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Matzah Ball Soup
Matzah Ball Soup
Matzah ball soup is the quintessential soup of Jewish cuisine; eaten all year round, especially during Passover. The matzah represents the unleavened bread the Jews ate while fleeing Egypt in the time of Moses. The balls are made from matzah meal, eggs, and fat: either oil or rendered chicken fat called smaltz. The matzah balls are simmered in chicken soup until they double in size, becoming light and fluffy.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken skinned; cut into 8 pieces
- 3 quarts water
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 large carrots sliced
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 1 small onion quartered
- salt to taste
- 1 box matzah ball mix
- 4 large eggs beaten
- 4 tbsp olive oil or smaltz
- 3 tbsp dill chopped
Instructions
- Place the chicken pieces, bay leaves, carrots, celery, and onion in a large stock pot. Cover with 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 90 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Scoop out the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaves. Take the meat off the chicken and chop. Save the carrots and celery. Discard the bay leaves and onion. Season the chicken stock with salt to taste.
- In a bowl, mix together the matzah meal, eggs, and oil or smaltz.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Using a cookie dropper, scoop the matzah dough and roll into balls.
- Turn the heat on the stock to medium low. Add the chicken, carrots, and celery back into the pot.
- Add the matzah balls into the pot.
- Simmer for 20 minutes until the matzah balls more than double in size. Turn off the heat and stir in the dill.
Kālua Pork
Kalua Pork
Kālua pork is a popular staple of Hawaiian cuisine. Traditionally, a whole pig is wrapped in banana leaves and buried underground with a fire; left to roast for an entire day. While that’s going to be a problem doing it in your backyard, you can still make Kālua pork on a smaller scale in your oven. You can find banana leaves at any asian market, usually in the frozen section. Pork shoulder will work the best for this recipe. All you have to do is line a dutch oven with banana leaves, place chunks of pork in the leaves with garlic, liquid smoke, and pink sea salt, wrap it up in the leaves, and bake. The banana leaves give the pork an earthy flavor that you can’t duplicate anywhere else. The pork s traditionally served with shredded cabbage or can be used as pork sliders on Hawaiian rolls.
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- banana leaves
- 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder cut into 2” chunks
- 8 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 tbsp liquid smoke
- Hawaiian pink salt
- water
Instructions
- Line a dutch oven with banana leaves.
- Place the chunks of pork shoulder in the center of the leaves. Add in the garlic and liquid smoke. Season with pink sea salt.
- Fold over and cover the pork with the banana leaves. Fill the dutch oven with 1” of water. Place the lid on and bake in a 300° preheated oven for 3 hours.
- Remove the lid and open up the banana leaves. Shred the pork with a fork and serve.
Philly Cheesesteak
Philly Cheesesteak
This legendary sandwich was created in Philadelphia in the 1930s by a hotdog cart vendor named Pat Olivieri. As the story goes, a cab driver smelled Pat cooking up thinly sliced beef on a hotdog bun and asked to try it. Hence, the cheesesteak was born. There are a few components to making an authentic cheesesteak. The first is to use thinly sliced ribeye. If this is something you don’t want to do on your own, ask your butcher. Sautéed onions and green peppers are definitely a must in making this sandwich. Once they’re sautéed, the beef gets added and cooked with them. Probably the most important part of the sandwich is the cheese that’s used. American, provolone, or cheese whiz are the only acceptable cheese. Nothing else. All of this gets put on a hoagie roll.Let’s be very clear. There’s no lettuce, no tomato, no mayo, no mustard, no steak sauce; nothing else that goes on a cheesesteak. If you’re in Philly and ask for such a thing, you’ll here about it and be asked to leave.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 medium white onion diced
- 1/2 large green bell pepper diced
- 1 lb ribeye thinly sliced
- salt and pepper
- 4 slices american or provolone cheese or cheese whiz
- 2 hoagie rolls
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and green peppers for 5 minutes.
- Add in the thinly sliced ribeye. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Separate the meat, peppers, and onions into 2 piles. Place the cheese on top of each pile and allow to melt for about 2 minutes.
- Using a wide spatula, scoop each mound and place on the hoagie rolls.
