Jewish penicillin - Jiddishe Mama's chicken soup with noodles and matzo balls (kosher, gluten-free)

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Every Jewish mother has their own version of this chicken and noodle soup - the cure-all-ailments-wonder.

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As the long-awaited spring sun finally graced Scandinavia with its rays, we honestly thought the worst was behind us. Temperatures, soaring higher and higher each day lulled us into thinking we'd survived the most critical period without any casualties.

Summer was on its way and with it our happiness could continue as one endless stream of care-free summer days and picnics. 

Oh, how wrong we were.

Only a couple of days after our return from the Champagne cruise the dark clouds started to gather in the horizon. First my throat started acting out, though luckily proving to be a false alarm. But then... then all Hell broke loose. The worst possible scenario came true. My eyes are welling up even as I'm trying to write this. 

Man flu. 

The most fatal of diseases got the best of Gothenburger, a professional soldier; my mean, lean killing machine. Ruthlessly the contraction stripped him bare of his highly honed survival strategies, regressing him to a 3-year-old toddler. 

"Hurts. Feels bad. I think I'm dying."

We were facing a battle not many survive. Fortunately one of us was up for it and knew exactly which guns to bring out. The big ones. A.k.a. Jiddishe Mama's Jewish chicken soup.

This is a soup every Jiddishe Mama and Bubbe (that's Jewish mamas and grandmothers everywhere) has in their recipe arsenal. Also known as Jewish penicillin, generations and generations have come to know its prowess. This soup is proven to cure any ailments life throws one's way, from heartache to flu.

An article published in an American medical journal shows the soup's miraculous healing properties are not entirely without scientific foundation: something in the chicken soup controls the white cells and helps the body fight the infection.

(Can any teenager think of anything more depressing? That even science shows how mothers really know best?)

Perhaps it's the nutrients in the soup? Perhaps it's the warmth that helps alleviate congestion? The hydrating qualities?

Or perhaps it's the key ingredient of any cooking: love?

The Jewish chicken soup is rather well known outside Jewish kitchens as well and I have a feeling many of you, too, will have at least heard of the most exotic element: the matzo balls?

While matzo meal (or the sheets you can grind into meal yourself) might be difficult to come by (sold at least in kosher delis) you can substitute them with water crackers.

(The soup is good and comforting even without the matzo balls and helps its stay gluten-free, too.)

You can also omit the noodles - in that case just use more root veggies. 

Instead of noodles/ spaghetti you can use any kind of pasta you want - the toddler within each patient tends to find teddy bear-shaped pasta particularly healing...

Serves 4-6

Jiddishe Mama's chicken soup - Jewish chicken soup with noodles and matzo balls:

1 whole 2 kg chicken)

about 2,5 l water

2 large carrots (or 3-4 smaller ones)

2 large onions (or 3 smaller ones)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp whole black peppers

3 large garlic cloves (or 4-5 smaller ones)

3 bay leaves

the stalks of a parsley bunch

the stalks of a dill bunch

1 large carrots (or 2 smaller ones)

1/2 of a large leek (or 1 smaller one)

75 g spaghetti or noodles (gluten-free if needed)

remaining herbs

Pat the chicken dry and place in the largets pot you've got. Pour enough water into the pot to cover the chicken by about 10 cm. Bring to simmer.

Roughly chop the carrots and onions. Bruise the garlic with the back of the knife.

Cook the chicken for half an hour, skimming the foam and fat that forms on the top (save 3 tbsp of chicken fat, schmaltz, for the matzo balls).

Once the foam stops forming, add rest of the ingredients into the pot and simmer for further 1,5 hrs.

Transfer the chicken out of the pot and drain the stock through a mesh sieve. Check the taste and season with salt and pepper or chicken stock cube as needed. Prepare the matzo ball mixture at this point. 

To maximize the clarity of the soup, you can cool the stock and then skim the fat layer gathering on the top while the chicken cools. 

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip the skin and remove the meat from the bones. Shred the meat, cut the leek and carrots to match sticks and break the pasta into similar length pieces.

Return the stock into the pot and bring to simmer. Add matzo balls and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Then add pasta/ noodles and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Then add veggies and after another 5 minutes the chicken. Once the chicken's heated through, stir in the remaining herbs. In case too much stock has evaporated during cooking, replenish it with some chicken stock.

Matzo balls (depending on the size makes 20-25 balls):

3 eggs

3 tbsp chicken fat (or vegetable oil)

85 g matzo meal (or finely ground water crackers; gluten-free if needed)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tl onion powder

1/2 tbsp finely chopped dill

1/2 tsp finely rated lemon zest

Blizz the matzo sheets or water crackers in a food processor until fine. Combine with rest of the dry ingredients. 

Lightly beat the eggs and add the fat.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir quickly. Cover and chill for half an hour (this helps shaping the balls).

Roll into small balls of about 2 cm (they double in size when cooked).

Cook in the soup as instructed above.

Another highly potent flu-repeller is also one of my all-time favourite recipes on the blog: my mango, chilli and ginger chicken. 

Are you guys familiar with Jewish chicken soup? Or do you have another trusty go-to-recipe when you're feeling under the weather?

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Carrilleras de cerdo en Pedro Ximénez - Iberico pork sheeks braised in Pedro Ximénez sherry (gluten-free)

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Iberico pork cheeks braised in Pedro Ximénez sherry take a little time but they are a delicacy that will melt in your mouth!

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This recipe is from my new book. 

Sure, it is so very yummydeliciously übergood, too, but it became one of my favourites because it was one of the recipes we tried, tested, styled, shot and devoured together with my beloved Gothenburger.

This gives him a legitimate claim to fame and reason to brag about his contribution to the book - not only has he been giving his opinion on the recipe, he's also been holding the styling props (and listening to the endless stream of profanities sprouting out of the author, frustrated with the ever-changing light and swiftly approaching deadlines...)

Andalusia has traditionally been one of EU's poorest regions, which reflects on its cuinary traditions, too. Every single part of the animal is used; also the not-so-appealing ones.

Iberico pork cheeks aren't much to look at and they do take a little time, but trust me - they're quite possibly the best part of the whole pig.

Perhaps a little surprisingly the sherries most often used for braising meat are the dulces; sweet sherries such as Pedro Ximénez. Firts time I encountered this dish at one of my favourite tapas bars and boy, it was love from the first time.

Such a cheeky treat!

Serves 4-6 as a main, up to 10 as tapas

Carrilleras de cerdo en Pedro Ximénez - Iberico pork cheeks braised in Pedro
Ximénez sherry:

12 (Iberico) pork cheeks (total weight 1,2 - 1,6 kg)

2 celerys, finely diced

1 large carrot (or 2 medium ones), finely diced

1 large onion (or 2 small ones), finely diced

1 whole head of garlic, cut in half

5 dl stock

5 dl Pedro Ximénez sherry (or Cream sherry, like one from Valdespino)

salt, pepper

For frying: oil

Pre-heat the oven to 150°c.

Trim the pork cheeks from excess membranes if needed. Pat them dry and season. Sear in a pot in a couple of tbsp of oil in batches and transfer aside.

Add more oil into the pot and sauté the finely diced celery, carrot and onion until soft. Then add the garlic the cut side down and continue cooking for a couple of more minutes.

Add pork cheeks, sherry and stock. Bring to boil and transfer to the oven. Cook, covered, for 4,5 hours.

Using a slotted spoon lift the pork cheeks out of the pot. Cover with foil to keep them warm. Squeeze the liquid in the pot through a sieve (don't forget to scrape in the mash underneath the sieve!).

Skim off the fat on top.

Kitchen supply stores sell particular separator jugs for this, but another easy way of doing this is freezing it quickly (in the winter you can chill the liquid by placing the container into the snow - provided you live in equally unfortunately Arctic climate as I do...).

As a result of freezing the fat forms a clear layer on top of the stock, making it weasy to spot and skim.

Return the stock into the pot and reduce, over high heat, for about 10 minutes until it's reached a desired thickness. Add pork cheeks into the pot and continue cooking until they are piping hot all the way through.

Check the taste and season as needed.

Cut to pieces and serve as tapas or serve as a main with boiled rice or mashed potatos.

For my favourite mash; one that will make you cry, check the recipe on the blog over here.

How about you guys? Tried and fallen for pork cheeks yet?

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Bob Chorba - Bulgarian monastery-style bean soup (gluten-free, vegan, kosher)

Bob Chorba, Bulgarian bean soup is one of the national dishes of the country. The most popular version is the vegetarian one so this comforting soup is suitable for all special diets!

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Ok, I admit: Bob Chorba does sound like a very awkwardly re-named former US president hiding somewhere in the Balkans under the disguise of witness protection program. But that it is not. In Bulgarian (like so many other languages in the region) chorba means soup and bob, well, beans. 

Bob Chorba, Bulgarian bean soup is one of the most beloved dishes in the country and something you're bound to run into where ever you go. Like patatnik, Bulgarian potato and mint omelette I've already introduced you to, it is simple and homely but oh, so comforting (and only gets better as it's re-heated!)

There are several versions of this, but the most popular one only has beans and veggies in it. It is also known as the monastery soup, which apparently refers to monastery communities' habit of abstaining from meat.

And monasteries are something Bulgaria has a lot of. Of approximatelly hundred monasteries still in business the oldest ones have operated continuously for more than a thousand years. They often make intriguing destinations because of their amazing architecture alone. 

A particularly interesting is the monastery of Rila, located some 100 kilometres from the capital Sofia. It is also one of the nine Bulgarian UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Serves 6

Bob Chorba - Bulgarian bean soup:

2 largeish onions
3 medium size carrots
2 largeish garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 dl tomato concentrate
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 cans (á 400 g/ 240 g) large white bean, drained and rinsed
1 1/4 l vegetable or chicken stock
4 tbsp fresh spearmint (or 2 tbsp dried), roughly chopped

For frying: 1/2 dl oil

To serve: flat leaf parsley chopped

Dice the carrots and onions to small cubes. Sauté them in oil in bit pot together with garlic until onion is translucent. 

Add paprika, chilli flakes, tomato concentrate and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Keep stirring the ingredients for another 5 minutes. Then add beans and stock.

Let simmer, covered, over medium heat for an hour.

Remove about a ladlefull of the beans and a ladlefull of the stock. Measure them into a food processor and whizz them until smooth (this helps to thicken the soup and make it even more comforting!)

Return the bean mixture into the pot. Add mint and keep coooking for another 5 minutes.

Check the taste and add more salt, pepper and/or paprika if needed. 

Divide into bowls, sprinkle with parsley and serve. 

Hey - how have you liked Bulgaria so far? Any of you familiar with the country or planning on exploring in the future?

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The second best salmon soup in the archipelago

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Archipelago salmon soup is wonderfully rich and full of flavours of summer. And orange.

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We're not completely frivolous in our tiaras, The Cat Blogger and I. We're quite capable of carryng on conversations that are very deep and meaningful. During our latest trip to Aland we took on the wellbeing of the entire planet (that UN really aren't doing their bit, are they?) and got thinking about the Fatal Flaws In The World.

And let's face it, there's no imminent shortage of those. There's abject poverty, famine and wars. There are human rights violations, insufferable inequality and men wo never call you back. 

With me the most the biggest mistake in God's plan is the fact I wasn't born in the archipelago. I, along with my nautica sripes would feel so at home there, glowing in tan courtesy of perpetual sun and sailing, pickling herring and serving heaving plates of shrimps to the dinner guests gathered on the deck of our boat.

In Aland I blended in that stripy crowd so well my companion occasionally struggled to spot where this Waldo is. 

In archipelago my dietary awaeness also invariably experiences an natural, albeit temporary, wake-up call. As I'm feasting on all those shrimps, fish soups, gubbröra and Toast Skagens I find myself declaring rather convincingly how I could live on this alone. Until the companion (once again) reminds me of the existence of things like bacon. And Iberico ham. And that oxtail ragú of mine. 

Luckily there are ways to hold on to the archipelago-dweller within even back home by serving oneself a generous portion of this archipelago inspired fish soup. Just close your eyes and visualize yourself sitting on the pier, carelessly swinging your legs over the glimmering sea as the evening sun kisses your freckles. In the ghetto conditions of mainland the last two can coneveniently be substituted with a bucket of ice cold water and a bright light lamp.

I've humbly named the soup The second best salmon soup in the archipelago. The first prize still goes to the one at Fyren in Nauvo and quite justifiably so. Helt suveränt!

I used the salmon stock I made myself (the recipe for which you'll find here) but feel free to use a good store bought variety. 

Serves 4-6

Archipelago salmon soup:

1,5 l good fish stock

the juice of 2,5 oranges (2,5 dl)

1 large onion

8 potatos (total weight 750 g)

4 carrots ( total weight 250 g)

12 allspice peppercorns

600 g salmon (or other fish) 

2,5 dl heavy cream

25 g butter

for serving: bunch of dill

Bring the stock to boil. Add allspice, sliced onion and chopped up veggies. Continue cooking until the veggies are just about done. Then add fish in similar sized cubes and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Add cream and bring to boil. Stir in butter and dill. Serve. With toasted archipelago bread croutons. 

Oh, my recipe for archipelago bread? Right over here!

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Homemade salmon stock

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Homemade fish stock makes the most of every last bit of the fish and acts as a tasty, flavourful base for soups, sauces and risottos.

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Having recently spent a lot of time in the archipelago, the spirit of it is stuck with me. One day I could no longer fight the need for archipelago fish soup and so I made some. This time I went the whole hog and even made the stock myself (yes, standing ovation would be hihly appreciated right about now..)

But since this sudden burst of can do spirit flared up in my home and not in that archipelago-based summer paradise I own in my dreams, I did not have the scrap left over from the catch of the day. Noooo. Instead I had to schlep over to the shop to get some. 

Significantly less romantic than that dream scenario of mine. Significantly. 

Making your own fish stock takes a lot less time than meat stock and you can use creativity. The fish monger recommended using white pepper, but I like mine black. In addition to onion and carrot you can also use celery. Or fennel. Orange zest can be omitted, too, but it does lend a orangey heat that I really needed for the soup I made this for. 

The only two things you really need to remember are these: keep the water at a gentle simmer. If the heat is too hight the protein from the fish will seep out, turning the stock cloudy. And after the straining, get rid of the scrap asap. They will quickly develop a smell that will make you go off fish... for a while. 

Home made salmon stock:

head, tail and the bones of a salmon

2 l water

1 onion

1 carrot

the stalks of a large bunch of dill

12 black peppercorns

the zest of an orange in strips

2 tsp salt

3 bay leaves

Rinse off any visible blood. Other than that there's no need for prep - just chuck the fishy bits all into a pot. 

Pour water over the fish making sure the head's covered. Over medium heat bring to gentle simmer and simmer off all the foam that forms on top (those slotted spoons made of the steel mesh are best for this).

Once the foaming has stopped (20-30 minutes in), chuck in rest of the ingredients. Continue cooking for another half an hour or so (the longer you cook, the more it reduces and the stronger the flavour). Strain, check the taste and add salt if needed. After half an hour you should be left with about 1,5 l stock.

Bring to boil and use as a base in soups, sauces or risottos. After cooling, the stock can also be frozen. 

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One-pot wonder: Lamb shanks with beans and chorizo and Murviedro Colección Reserva

While I don't celebrate Easter, it didn't stop me from rounding up my nearest and dearest and feasting on a bit of lamb. Though just like last year, it was far from traditional and sought its inspiration from my dear Andalusia. 

Star of the lunch was this robust and comforting one-pot wonder and a sure sign of me missing old stomping ground. But you know what - not long now! Next month I'm back! Back, baby! 

I used lamb shanks (my favourite) and bathed them in the oven for 3 hours with chorizo, beans, red wine and herbs. And the result... well, just look at it. Muy, muy bien.

Serves 4

Lamb shanks, beans and chorizo:

4 lamb shanks

200 g cooking chorizo, cut to 1/3 inch slices 

1 (red) onion, finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato concentrate

1 tsp pimentón

1/2 tsp chilli powder

4 sprigs of rosemary 

a large handful of thyme leaves

4 bay leaves

2,5 dl red wine

500 g passata (or crushed tomatos)

4 tins (á 400/ 240 g) large white beans

salt, pepper

To serve: fresh parsley, the finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon.

Sear the shanks in a bit of oil. Season and move aside. 

Add some more oil into the pot. Brown the chorizo lightly. Then add onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Let them soften. Then add pimentón and chili and let them, too, come to life for a couple of minutes. 

Add tomato concentrate and red wine. Bring to boil. Add herbs and pour in the passata and beans (drained and rinsed). Mix it all evenly, taste and season. Place the shanks into the pot and transfer to oven, pre-heated at 150° (130° will do if it's a fan assisted one). Cook, covered for 3 hours, turning the shanks halfway through.

Sprinkle with parsley and lemon zest and go loco. You know you'll want to. 

The dish had quite a bit going on (robust nature, lamb, the heat and fat of the chorizo, herbs, tomato...), it took me a while to settle on the wine. But sure enough, it comes from Spain. 

Murviedro Colección Reserva (Tempranillo 40%, Monastrell 40%, Syrah 20%) is a great find. Matured in French and American oak for 12 months, one thing this wine doesn't lack is character. It's robust and full-bodied but with matured tannins and notes of dark berries. A great wine for dark, herby game and lamb dishes. 

PS. While, post-Easter, you might not want to see another lamb for a while, do check out my other Andalusian-inspired recipe for lamb shanks braised in sherry and all those warm spices. Muy bien, this too. Si, si!

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