Beef Broth (for Matzo Ball Soup)

For those who like their Matzo Ball Soup with homemade broth...

Sure am glad I remembered I typed this in an email to Eric.. not sure I would have remembered the recipe and could not find it in my recipe box.

1 large container of Swansen's beef broth (yes I cheat!).
1 small bottle of V8 juice (like a single serve 16oz bottle).
Beef neck bones (soup bones or even a small beef roast)
1 large onion quartered
2-4 stalks of celery (sometimes I use this - sometimes not)
1-2 cups of water (you may need to add more later)
Bay leaf or leaves (depending on taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
I like to add just a little garlic powder too.

Bring to boil and reduce heat and simmer for several hours - check taste - if too strong add a bit more water. After it tastes to your liking, strain so that all that remains is the broth. I usually make this the night before as I like the taste better after cooled and reheated. If I make a big pot of broth, I will strain and then keep half the broth for the matzo ball soup and make vegetable beef soup out of the rest. That's why I said you could use a small beef roast instead of the beef bones. In my vegetable beef soup, I add...

Pre-boiled potatoes (until almost - not quite done - pre-boiling takes the starch taste out before adding to soup - pre-boiling until almost done will keep them from falling about when simmering in the soup)
Frozen vegetables (fresh when I can get them)
carrots celery corn tomatoes (diced) green beans peas chopped onion (I love onions!) (whatever else suits me at the time) Since the broth is already made, I just simmer the broth - add the vegetables along with the diced beef and simmer until the vegetables are tender (the beef should already be tender from making the broth) Generally, I will freeze the vegetable soup as the matzos will not freeze well but will last several days in the fridge if covered tightly. Making lots of broth means I get 2 pots of soup for less time and work than just making the matzo ball soup by itself.

Orange Cookies (you are welcome Cortni)

I got this recipe from a friend of mine a long time ago and it has been a family favorite for years!

1 cup of Crisco
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-2 TBS grated orange rind (this is a matter of taste)
2-3 TBS orange juice (from a fresh orange)
2 - 3/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine above ingredients well. Roll into balls and then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture below.

1-2 cups of sugar
1-2 TBS of cinnamon
(Mix the above well and put in a pie plate of bowl)

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Really watch so the bottoms don't burn with the sugar on the outside.

Candied Pecans

This is Grandma Rupe's Recipe - I just love this recipe - so easy and sooooo good!
(For those who don't know - Grandma Rupe was Cortni and Tiffani's grandma on their father's side)

3-4 cups of pecan halves
2 tablespoons of margarine (butter will burn)
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of Karo Syrup

Preheat oven to 250 degrees - place nuts on non-stick cookie sheet and heat for 5 minutes.

Melt margarine - add sugar and Karo and bring to a boil over medium heat - boil for 5 minutes without stirring after it boils.

Pour mixture over nuts on cookie sheet and stir well. Bake 1 hour stirring nuts every 15 minutes.

Pour onto aluminum foil (or the waxed side of freezer paper) and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix and break up (careful they are very hot). Let cool before eating (not as good if eaten hot) Store tightly covered if you don't eat them all in 5 minutes!

Matzo Balls (sorry Cortni and Ryan!)

This is Grandma Seligman's recipe -

not Kosher - but really - really good!

1 1/2 boxes Matzos (round tea preferred but I have to use the square ones because I can never find the round)
4 onions
1 stick of butter
3 large or 4 small eggs

Break Matzos into very small pieces (I usually break them up - then with my fist, I smash them a bit more just to get small enough) and cover with water to soften (the water will dry out when cooked) - they will probably need to stand in the water for an hour or so to get soft enough.

Chop onions very finely (this is one time I do the chopping by hand) - saute onions in butter until translucent. I do this is a very large frying pan.

Drain off excess water from Matzos (but not totally dry) and pour over onion and butter mixture and add raw eggs.

Season to taste (this really is a taste thing) with:
salt
pepper
poultry seasoning
celery salt
ginger (I don't use the ginger)

Mix thoroughly and heat on med/low just until dried (like cookie dough) stirring often as to not burn the bottom or dry any section too much (if too dry they will not roll)

Refrigerate then roll into balls about the size of a golf ball or a bit smaller and return to fridge until ready to cook.

Now... here comes the tricky part.... (or you can do like Tiffani and I do and put some broth in a bowl - add some matzo balls - heat in the microwave and you don't have to worry about them falling apart in boiling water).

Drop balls into boiling water and remove when they rise to the top. Serve in hot beef broth.

I make my own beef broth from scratch - but you could use canned (definitely not as good - but not bad)

This recipe will serve 6-8 people, so if you are making it just for you for a night or two you may want to cut the recipe in half (still use the whole stick of butter though)

Switching Gears to a few of my family's favorite recipes

Cucumber Chutney (Pickle Relish)

7 lbs of cucumbers do not peel (small ones with fewer seeds are best - if you use the large cucumbers then remove some of the seeds before grinding)
7 large onions
6 large green peppers
2 jars of pimentos (or 2 large red peppers - I prefer pimentos - just really for color)
8 cups of boiling water
1 1/4 cups of salt

Grind all vegetables coarsely - a meat grinder works best but since I don't have one, I use my food processor. If you use a food processor with the shredder attachment the relish will be a bit stringy, but will still taste the same.

Add salt to pot as water boils to dissolve salt.

After all vegetables are ground poor salt water (brine) over vegetables and let stand (off stove) for 4-6 hours.

4 cups of vinegar
1 cup of water
6 cups of sugar
2 TBS mustard seed
2 TBS celery seed
2 TBS turmeric

If the relish is too sweet, you can reduce the sugar by 1 cup or add 1 more cup of vinegar. It really does not matter how much juice there is - you only have to can as much (or as little) juice as you want.

Drain vegetable thoroughly - very thoroughly! You can rinse too if you like to remove a bit of the salt. If you rinse, remember to drain very thoroughly again.

Pour vinegar/sugar mixture over vegetable mixture and boil on medium heat 30-40 minutes stirring often to insure the bottom does not burn.

Pour into hot canning jars and seal.

Best way to get jars to seal.

Boil about 2 cups of water and put "flats" in the water (do not continue to boil). Wash jars in dishwasher. When dishwasher is in "dry mode" remove one or two at at time and add relish to about 1/2 from the top of the jar. With a damp clean towel or damp paper towel clean the rim of the jar so it is totally free of any juice of relish. Place the hot flat lid on the jar - screw on the lid tightly and set aside. Continue until you use up all the relish. Do not put jars right next to each other - they need room to breath. Listen for the pop of the lids (sometimes takes an hour or more for them to seal). You can tell the jar is sealed properly if you press in the center of the flat and can tell it has been sucked down (make sure to allow enough time 1-3 hours). If one or more of the jars do not seal, you can reheat the relish and clean the jar again and repeat. Usually if only one jar does not seal, I just put it in the fridge!

After the jars are sealed, you can put in the cupboard and they will keep 2-3 years as long as the seal has not been broken.