Exploding Balls
Maybe this is what I get for not practicing my religion any more.
Yup, that’s right – totally exploded matzah balls. I used the recipe featured right here on ES, but, for some unknown reason, my balls totally erupted in the soup.
I tweaked the soup recipe just a bit – sauteed onion, celery and carrots, with some evoo, salt, pepper and maggi seasoning and once that got fragrant, I added the broth and 2 bay leaves.
I followed the ball recipe – exactly. But I just couldn’t get the balls to stay together, so I added another egg, and that did help (thanks, Dad, for the recommendation.) They still felt a little disjointed, but I dropped them in carefully, anyway. I walked away for a few minutes and returned to a god damn mess of matzah.
Maybe they exploded because I covered the pot with a lid – trapping too much heat and steam?
Maybe they exploded because the balls weren’t put together right?
Maybe they exploded because I didn’t go to services on Rosh Hashanah?
I’m just not sure.
I do know that I burst into tears, called my mom hysterical and 80 Proof rushed to the laptop to figure out how to salvage the soup (after consoling me first, of course.) Tears more about missing my Oma’s matzah ball soup than a failed attempt at cooking; don’t worry, I’m not that crazy!
But, we just went with it, deeming it “Deconstructed Matzah Ball Soup.” (My dad likes to call it “Maztah Drop Soup,” like the Chinese Egg Drop Soup.)
And, it was actually very delicious. Super thick and bursting with veggies, I ended up liking the unique flavor and texture and have recreated it since.
I went home for the second of the “High Holidays,” Yom Kippur, and now have a copy of my Oma’s matzah ball soup recipe, which calls for very different ball ingredients.
I will try again, and hopefully conquer, matzah ball soup.
To be continued…
glad to hear it at least tasted good…it actually sounds like it would be…I’m having dinner with my aunt tomorrow, who is mos def an expert, so I’ll see if she has any tips
people it did really taste great, I hope we won’t die if we eat the bay leaves , just couldn’t find them we i containerize the big pot that gasnie and dad made. our oma’s matzah ball soup was a classic.
daughter to the rescue!
don’t worry, dad. i removed the bay leaves before we ate it.
I can’t believe you even ATTEMPTED Oma’s soup. Don’t you still have some in the freezer waiting for you. NOT LIKE YOU SHARED IT WITH ANYONE!!!!
Are you going to post Oma’s recipe? I may start cooking for THAT.
can’t wait to try the secret mb recipe
happy hanukkah everyone
After much research, I found an article (can’t find it now, of course) that polled Jewish cooks nationwide for their favorite matzoh ball recipe, and they all pretty much admitted that after trying their own, they all ended up using the Manischewitz mix.
No shame in that! My wonderful Bubbie did too, and if it was good enough for her, it’s good enough for me. She always made them with seltzer water though, which made them extra light and airy. And when I tried it her way with the box mix, it worked like a charm.
One caution, though: make those balls really, really small, because they do balloon up in the soup. Not that there’s anything wrong with matzoh baseballs, but I think next time I’ll go more for golf-sized.