M.eat.balls

It’s one of the reasons why you go to IKEA, it’s the name of a movie, the heaviest one weighed 101 kg or 222,5 pounds and Tony Soprano eats it with spaghetti. Do you know what I’m talking about?

It’s one of the reasons why you go to IKEA, it’s the name of a movie, the heaviest one weighed 101 kg or 222,5 pounds and Tony Soprano eats it with spaghetti. Do you know what I’m talking about? I’m talking about meatballs, also called fleischlaibchen, ballekes, frikadeller, polpettine, almôndegas, kofta, bakso, kjøttkaker, klopsy, or kyufte. The different names for meatballs shows us that they are made around the world, from Belgium to Indonesia and from Italy to Norway. It’s not a typically dish of Sweden, as we would think if we see the commercials of Ikea. Dozens of countries in the world have their own ” a ball of ground meat” speciality.

I really like to make meatballs. It’s easy, it’s fast and you don’t need a lot of ingredients. You can serve them as an appetizer or as a main dish. Add spices like cumin and you have an oriental dish. Serve them with cranberries marmelade and we’re back in Scandinavia. If it’s hot and sunny, take your barbecue and grill the meatballs. If it’s a cold winter, add them to your vegetable soup. You have so many options with meatballs, and that’s why I love to make them.

Last week I made some different kinds of meatballs. First, I made porc and veal meatballs satey on a barbecue and then I made meatballs of lamb meat as appetizers. I made a couscous salad with the leftovers of the lamb meatballs. It proves again that you can vary with meatballs. I’ll give you the recipe of the couscous salad with lamb meatballs.

Recipe: Feta and cucumber couscous, lamb meatballs and garlic yoghurt dressing

What do you need? (4 serves, 15 balls) For the meatballs: 500 gr of minced lamb, fresh mint, lemon zeste, 1 egg, fresh coriander, a clove of garlic, grounded cumin, one hot red pepper, one  shallot, 4 Tsp bread crumbs, pepper and salt. For the couscous salad: half a cucumber, cherry tomatoes, 250 gr couscous, 100 gr feta cheese, 7dl vegetable stock, fresh mint, pepper and salt. For the dressing: a clove of garlic, 2dl yoghurt, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp olive oil, pepper, salt, fresh mint, fresh coriander.

What do you do? Start with making the meatballs. Chop the coriander, shallot, garlic, pepper and mint. Mix everything. Make the meatballs. Now make the couscous salad. Chop the cherry tomatoes and the cucumber. Boil the vegetable stock and pour over the couscous. When the couscous cooled down, add the vegetables , the feta cheese and the herbs. Season with pepper and salt. Now make the dressing. Mix the yoghurt, the lemon juice and olive oil. Add chopped herbs and garlic. You can fry the meatballs in a pan or cook them on a barbecue. You can make it as a main dish for 4 people or as just a little starter for more than 4 people.

Enjoy the meatballs! Feel free to share your favorite meatball recipe with me.

And just because it’s so funny…

I’m talking about meatballs, also called fleischlaibchen, ballekes, frikadeller, polpettine, almôndegas, kofta, bakso, kjøttkaker, klopsy, or kyufte. The different names for meatballs shows us that they are made around the world, from Belgium to Indonesia and from Italy to Norway. It’s not a typically dish of Sweden, as we would think if we see the commercials of Ikea. Dozens of countries in the world have their own ” a ball of ground meat” speciality.

I really like to make meatballs. It’s easy, it’s fast and you don’t need a lot of ingredients. You can serve them as an appetizer or as a main dish. Add spices like cumin and you have an oriental dish. Serve them with cranberries marmelade and we’re back in Scandinavia. If it’s hot and sunny, take your barbecue and grill the meatballs. If it’s a cold winter, add them to your vegetable soup. You have so many options with meatballs, and that’s why I love to make them.

Last week I made some different kinds of meatballs. First, I made porc and veal meatballs satey on a barbecue and then I made meatballs of lamb meat as appetizers. I made a couscous salad with the leftovers of the lamb meatballs. It proves again that you can vary with meatballs. I’ll give you the recipe of the couscous salad with lamb meatballs.

Recipe: Feta and cucumber couscous, lamb meatballs and garlic yoghurt dressing

What do you need? (4 serves, 15 balls) For the meatballs: 500 gr of minced lamb, fresh mint, lemon zeste, 1 egg, fresh coriander, a clove of garlic, grounded cumin, one hot red pepper, one  shallot, 4 Tsp bread crumbs, pepper and salt. For the couscous salad: half a cucumber, cherry tomatoes, 250 gr couscous, 100 gr feta cheese, 7dl vegetable stock, fresh mint, pepper and salt. For the dressing: a clove of garlic, 2dl yoghurt, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp olive oil, pepper, salt, fresh mint, fresh coriander.

What do you do? Start with making the meatballs. Chop the coriander, shallot, garlic, pepper and mint. Mix everything. Make the meatballs. Now make the couscous salad. Chop the cherry tomatoes and the cucumber. Boil the vegetable stock and pour over the couscous. When the couscous cooled down, add the vegetables , the feta cheese and the herbs. Season with pepper and salt. Now make the dressing. Mix the yoghurt, the lemon juice and olive oil. Add chopped herbs and garlic. You can fry the meatballs in a pan or cook them on a barbecue. You can make it as a main dish for 4 people or as just a little starter for more than 4 people.

Enjoy the meatballs! Feel free to share your favorite meatball recipe with me.

And just because it’s so funny…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY_Yf4zz-yo]