SOUTZOUKAKIA ( GRILLED MEATBALL IN TOMATO SAUCE)

Soutzoukakia from Smyrna

For the meatballs, you need:
2 slices thick dense bread (crusts removed)
1/2 cup dry wine
Soak the bread in the wine for about 5 minutes, or until thoroughly softened. Then, squeeze out excess wine. In a large bowl, add:
1 lb ground lean meat (beef or veal)
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 egg
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons grated spicy cheese like the Greek kefalograviera (parmesan makes an excellent substitute)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper

Combine the ingredients until thoroughly blended. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours. Dampen your hands, pinch off small portions of meat mixture and shape into approximately oval rolls (looks more like a short fat sausage than a meatball or meat pattie). At this stage, you can freeze them for later use. If you are going to cook them, dredge them in flour and fry them in a little olive oil until they are well browned and cooked all over.


For the sauce, you need:
some of the oil you fried the meatballs with
2 lbs fresh tomatoes (we still have some growing in the garden - in January, you exclaim? the last of summer's crops) - add a teaspoon of tomato puree if you haven't got enough fresh tomato
2 tablespoons of dry wine
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Strain the oil you fried the meatballs in through a fine sieve and pour some of it into a shallow frying pan. I didn't add too much oil, because the meatballs had enough in them. Add all the sauce ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce is thick. Drop in the meatballs, stir to cover all over with the sauce, and simmer covered for 15 minutes.

When you've done all this, treat yourself to a glass of wine - you must be pooped! I'm just about to make myself a cup of coffee and help myslef to some melomakarona. I noticed that the Christmas tree is being taken down in Trafalgar Square, but here in Greece, Christmas holidays aren't over until after St John's (7th January).

Serve the soutzoukakia hot with rice, french fries, or mashed potatoes, a mixed salad and some peasant sourdough bread to mop up the juices. If you want to use the frozen soutzoukakia, you need to defrost them thoroughly before dredging them in flour, because they won't cook properly otherwise. Then you proceed with the frying and sauce as the recipe states.

 

 

     1 lb ground beef     1 lb ground lamb     2 cloves of garlic     1 cup breadcrumbs     1/2 tsp cumin     4 Tbsp red wine     1 tsp of salt     1 tsp of black pepper     3 Tbsp olive oil     Tomato Sauce         2 large tomatoes         2 large shallots         1 tsp tomato paste, diluted in 1 cup of water         1/4 cup olive oil         1 cup green olives         salt         pepper

 

 

 

Begin by preparing the ground lamb meatballs. This is incredibly simple: finely mince the garlic and combine that with all of the remaining meatball ingredients in a bowl until nicely mixed.

Shape the meat mixture into oblong ground lamb meatballs.

Heat up a large skillet (medium-high) and add a bit of olive oil. Brown the ground lamb meatballs on all sides (roughly 2 minutes per side). Don’t crowd the ground lamb meatballs – create additional batches if necessary. Remove the browned ground lamb meatballs from the pan and set aside for now.

Now, prepare the sauce. Very finely mince the shallots and sauté over medium heat. After about 5 minutes, add the very finely diced tomatoes and tomato paste mixture. Scrape any browned bits from the pan. Raise to a boil and then drop the temperature down to a simmer for about 10 minutes (or until the sauce has thickened to your liking).

With the sauce ready, return the ground lamb meatballs to the pan with the sauce. Also add the olives and allow this to simmer (loosely covered) for 10 minutes.

These ground lamb meatballs go great with either fried potatoes, rice, or buttered noodles. Enjoy!

ALBONDIGAS SOUP

If fresh mint is not available, you can use a couple teaspoons of dried mint from herbal mint tea. You can also vary the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. Spring peas in their pods instead of shucked peas, for example. Or you could add some chopped fresh zucchini or corn. My mother often puts a couple extra tablespoons of chopped fresh mint directly into the soup. Feel free to substitute ground turkey for the ground beef, we do it often.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock OR water OR a mixture of both (we usually use half stock half water as the meatballs will create their own stock)*
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce

• 1/2 lb of string beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

• 1/3 cup of raw white rice
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
• 1 raw egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• A dash of cayenne (optional)

• 1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

*If using prepared stock, be sure to use gluten-free stock if you are cooking gluten-free.

Method

1 Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add broth mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.
2 Prepare the meatballs. Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

3 Add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.
Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Yield: Serves 6-8.

CHIPOTLE MEATBALLS

Ingredients


Meatballs

* 2 slices  minced meat
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup bread crumbs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons dried oregano or finely chopped fresh mint
* 1-2 teaspoons chipotle powder (or a couple teaspoons of adobo sauce)

CHIPOTLE POWDER

Sauce
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped, about 1 cup
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1-3 canned chipotles in adobo, minced fine and sauce reserved
* 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted)
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 cup beef or chicken broth

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well with your clean hands for a minute or two. You want the mixture to be well integrated, but you don't want to overwork it or the meatballs will be tough.

2 With wet hands or an ice cream scoop, form meat into about 16 plum-size balls and space them out in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish, or, if you have one, a mini-muffin tin. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

3 While meatballs bake, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat and sauté the onions until they just start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the minced chipotles, the can of tomatoes, oregano or mint, and beef broth. Mix well and add salt to taste. If you want more chipotle flavor, add the reserved chipotle sauce spoonful by spoonful, mixing and tasting between spoonfuls. Boil the sauce uncovered as the meatballs cook.

4 When meatballs are ready, put them into the sauce and toss to coat. If the sauce is too thin for your taste, continue to boil it down for a few minutes. Otherwise, serve with rice, tortillas or polenta. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Yield: Serves 6-8.

Notes:

The word "chipotle" actually comes from the Nahuatl words chil (chile pepper) and poctli (smoke). (See Wikipedia.)

Links:

Diana Kennedy's chipotle meatballs from The Wednesday Chef
Rick Bayless' chipotle meatballs as written in the New York Times