Meatballs 4.0

Sometimes I surprise myself. I did a quick search on MM before drafting this blog post and found that I have featured the topic of meatballs here, here, and here. Hope you're not "over" the meatball because I HAVE to share another meatball recipe with you. You're just going to have to trust me on this one - let me lead you into the kitchen, I promise not to disappoint you.

Meatballs are one of this dishes that are either fantastic or disappointing. There is little room for anything else in between, however, after listening to Molly and Matthew's recent Spilled Milk podcast all about meatballs, I was inspired to make a batch.  Molly referred to a recipe in her book for Mediterranean style meatballs served a yogurt sauce and immediately I sprung into the kitchen to look it up.

What I loved about this recipe is how flexible and easily interchangeable it is when it comes to ingredients.  Don't have cilantro, but got parsley, substitute. Not a raisin fan, go ahead and substitute with dried cranberries.  The recipe calls for golden raisins, but I used dried cranberries instead. The original recipe calls for 1 lb. ground lamb, turkey or chicken - I did half and half, lamb and ground turkey.  Again, whatever your pleasure. The world is your oyster or in this case, a meatball or two.  The result is one mouthful of unctuous, sweet, earthy and nutty meat. I will wait for applause on this one.

Enjoy.

Doran's Meatballs with Pine Nuts, Cilantro and Dried Cranberries (adapted from Molly Wizenberg's recipe in A Homemade Life)

For yogurt sauce:
1 c. plain Greek yogurt
3 tbs. lemon juice
1 medium clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. salt 


For Meatballs:
1/2 c. yellow onion
1/4 c. fresh cilantro
1/2 c. pine nuts
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. fine bread crumbs
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 lb. ground lamb
1/2 lb. ground turkey, dark meat
2-4 tbs. olive oil


First, make the yogurt sauce.  Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Allow the flavors to marry together.  You won't be sorry.


Using a food processor, pulse together the onion, cilantro, pine nuts and dried cranberries. In a large bowl or stand-up mixer, combine the ground meats, onion mixture, bread crumbs, beaten egg, salt, cumin, and pepper. Mix until combined, but do your best not to overmix, meat tends to get tough easily. With damp hands, use a small spoon or hands to take a small hunk of meat and form 1-1 1/2 inch balls.  Set aside on a large plate.


Warm 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat.  Add about half of the meatballs (be careful not to overcrowd the pan) and brown them on all sides. The meatballs are ready when they are evenly browned and feel pleasantly firm, but not rock hard.  Transfer the cooked meatballs to a paper towel lined plate. Then repeat with second half of the batch, you may or may not have to use more oil, your call.  Trust your culinary instinct.


Serve warm with the yogurt sauce.

Beet you to the punch.

I am going to "beet" you to the punch with what turned out to be one of the highlights at an intimate gathering of friends who craft, converse, eat, drink and were spreading merriment all on an overcast Sunday afternoon. This past week, Clothilde, from Chocolate & Zucchini posted a recipe for beet hummus. I am a sucker for hummus, whether it's homemade or I pick up a tub from Trader Joe's.  It's a staple in my fridge and my heart.

I wish I had taken a picture of the beet hummus I made yesterday, but thanks to the original blog post, you can find the recipe and an image, here. I bought my beets at the farmer's market yesterday morning and the beet hummus turned out bright and cheery looking, a real showstopper on the table.  Tah-dah! It screamed, "look at me, over, here, yeah, the pretty purple dip, yeah that's me, aren't I purty?"  The fact that it was pretty wasn't only appealing, it was a real sweet treat to spoon on top of pita chips or dip baby carrots in.  It would probably make an incredible spread on a grilled veggie panini too. Hmmmmm.....now I can't wait to finish the rest of what's left off.

Calamari Time.

Perhaps this isn't a typical snack food in your home, but come on, party people, live it up every now and then! Always a fan of calamari, it is often an appetizer I'm drawn to when dining out. I've had it on my mind for a while, and I finally gave it my very first try. Here in Fort Wayne, the closet thing we have to a Whole Foods is The Fresh Market, where I purchased my calamari (previously froze, but clean), only $4.99 a pound. I choose a recipe from my big yellow Gourmet cookbook. Often restaurants will serve this creature deep fried in what I assume is all-purpose flour. In fact I would venture to say that these creatures might get a double dip in the fryer too. The Gourmet recipe suggested frying the calamari in rice flour, which I was able to find at a local grocery store. The difference is quite substantial, the rice flour coating (which aside from the rice flour included salt and pepper, but I think I will add some herbs next time) was very light and delicate. I wasn't able to achieve the deep golden brown we are all used to, but I think I was having "hot oil" issues to boot, not to mention that fact that I ran out of canola oil. I think next time I will try peanut oil instead too. I made a warm marinara sauce to go with it (drives me nuts when a marinara sauce is served cold with this dish), blended a can of chopped tomatoes, slowly cooked with a couple of garlic cloves, salt, and red chili pepper flakes. A perfect accompaniment, but not too long ago, I ate calamari served with a basil aioli. It's all a matter of personal preference, I suppose. Be careful not to over-fry them, they lose their chewy edge.