I made matzo ball soup for the first time. It was inspired by a “potzo” ball soup recipe on a cannabis site.
As it turned out, my soup was as delicious as the best Montréal Jewish deli, the most fragrant Brooklyn memory. Really! I was so happy and surprised.
I’ll tell you below how to make all three parts: the broth, the matzo balls-- and the “canna-oil,” which is the taste-friendly oil you make from the weed.
Obviously, you can leave the pot out, but I have to say, it was delicious and not overwhelming.
BROTH:
Make the best chicken broth you can. You may already have a favorite recipe.
There’s a couple surprising spices and veggies in this recipe, I've marked with asterisks*. Be sure you put those in!
10 cups water
1 whole chicken, roughly cut apart
(I didn’t have a whole chicken; I only had two thighs and a box of TJ chicken broth. It worked out great. You can use anything to start with, as long as it has “schmaltz” in it).
2 carrots, washed
4-6 stalks celery, washed
2 parsnips
1small turnip, washed and cut in half
1 medium red onion, cut in half. You don’t need to take the paper off
*Dill, fresh or dry
*1 bay leaf
*A half thumb of raw turmeric (it looks like fresh ginger). Dried is ok, too, a tsp.
*2 teaspoons black peppercorns
*3 to 5 whole cloves. Yes.
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1) Fill a large soup pot with 10 cups water. (or chicken stock)
2) Put in the chicken parts, whole carrots, celery, parsnips, turnip, onion and dill. Add bay leaf, turmeric, peppercorns, cloves and salt. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, because you’re going to take them all out, later.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Take out the solids:
Remove the chicken parts and set aside.
Remove the vegetables and discard.
While you’re simmering the soup, you can make the canna-oil and the matzo-balls.
MATZO BALLS:
1 cup matzo meal (NO SUBSTITUTES FOR THIS)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Plenty of salt and pepper
4 eggs
1 tablespoon "canna–olive oil," plus 3 tablespoons regular olive or avocado oil--
OR: 4 Tbsp. Oil
*4 tablespoons seltzer or soda water
5) In one bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: matzo meal, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
6) In another bowl, whisk together eggs, (canna–) olive oil mixture, and fresh soda water.
7) Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
8) Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
CANNA-OIL:
Obviously, this is more art than science. I used some nearly-forgotten “shake” from 2005, I’m not kidding. Do not use buds or expensive pot, ever. This oil is for the lowly-ignored leaves.
Ingredients--
1¼ cups olive oil or avocado oil
2 ounces trimmed leaf, dried and ground. Use a postal or kitchen scale to weigh it, you need to be precise. Use a coffee grinder to pulverize it so it’s fine. I’ll post a link below for more info.
Method--
In cast iron frying pan or dutch oven, slowly heat oil on *low heat* for a few minutes. You'll smell the oil's aroma. You never turn the heat up.
Add a tablespoon of cannabis to the oil and then stir until it is fully coated with oil. Keep adding more cannabis until the entire amount of cannabis is mixed into the oil.
Simmer on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
This seriously stinks! Open all the windows. It’s sort like burning dirt. Don’t worry, it will go away.
Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool before straining.
To Strain:
Press the cannabis against a fine colander with the back of a spoon to wring all the oil out of it. Or squeeze it through cheesecloth.
In fact, if you have arthritis in your hands, and you squeeze a cheese-cloth ball of warm canna-oil, it is the most soothing thing in the world.
Throw the leftover cannabis in the compost. It’s useless.
FINISH:
9) Bring your delicious clear broth to a boil.
Take a little ball of the wet matzo dough in your hands, plump golf-ball size. Wet your hands with water so it doesn’t get sticky, and just shape them into a cute round ball, like you’re a kid playing with play-dough.
Shape all your balls first, line them up on a plate or chop block. I got a dozen out of my recipe.
Drop all the matzo balls into the simmering soup. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.They will expand and plump up, like dumplings.
IF you want to add some diced carrots here, you can, any tiny diced veggies. But don’t go overboard, because the star is the dumplings and the broth.
10) Shred the chicken and place it in serving bowls. Add the broth and potzo balls.
Sprinkle parsley or scallions if you like.
YUM YUM YUM!
Photo Credit: Emerald Magazine, who has their own recipe that looks just as yummy!
