Last year, one of my cooking goals was to learn how to use our grill. I did grill a few things successfully, but most of the time I’m happy to just let J. handle that type of cooking on the weekend. But while I was putting my meal plan together for the week, Jackie commented on my Facebook page that she’d made beef sopes for dinner — and I immediately started craving steak. I knew I’d be firing up the grill.
I seasoned a pound of skirt steak with salt and pepper, then grilled them and served them with tortillas — the boys always like making their own wraps. Sweet Sesame Cabbage & Radish Slaw, an old favorite, rounded out the meal. If we’d had 80-degree temps instead of 40, we could have eaten outside, and this would have been a perfect summer meal. (It was still delicious, bundled up at the dining room table.)
This recipe comes from a local caterer, Fork and Glass. Fork and Glass were at the Chappaqua Farmer’s Market the last time I went, and they were sampling bite-sized versions of these meatballs. I loved them and really wanted to replicate them at home. Only, my guess about the spices they contained was totally off. I initially tried making Moroccan Beef Meatballs in Cumin & Coriander Tomato Sauce, but they weren’t on the mark. Then Maggie pointed out that Fork and Glass had contributed their own recipe — Mediterranean Meatballs with Lemon Coriander Yogurt — to the Farmer’s Market newsletter. No need to guess at what made them so memorable: I now had the original recipe. All I had to do was make them.
I did so last night, though without the yogurt. (The yogurt sauce was fantastic too, when I tasted their samples. But since I cook kosher-style I stay away from mixing milk and meat in my own kitchen.) I was in a rush as I was putting the meatball mixture together and accidentally completely omitted the chopped onion and parsley. I think those ingredients would add even more to the overall flavor, so don’t leave them out; but they were still (almost) as delicious as I remembered. As I was grinding the fennel seed I realized what was so appealing about this recipe to me — the meatballs have a sausage flavor thanks to that spice. Because the fennel seed flavor is somewhat pronounced I wondered if my parents would like them, since they don’t eat sausage — they did. In fact, my dad agreed that this recipe was much better than my Moroccan-influence version.
Served with Israeli couscous and caramelized onions, plus roasted carrots (with maple syrup and cayenne pepper) and garlicky spinach, this was a meal that seemed suited for something a lot more special than a plain old Tuesday night. These meatballs would also be great for a cocktail party, made small and served with toothpick stuck in the middle. They will definitely be made again in this house.
A few weeks ago I tasted bite-sized meatballs prepared by Fork & Glass at the Chappaqua Farmer’s Market. The meatballs were cooked in a pan without a sauce, and were packed with spices that reminded me of Mediterranean dishes. I wanted to try to to make something similar at home, but I wasn’t sure where to start with the seasoning until I came upon a Moroccan Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Cumin Coriander Spiced Tomato Sauce recipe. At first I thought I’d just use the spice mixture for the meatballs as a guideline and nix the sauce, but ultimate I wound up making the recipe pretty closely to as it is written, though I used lean ground beef instead of lamb.
This is an easy make-ahead recipe. I baked the meatballs in the morning, and prepared the sauce while they were in the oven. Then I stored the sauce and meat separately in the fridge until just before dinner, when I brought the sauce back to a simmer and heated the meatballs in the same pan. I served this dish over plain Israeli couscous, and my parents and I enjoyed it. It’s significantly different than a traditional Italian spaghetti and pasta dinner, but with the same comfort vibe and simplicity.
This dish is not spicy-hot but it is very heavy on the seasoning. In fact, the quantity of spices and dried herbs in the meatballs alone acted like a binder for the ground beef — there are no breadcrumbs in this recipe. Although I liked the overall flavor I think the quantity of spices (a full third of a cup of spices to 2½ lbs. meat) gave me heartburn, something I rarely struggle with. I do have another full meal of leftovers from this recipe in my freezer, and I’ll eat it without complaint. But I will look for a different equation for packing lots of savory flavor into a meatball, with less of the bulk of such a large quantity of ground spices and herbs.
I’ve been dragging this week, and I am craving comfort food without a lot of work. I’d planned on roasting butternut squash and tossing it with goat cheese and farro for dinner Thursday night, but as I was making lunch that day I decided to throw something homey into the Crock-Pot instead. These were all ingredients I had on hand (I used flanken straight from the freezer), and by the time dinner came around I was thrilled and thankful to have this haimish dish ready to go.
The boys wouldn’t touch it, and J. finished a small bowl. When I asked him what he thought about it, I got no response. I know I’m not doing much to convince you to make it, but I really enjoyed these flavors together and this stew is a good way to make a little meat go a long way. I froze the bulk of the leftovers and will serve it (and happily eat it) another day.
Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew
1 lb. flanken (a cut of beef short rib)
32 oz. vegetable stock
1 medium onion, diced
1 c. pearled barley, rinsed
10 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned + quartered
1 c. carrots, chopped (about a large handful of baby carrots, cut into coins)
1 bay leaf
black pepper + salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker, and cook on high for 4 hours. Take flanken out of the crock, discard the bones, and shred the meat making sure to trim off any visible fat. Set the meat aside. Remove and discard bay leaf and any remaining bones that are in the stew. Then add the shredded meat back into the crock, stir, and adjust seasoning with salt + pepper. Serve hot.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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