"Mama says ... For Friday night dinner, make your chicken soup on Thursday night. As well as improving its flavor, you can use the surface fat for making matzah balls on Friday." Peppered throughout with advice such as this, The Jewish Mama’s Kitchen leads readers through a complete course on homestyle Jewish cooking. Presented with archival photographs on facsimile notebook pages, this book brings culinary traditions and glimpses of the old world into today’s home kitchen.
My mother-in-law passed this popular recipe down to me. In the tradition of Jewish cuisine, cooks simply added a little of this and a bit of that until the right
combination was achieved. My late husband encouraged me to undergo "fish ball training" with his mother as part of our engagement! The fish balls can be cooked in
a deep-fat fryer or boiled in fish stock, which is the lighter of the two versions.
PAREVE: contains no meat or dairy products / Passover-friendly can be made in advance / can be frozen up to 2 weeks
PREPARATION TIME: 20 minutes
COOKING TIME: 1 hour
SERVES: 10 to 12
Makes: 40 small balls
FISH STOCK
4 cups water
4 yellow onions, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 pound bones and skin of fish (any type)
2 celery stalks
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tablespoons parsley
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 black whole peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
FISH BALL MIXTURE
1 pound boneless, skinless haddock
1 pound boneless, skinless cod
1 pound boneless, skinless bream
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped finely
2 large eggs
2 to 3 tablespoons medium-ground matzah meal
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 drop almond extract
Make the fish stock. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-igh heat. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Make the fish ball mixture. Mince the fish in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients. Pulse until light and sticky. Season if necessary.
Make the fish balls. Using wet hands, roll fish mixture into egg-sized balls. Using the palm of your hand, flatten the balls sltghtiy Place balls in fish stock and cook over medium heat 45 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fish balls to a serving platter.
