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Rosca de Reyes
Christina Morales, Caroline Lange, La Monarca Bakery
148 ratings with an average rating of 3 out of 5 stars
148
About 2 hours
Updated April 17, 2024
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In a large bowl, combine the eggs, schmaltz, stock, matzo meal, nutmeg, ginger and parsley. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Gently mix with a whisk or spoon. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours or overnight.
To shape and cook the matzo balls, fill a wide, deep pan with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. With wet hands, take some of the mix and mold it into the size and shape of a Ping-Pong ball. Gently drop it into the boiling water, repeating until all the mix is used.
Cover the pan, reduce heat to a lively simmer and cook matzo balls about 30 to 40 minutes for al dente, longer for light. If desired, the cooked matzo balls can be transferred to chicken or vegetable soup and served immediately. Alternatively, they may be placed on a baking sheet and frozen, then transferred to a freezer bag and kept frozen until a few hours before serving; reheat in chicken or vegetable soup or broth.
So, where's the soup recipe? This headline is extremely misleading!
Ok, haven't departed from my approach to matzoh balls for 44 years...why change what works? Comments for this recipe gave me courage and a new world opened up in consequence. We all loved the ginger and dill, but the real revelation was that I could cook them ahead and freeze them successfully. Wow, does that change the hours leading up to the meal!
The longer you simmer them the lighter they get. I simmer for at least an hour and then again when they are reheated in the soup to serve.
my soup recipe - 1 whole chicken in a large pot with a large sweet onion, a tablespoon of sea salt and water to cover chicken. While bringing to boil, skim off foam and fat into a bowl for Matzos. Once you're up to a boil lower to slow simmer and cover for 30 minutes. Remove chicken and separate meat from bones..return bones to pot. (You might want to use gloves since chicken is hot.) Put meat in frig for later. Simmer bones for 3 hours.
Another tip. Use a small ice cream scoop to lift batter from bowl after it rests. Then shape into balls with fingers and hand. Keeps your hands cleaner and you you get uniform size. I've been doing this for years. Surprising that no one mentions this.
To whomever said leavening is prohibited: ONLY yeast is forbidden. I have Kosher for Passover baking powder that I bought recently in Borough Park.
Separating egg whites and beating them is considered leavening, as well. Commercial chemicals are not forbidden. Just the yeast. this is the reason matzoh is baked immediately after mixing the flour and water -- and for 18 minutes -- to prevent the introduction of natural yeast (in the air) from "infecting" the matzoh.
We all loved these matzoh balls. I'm now a convert from the traditional seltzer, beaten egg white, parsley, onion, recipe. (I've always used chicken fat. ) I also use the Israeli matzoh meal and baking powder. It was tedious to use a micro plane to
grate the ginger because I triple the recipe, but it was worth it.
Had rave reviews from our diners. The dill added a surprise punch.
Going completely rogue tomorrow. If the sky opens up - it's because of me. I will use a combination of my own rendered schmaltz and rendered organic bacon fat. I am 2% Ashkenazi, so this is heresy - but I will sacrifice for the greater good and report back!
Do NOT use baking soda or powder if you are making these for Passover, as leavening is forbidden. I find the lightest matzoh balls have no schmaltz in them, are very quickly and gently handled just long enough to make them round and then cooked.
Where is the soup? This is just a recipe for Matzo Balls.
Took a tip from another NYT recipe and whipped the egg whites to stiff peaks, then folded them into the matzo batter in several batches. They came light as clouds! The perfect herb mix seems to be a tablespoon each of dill, parsley and chives. Used real schmaltz and also added a teaspoon of chicken Better than Bullion (one of my go-to flavor cheats) instead of salt. The ginger is a true stroke of genius, and surprisingly harmonizes really well with the dill. Go figure.
Don't you love when you learn something new, and better, after all these years :)
I used duck fat instead of schmaltz- trick I learned from an Israeli chef- delicious!
My favorite matza ball recipe. The secret is the ginger and nutmeg!
I have just made these for the first time. I am an old school matzoh ball maker, using seltzer and beaten egg whites. But these are just fabulous. They are the most flavorful matzoh ball I have ever made. I stayed low on the ginger, and it is enough to wake it up without being overwhelming. I expected a little more dill to come through in the flavor, but it does not. Altogether terrific with a firm but light texture. I am not sure I will ever go back to my oldies.
Not impressed. Made these EXACTLY following this NYT recipe. Results: too much ginger, which shouldn’t be in a matzo ball recipe anyway, and lacking the special flavor found for example in matzo ball from famous deli like Katz in NYC.
This has become my go-to matzo ball recipe. It's the ginger that puts these matzo balls over the top andI recommend adding the 2 full tablespoons.
So delicious. I followed the proportions given in recipe (ginger, dill, parsley), but used evoo instead of schmalz bc that’s what we had on hand. Agree with other posters that 30 min was sufficient to set the dough. And so excited that the balls can be frozen. This is the recipe I’ll use from now on!
I make a as described and cook for 30 minutes.
For those worried about a lack of flavour due to cooking in salted water instead of broth, don't worry. These were amazing. And best of all, 1. I made them the night before and refrigerated them, and 2. was able to accommodate vegetarians by serving two broths on the day of, one chicken and one vegetable. (The broths were also made in advance.)
I love this recipe! My first successful matzo ball soup! I’m a vegetarian and used coconut oil instead of chicken schmaltz. Everyone loved! Thank you!!!
First time making her recipe. Will always do so going forward!
These are miraculous. Truly. Who knew matzoh balls could be legitimately exquisite? None of my bubbes, that’s for sure! (Chopped liver and kugel, they could do.) Joan - thank you, thank you, thank you!
The best matzo balls!! Flavorful and dense, exactly how I like them. The ginger is brilliant. I use chicken bouillon instead of the salt and cook directly in my finished soup; both make up for the lack of shmaltz. (For my soup-- I make a broth by cooking a whole chicken or chicken pieces along with whole onions, rough chopped carrots, celery, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. I strain the broth and return some of the chicken to it. Then I add carrot rounds, celery, dill, and a few other veggies.)
Yes! This is the matze ball recipe to use. I used goose fat and dill.And I used my (wet) hands to form the balls. Getting your hands involved is part of the Pesach pleasure. Don’t abjure it.
Careful with the light as air direction unless you know your audience. Some guests may be disappointed if they don’t sink like a rock in the bowl and the stomach like mama’s used to do. It’s a thing.
If you prefer light and fluffy ‘floater’ matzoh balls, use baking powder. Seltzer inly achieves this when mixed with egg whites.
Chickpeas are not kosher for Passover if you are Ashkenazi-Jewish. They are, if you are Sephardic.
Carbonated water makes for light fluffy matza balls
I’ve been making these matzoh balls for 5 years and just love them. The ginger is heaven.
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