There is nothing I love more than a good deli. Preferably a Jewish/Kosher Deli. Unfortunalty, there are not an abundance of these in Oklahoma. So, when I travel I make it a MUST to find a deli. Of course New York has amazing deli’s but that is not the only spot that has good ones. Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale and even Dallas has a great one. I judge deli’s pretty much on 2 items. If they can make these really good then I know they are making there food fresh and with love! Matzo ball soup and the elusive black and white cookie.
The matzo ball soup is a standby in any good jewish home. It is made of matzo meal (matzo crackers that have been processed to crumbs), water or seltzer, oil, salt and pepper. I use seltzer in mine. That is because when I was laying by the pool in Ft. Lauderdale I asked the nice Jewish lady next to me about matzo ball soup. Thirty minutes later and a full explanation of the water vs. seltzer controversy I decided to be on team seltzer. Basically, it makes for a lighter less dense dumpling! Sorry, I digressed….Place all of this in a bowl. Chill for an hour and then scoop and plop into your soup. Cover and you have the most delicious chicken soup with a dumpling you will ever eat! My kids go GAGA for this soup! I promise if you have a household that loves chicken and dumplings than this will be a new favorite!
Matzo Ball Soup
NYC Black and White Cookies
COOKIE BATTER:
2 cups cake flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup whole milk
ICING:
3 ounces bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons corn syrup
5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
To make the cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl (using hand mixer), beat the butter until creamy. Add in the sugar until well combined and the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix till they are incorporated. In a medium sized bowl combine the flours, baking powder, and salt. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend until just combined. Add in half of the milk, mixing until just combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk, ending with the final 1/3 of the flour mixture. Stir in the lemon extract and vanilla extract until combined, being careful not to overmix. This will be a loose batter. Not think like cookie batter.
Drop the batter by either using a large ice cream scoop or use 1/4 cup measuring cup onto the prepared baking sheet(s), leaving 2 inches between the cookies. Bake until centers are firm and edges just begin to brown, 15-18 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before icing. Once the cookies are completely cooled, flip them over.
To make the icing: Melt the chocolate in a small bowl in a microwave. Set aside.
In a small saucepan set over medium high heat, bring the water and corn syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and add half of the mixture into the sugar. Whisk until fully incorporated and smooth, adding more of the corn syrup mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed. Stir in the vanilla extract. You want the icing to be “spoonable” yet not too thick.
Fill a Ziploc bag with a small amount of white icing and snip off the end. Draw a straight line directly across the center of the bottom of each cookie. That will help you keep the frosting on their respective sides… Using a small offset spatula, spread vanilla icing over half of each cookie, filling it in up to the line.
Once all of the cookie have vanilla icing, stir the melted chocolate into the remaining vanilla icing. If needed, stir in any remaining corn syrup mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed.
Now, do the same for the chocolate! Allow the cookie icing to setup on a wire cooling rack.