42 | JUNE 30 • 2022
T
he Detroit area is a
phenomenal mixture
of cultural groups, all
immigrating to our metrop-
olis at various times for their
own reasons and establishing
neighborhoods,
enclaves and
retail districts in
a beautiful patch-
work quilt.
Practically, this
means that it’s
delightfully easy
to find good food
from a wide variety of cultural
traditions, from Israeli cuisine
to Greek to Polish to Japanese,
and even little niche spots for
food from one city or another.
Thus, I’m drawn to the idea
of those liminal spaces where
a Greek coney island ends up
next to a Jewish deli, and what
sort of exchanges and hybrids
might emerge. Jewish food, after
all, has consistently borrowed
liberally from whatever country
the diaspora has flung us into.
We see local customs and food-
ways incorporated into mean-
ingful expressions of Judaism
and developed into long-lasting
dishes that form the corner-
stone of new traditions in new
corners of the world.
I’m a fan of the coney island,
and particularly the egg-lemon-
rice soup that’s on almost any
coney menu you find. Why not
tweak it a little, and take a cue
from its Greek origins, where
the lemon-egg liaison forms
the basis of several sauces and
soups, using fish, chicken and
other lighter meats (particularly
veal) to create lively bowls of
bright broth surrounding meat-
balls, noodles, grains and more.
Here, I’ve decided to use up
some leftover matzah from
Passover. This could even be
tweaked slightly (potato starch
for cornstarch) to be properly
Passover-friendly for next year’s
recipe plans.
Ingredients
4 qts. water
2 lbs. chicken thighs, bone in,
skin on
1 medium yellow onion, quartered,
some skin left on if clean enough
1 carrot, chopped roughly
1 stalk celery, chopped roughly
2-3 parsley stems
1 stem dill
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. black peppercorns
4 Tbs. cornstarch
6 eggs, separated
¾ cup lemon juice
1 cup matzah meal, plus more as
needed
2 Tbsp. rendered schmaltz, saved
from broth-making
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. finely chopped parsley
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh dill, chopped
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
Good olive oil
Directions
1. Place the chicken thighs
in a pot large enough to
hold them, the aromatic
vegetables listed and 4
quarts of water. Pour the
water, adding more to
cover, if necessary, and
place the pot on your
stove.
Bring it to a simmer
over medium heat and
reduce to a bare bubble.
Skim scum that rises and
discard; when there’s not
much more forming, add
the onion, carrot, celery,
parsley and dill stems and
smashed garlic cloves
as well as the black pep-
percorns. Note: Using
the onion skins will help
give the broth the golden
color we all associate with
chicken soup.
2. Simmer very gently for
at least 45 minutes, up to
6 hours, as your timeline
allows, adding more water,
if necessary, to maintain
a decent coverage over
the broth ingredients. Mix
occasionally to make sure
all of the various ingredi-
ents are able to provide
everything they can to the
flavor of the broth.
3. After cooking, remove
the pot from the heat and
allow the broth to cool
somewhat. Remove the
chicken thighs, carefully,
and set aside. Strain out
the rest of the broth ingre-
dients and discard, placing
the broth into a clean pot.
Clean and cut the thigh
FOOD
FROM THE HOME KITCHEN
OF CHEF AARON
Chef Aaron
Egan
Ingredients
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
Matzah Ball
Avgolemono