How am I spending my time and energy now that the cookbook is done?

Not cooking anything from my cookbook.

That may sound funny, but I have made these dishes over and over, especially in the last 6 months, until every recipe was just how I wanted it and each dish had a photo worthy of the cookbook. So now, I am enjoying working my way through the cookbooks I have collected over the last 3 years – I highly recommend Chef Einat Admony’s Shuk cookbook, I am thoroughly enjoying her recipes. In fact, my friends held a soup exchange, and my contribution was her yummy weekday lentil and carrot soup (I added the spinach).

I had never been to a soup exchange before. You would think we would eat soup, no? No. We brought our soup in take home containers for each person, and then shared a lunch spread of cheeses, salad, dips, and lots of dessert – the healthy soups would be our dinners at home.

There was tomato-orange soup, harira soup, spicy corn bisque, and my lentil soup…yum! As my mom would say, “the food was great, but what I really enjoyed was the company.” We sat, ate, and before we knew it, 4 hours had gone by!

In the spirit of the soup exchange, I feel like I should share a soup from my cookbook – Saffron Celebration Matzo Ball Soup

Saffron Celebration Matzo Ball Soup

Chicken soup. It seems every culture has a recipe for chicken soup. Persian culture even has their own dumplings, gondi, that are similar to matzo balls. But I have a recipe for matzo balls that are light and delicious. So I partner the soup from morgh zaferani with my matzo balls. It is a matzo ball soup that screams Our Family. You will note that the matzo balls are cooked separately from the soup. This is important if you want a pretty looking soup. To achieve that, cook the matzo balls separately in a large pot and then transfer them to the soup when it is ready to be served.

Matzoh balls

4 large eggs

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup seltzer

¼ cup chopped parsley

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/16 teaspoon saffron, ground

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 cup matzo meal

Soup

8 cups chicken broth

1½ cups small diced peeled carrots

1½ cups small diced peeled white potatoes

⅛ teaspoon saffron ground

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Directions

To make the matzo balls: Whisk the eggs, oil, seltzer, parsley, salt, garlic powder, saffron and pepper in a medium bowl. Add matzo meal and mix well.  Cover with plastic wrap, pressed tightly against the batter and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

To cook the matzo balls: Bring a large pot of salted water or chicken broth to a boil over high heat. Moisten your hands lightly with water and form the matzo mixture into 10-12 balls. Carefully drop the matzo balls into the water or broth. Reduce the heat to medium and partially cover. Simmer gently until the matzo balls are cooked through, about 40 minutes. Using a skimmer transfer to soup when ready to serve or store.

To make the soup: In a clean stockpot add the broth, saffron powder, diced potatoes and carrots. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce the temperature to just above low. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Remove the soup from heat, serve into bowls, adding the matzoh balls and parsley.

Serves 8-10

ENJOY!