Around the Shabbat Table (20 page)

STORING THE WRAPPERS:
Fresh wonton wrappers tend to dry out quickly after only a few days in the refrigerator, so make sure they are very well sealed. Wonton wrappers can be frozen in airtight packages for two to three months (after that, they tend to dry out); don't refreeze them.

CHICKEN SOUP WITH ASPARAGUS AND SHIITAKES, SERVED WITH ROASTED FENNEL MATZOH BALLS

yield:
ABOUT 8 SERVINGS

Set in spring, when the earth is renewing and reassembling herself, Passover is celebrated as a sort of second New Year, reflecting the rebirth of the Jews as a free people after the Exodus from Egypt. Children start the season with new clothes, and houses are thoroughly cleaned and freshened up to make way for the new foods and special sets of dishes reserved just for Passover use.

And just as they delay until Rosh Hashanah their first tastes of the sweet new autumn fruits, so many Jews wait until Passover to savor the tender new vegetables of spring. In this delicious soup, woodsy shiitake mushrooms and early asparagus combine with delicate roasted fennel–flavored matzoh balls in a free-wheeling ode to spring.

FOR THE ROASTED FENNEL MATZOH BALLS

2 small to medium fennel bulbs (about 1 pound, weighed with 2 inches of top stalks)

2 tablespoons olive oil

¹
⁄
₂
cup chicken broth, preferably
homemade
or good-quality, low-sodium
purchased

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

³
⁄
₄
teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle (optional)

2 large eggs

About
¹
⁄
₂
cup plus 2 tablespoons matzoh meal

FOR THE SOUP

7 cups
homemade
chicken broth (see
Classic Chicken Soup
or
Almost Homemade Soup
)

¹
⁄
₄
pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and reserved for another use or discarded, caps wiped clean with a damp paper towel and thinly sliced

12 to 15 thin asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

PREPARE
the matzoh balls: preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut off the fennel stalks and reserve for another use (excellent for fish broths and stews). If there are some attractive feathery fronds, set aside about 2 tablespoons of them to garnish the soup. Quarter the bulbs and trim away the stems, the bottom hard core, and any tough parts. Choose a shallow baking pan just large enough to fit the fennel in one layer and put in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the fennel and toss until well coated. Roast the fennel until pale gold, about 20 minutes, then turn the fennel over and roast for 10 minutes longer. Stir in the broth, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and
¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon of the thyme. Cover the pan with foil and cook for 35 to 45 minutes longer, or until the fennel is very soft. Remove the foil, stir, and roast for a few more minutes to evaporate most of the liquid. Transfer the fennel and garlic to a food processor and chop coarsely. Add the remaining
¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon of thyme, salt (it will need about 1 teaspoon), pepper to taste, and the fennel seeds, if using. With the machine on, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil through the feed tube.

SCRAPE
the mixture into a large bowl. You need 1 cup of puree, so nosh on any extra. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Add the matzoh meal and stir well. If you can form a lump into a very soft walnut-size ball (the batter will become firmer when you chill it), don't add any more matzoh meal. If necessary, add just enough matzoh meal to enable you to do so. Refrigerate for at least 2 or up to 4 hours so the matzoh meal can drink in the liquid and seasoning.

WHEN
ready to cook, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon of salt to a rapid boil in a large, wide, lidded pot. Dipping your hands into cold water, if needed, roll the batter into walnut-size balls. When all the balls are rolled and the water is boiling furiously, turn the heat down to a gentle boil. Carefully slide in the balls one at a time and cover the pot tightly.

TURN
the heat down to a simmer, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, without removing the cover. (They will cook by direct heat as well as by steam, which makes them puff and swell, and lifting the lid will allow some of that steam to escape.) Take out a dumpling and cut it in half. It should be light, fluffy and completely cooked through. If it isn't, continue cooking a few more minutes. Remove the balls gently with a skimmer or large slotted spoon—they are too fragile to pour into a colander.

WHEN
the matzoh balls are almost ready, start the soup: bring the broth to a simmer in a large pot. Add the matzoh balls, the mushrooms, and asparagus and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

USING
a slotted spoon, transfer the matzoh balls to shallow soup bowls and ladle the hot soup and the vegetables over them. Garnish with the reserved chopped fennel fronds.

COOK'S NOTE:
You can cook the matzoh balls up to 2 to 3 hours in advance. Drain them and cover with some broth to keep them moist before setting them aside until you are ready to reheat them.

Experiment with making matzoh balls with a puree of other vegetables, like beets, carrots, leeks, mushrooms, or shallots. Roasted vegetables absorb less moisture than boiled or steamed ones (and, therefore, require less matzoh meal, making them lighter). They are also more flavorful.

MISHMASH KREPLACH (BEEF, POTATO, AND FRIED ONION KREPLACH)

yield:
ABOUT 50 KREPLACH

They started out in three separate piles, our weekday trinity: brisket, skirt steak, or sometimes a thick meat patty (it only became a hamburger when surrounded by a roll); one hill of fluffy mashed potatoes and another of shimmering, bronzed onions. Under my grandmother's tutelage, I learned the correct way to combine them in a sublime mishmash.

First, of course, stir the onions into the potatoes, adding little spoons of gravy or meat juices to make the mixing easier. Impale the meat on your fork and bury it deep in the potato pile. Withdraw and lick it like a lollipop, flavored if necessary with copious quantities of additional gravy and judicious sprinkles of pepper—there was probably too much salt to begin with.

Years later I found out that we were not the only family that engaged in mishmashing this classic trio. In these kreplach, a paean to the combination, I fashion the same ingredients into a simple but perfect pasta package. Including mashed potatoes in a filling for pasta may seem an overload of starch. But as in my grandmother's original mishmash, smooth, rich potatoes lend a creamy sumptuousness to the golden onions and savory shards of beef, especially when encased in thin, silky kreplach like these made from wonton wrappers.

Float the kreplach in homemade beef or chicken broth. They also make an outstanding appetizer or side dish, sauced with beef gravy or topped with sautéed mushrooms. Or pat the cooked kreplach dry, then panfry them lightly in oil with sizzled onions.

2
¹
⁄
₂
cups chopped onion

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup mashed potatoes (leftover is fine)

1
¹
⁄
₂
cups shredded cooked beef (leftover
flanken
, pot roast, or brisket)

1 large egg yolk

About 50 wonton wrappers (allow a few extra in case of tearing)

Egg wash (1 or 2 large eggs, as needed, each beaten with 1 teaspoon water)

Accompaniments: rich homemade chicken or beef broth, leftover brisket or other beef gravy, fried onions, or fried mushrooms (see Cook's Note)

IN
a large skillet, sauté the onions in the oil over medium-high heat, lifting and tossing them frequently, until soft and golden, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and continue sautéing until the mixture is tinged a rich caramel color in spots. (Good fried onions should be an amalgam of several degrees of doneness: from nearly clear to butter yellow to speckles of deep bronze.) Salt and pepper to taste and scrape into a large bowl. Add the mashed potatoes and the meat and combine well. Season generously to taste and stir in the egg yolk. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

FILL
and trim the kreplach using about 1 heaping teaspoon of filling per krepl, folding it into a tight triangle, and sealing with the egg wash.

POACH
the kreplach. In a large, wide pot, bring at least 5 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil. Slip in the kreplach, one by one, being careful not to overcrowd the pot (if necessary, cook them in batches, or use two pots). Lower the temperature slightly (the kreplach might explode if the water is boiling furiously) and poach until tender, 3 to 6 minutes (exact time will depend on the brand of wonton wrapper used). Lift the kreplach out, a few at a time, with a large skimmer, gently shaking the skimmer so the water drains back into the pot (the kreplach are too fragile to pour into a colander).

SERVE
the poached kreplach in broth, sauced with leftover brisket or pot roast gravy, or topped with fried onions or sautéed mushrooms.