Matzo Ball Soup. The Miracle Cure.

Whenever someone in this house gets sick, it's time for soup.  Not sure what it is about a hearty chicken soup that makes flu germs flee like a politician from the truth, but it sure seems to do the trick.  Hell, sometimes I think my kids feign illness just so I'll make soup.  To heck with an apple, a bowl of hearty stock full of chicken, veggies and matzo balls will keep the doctor away, unless, of course, you know the doctor, and they know about your soup.  Then they'll never get out of your hair...

Hot bowl of magic right here.

If you've made the stock in advance, this soup is pretty much a matter of chopping everything up and dropping it in hot stock.  But there's still a step by step after the jump.  Just hit that 'Read more' button down there...

I felt like a basic soup this time, but don't limit yourself to the ingredients I have here.  Yellow squash is wonderful, as is rice, wild rice, pasta, turnips, chard, spinach, broccoli... I could go on and on...

Time: 45 minutes to an hour

Cost: $8 for a good sized pot

Difficulty: 2
Seriously, it's chop, plop and simmer.  Except the matzo balls, they take mix, rest and roll.

Here are the ingredients we'll be working with:  Carrots, onions celery, bok-choy, potato, stock, and matzo ball mix (I had salt and pepper out, but the final soup didn't need it, it had plenty of flaveo on its own)

Since the matzo balls need to rest in the fridge for 15 minutes, I start with them.  Follow directions on the box.... add 2 eggs, a little oil, mix and toss in the fridge while you handle the rest...

Put a quart of stock plus a quart of water and a bouillon cube on to boil (I like the bullion cubes in this for the sodium, it seems to nail the balance just right)

Then, pull the skin off of a couple of chicken legs.  I prefer dark meat in my soups, as it has lots more flavor, and breast meat can get rubbery when simmered like this.

When the stock comes to a boil, drop the chicken in and get to chopping

Should be about 15 minutes of chopping or so, until everything is soup sized

Fish the whole pieces of chicken out of the stock, and pull the meat off the bones.  

It's okay if it's not all the way cooked, it's going back in for at least a half hour.  If it's not falling off the bone yet, chop into spoonable bits

Toss the chopped veggies and chicken back in stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes

Roll matzo balls to the size of your liking.  Remember, like dumplings, they will roughly double in size.  I usually do them about golf ball size, but I am planning ahead for lunch, and made them smaller to fit in a to-go container

Cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes so the matzo balls steam through

Ladel into bowls and heal those sick family members with love and soup