schmaltz

For children (and arguably most adults), the most welcome Passover dish is <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018442-chicken-soup-from-scratch">chicken soup</a> with matzo balls. My matzo balls, neither heavy as lead nor light as a feather, are al dente, infused with fresh ginger and nutmeg. I like to freeze them, and the soup, in advance.

Joan Nathan’s Matzo Ball Soup

eggs

schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), coconut oil oil

chicken stock or vegetable stock

matzo meal

nutmeg

ginger

parsley, dill or cilantro

salt, more for cooking

Black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, schmaltz, stock, matzo meal, nutmeg, ginger and parsley. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Gently mix with a whisk or spoon. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours or overnight.

To shape and cook the matzo balls, fill a wide, deep pan with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. With wet hands, take some of the mix and mold it into the size and shape of a Ping-Pong ball. Gently drop it into the boiling water, repeating until all the mix is used.

Cover the pan, reduce heat to a lively simmer and cook matzo balls about 30 to 40 minutes for 
al dente, longer for light. If desired, the cooked matzo balls can be transferred to chicken or vegetable soup and served immediately. Alternatively, they may be placed on a baking sheet and frozen, then transferred to a freezer bag and kept frozen until a few hours before serving; reheat in chicken or vegetable soup or broth.

Joan Nathan, the Jewish cooking maven, shares her matzo ball recipe with Melissa Clark.

Joan Nathan’s Matzo Balls

How to render chicken fat and make crispy gribenes cracklings, a classic ingredient in traditional Jewish cooking.

Schmaltz and Gribenes

chicken

tsp kosher salt

tsp black pepper

medium onion, (sliced into thin 1/4 inch pieces)

Rinse the pound of chicken skin and fat, pat dry, then chop it into small 1/2 inch pieces.

Toss the chicken skin pieces with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Place the skin and fat into a skillet on the stovetop (make sure it's cast iron or nonstick!) and turn heat to medium low. Cover the skillet and let it cook on medium low for about 15 minutes. Liquid fat will start to pool at the bottom of the skillet.

Uncover the skillet and raise heat to medium. At this point you can add onion, which will give you an onion-flavored darker colored schmaltz, or you can render the fat without onion for a cleaner, purer fat with no onion essence. Most Jewish cooks prefer to render the fat with onion. Let the skin and fat cook for another 15-20 minutes, breaking the pieces apart with a spatula and stirring frequently, until the skin starts to brown and curl at the edges. At this point there should be quite a bit of liquid fat at the bottom of the pan—this liquid is your schmaltz.

Remove pan from heat. Pour the schmaltz from the skillet into a container, using a mesh strainer to catch any small pieces of skin.&nbsp;A golden oil will result—this is called schmaltz. It can be used in a variety of Jewish dishes or as a cooking fat.

If you cooked the onions as the fat rendered, your oil will be a darker golden color with an orange hue. The schmaltz will stay liquid at room temperature; it will become solid and opaque if you refrigerate it.

If you cooked the skin and onion together, return to medium heat and continue cooking in the skillet until the skin is deeply golden, curled and crispy, and the onions are dark brown. Drain on a paper towel and serve.

If you did not cook the onions with the skin, you can cook them after the schmaltz is collected. Return the cooked chicken skin and fat to the skillet.&nbsp;

Turn heat to medium and sauté the mixture for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t leave them alone for long or they’ll burn! Adjust heat lower as needed to keep from blackening too much.When pieces are dark brown and crispy, remove the gribenes from the skillet with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. They become crispier as they cool.

Gribenes can be snacked on as-is or added to other dishes as a topping.

Skillet Method

Rinse the pound of chicken skin and fat, pat dry, then chop it into small 1/2 inch pieces.Cut your onions into slices, then cut slices into pieces around 1/4 inch long.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the chicken skin and fat with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper, then spread it out into a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet.

Place baking sheet in the oven and let it roast for 20 minutes, until the skin starts to turn golden and curl at the edges. Fat will have started collecting on the sheet.

Add onions to the hot baking sheet, spreading them out evenly throughout the chicken skin.&nbsp;

Return to oven and continue roasting for another 40-50 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy and the onions are dark brown. When stirring, make sure to move the pieces on the outside towards the center, and move the center pieces out towards the middle, so the pieces evenly brown.

When the pieces become crispy, remove from the oven and let the tray cool down. Strain the fat from the tray through a mesh strainer into a collection container.&nbsp;

The gribenes are delicious to snack on or used as a topping. The schmaltz should be saved and used in a variety of savory dishes. In will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Baking Sheet Method

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/xpoqN9ls.mp4

How to render chicken fat and make crispy gribenes cracklings, a classic ingredient in traditional Jewish cooking. Easy recipe with step-by-step photos.

The collection of meat recipes below features meat or non-vegetarian ingredients. While the Mediterranean Diet does not focus heavily on meat, it is eaten in moderation. Each of these meat recipes features Mediterranean-inspired flavors, like chicken breast in a lemon basil marinade, turkey burgers mixed with a simple olive tapenade, chicken roasted in a delicious date syrup glaze, and more. There are tasty options for all of the meat-eaters in your life, and everything pairs well with the abundance of side dishes and salads that can also be found on my site.

Because we adhere to kosher guidelines as often as possible, you'll only find recipes here that contain beef and poultry, no pork.

meat

Don&#039;t throw away those poultry skins! Cook them up into cracklins, those crispy, savory snacks that double as a garnish for the cooked poultry they came from.

Chicken Skin Cracklins Recipe

whole skin-on chicken, turkey,

Salt

Prep. Remove the skins from your chicken, turkey, or duck. Turkey skins are thin with little fat underneath, chickens have a bit more subcutaneous fat, and duck has a lot of fat. Cut the skins into squares or strips about 1&quot; (2.5 cm) long and 1/2&quot; (1.3 cm) wide.

Cook. Roasting method. Preheat your smoker or set up your grill for 2-zone indirect cooking and get the air temp in the indirect zone to about 325°F (163°C). Spread the skins onto a flat pan like a cookie sheet, sprinkle them with salt, not too much, and place them in the indirect heat until they are crispy. Turkey will take about 30 minutes, chicken 45 minutes, duck an hour or more. Your time will vary depending on the amount of fat on the bird. If you wish to add wood and flavor them with smoke, go for it. You can even do this in your indoor oven.

Frying pan method. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with about 1/4&quot; (6.3mm) of water and add the skins. Heat until it simmers gently but does not boil. Add the skins. It is important that you do not simmer too vigorously or they bill spatter all over the place and then burn. Wear a shirt you don&#39;t care about. Stand by the pan and stir the skins every three minutes or so until the water evaporates. Pour off the fat and save it. Continue cooking over low heat until the skins are golden and crispy. Scoop them out and place them on a double layer of paper towels to drain. While they&#39;re hot, sprinkle on some salt.

Serve. Try not to eat them all immediately, OK?

How to Render Chicken Fat - a step-by-step tutorial on how to render chicken fat. Super easy and something every home cook should know!

How to Render Chicken Fat [Schmaltz]

chicken fat (roughly chopped)

chicken skin

water (enough

yellow onion, diced (optional)

kosher salt

Add enough water to barely cover the skin and fat.

Simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add onion when fat is completely melted and skin has turned brownish, but has not burned.

Continue to stir frequently as onion cooks, approx. 10-15 minutes.

Use immediately or keep in fridge in airtight container for no more than a week or freeze for later use.

Can you use the onions after? Or should you throw them away?

Thank you!! They don’t sell Schmaltz where I live. The directions were so easy to follow.

Thanks for the recipe. I’ve been wanting to get some schmaltz for matzo ball soup which I’ve never tried. Do you have a recipe for that please?thanks

Thank you for recipe 
in my country we can t find chicken oil.

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Joan Nathan’s Matzo Ball Soup

Schmaltz and Gribenes

Schmaltz and Gribenes

Chicken Skin Cracklins Recipe

How to Render Chicken Fat [Schmaltz...

Top 5 schmaltz recipes from across the web

The most viewed schmaltz recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Joan Nathan’s Matzo Ball Soup

Schmaltz and Gribenes

Schmaltz and Gribenes

Chicken Skin Cracklins Recipe

How to Render Chicken Fat [Schmaltz...

The most viewed schmaltz recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine