Several students in the Haus do not feel well because of a flu or a cold. On Friday late afternoon, I decide to make chicken soup with matzo balls from scratch for the entire Haus.
Never mind that I have never made either chicken soup or matzo balls. The Internet has taught me to make bun ga (chicken rice vermicelli), goi ga (chicken salad), and French macarons. It can teach me to make chicken soup with matzo balls.
I enter a google search for "chicken soup recipe" and find the Barefoot Contessa's recipe, which claims to have 44 reviews that all gave her recipe 5 stars (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-soup-recipe.html). I print out the recipe.
I fetch the ingredients from Rewe. I wash and prep all the ingredients. I start making the chicken stock at 7 p.m.
The stock pot in the picture below contains: 3 roasting chickens; 3 large yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered; 6 carrots, unpeeled and halved; 4 stalks of celery with leaves, cut into thirds, 20 sprigs of fresh parsley; 15 sprigs of fresh savory (instead of thyme because I could not find fresh thyme at Rewe); 20 sprigs of fresh dill; 1 head of garlic, unpeeled and cut in half crosswise; 1 and 2/3 tablespoon of regular salt (instead of 2 tablespoons of kosher salt because I do not have kosher salt); 2 teaspoons of whole black peppercorns; and 7 quarts of water.
After bringing the pot to a boil and letting it simmer for one hour, I remove the chickens to scrape off the breast meat and refrigerate it for later use. As for the carcasses, I return them to the pot and let the pot simmer uncovered for 3 more hours. I then pour the entire pot through a large metal strainer with small holes and let the stock cool down before I refrigerate it overnight. The process from set up to clean up for the chicken stock takes a total of 6 hours.
On Saturday afternoon, I reheat the strained chicken stock and add 6 cups of diced carrots and 6 cups of diced celery. While the soup simmers, I make matzo balls.
I triple the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for matzo balls. Thus, I whisk together 12 egg yolks, 1 and 1/2 cup chicken stock, 3/4 cup rendered chicken fat (which formed at the top of the chicken stock overnight in the refrigerator), 1 and 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley, 1 and 1/3 tablespoon of regular salt (instead of 2 tablespoons of kosher salt - - next time I'll try just 1 tablespoon of regular salt), and 3 cups of matzo meal. I now know that it's the chicken fat and egg yolks that make matzo balls taste good.
For the matzo meal, I break into small pieces two boxes of matzo crackers. I pour the pieces into a blender and let the blender crush them into the consistency of coarse flour.
As for the egg whites, I whip them with a pinch of salt until they are stiff. I then whisk the stiff egg whites into the matzo mixture until it is smooth.
After refrigerating the matzo mixture for 30 minutes to thicken it, I use a small ice-cream scoop to drop scoops of the matzo mixture into a pot of simmering chicken stock, which is separate from the pot for the chicken soup. Matzo balls form. I let them cook for 30 minutes, turning them at least once. I cook the matzo balls in several batches. Once I am done, I return all the matzo balls into the pot with enough chicken stock for them to simmer in at the lowest heat level to keep them warm.
With the matzo balls done, I turn my attention to the final steps for the chicken soup. I remove the breast meat from the refrigerator and shred it into the simmering pot of chicken soup.
I next mince fresh dill and fresh parsley and put them in small bowls on the side for students who would like these herbs in their soup. Finally, I set nearby a large bowl of sliced baguette for dipping into the chicken soup.
A bowl of chicken soup.
Jacob, the first customer to Bui Bistro for dinner, adds matzo balls to his bowl of chicken soup. 
Joe and Kaitlyn, the last customers to Bui Bistro for dinner, enjoy a warm meal after their challenging return from Paris due to the German railroad strike.
I now know how to make chicken soup and matzo balls. In the past, I had to go to Brent's in Westlake Village for their matzo ball soup. Now I don't have to, at least for matzo ball soup. I would still need to make the trek there for the best apple pie a la mode.
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