Shabbat Shalom......HEY!

For our first Shabbos together, I decided that this was diningroom material and bought flowers, champagne and made a homemade dinner!

First we had matzoh ball soup, and yes, I know I could have easily ripped open a box of soup and ball mix (OR! Opened a jar!) and made the soup, but I took the blog-road and made homemade matzoh balls from the recipe on the matzoh meal container and made my own broth.

Matzoh Balls. From this recipe, I was able to make about seven medium-sized matzoh balls. Remember! They balls expand when you cook them! Disclaimer: I almost fell out of my chair when reading this recipe online---fat=oil ;-)


My Dad tells the story of his first Shabbos as a married couple with my Mom. They didn't take into account the expanding nature of matzoh balls and ended up with about 1 lb-each matzoh balls!

For my broth, I started with a Telma chicken bouillon cube.

The package calls for 1 cube to 2 cups of boiling water---however, I added 4 c water to 1 cube and then added my own spices. Of course, experiment for your tastes, but I used:

1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/4 tbsp onion powder
1/4 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chopped onion
2 guilty pinches of salt

I then added about four carrots cut into about three pieces. I let the carrots soften a bit, then remove. I added the matzoh balls and allowed to cook in the soup for about 30 minutes before removing and placing in the 'fridge in a dish. (If you allow the matzoh balls to just hang out in the pot, they soak up all of the broth and become soggy.

Just before serving, I added everything back to the soup and let warm!

You can also add sliced onion to the soup.

For our main course, we enjoyed My Gram's Roasted Chicken.

Remember that time that I made a chicken and the neck flopped out at me? Well, this cooking adventure created similar circumstances, albeit much different.

In the freezer, I had a small chicken and decided that a roast WHOLE chicken might be nice for Shabbos---although, this was a lot of poultry for two people. So there I go...I cut off the wrapper and then take over to the sink to rinse off. This might be too much, but for those medical professionals out there, the visual I had upon turning the chicken into the sink was much the same as a birth. Without going into too much detail, you get my drink.

Anyhow! I nicely rinsed off the chicken, inside and out. I cut the skin off from the top and rinse again.

I then decided to place the chicken in the roaster (I just used a large Pyrex). As I place the chicken in, it acts like a guy during Sunday football---it spread its wings and laid back and relaxed! Since I didnt have string to tie the thighs together, I just let it go. I seasoned the entire chicken, inside and out, with garlic powder and onion powder, rosemary and paprika.

I filled the bottom of the pan with water---just enough to fill the bottom and go about 1/2-1 inch up the side of the pan. I covered the chicken and baked at 350F for 30 minutes.

I then uncovered and added: sliced carrots and potatoes to the water in the bottom. While uncovered, I baked for another 1 hour. When the 1 hour is up, squirt ketchup (I did a kind of zig-zag pattern) on top of the chicken and bake for another 15 minutes or so. Of course, check the chicken to make sure it is done since every oven is different!

So good...and the ketchup, everyone thinks its weird to hear about, then they change their minds when they taste it!



Bon appetit!