How can I make lots of matzo balls ahead of time for a party?
I'm catering a party and I need to make matzo ball soup for 20 people. I'm cooking at home and taking the food to the party. I have the broth in the freezer already, but what do I do about the matzo balls? I only have an hour at home the day of the party to cook before I have to go to the house and bring all the food, but the day before I have plenty of time. Can I make and cook the matzo balls the day before and then reheat them in the broth at the party or will the texture be weird? Or should I just make the matzo ball meal the night before, leave it raw in the fridge, and fully cook them at the party? If it won't affect the matzo balls I would *much* rather cook them at home the night before instead of having to cook at the house I'm bringing food to.
Lucja B.2011-09-21T14:57:25Z
Favorite Answer
Matzah balls can be made ahead of time, drained, and then placed in the broth. Freeze the entire pot full of soup; when ready to serve, defrost and reheat. Another trick is to make the matzah balls, squeeze them out, freeze them on a cookie tray, and then throw them into a plastic freezer bag for your next occasion.
Extra matzah balls can be served the next day, although the texture will be a little denser. They are also good as a starch when browned in margarine or chicken fat. Refrigerate them thoroughly before frying or they will fall apart.
You can make the matzo balls ahead say 12 hours in advance, when I worked for a Kosher catering company here in Toronto Canada, we made them, latkes, kugel and kreplach all ahead, you make them allow to cool and then chill at the place your serving warm in broth or salted water for 5-10 minutes depending on the size, we made baseball size one.
Machine-made matzo The Torah contains a divine commandment to eat matzo on the first night of Passover and to eat only unleavened bread (i.e. matzo) during the week of Passover.[31] Accordingly, the eating of matzo figures prominently in the Passover Seder. There are several explanations for this. The Torah says that it is because the Hebrews left Egypt with such haste that there was no time to allow baked bread to rise; thus, flat bread, matzo, is a reminder of the rapid departure of the Exodus.[32]. Other scholars teach that in the time of the Exodus, matzo was commonly baked for the purpose of traveling because it preserved well and was light to carry, suggesting that matzo was baked intentionally for the long journey ahead. Matzo has also been called Lechem Oni (Hebrew: "poor man's bread"). There is an attendant explanation that matzo serves as a symbol to remind Jews what it is like to be a poor slave and to promote humility, appreciate freedom, and avoid the inflated ego symbolized by leavened bread.[33] [edit] Matzo baking Handmade shmura matzo In the weeks before Passover, matzos are prepared for holiday consumption. In Orthodox Jewish communities, men traditionally gather in groups ("chaburas") to bake a special version of handmade matzo called "shmura matzo", or "guarded matzo", for use at the Seder. These are made from wheat that is guarded from contamination by chametz from the time of summer harvest to its baking into matzos five to ten months later.[34] Shmura matzo dough is rolled by hand, resulting in a large and round matzo. Chaburas also work together in machine-made matzo factories, which produce the typically square-shaped matzo sold in stores. The baking of shmura matzo is labor-intensive, as only 18-22 minutes is permitted between the mixing of flour and water to the conclusion of baking and removal from the oven; however, most are completed by 5 minutes after first being kneaded.[35] Consequently, only a small amount of matzos can be baked at one time, and the chabura members are enjoined to work the dough constantly so that it is not allowed to ferment and rise. A special cutting tool is run over the dough just before baking to keep the matzos flat while baking; this creates the familiar dotted holes in the matzo. After the matzos come out of the oven, the entire work area is scrubbed down and swept to make sure that no pieces of old, potentially leavened dough remain, as any stray pieces are now chametz, and can contaminate the next batch of matzo. [edit] Passover dishes Due to the strict separation between matzo products and chametz during Passover, observant families typically own complete sets of serving dishes, glassware and silverware for use only during Passover. Under certain circumstances, some chametz utensils can be immersed in boiling water (hagalat keilim) to purge them of any traces of chametz may have accumulated during the year. Many Sephardic families thoroughly wash their year-round glassware and then use it for Passover, as the Sephardic position is that glass does not absorb enough traces of food to present a problem