Chile Cumin Meatballs

So in case you were wondering, here is how I function:

While writing about one recipe, I may need to link back to a different one, which is a good way for me to reread or to just not forget some of my concoctions of the past.  This leads me into rediscovery mode and urges start sprouting up here and there.  I become fixated on making that fixation become reality and my mind races through all the delicious things I'll be preparing.

Then, at the last minute, while still fixating on the initial idea, I completely change directions and do a whole different thing and it ends up bringing out of me things I had forgotten.

This recipe is the different thing.

The other day, while I was going on and on about black cardamom and how it's crazy different from green cardamom, I searched for that one other time I had used it.  Chole Masala became my fixation and I prepared some chickpeas that I would let soak overnight.  Since that moment I've been hallucinating the taste of chickpeas cooked in a tea and spice broth with an almost smokey flavor all Indian style.  As I changed the chickpea soaking water, I imagined crushing one with my tongue and the roof of my mouth and letting its creamy goodness explode.

Up until the moment I placed them in my crockpot, I thought I was making Chole... and then I decided I wanted to make Lebanese style meatballs and have hummus on my plate.

I didn't actually search for this recipe.  I must have seen it peripherally while scrolling through my blog feed which had mostly Chinese recipes on it and my brain must have captured that one non-Asian recipe of the list and tricked me into soaking those chickpeas for this exact purpose.

Thank you brain, but I'm not completely forgetting about Chole, ok?

Adapted from Seamus Mullen via Lottie+Doof

Yields 27-30 meatballs

Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb ground lamb (I used a mixture of veal and beef)

1/4 onion, minced

8 cloves garlic, grated

1 Tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp sage

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp kosher salt

1 tbsp rice flour

2-3 Tbsp olive oil to cook

Directions:

1.  Mix together with your hands or a food processor.  I always use my hands..

 2.  Shape meatballs into 1 1/2 inch balls, then cook in olive oil until brown.  You may want to do this in batches.

Chile Sauce

Ingredients:

3 dried pasilla chiles

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 Tbsp cumin seeds

1/4 cup mix of red and white balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp paprika

1 clove garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

Directions:

1.  Dry roast the pasillas, cumin seeds, and crushed red pepper until fragrant, then grind.

2.  Blend everything together while streaming in the olive oil a little at a time.  You may not use all the oil.  Bring it to desired thickness.

Plate Assembly

Sexy Salad:
1 sliced cucumber

chopped mint and parsley

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 chopped tomato

1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage
juice from 1 lime
drizzle olive oil
few cracks black pepper

feta (Gazi)

Additional Ingredients:

beaten yogurt stirred with 1 clove grated garlic to sit under the meatballs

red pepper flakes

hummus with extra virgin olive oil

That one on the far right is Falafel.. you mix your Mezze however you want, right?
Things I didn't do but would work well:

romaine lettuce and/or man'ouche for wrapping

These were as much a pleasure to eat as they were to conceive..

Bun Nem Nuong - Vietnamese Meatballs

Ah meatballs.. let me reflect on my love for thee..

You make me feel creative and sneaky.. for only I know what you are composed of.

I love that I can go down any path with you and you'll happily follow.  Add fennel seeds and garlic, you are Italian.. add worcestershire sauce and tabasco, you are American, add garam masala and turmeric, you are Indian, add soy sauce and doubanjiang, you are Chinese, add lemongrass and fish sauce, you are Vietnamese..

And that last idea is the one that stuck.  This all happened because the ground veal was on sale 2 for 1.. and I can never resist a good deal.  The real dealmaker was when I went to the store for some cilantro and came back with some thai basil.

Thai basil!

I've never seen it before and I'm sure I won't see it again for quite some time, so I jumped on the occasion.  It is very different than "normal" basil.  It is more tart and lemony and actually doesn't really taste like basil, but it has it's own world happening.  

I love when life gives me a subtle wink..

Yield 44 meatballs

Ingredients

500g (1lb) ground meat of your choice (I used 350g ground veal, 150g ground turkey)

2 carrots, finely grated

3 cloves garlic, finely grated

1 inch piece ginger, finely grated

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder (I used alsa)

2 leaves napa cabbage, finely diced

2 green onions, finely diced

1 large handful thai basil, chopped

1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 Tbsp)

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp five spice

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

4 Tbsp water or more as needed

for pan frying:

2 Tbsp oil (I used olive)

Directions

1.  Make the meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together.  I did it with my hands, but traditionally you would use chopsticks and stir in one direction.  Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour refrigerated.

2.  Add in more water if needed.  The mixture should not be dry.  You should be able to form balls with your hands but it should be very gooey.  Make bite sized balls out of the mixture.  Mine were a little bigger than a lychee.

3.  To help the meatballs keep their shape, steam them on high for 5 minutes.

I did this in 3 batches in my steamer basket.  They can be done at this point if you want them to.. but I like the extra step.

4.  To get a nice color on them, when ready to eat, do a last minute pan fry of the meatballs.  Heat the oil in a wok and add as many meatballs as you are going to eat.  I froze the ones I hadn't pan-fried yet for future use.

They are now ready to be either dipped in a sauce and eaten as an appetizer like potstickers..

or used as a topping to a Bun noodle salad.. as I did.

I'm very pleased with these meatballs.  They had a nice texture with a good mouthful of flavors.  I'm glad I used veal instead of pork, which to me smells funny in Asian style meatballs.  They were very juicy, as I was hoping and were a perfect addition to my Bun salad collection.  These would be great dipped in hoisin sauce or rolled in some sesame seeds for a future dim sum party!

These would work well in a romaine lettuce wrap or as a sandwich.. or even with some fried rice too.

The unmade bed picture is always my favorite...

Repurposing a Failed Attempt into a Delight

So.. I tried making deviled eggs recently and failed terribly.  I underestimated the cooking time because of a much larger egg size and ended up with soft boiled eggs instead of almost hard.

The thing is, I had already peeled and halved most of them, so giving them an extra few minutes cooking time was no longer an option.  Given that the deviled eggs are supposed to be served on the half shell (well, technically, the half white) I had completely destroyed my original attempt.

I ate 2 of those eggs on the spot out of mere fury, so I was left with 4 chopped gooey soft boiled eggs with chopped cucumbers and a spoonful of dijon-black current mustard.

There is no way I would waste such good food, so I put this "dressing" into a tupperware and thought I might be able to use it on a salad.

Oh yes was I able to use it on a salad!

It turns out that the next day, the cucumbers had "sweat" making the goop into a perfectly textured chunky salad dressing.  All I had to do was put a salad together and call it dinner!

Since I had grilled up a few veal cutlets, I decided to use part of one as a topping and then wing it from there.  It was actually delightful.  If I would never have told myself that this was just a way to figure out how to not throw out those gooey chopped eggs, I never would have guessed!  The best part is there is absolutely no added fat.  It's creamy enough as it is.

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 extra large steamed or soft boiled eggs, cooled, peeled, and chopped (preferably in a bowl)

few handfuls torn batavia leaves (or whatever salad you want, really)

1/4 cucumber, diced

1 tsp dijon-black current mustard (or normal dijon mustard)

few cracks black pepper

just a small squeeze of lime

pinch of fleur de sel

1 Tbsp capers

toppings:

1 veal (or chicken or turkey) cutlet, grilled and sliced

1 handful chopped basil

baked split gram (channa daal) for crunch

Directions

I know some of these things don't really seem to go together, but trust me, this works.  Just toss it all together.

Never judge a book by it's cover.. you'd be sorry to miss the adventure inside...

Veal Paupiettes in Roots and Mustard

Paupiettes are something I rarely cook, but when I do, I'm always in for a treat.

The thing about paupiettes is that you either make them yourself (which I didn't) or you buy good quality ones.  The concept of a paupiette is to have a beaten thin cutlet wrapped and tied around some sort of stuffing.  In France, that stuffing is usually meat based.  The inexpensive ones you can find are usually pork wrapped around a ground pork stuffing.  Sometimes you can find the Turkey/ground pork ones, but the best ones (in my opinion) are the Veal/ground veal ones.

When I can get a good deal on those, I usually go for them.

In this version, I decided to get them nicely colored, and then add some thinly sliced mushrooms, turnips, and carrots in some mustard.  This yielded a beautiful sauce that I decided to pair with tagliatelles al dente.

The result was very nice, delicate, and very French.. which is good once in a while because I do live in France after all...

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 good quality Veal Paupiettes

1 onion, thinly sliced into moon crescents

1 carrot, thinly sliced into half circles

1/2 long white turnip, thinly sliced into half circles (or 1 normal round turnip)

1 large handful mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 tsp thyme

3 Tbsp extra strong mustard

1 cup water (as needed)

lots of freshly cracked black pepper

few pinces fleur de sel

1 Tbsp heavy cream

drizzle EVOO

some chopped parsley

Directions

1.  In a high edged heavy based pan, drizzle some olive oil and color the paupiettes until they are nicely golden on each side.  This may take about 10 minutes.  They should release a bit of juice, which is good.  Remove and set aside.

2.  Add the sliced onions with a sprinkle of fleur de sel into the pan and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add the carrot and turnip slices, thyme, and some pepper and cook, stirring for another 10 minutes.  Add a bit of water if it gets too dry.

4.  Stir in the mushrooms and mustard and cook, for another 5 minutes.

5.  Add the paupiettes in with half the water.  Cover and simmer while you prepare your pasta.  I let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, adding water if dry.

6.  About 5 minutes before serving, stir in the heavy cream, chopped parsley, and add more fresh cracked pepper.  Heat through, then taste and add salt if needed.  Mine were perfect at this point.

Serve over a bed of hot tagliatelles al dente with a bit of fresh chopped parsley on top.

Mustard really gives depth to all the other flavors.  Carrots and turnips are a perfect match to the veal and melt in your mouth with each twisted forkful.  It almost doesn't even need cream, I just added it because I like a bit of cream with pasta.

I'm gourmande like that...

Osso Buco

I got this one from Giada too! I never eat veal, but it's delicious, so when it's on sale, I go for it. I found some nice looking veal shanks on sale the other day, and I'd always wanted to try Osso Buco! This serves 2

Ingredients nocoupons

• 2 bone in Veal Shanks
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 dry bay leaf
• 2 whole cloves
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All purpose flour, for dredging
• Some EVOO
• 1 small onion, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 small carrots, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 stalks celery, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped
• zest of 1 lemon

Directions

1. Pat veal shanks dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture and season each shank with salt and freshly ground pepper. Dredge the shanks in flour, shaking off excess.

2. In a large Dutch oven pot or pressure cooker, heat EVOO until smoking. Add veal shanks to the hot pan and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and reserve.

3. In the same pot, add the onion, carrots and celery. Season with salt at this point to help draw out the moisture from the vegetables. Saute until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Return browned shanks to the pan and add the white wine and reduce liquid by half, about 5 minutes. If you want to use your crock pot, now would be a good time to transfer.

4. Add the herbs and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Or in the crock pot for a few hours, or in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes.

5. Remove and discard any branches and cloves from the pot and garnish with chopped parsley and lemon zest.

Serve over rice, pasta, or couscous!

Osso Buco means hole in the bone. Suck out the bone marrow without choking on it! This one is a keeper. Next time I will make more.