Fluffy Matzah Balls

Passover is around the corner and chicken soup with matzah balls is a must for the seder dinner. Our tradition is that Alice, my sister-in-law, brings the chicken soup and matzah balls for our dinner.  She buys both from Second Helpings, an organic store in our Park Slope neighborhood.  But once in a while the plan goes awry and I must make the matzah balls myself.  The first time this happened, I was panicky.  Would they be rock hard cannon balls? Yes, they were. But eventually I found a great recipe in Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America.  This one works well and your guests will qvell (rave).  Ironically, the one person at the table who loves those hard clunkers is Alice.

4 large eggs

2 tbl. vegetable oil

1/2 cup seltzer, club soda or chicken broth*

1 cup matzoh meal

salt and pepper to taste

Mix eggs well with fork.  Add oil, soda water*, matzah meal and salt and pepper and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

Dip hands in cold water and make about 12 balls slightly smaller than ping pong balls.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.  Add salt and place matzah balls in water.  Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until soft.

Yield- About 12 large, soft matzah balls

Notes:  I double the recipe for my large group of 18-20

To reduce cholesterol, use 2 egg whites and 2 whole eggs

To make in advance, place matzoh balls in warm chicken soup and freeze.  Leave lots of time to defrost when ready to use.