6heaped tbsp medium
matzo meal
½tsp salt
¼tsp white pepper
30g dill or parsley leaves, very finely chopped
Chives and dill, chopped, to serve
Method
1/Whisk the eggs until frothy, then whisk in all the other ingredients (except the matzo meal).
2/ While whisking, add the matzo meal in a steady stream.
3/ Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4/ Bring a medium-sized pot of chicken stock to the boil. Using a heaped teaspoon and wet hands, form the cold matzo mixture into balls and drop into the boiling stock. Turn down the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 30 minutes, or until fluffy, doubled in size and cooked.
5/ Remove with a slotted spoon and serve three each in hot chicken broth sprinkled with chives and dill.
SERVES 5. Per 308g serving: 1 421kJ, 15g fat (3g sat), 430mg sodium, 26g carbs, 4g fibre, 6g sugars, 28g protein
Cook’s tip: the matzo balls can also be cooked in salted boiling water.
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