Rich Chicken Soup with Crackling Portobello-Stuffed Matzo Balls
Ingredients
- 2 qt. canned best-quality chicken broth
- 1 med. carrot, peeled, halved
- 1/2 sm. onion, stuck with 2 whole cloves
- 1 sm. rib celery, halved
- Crackling portobello matzo dumplings:
- 3 Tbs. rendered chicken fat or butter
- Skin from 4 chicken thighs, cut with scissors into 1-inch pieces
- 2 portobello mushroom caps, black gills and stems discarded
- 1 med. white onion, with skin, chopped in large chunks
- 2 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
- 1/4 C. chicken broth or water
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 4 lg. eggs, beaten
- 1 C. matzo meal
- salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
Directions
Combine broth, carrot, onion and celery in a pan, bring to a simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes.
For rendered chicken fat, sauté chicken skin in a heavy skillet over low heat until the fat begins to melt (or use butter).
Meanwhile, cut mushrooms into 1/2-inch dice and add to chicken skin with diced onion. Raise the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until skin, mushrooms and onion are crisp and brown. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and sauté 2 minutes longer. Strain the rendered fat into a bowl and transfer cracklings to paper towels to drain.
Measure the rendered fat, if not using butter, adding plain oil if necessary, to make 3 tablespoons. Add broth, oil, salt, and eggs. Stir in the matzo meal, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Form batter into small balls, make an indent in each with a teaspoon and stuff with some of the cracklings. Close matzo mixture around the cracklings; repeat with remaining batter and cracklings.
Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add matzo balls, cover, and reduce heat to medium and cook without raising cover for 20 minutes, or until the matzo balls have doubled in size. Scoop balls out with a slotted spoon. Serve matzo balls in hot broth in wide shallow soup bowls.
