QUICK TREATMENTS: Meat Leftovers
Meatballs from ground roasted meat
If I’ve had a roasted piece of meat, I’ll grind it up and add it to fresh ground beef to make meatballs.” (Amy Sherman, recipe developer, San Francisco)
Brisket-Stuffed Matzah Balls
If I have brisket left over, I’ll put the meat in a food processor and let it shred a little bit, but not so much that it becomes a paste. (It definitely shouldn’t taste like spam!) I’ll roll it into the size of a large gum ball. I’ll use the basic matzah ball mix – from the box. And after the matzah meal has cooled down, I’ll pack a small layer around the meat gum ball and build out from there until it’s the size of a baseball. When you bite into it you’ve got that brisket taste on the inside, which is phenomenal.
You can also make a kischke-centered matzah ball. I buy my kishke* from the Romanian Kosher Sausage Company. Their kishke is not to be reckoned with! Nothing comes close. Again, you roll the kishka into a ball, an inch in diameter, and coat it a little at a time with the matzah meal. I like to pack it tight like a baseball, but others like it loose, so you get an airier matzah ball.
*kishke = a Jewish dish traditionally made from beef intestine stuffed with flour or matzo meal, schmaltz and spices
With either filling, you cook the matzah ball in salt and water for about 4-5 minutes until it starts to firm up, and then finish it in your seasoned chicken soup. After you’ve been simmering your chicken soup, you can ladle out the matzah balls from the boiling salted water and then transfer them to the pot of chicken soup, remove the pot from the heat and just let the matzah balls cook through for 10-15 minutes.” (Danny Hechtman of Ken’s Diner, Skokie IL)
