Nov 1, 2010

Moroccan-Style (Schweddy) Meatballs

Hope you guys had a great Halloween - pictures of mine to come soon! Instead, here's a little food treat for us all.

You can't make meatballs and NOT think of this SNL skit. I mean the entire time I was cooking this, I was cracking jokes to myself. Man, I love Alec Baldwin, is there anything he can't do...I'd hit that...I digress.

I recently saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray & bookmarked it as something I wanted to try. Side note - I am now obsessed with cooking / lifestyle magazines (like Real Simple, Martha Stewart, etc...it's all I read on planes now!)

Since I was pretty tired (read: hungover) this Sunday, I thought it'd be a great opportunity to try these Moroccan balls of meat...To be fair, it was just okay in my book - I think it was because I wasn't used to the Moroccan flavors (in my mind why did I still think it would taste like spaghetti?) and it was a bit dry.

Note that the recipe calls for ground lamb, but I used ground turkey...you might want to try ground pork or beef as the balls (heh) turned out a little drier than I had hoped (double heh).

What You'll Need:
+ 2 lbs of ground lamb (turkey, pork, or beef)
+ salt & pepper
+ 1/2 cup of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
+ 6 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
+ 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
+ 1 tbsp chili powder
+ 1 tbsp sweet paprika
+ 1 tbsp evoo (plus more for drizzling)
+ 1 onion, very finely chopped
+ 1 cup of chicken stock
+ 1 28-oz can fire-roasted diced or crushed tomatoes
+ pinch of ground cloves
+ pinch of ground cinnamon
+ 4 eggs (optional)

Preheat over to 400-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine the ground meat with liberal amounts of salt & pepper, the parsley, 2/3 of the garlic, the lemon peel, chili powder, paprika & cumin to form 1 1/4-inch meatballs.
The recipe said they made 65, I made 50...maybe mine were too big? (big balls) Drizzle with EVOO & roast until browned. The recipe said 10 mins, but I had to do about 18mins for it to look a little crispy.
Meanwhile, in a skillet with high sides or a dutch oven (which I thought was when you farted under the covers & trapped someone in it), heat 1 tbsp of EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the onion & remaining garlic & cook until softened (5-6 mins). Season with salt & pepper. Add the chicken stock & tomatoes & bring to a boil; season with the clove & cinnamon. Cook until thickened, about 10 minutes.Slide in the meatballs & simmer for 5 minutes.
Immediately pour the sauce & meatballs into bowls & crack in the eggs (this is optional). Cover tightly with a plate & let stand for 3 minutes to cook eggs. Serve with flatbread. Let me tell you that I tried this "egg cooking" method & it did NOT work. I had to pop the entire bowl in the microwave for 90 seconds to cook the eggs...so I recommend pre-cooking the egg (sunnyside up or over easy) versus letting the heat from the bowl cook it for you. Better safe than sorry! I can't wait to post pictures from my Maryland & DC trip...and also Halloween! Unfortunately my external hard drive won't read on my PC so I'll have to post them tomorrow!

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2 comments:

  1. shweddy balls! buahahaha. i totally forgot about that snl skit!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That raw egg looks scary, like HALLOWEEN SCARY. But man, second to the last pic looks SOOOO GOOD!! Are you gonna cook when I visit or are we just gonna eat out? haha

    ReplyDelete

icanhascomments? yes please.