Thursday, January 5, 2012

Mamaw’s Recipe Box #4: Spanish Meatballs



Happy New Year! 2012 arrived in a rush of activity with my wedding on Christmas Eve, Christmas itself, my honeymoon to Branson, Missouri (which I will soon write about on my other blog), my birthday, and finally the New Year. Whew!



As life settled back into normal, I turned once again to my grandmother’s recipe box for inspiration. As I mentioned in a past blog, Mamaw was a farmwife who hated to cook but still managed to create wonderful food we all enjoyed. Since January always brings with it a craving for warm, comforting food, I want to share this recipe for Spanish Meatballs.


I grew up eating this dish. Mamaw’s recipe card notes she got the original from her sister, my great-aunt Prebble.

It is so easy to make. Once assembled, all that is left is for the dish to simmer on the stove top for two hours and it’s done. I did try browning the meatballs first this time before adding the rest of the ingredients. I liked the flavor, but the meatballs are so tender it is hard to turn them in the pan. Also I noticed the rice inside some of them didn’t seem to cook all of the way, perhaps because too much liquid was lost in the browning process. They still tasted wonderful. Mamaw’s recipe also said that onion, red pepper, and chili powder are optional, but I would make them mandatory! The ingredients give so much more flavor to the dish. I also used a green pepper, which rounded out the flavor even more.

Spanish Meatballs

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup uncooked rice
Salt and pepper
1 pint water
1 small can tomatoes [I used some homemade tomato sauce I had on hand, but a can of diced tomatoes would work well, too.]
Onion, red pepper, and chili powder (optional) [Use them! Plus a green pepper. I used 1 tablespoon of chili powder. Next time I will use a bit more.]
 
Mix the beef, pork, egg, milk, rice, and pepper thoroughly and make into balls. In a Dutch oven, heat water, tomatoes, onion, red pepper, salt, and chili powder [and green pepper] to the boiling point. Drop the balls into the hot liquid and boil slowly for 2 hours or until done, with no stirring. [I served the meatballs with boiled potatoes.]

For those of you following the Friday posting of the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women Game-Changers in the food world that I and a number of fellow food bloggers are paying tribute to by posting a recipe from each week, I am taking a break for this week and next as I catch up from the past two weeks of merriment. However, please check in with the others to see what recipes are on tap each week!

Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia -A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie -Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green
Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Nancy - Picadillo
Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits
Claudia – Journey of An Italian Cook

1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad to hear you had such a good trip and wedding! These meatballs sound delicious...tried and true for a reason!

    ReplyDelete