Wampold Family Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

Wampold Family Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

Want to connect with an ancient tradition, or just want something delicious, light and satisfying for lunch? For millennia, the symphony of ingredients that is the simple matzo ball soup recipe has fed the stomachs, eased the fevers and warmed the souls of countless generations.

Today, this basic, earthy and yet timeless dish is a fixture of Baton Rouge cuisine at Milford’s on Third, the city’s window into the world of great deli dining.

Feeling a little under the weather on a dewy Louisiana morning? Some hot matzo soup will have you feeling better, brighter and cheerier in no time at all!

At Milford’s on Third, you get the flavors of a classic deli with the Southern charm and ambiance of downtown Baton Rouge and the beautiful Watermark Hotel. All of our ingredients are fresh, but our recipes are as traditional as time itself. Milford’s matzo ball soup is straight from the Wampold family recipe book, developed over generations and honed for the modern age.

Here is a simple matzo ball soup recipe for you to try in your own kitchen from Chef Drue Vitter.

How to Make Matzo Ball Soup

Any great matzo ball soup starts with a hearty chicken stock, so take the time to develop your deepest flavors here. As with anything worth doing, you need to perfect the fundamentals before you get fancy!

Easy Chicken Stock Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie roasted chicken
• 1/3 cup celery, chopped
• 1/3 cup onion, sliced or chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• Water to cover

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Yield: About 10 cups, depending on chicken size (about 10 soup servings)

Instructions:

1. Buy a roasted chicken from your local grocery store. Take it home and eat it. Pick any remaining meat bits off the bones and reserve it. Put the bones in a stock pot.
2. Add celery, onion and garlic to the pot.
3. Add water until all the ingredients are just covered.
4. On low heat, bring to a very low boil with not many bubbles forming. Leave on low boil for 2 hours.
5. Strain chicken bones, celery, onion and garlic from the pot. The remaining liquid is your chicken stock.

About Matzo Balls

Matzo balls, of course, are the soul of your matzo ball soup. But what are they, exactly?

The word “matzo” refers to unleavened bread, and it’s central to the story of the Jewish people. When Moses led his people out of slavery in Egypt, so the biblical story goes, they had no time to wait for their bread to rise, so they mixed flour and water and cooked it flat, or unleavened, without yeast.

For more than two millennia, Jewish people everywhere have eaten unleavened bread during the days of Passover out of respect for the hardships faced by their ancestors.

But while its history is both ancient and fascinating, its ingredients are deceptively simple: Matzo balls consist of ground matzo meal mixed with eggs, water and fat or oil.

Within that simple array of ingredients, there are many variations available for you to try for yourself. This is a traditional version for any kitchen. For a kosher recipe, see below.

Traditional Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

Making matzo ball soup requires two steps. First, you make the matzo balls. Then, using the stock we discussed earlier — or a vegetable stock, if you prefer — you plate the soup.

Matzo Balls

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons chicken fat or vegetable oil
• ¼ cup seltzer, club soda or chicken broth
• 1 cup matzo meal
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• Fresh dill or thyme

Prep Time: 5 minutes, then several hours to set

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Yield: About 12 balls, or three balls per ¼ cup of matzo meal (enough for four to six soup servings)

Instructions:

1. Mix the eggs well with a fork.
2. Add the chicken fat or oil, seltzer, club soda or chicken broth, matzo meal and salt and pepper.
3. Let the mixture sit, refrigerated, for several hours.
4. Dip your hands in cold water and shape 12 balls, each about the size of a ping-pong ball.
5. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add salt and place matzo balls in the boiling water.
6. Reduce heat, cover and simmer about 30 minutes, or until soft.

Matzo Ball Soup

1. Heat several cups of chicken stock. Include meat bits reserved from the rotisserie chicken you made your stock with, if desired, or just use plain stock. If you don’t want to use chicken stock, vegetable stock can be used as a delicious replacement.
2. Place freshly cooked matzo balls in the heated stock.
3. Serve about 1 cup of stock with two or three matzo balls per serving. Sprinkle with a bit of fresh, chopped dill or thyme for garnish.

Refrigerate any uneaten balls in the stock, inside an airtight container. The soup will keep for four to five days. Do not remove the balls from the liquid, though — they may dry out, and probably will not taste the same.

Jewish Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

Also known as kosher matzo ball soup, this recipe varies only a bit from our traditional recipe.

Much of what makes a matzo soup kosher, in fact, has to do with the practices and traditions that surround it as much as with variations in the recipe.

To make kosher soup, first get permission from your local rabbi. Also, keep in mind that some Jewish communities have the custom of not eating wetted matzo for the first seven days of Passover. In these communities, matzo soup and other forms of matzo are eaten only on the eighth day of Passover.

Kosher Matzo Balls

This is a recipe for kosher matzo balls. The stock is prepared in the same way traditional stock is prepared. The soup is plated and stored in a similar fashion, as well.

 Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons oil or chicken fat
• 2 tablespoons soup stock or water
• ½ cup matzo meal
• 1 teaspoon salt

Yield: 4 balls per ¼ cup matzo

Cook time: About 35 minutes

Prep time: 25 minutes

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs slightly with a fork.
2. Add other ingredients, except matzo meal, and mix together.
3. Add matzo meal gradually until the mixture thickens.
4. Stir.
5. Refrigerate for 20 minutes in a covered bowl.
6. Wet hands and form mixture into balls.
7. Drop balls into boiling chicken soup or a large, wide pot in which 1 quart of water and 1 tablespoon of salt has come to a boil.
8. Cook for 30 minutes.

Serve about 1 cup of soup with three matzo balls per cup. Refrigerate any unused matzo balls in the soup liquid for up to four to five days.

What Is Matzo Meal?

Matzo meal is a simple flour that must be made from one of five grains: wheat, spelt, rye, oats or barley. It can be either processed or made from whole grain flour. Either way, it is mixed with water and then heated to make matzo, also called matzo — the traditional unleavened bread of the Jewish Passover. Thankfully, for fans of the matzo ball, eggs, fat and salt are allowed for the making of matzo balls.

According to rabbinic law, however, matzo must be baked or otherwise cooked within 18 minutes after it comes in contact with water.

Matzo flour was once ground onsite in each kitchen, and the dough was rolled by hand into roughly shaped unleavened bread flats. The bread can still be made in that way, of course.

But in 1838, a Frenchman named Isaac Singer invented an industrial process for making the Passover bread, and today, most unleavened matzo bread is commercially produced. Matzo balls for matzo ball soup are made from the same matzo meal that goes into matzo bread, but the balls — unlike unleavened bread — are typically still produced by hand in each kitchen, using commercially ground matzo flour.

What to Serve With Matzo Ball Soup

Roast lamb is the traditional favorite for this role.

Cooked lamb has a favored spot at the Passover seder table, along with a variety of herbs, because Moses’ people sacrificed a lamb before they made their escape from Egypt. Today, for many religious traditions and for those who follow no religion at all, springtime is an excellent time to experience fresh roast lamb with a rosemary and thyme rub. Matzo ball soup, with its hearty, yet light, simplicity makes a wonderful accompaniment.

Is Matzo Ball Soup Good for You?

In short, yes! But it’s probably not the matzo itself that helps.

For as long as we can remember, mothers have fed chicken soup to their loved ones to treat the common cold and other respiratory ailments, and recent research has shown that they were definitely on to something.

Hard science, in fact, shows that many of the compounds in chicken soup are useful in treating the symptoms, if not the cause, of respiratory distress. For example, the chicken in matzo ball soup’s stock contains cysteine, an amino acid that helps thin mucus in the lungs, which helps you expel the nasty stuff when you cough or sneeze.

Onions contain antioxidants that help limit the inflammation that sets in with any infection, including the respiratory infection that’s best known as the common cold.

Additionally, celery contains vitamin C, which helps to bolster the immune system.

And chicken soup in general apparently helps inhibit the movement of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that’s deployed by the body to fight infections. White blood cells are central to the immune response to bacteria, viruses and other invaders, of course, but they’re also the source of much of the harmful and unpleasant inflammation that accompanies a cold or exacerbates an asthma attack.

So, when you ingest the warmth of matzo ball soup on a late winter’s morning, you are indeed ingesting the vapors of good health.

Magic on Third Street

Step through the doors of Milford’s on Third in Baton Rouge, and you enter a melding of multiple worlds.

There’s the world of the New York deli, where cultures that span the planet shine through on the menu all year long. And then there’s the warm, southern world of downtown Baton Rouge, where life is savored in slower bites, everyone is a neighbor and even Old World favorites are served with a twist of Southern charm. Come and taste the experience for yourself, and bring your friends and colleagues.

Y’all are always welcome!

Guide for Holiday Meat Recipes

As winter comes creeping in, we start craving something with a little more substance than the lighter fare we eat in warmer times. As we gear up for our desired hibernation, there’s nothing that beats the heartiness of a rich and roast-y, slow-cooked piece of rib roast, pot roast — or anything with beef and roast in the name.

Paired with a toasty fire, a lineup of delicious sides ranging from mashed potatoes to lovingly prepared greens and a whole lot of butter, the perfect roast brings in family and friends for a feast a little more satisfying than, say, the low-fat grilled chicken breast and asparagus or that carb-conscious baked salmon and arugula we happily ate all summer long.

Let’s celebrate the season with some delicious meat. From cooking holiday hams to preparing roast beef for your festivities, we’ve put together a solid lineup of some of our personal faves, guaranteed to impress any crowd. Go on and dig in. We’ll show you how to cook a holiday roast and how to smoke a holiday ham — Baton Rouge style.

Best Baton Rouge Holiday Roast Recipes

When the temperatures drop, a tender juicy roast can be just the ticket to warm you right up. Here are a couple tasty roast and rib recipes you can use for the holidays and beyond:

• make sure the ribs are at room temperature. Let them sit out a couple hours prior to your desired cooking time.

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

• With paper towels, pat down the roast and season the meat with salt and pepper to taste.

• Then, place the meat on a large baking sheet, arranging with chopped vegetables, spread evenly across the surface. Avoid stacking up vegetables, as it increases the cook time.

• Warm your stick of butter in the microwave for about one minute, and pour it over the meat and vegetables. Add a little extra salt and pepper, if desired.

• Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. You’ll then want to reduce temperature down to 350 degrees and cook for about 15 minutes per each pound for medium rare. If you’d prefer rare instead, 12 minutes per pound should be sufficient.

• Once the time has passed, check on the roast and use a meat thermometer to determine if its ready. About 115 degrees is safe for rare, while 125 is perfect for medium rare. Cook it a little longer if you’d prefer well done, though we don’t recommend it.

• About halfway through the cooking time, flip the vegetables so both sides are cooked evenly. Add a bit of water if they seem to be drying out.

• Transfer vegetables to a serving bowl and cover.

• Remove the roast from heat and transfer to a cutting board. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for about a half hour.

• Carve meat, and serve.

IPA Braised Short Ribs

This holiday beef recipe is a Baton Rouge twist on the classic red wine braised short rib for the craft beer lover. Decadent short ribs play nicely with the vegetables that cook the entire time alongside the meat, absorbing all that juicy goodness.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds of bone-in short ribs, cut into 2” pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 large onions – chopped coarsely
• 2 cloves garlic – diced
• 2 medium carrots – chopped
• 1 parsnip – chopped
• 1 pint India Pale Ale – your favorite brand
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon of ground thyme
• 3 ½ cups of beef broth

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

• In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium high, add short ribs and brown on each side. It may need to be done in a couple batches. Transfer short ribs to another dish along with drippings and set aside.

• In the same pot, add onions, carrots and parsnips along with olive oil. Cook until onions become translucent.

• Add in thyme, bay leaves, half of the beer and beef broth. Then add short ribs back into the mix. Bring to a boil and stir in garlic. Lower heat to medium low, and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes.

• Stir in the remaining IPA, cover with lid and transfer to the oven.

• Stir occasionally, and remove from heat once ribs are soft and fully cooked. Transfer ribs and vegetables to another dish using a slotted spoon. Strain the sauce and spoon over the entire dish.

• Serve. This is especially good when served alongside steamed greens or potatoes

Like all good things, this pot roast takes some time. But between the roasted garlic, magnificent marinade and sauce-with-a-twist, you and your dining companions will fall in love in short order. So, let’s dive in, taking one part at a time.

Roasted Garlic

• 6 to 8 garlic bulbs
• Olive oil

Instructions for roasted garlic:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Cut the ends off each garlic bulb and place them inside a muffin tin, exposed clove-side up.
• Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the top of each bulb, then place in the oven.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Garlic should be soft to the touch. To remove from the bulb, simply scoop out each clove with a small fork.

Note, this recipe makes a little more than necessary. Serve that extra garlic alongside the pot roast below, or save it for later.

Meat

• 6 pounds of Sirloin tip roast
• 4 cloves of chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons of ground mustard
• 1 cup of coke
• ½ cup of water
• ¼ cup of brown sugar
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 2 bulbs of roasted garlic
• 1 large white onion – chopped coarsely
• 1 large white onion – chopped coarsely
• ½ cup of Bourbon

Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 1:00
Total time: 12:00
Yield: 6 Pounds of Sirloin Tip Roast (10-12 Servings)

Instructions

• Marinate the roast. You’ll want to set aside enough time for this to properly absorb all the juices. It requires a minimum of 10 hours, but it’s better if you’ve got 24. In a large mixing bowl, blend together the garlic, mustard, water, coke, brown sugar and olive oil. Whisk together until completely mixed together.

• Place the roast in a quart-sized Ziploc bag, and pour the marinade into the bag. Push as much as air as possible out of the bag, and place it in the fridge overnight.

• About an hour before you’re ready to start cooking, take the roast out of the refrigerator, and let it sit until it reaches room temperature.

• Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, and add roast, browning the meat on all sides, searing in the flavor. Remove the beef from heat and set aside.

• Add chicken stock to the same pot, along with the onion and bourbon. Add the two bulbs of roasted garlic, mashing into the sauce mixture. Then, add the beef back to the pot and cover in sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, and let beef roast for an hour on a low simmer.

• Check the beef, and flip the roast over. Add a little water if sauce is running low, and cover. Let the roast continue to cook for another 45 minutes. It should feel soft when poked with a fork. If the roast is done, remove from heat. Otherwise, let it cook for another 15 minutes.

• Finally, transfer the roast to a large serving plate, topping with the sauce from the pan. If desired, serve with remaining bulbs of roasted garlic.

Recipes for Smoked Holiday Ham and More

If you’re not as much of a rib or beef fan, ham is a classic staple of the holidays and the colder months as well. Here are a few recipes for ham that will be the hit of the feast.

Smoked Ham From Scratch

There’s a simple way to smoke a ham in Baton Rouge. While the concept of DIY-ing a ham sounds complicated, it’s really pretty simple — provided you’ve got two weeks to spare. Use this ham in the recipes below if you’d like it candied or glazed and grilled. You could even experiment and come up with your own exciting new seasoning. Either way, making your own ham is a surefire way to show off your cooking chops.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork butt
• 2 gallons of water
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• ½ cup of pink salt
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons cloves
• ½ cup of pickling spice

Instructions

Brining

• Add the water to a large pot, and bring to a boil. Add brown sugar, salt, pickling spice, cloves and cinnamon and stir until salt dissolves. Turn off the heat, and let it cool completely.
• Put your pork butt into a large container — at least enough space for the pork and two gallons of water — that has a tight fitting lid.
• Pour the brining liquid in the container, cover and store in the fridge for two weeks. It’s time intensive, yes, but it pays off. Check the meat each day to make sure it remains submerged.

Smoking

• After the two weeks are up, take eight cups of wood chips and soak them for an hour or two.

• Remove the pork butt from brine container and rinse it under cold water.

• In your large pot, bring a gallon or two of water to a boil. Add pork and let boil for about 30 minutes. This takes out any excess salt and starts the cooking process.

• As the pork boils, turn on your grill. Preheat to 225 degrees. Divvy up your soaked wood chips and cover each pile in aluminum foil. Top off each foil package with dry wood chips. Place them up against the heating element.

• Transfer pork butt to the grill and cook for five to six hours, or until meat reaches 150 degrees.

• Replace wood chip pouches every hour for best results.

• Remove from heat, and let cool. Serve immediately or save for later use. It should last a few days in the fridge.

Honey Glazed Ham With a Kick

This recipe brings a classic sweet and savory ham with a Southern kick in the pants — just the way we like it.

From savory notes of cumin and hot cayenne pepper to sweet honey and brown sugar, this ham is just a touch of the unexpected and pairs nicely with greens or sweet potatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 spiraled halved ham — smoked per instructions above, or store bought
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons of paprika
• 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons of cumin
• 1 cup of honey

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• Remove ham from packaging and rinse with cold water. Transfer ham to a large roasting pan and place in the oven. Your total cook time should be roughly 20 minutes per pound.

• Meanwhile, mix together the honey, paprika, cayenne pepper and cumin in a large sauce pan. Heat on the stove top over medium high, and reduce to a simmer. Let it warm until the honey softens becomes liquefied.

• After half the baking time has passed, remove the ham from the oven.

• Spoon the liquefied mixture over the ham until the entire outside has been covered. Then top with brown sugar and cover with another layer of the honey mixture.

• Cook for the remaining time on the clock, and spoon any remaining liquid over the top periodically. The ham should emerge from the oven with a candied glaze.

• Let the ham cool for at least 15 minutes, allowing the juices to set, then serve.

Holiday Ham on the Grill

If you’re looking for a glazed ham that’s both boozy and fruity, this is your recipe — and it’s easier than you’d expect. Start off with an unglazed, fully cooked ham and add your own DIY element. The grill makes for easy clean up and a nice charred quality that takes this baby to the next level.

Ingredients

• 1 cooked ham
• 1 cup apricot jelly
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons whiskey
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup orange juice
• ½ teaspoon cloves

Instructions

• Preheat the grill, setting the temperature to 350 degrees. Close the lid, and let the grill heat up for about 15 minutes.

• Meanwhile, place the ham in a large roasting pan, fill the bottom with the lemon juice and add pan to the grill. Close the lid and cook for 20 minutes.

• As the ham cooks, prepare the other ingredients. In a small sauce pan, add the whiskey, apricot jelly, lemon juice, cloves and cinnamon. Heat over medium heat, and stir gently until thoroughly mixed. Remove from heat.

• Remove ham from the grill and brush the mixture over the entire outside of the ham. Place back on the grill with the lid closed, and cook for an additional 45 minutes.

• Cool for at least 15 minutes, slice and serve along with your favorite side dishes. If there’s any remaining sauce, feel free to add it to the mix of condiments. It’ll go great with greens, root vegetables or anything else you cook up.

Hungry? Stop Into Milford’s

Need a break from the hustle and bustle of preparing those Baton Rouge holiday recipes? Stop on by for Milford’s on Third for breakfast or lunch. Try a bagel and schmear with an extra kick or a classic deli staple, like corned beef or a ham and cheese sandwich.

We’re the best New York deli in Louisiana — our Southern deli flair feels oh-so Baton Rouge with our delectable cookies, cakes and croissants. Additionally, our catering will help you fill in the blanks if you’re looking for holiday sides and more to feed your whole family.

Get in touch with us or stop by today. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!