Monday, March 10, 2008

A WORK IN PROGRESS

Meatball recipes are sort of like Mac & Cheese recipes, as in, everyone has their own version--some of these recipes are passed down by generations and some of them are created by personal experimentation--there are regional varients, cultural varients etc, etc.

Since I come from an Indian family--I wanted to create my own Meatball tradition, with a twist. I set out to make Middle-Eastern/Indian-Spiced Lamb Meatballs that utilized a lot of fragrant exotic spices, garlic, parsley and onions. My Mother makes something similar--Beef Kebabs that she grills in the Summertime--so that memory was a big inspiration for this experiment. I chose to use Lamb, however, just because I think of it as a perfect meat that plays well with spices like cinammon, allspice and mint.

So here is my recipe "so far" as I made it twice this weekend. I think there is still room for improvement and will probably continue to experiment with this for awhile before I get it to be perfect-- next time I will be add Plain Breadcrumbs--as that heartiness and substantial texture of Italian Meaballs was lacking--this mixture will probably do well as a Burger Recipe for the Summertime--the addition of the Bread will make them more of a "meatball" I believe. But nonetheless this is a good starting point.

K's SPICY MOM-INSPIRED MEATBALLS

1 lb. Ground Lamb (or Beef!)

1 Egg, beaten
2 Spoonfuls of Full-Fat, Plain Yogurt (I love Erivan Brand)
A few splashes of Worchestire Sauce

2 grabs of Fresh Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley, washed & chopped
1 grab of Fresh Mint Leaves, washed & chopped

4 to 5 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/3 of a Sweet or Yellow Onion, minced

1/3 cup Pine Nuts, crushed/chopped, preferably lightly browned & toasted in Dry Saute Pan

Palmful of Ground Coriander
Palmful of Ground Cumin
Half Palmful of Allspice
Half Palmful of Sea Salt
Quarter to A Third Palmful of Cayenne Pepper (1/2 Handful if you're daring)
Quarter Palmful of Ground Cinammon
Quarter Palmful of Ground Ginger
Eigth Palmful of Ground Nutmeg
A few turns from a Pepper Grinder

*Alcohol on hand to deglaze pot after sauteeing is helpful, as using a non-stick pan is nice for the meatballs because the outside is able to sear well, about half a glass of wine is great for this.

**It may be helpful if you have someone to pour in the ingredients for you, otherwise, you'll have to wash your hands plenty of times as you are dealing with raw meat.

***I serve these meatballs with a Simple Staple Salad (see post: SIMPLE STAPLE SALAD) & a side of Rice (Cous Cous works too!) with Zucchini & Squash mixed and dressed with a Yogurt dressing (see post: YOGURT TO COOL YOU OFF)--the yogurt helps cool the mouth for this spicy dish--the side dish is best served cold with the hot mealballs.

1. Add Meat to a large bowl. Wash hands.

2. Add all spices: Cumin, Coriander, Allspice, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Ground Ginger, Cinammon, Nutmeg. Mix meat and spices evenly. Wash hands.

3. Add minced Garlic & Onions & Chopped Pine Nuts. Mix in evenly. Wash hands.

4. Add beaten Egg, Yogurt, splashes of Worchestire, & chopped Parsley & Mint. Mix evenly.

5. **At this point I would add Plain Breadcrumbs--I will append this recipe once I have tried it!

6. Make meat into Meatballs--I made them on the smaller side, where one could sit in the indent of my palm. They make about 20 to 25 meatballs.

7. After washing hands, put a saute pan over medium-low heat. Add a little EVOO--one turn of the pan. Once it is hot (make sure not to go too far and let the EVOO smoke), add about 6 meatballs at a time. Once they are placed in the pan let them sit for about 30 seconds and then roll them around--this initial placing and rolling is crucial as it is the point when the meatballs could fall apart, so be gentle, once they've been cooking for a minute or so and have been moved around, they will stay together. Cook each set of meatballs for about 6 minutes.




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