Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls, New Years Eve, 2009

A Soul-Satisfying Meal to Ring in the New Year.
from Best Recipes, Soups & Stews; Cook's Illustrated
pages 58 and 22 (with a few modifications)

Yet again Big Chef presented us with The Key Ingredient for this wonderful, rich, restorative soup: the special chicken broth.

The stock is made from chicken with bones cleaved to expose the marrow. The pieces are sauted and sweated before being cooked in water with chopped onion and bay leaves. At the finish, the solids are discarded and the stock is strained and defatted. Save 2 tablespoons of chicken fat for use in the matzo balls!

Oh, if you want to make defatting the stock easier, then a simple technique is to use a pipeline process. You'll need 2 (or more) fat separators for this. Just pour the fatty broth into the first one, then pour the chicken broth from the first separator into the second separator. You'll end up with wonderful fat-free broth using this method. -- Big C

Discard the solids? Yes. With this technique, all luscious flavors leave the skin, flesh & bones and enter the stock. The solids are without taste. But the broth. Luxuriously rich. The essense of the chicken. Nectar of the gods. If you are sick, the broth alone will restore you to health. It takes about an hour to make. Big Chef made the broth a day ahead of time.

Matzo balls can be a little finicky; if the mixture is too wet the balls will melt in the water. Too dry, they never cook to the center. I've tried different brands and settled on Manischewitz, unsalted. Substantial in consistency and size but delicate in flavor and texture.

Matzo balls do not keep well so I made only enough for the meal. For Big Chef and me (with a leftover matzo or two for the Scotties) that was about 8 - 9.

The flavor of fresh chicken fat in a well prepared matzo ball is without description. So tender, so delicate. The perfect balance for the Miraculous Broth. To finish the broth, Big Chef adds thinly sliced carrots and chopped fresh dill passed at the table.

We also had a half chicken sandwich a piece. I made if with Texas Toast, mayonaise with a little prepared horseradish, and lettuce. The chicken was left over from Big Chef's Chicken in a Pot meal a few days ago.

Chicken in a Pot is from Cook's Illustrated January - February 2008. It is a French method of cooking a chicken that forgoes a crispy skin for succulent meat. Big Chef used more rosemary than the recipe suggested in his preparation. That hint of rosemary in the cold chicken was a beautiful compliment to the sharp horseradish.