Dilled Matzoh Balls in Salad?

[BluePlate]

Hi All,

Hope you've all been well, and a big happy Father's Day to all dads out there.

Every now and then, I make dilled matzo balls. I fish them out of the stock and store/refrigerate them separately. I reheat soup, and add the balls separately. But, frankly, I like eating the balls cold, too!

I was thinking about creating a summer salad of fresh peas, pea pods, and pea shoots with a light herb dressing and I was thinking about making very small matzo balls to go with it. Do you think this would be too weird?

Does anyone else like matzo balls without soup? Cold?

Thanks for any thoughts... Cheers,

[GB]

I LOVE matzoh balls (even cold), but having them in a salad would be weird to me. I am sure that is just because they were a food I grew up with and they were always in soup.

Give it a shot and see if you like it, then let us know.

[kadesma]

Originally Posted by BluePlate

Hi All,

Hope you've all been well, and a big happy Father's Day to all dads out there.

Every now and then, I make dilled matzo balls. I fish them out of the stock and store/refrigerate them separately. I reheat soup, and add the balls separately. But, frankly, I like eating the balls cold, too!

I was thinking about creating a summer salad of fresh peas, pea pods, and pea shoots with a light herb dressing and I was thinking about making very small matzo balls to go with it. Do you think this would be too weird?

Does anyone else like matzo balls without soup? Cold?

Thanks for any thoughts... Cheers,

Be adventursome, that is part of the enjoyment of cooking. I've had matzoh balls in soup but never cold..If you enjoy them that way, give your idea a chance..Who knows you may have something you will love. If you don't try, you will always wonder what if!

kadesma

[SurvivorGirl]

does anyone have a good matzoh ball recipe? heard of them but never tried em, would love to though
thx!

[GB]

Buy the mix in the Jewish foods section of your local supermarket.

[GB]

In case your supermarket doesn't have it you can buy it here.
Click on side mixes then traditional mixes.

[auntdot]

Robert Burns wrote a poem lauding the haggis.

Seems to me someone should do at least as good a job extolling the wonders of the matzoh ball.

Warm, cold they are delicious.

But in a salad, I think they have no more of a place than does the haggis.

[Chefellas]

I think that cold matsoballs would be great in a salad. The only thing that I might do is to quarter them so that they wouldn't be so weird. If I ever saw a matso ball salad on a menu I would definitely order it.

[lindochka]

Cold dilled matzo balls in a salad sounds interesting!

With all due respect to GB, I do not recommend using a mix. None of the mixes produces a result as good as the real thing and you save very little time using a mix over making them from scratch because the prep and cooking involved are what takes the most time.

If you have a Jewish foods section in your supermarket, you should be able to find matzo meal there all year 'round, and just about every company that makes it has a recipe printed on the box. Make sure you use very cold water (some cooks swear by very cold seltzer in place of the water) when you are preparing your mixture and don't forget to cool/moisten your hands with cold water before shaping the balls.

You might want to try Chefellas' suggestion of quartering them for a salad, because even when they start out very small they do tend to expand, especially if you prefer the light and fluffy variant. And if you do prefer the light and fluffy variant, be sure you add all the formed balls to the cooking water at pretty much the same time, cover the pot, and do not uncover even for a second during the cooking. (If you uncover them during the cooking, you will get the cannonball variant.)

Here's a recipe to try:

Matzo balls

4 eggs, slightly beaten*
4 tablespoons of oil
4 tablespoons of ice cold water
1 cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper**

*I like to separate the eggs and beat the whites almost to a meringue, mix up everything else, and then carefully fold in the beaten whites -- this produces maximum fluff.

**I omit pepper and instead use garlic and dill to taste.

Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well. After mixing refrigerate for one hour covered in the refrigerator.

Fill a large pot with 8 cups of water and one teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. The matzo balls will expand in the pot as they cook, so choose a large pot to allow for expansion. After the water comes to a boil, reduce the flame to low. Take the mixture out from the refrigerator and in your hand gently make the balls. Make sure that your hands are wet before proceeding to make the balls. Slowly add the newly formed balls to the hot water.

Cook for thirty minutes, then turn off fire, but keep the pot covered and let it cool for another ten minutes.

Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

If serving in chicken soup, do not add the matzo balls to the soup until a half hour before serving. Leftover matzo balls are good reheated in soup, and some people enjoy them sliced and fried in oil.

HTH.

[*amy*]

Originally Posted by BluePlate

Hi All,

Hope you've all been well, and a big happy Father's Day to all dads out there.

Every now and then, I make dilled matzo balls. I fish them out of the stock and store/refrigerate them separately. I reheat soup, and add the balls separately. But, frankly, I like eating the balls cold, too!

I was thinking about creating a summer salad of fresh peas, pea pods, and pea shoots with a light herb dressing and I was thinking about making very small matzo balls to go with it. Do you think this would be too weird?

Does anyone else like matzo balls without soup? Cold?

Thanks for any thoughts... Cheers,

Hi Blueplate. I realize this is an old post, but I think your idea is interesting. I've only had MBs in soup, but in a salad I would make the balls very small, add beets, horseradish and bleu cheese - any ingredients to 'kick up' the flavor, since MBs can be a tad bland. Gefilte fish might be an interesting flavor to add to the dish. Let us know what you come up with. BTW, I've used the 'mix', but it's much better IMO, making MBs from scratch -- not worth the money, and so few to 'show' for what you've spent. My mom used to make 'em almost rock hard -- & I still like them that way.