Split pea soup can be a little deceptive. With its bright green color, your eyes convince your mouth that it’s in for something really fresh and herby. You go in for the first spoonful and your tastebuds are surprised to be hit with rich, earthy, smoky flavors with a hint of sweetness – the result of having been simmered with smoked ham hocks for upwards of four hours.  Yes, they’re surprised – but they sure are happy.

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“You’ll never guess what Bobby Flay’s ‘Throwdown’ dish is tonight!”

My mother-in-law called me immediately when she saw the Food Network promos for the “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” episode featuring matzo ball soup. I set my DVR to record it right away – I was going to need all the tips and techniques I could get. When she and my father-in-law were out here visiting from the East Coast a week earlier she suggested that I try out her longtime recipe for matzo ball soup. As it turns out, she had cut out the recipe from a box of Horowitz-Margareten Matzoh Meal almost 40 years ago. With Passover approaching, the opportunity to try out this “vintage” on-the-package recipe was irresistible.

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