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Michael Horowitz at wrote on 4/24/05 8:04
AM:

> Sheryl Rosen > wrote:
>
>> Andy Katz at wrote on 4/21/05 5:48 PM:
>>
>> Gotta be honest here....at least half the time, Mom used soup base (or
>> powder). I, myself, half the time, use soup base. For something pretty
>> darn close to homemade tasting, use half as much soup base as the package
>> calls for per quantity of water, and add aromatics (onion, carrots, celery,
>> fresh dill weed, parsley...) I slice the carrots and celery in serving
>> sized pieces, and leave the onion whole, so it's easy to fish out. Simmer
>> the veggies for an hour or so in the broth. It makes a world of
>> difference.
>>
>> And yeah, if using the soup base, cut back on the salt in the matzo ball
>> batter.
>>
>
> Wait a second. I may be misreading something.
> There can be two sets of liquids: the chic soup and the liquid in
> which the dumplings are boiled*.
> Which liquid are you building with the soup base? - Mike
>
> * some folks make the chic soup, then make dumpling in that soup,
> clouding it up. I've been trying salted water for the cooking.

I cook the matzo balls IN the soup.
That's how my mom did it. Anything else seems odd to me.

And matzo balls cooked in the soup absorb a lot of the broth, but they also
taste wonderful and turn a lovely yellow color. I've had 'em at my various
aunts' houses, they cooks them in salted water and they are this pale, dull
grayish-white color, for one thing, and they are not as tasty. My mom was
the rebel in the bunch, I guess. She was lazy, she just plopped them in the
pot of soup.

I don't mind a cloudy soup. One aunt actually puts the veggies from the soup
into the blender and adds them into the soup. It clouds it up but it adds
tremendous flavor and a little texture. Another aunt objects to that...it's
a constant source of nagging between the two sisters, actually. Little did I
know this, 3 years ago, when we had the seder at one aunt's house, and I
stayed at the other's. For supper the second night, she made her version of
the soup and matzo balls. I got the "they absorb too much broth" lecture
from her, as I watched her try to boil 5 qts of water in a Corning Visions
dutch oven...it took FOREVER!!!! At that point, I wondered if I should be
taking cooking tips from someone who didn't know that Visions pots stink at
boiling water. I tasted the soup though and said "This is delicious! Aunt
A's soup was good, but this is better....what's different??" and Aunt R.
laughed and told me about this contention that the other one's husband (my
uncle) would not eat her chicken soup with matzo balls b/c "it wasn't
perfectly clear".

Me? I slice the carrots and celery in the food processor and let them cook
in the soup that way. I like having slices of carrot in the soup bowl. It's
pretty to me. Last night, I floated a sprig of dill weed in the soup bowls.
Very pretty and tasty, too. We all LOVE dill!!!