And so it begins...

Growing up in Western Kentucky, I was raised both Southern and Midwestern, with a bit of International flair thanks to my post-military family. My family had been around the world with the Air Force and Navy, and I am pleased to note that my family’s home cookin’ wasn’t my schoolmates’ suppers. In addition to All-American favorites of Biscuits, Meatloaf, Catfish, and Ham; I was comforted as a child with Enchiladas, Kung Pao Chicken, Teriyaki, Mossakka and Tortiere. After college, I converted from my WASP upbringing to Reform Judaism. That introduced me to the world of Matzo balls, Hamentaschen, Gefilte fish, and Lamb. What complicated my food life was my urge to honor my upbringing while relishing my adopted new culture.

My husband (also acquired shortly after college) complicates this further. He’s not Jewish. He happily proclaims himself a heathen. So dinners in our house are often similar to what I ate growing up, but with a few twists. For example, I use Kosher ingredients over non-Kosher whenever possible (In the Mid-west, not all ingredients are possible). Even though my kitchen isn’t Kosher, I still strive to honor some dietary laws (i.e. I don’t eat pork, nor is it ever in my house). And we have at least one vegetarian meal a week (it’s the easiest way to be Kosher). But to keep my dear hubby happy, I do still have meat with cheese (I know, I’m a bad kid)

The following recipes are my attempts at eating. Eating with my heathen hubby, eating with my non-Jewish friends and family, eating with my Southern and Midwestern roots. I hope you can find these recipes as yummy and comforting as I have. Please feel free to experiment with them; I often use my cookbooks as cooking journals; with dates and notes about each recipe, any alterations or substitutions, and (of course) the results.

First up--

My Matzo ball soup

First I make a yummy roasted chicken stock. Tyler Florence's recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chicken-stock-recipe/index.html) is a similar in method to mine.  But everytime I have a roast chicken, I save it's carcass in the freezer. Periodically, I take out my lobster boiler (which, funny enough has never boiled a lobster) and dump in the frozen carcasses. I use no turnips, but add parsley, amp up the garlic and keep on the onion skins for lovely yellow color. I don't remove any skins, actually.

I usually keep this on hand in the freezer, but if you make it fresh, you could hold it overnight in the fridge, or make a different soup with some of it.

Then, I mix 2 eggs, 3 tbs. good olive oil or chicken schmaltz (schmaltz is wonderful), a palmful chopped parsley, 1 tsp thyme,1tsp salt, and ½ tsp  pepper  and 2-3 big cloves garlic and 1 small onion grated (yay, microplanes!) in a medium bowl. Then I add 3/4 cup matzo meal and 5-6 Tbs of the cold chicken stock. Mix well, it will be nasty gooey, and let it sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

While it sits, I clean the kitchen, do some dishes, feed the dogs, take some medicine, and make tea. I chop a carrot or two, a stalk or two of celery, and another small onion, and sweat them in a soup pot. I then add 4-5 (or so) cups of the stock, and add fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt with tarragon and parsley (yes, both. Trust me). When it is almost at a boil (medium/low heat), I take the chilled bowl of matzo mess out of the fridge. It should be a thick paste now. I get a cup or bowl of water on the counter, and wetting my hands, form walnut sized balls of the matzo paste, and slip them into the hot stock (re-wetting as necessary). After all of them are done, I set the timer for 8 minutes and clean up my mess. When the timer goes off, gently turn the balls (stirring them is a little too rough). I set the timer again for around 10 minutes, and go play on the internet and finish drinking my tea that got cold. I get up again when the timer goes off, and stir/turn the balls. This repeats for a total ball cooking time of around 30 minutes. Add some leftover shredded chicken to each bowl, then it's nosh time!