Thanks to Sheryl and everyone who contributed to the matzoh ball
thread earlier.
My principle source of frustration came from testing the various
batters individually, having them come out fine, only to have the
final product bear a completely different texture. That ought to have
been a clue. Our kitchen is large, continental in size compared to
other NYC commercial kitchens, but even we have limited space. Still I
was able to cook them off in batches of about 80 each. *That* made a
huge difference in texture. I think the particular composition, even
the issue of leavener is less important than *how* they're cooked.
Pesach version went:
Seltzer water,
Whole eggs beaten
Fine dice onions sauteed in schmaltz.
Chicken base dissolved in warm water
Minced parsley
White pepper
Med grind matzoh meal (note: grind must be a commercial thing, because
what we use is way way finer in texture than anything I've seen at the
market...and it's only medium).
Mixed batter the night before.
Over all, they were very sucessful. Texture was right on, flavor was
very mild, but there was a pleasant, lingering richness to these
balls.
I can't accout for why, but I still think the yolkless matzoh balls I
made several weeks ago (also sans onions but with schmaltz) were the
most flavorful.
Anyway, I *would* use baking powder again in a pinch, because it does
compensate to a degree for lack of resting time, or the need to cook
off a whole bunch at once, but clearly it's not the way to go
otherwise.
Thanks again for the tips and comments.
Very glad to see everyone had a nice holiday;-)
Andy Katz
***************************************************************
Being lied to so billionaires can wage war for profits
while indebting taxpayers for generations to come, now
that's just a tad bit bigger than not admitting you like
the big moist-moist lips of chunky trollops on your pecker.
Paghat, the Rat Girl