Sniffle

We had a wonderful housewarming party last weekend, but somewhere between there and Wednesday, I picked up a bad cold. What ever is a girl to do? Of course, I made matzo ball soup.

There are many variations on matzo ball soup. Some people add parsley and other fresh herbs to their matzo balls or stock. And don’t even get me started on the sink or swim debate over those little kneidlach. (Mine are swimmers.) Add garlic, add a teaspoon of tomato paste, make it vegetarian/parve, change up the veggies, and on and on. But when I’m sick and just need something that requires minimal thinking (not to mention the fact that I can’t taste anything anyways), this is the recipe I refer to:

Ahava’s Penicillan (aka basic matzo ball soup):

For the matzo balls:

• 1/2 cup matzo meal
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs stock
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt, pepper

1. Mix together all ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the stock:

• 1 quart stock, either veggie or chicken
• 1 medium white onion, diced
• four carrots, diced
• 1 medium head of celery, diced
• 1lb chicken, cubed, optional
• olive oil
• salt, pepper

1. In a dutch oven or large pot, heat olive oil over med-high.
2. (optional) If you’re using chicken, brown on all sides, then remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add onion and a pinch of salt, cook until soft and translucent.
4. Add the celery and carrot, cook for another minute or so
5. Add 1/4 cup or so of the stock, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to pick up any bits from the bottom.
6. Pour in the rest of the stock, return the chicken to the pan.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
8. Take matzo meal mix from fridge, then use a small ice cream (cookie) scoop to drop balls of the matzo mixture into the soup.
9. Cover and simmer for 40 mins or more. Of course, the longer you let it simmer, the more flavor it will have.
10. Eat and feel better.

 

Gooiedness

Recently, my friend gave me the cookbook Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth. She said that she had known it was the perfect cookbook for me because it had chocolate and it [the layout] is cute (in a kitschy way). And she was right; I love it. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of packing and moving and was not able to try any of the recipes right away. Last weekend, in the midst of all of our housework, the mister and I were craving sweets. So, I thumbed through my new book and came to the recipe The Best One Bowl Chocolate Chunk Pecan Cookies.

At first, I was cynical about this recipe. I mean, come on, one bowl? To further my doubt, the recipe required melting the butter in the microwave in lieu of the traditional creaming with sugar method. Desperate as we were for some sugary goodness, I forged ahead anyways. And you know what? They were the best one bowl cookies that I’ve ever made. They even give my standard cookie recipe a run for its money. The toasted pecans were sweet and caramel-like. The cookies had the perfect balance of crunchiness and gooeyness (although, after sitting out overnight, they were a bit too crunchy for my taste). I initially baked up about a dozen, which was about half the batter. Those were gone within two days. The Mister, who typically has enough self-control for the both of us, couldn’t keep his hands away from them. That is a pretty big compliment, I think.

If you’d like to try them out, check out the lovely recipe over at DailyDelicious.

 

Pesach Baking

For the past few weeks, I’ve really been in the mood to bake, but I’ve had to restrain myself or else we would have had to toss a few dozen cupcakes before Passover started. Luckily, there are a ton of recipes for unleavened baked goods around the internet. We will definitely have our fill of sweets this week and I will have my fill of baking. Alas, a brisket currently occupies my oven, so I’ll have to wait a few hours more.

Martha Stewart is a surprisingly great source for Passover recipes. For the Matza House that she made last week with Joan Rivers, I think she should be deigned an honorary member of the tribe. Here are a few recipes that I’m eyeing for the week:

• Passover Apple Cake from Arthur Schwartz.
• Glazed Hazelnut Squares
• Coconut Macaroons which use sweetened condensed milk, unlike the French Almond Macaroon recipe from the NYTimes. I think I’ll experiment with a few different macaroon recipes and figure out what I like.
• Chocolate Torte with Passover Fudge Glaze with more hazelnuts, mmm….

Here are some of the non-Martha recipes that I’m considering:

• Damp Apple and Almond Cake by Nigella Lawson
• Passover Chocolate Cupcakes (!) from Cupcake Project with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, although if I want to serve these at my seder (I do), I’m going to have to find a non-dairy topping.

Who says you can’t make cupcakes while escaping slavery?

 

Linky Linky

The recipe for these double chocolate oatmeal cookies comes from Everybody Likes Sandwiches. Last night, while surfing the web, because Friday’s are So Exciting around here, I stumbled on this recipe and headed straight to the kitchen for cookie goodness. They are good and easily Pareve/Vegan too! (Use margarine instead of butter, which I do almost by default anyways.) The dough has a very different consistency than other doughs. It has no eggs and so is not wet. I worried that they might crumble in the oven, but they held. Of course, I had to add a roasted hazelnut to each cookie. Mine didn’t spread like those pictured with the recipe and I’m not sure why, but I like them this way.

Here are some other recipes I want to try:

• Cheryl’s Yummo Eggplant over at Belle Epoque
• Fried Okra from This Vintage Chica
• Refrigerator Pickles at Happy Things

With a break from the rain today, perhaps we will have a picnic…