Thursday, October 14, 2010

Marvelous Meatballs

 

For Christmas last year, my Dad bought me a book I had been wanting for a long time. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg is a book about life accented by and often centered around food. At the end of each chapter is at least one recipe, and I have yet to find one to be less than superb.

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So far my favorite recipe is a recipe for meatballs with a lemon-garlic sauce. It is so wonderful, and I love to bring it for potlucks or use it as an easy appetizer.

Meatballs

1/2 c. minced yellow onions

1/4 c. chopped cilantro

1/2 c. chopped pine nuts

1/2 c. chopped golden raisins

1/2 c. fine bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1 lb ground chicken, turkey, or lamb

Yogurt Sauce

1 c plain yogurt (full fat)

3 Tb lemon juice

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt

First mix together the yogurt sauce to let the flavors meld together while you make the meatballs.

Next, combine everything but the meat in a large bowl. Then add the ground meat and mix it thoroughly with your hands, being careful not to over knead as this can make the meat tough. With damp hands, roll chunks of the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. After you have formed the meatballs, warm 2 Tb of olive oil in a skillet, and start to cook the meatballs. As they begin to color, turn them gently and lightly shake the pan to get color on all sides. The meatballs are ready when they are evenly browned and feel firm, but not rock hard.

Serve hot, warm, or even room temperature with the yogurt sauce.

Yields 30 small meatballs.

All credit to Molly Wizenberg, who can also be found here.

A quick note, pine nuts can be crazy expensive at your local cub, but according to this lady they are very affordable at Trader Joes.

Don't forget to mail me some of those meatballs when you are finished, or else!

And buy this book, it is soo worth the 10 lbs you will gain by just reading about all that wonderful food, and also her story is incredibly touching.

4 comments:

  1. have you made a big batch and frozen them before?

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  2. i also learned a few weks ago that if you buy bad pinenuts (even though they looked normal) they can give you a weird, metallic, bitter taste in your mouth for a week. I was sure I had some freakish cancer or renal disease, but it was pinenuts. now i am scared of them and i just made cups and cups of pesto from my garden with walnuts instead of pinenuts. sorry, that was a terribly depressig comment.

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  3. Where have I been??!! I just found your blog, read through your old posts and laughed my butt off! Especially the one about the earmuffs! :) I can't believe my dad bought you such a stylish pair.... Mine were plain purple. Anyway keep up the good job blogging! I love it!! :)

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  4. Ps Cody has a huge head too... Don't feel to bad, we had to take his hockey helmet back three times to adjust it! :)

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