An Inspired Cook

I haven’t made meatballs in the longest time.  They were one of Cameron’s favorite things to eat.  I used to make a big batch and package them in single serve bags that he could pull out for a quick meatball sub or add to his favorite pasta.  These meatballs are much different than any I’ve ever made before.  I added a bit of New Mexico with some roasted red and green chiles along with some queso fresco cheese and tortilla chips.  The meatballs on their own turned out quite tasty with a little kick in every bite.  I envisioned these meatballs simmering in salsa which turned into two salsa’s.  The first is a chile de arbol salsa which was by far my favorite.  It included roasted red tomatoes along with onion, garlic and tomatillos.  While I was at it, I had all the ingredients to make a verde salsa, which was loaded with green chile.  It made  more than enough for a meal and then some.  Whatever is left can go into the freezer until the next time a meatball craving comes along.

Lets start with the meatballs.  If you can’t get Hatch Green Chile pork sausage, you can always use your favorite sausage.  Sprouts is a good place to start with, they always have it, even in Kansas so you may be able to find it in your area too.

When I make meatballs, I make a lot.  This batch will make approximately 60 meatballs, of which most will go into the freezer for later.  It’s a combination of ground beef, ground pork and 3 links of green chile sausage.

To the meat I added grated onion, garlic, salt, roasted red and roasted green chile, queso fresco cheese, and roughly chopped cilantro.

Mix all the ingredients together.

Instead of bread crumbs I am using tortilla chips.  You can crush them by hand or run them through a food processor.  Make enough for 1/2 – 3/4 cup.

Add the tortilla crumbs and an egg to the mix.

Mix well until all the ingredients are equally distributed.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and begin making the meatballs.  Use a large spoon to make rounded meatballs.  Try to make them the same size.  Save out what you will need for your meal and refrigerate.  Place the remaining meatballs (on the baking sheet) in the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  That will make it easier to package and seal for the freezer.  Once frozen I like to vacuum seal them to prevent freezer burn.

Despite making the salsa’s from scratch, it really doesn’t take that much time.  For the chile de arbol salsa you will need tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomatillos, dried chile de arbol, tomato sauce, salt, sugar and lime juice.

Place the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil.  Turn on oven to the high broiler setting.  As the the tomatoes and tomatillos begin to blister, turn them over to roast the other side.  The onions may need a few extra minutes to soften.

Toast the chile de arbol in a skillet over medium heat a few minutes until they become fragrant.

Discard the stems and break apart the toasted chiles.  Place in a coffee grinder and pulse until they are ground into fine flakes and powder. *Don’t use a grinder that you use for coffee.  I have a grinder that I only use for chiles.  If you don’t have one, you can crush them and run a knife over them until they become the right consistency.  There may be more flakes than if you used a grinder but they will soften in the salsa.

Peel the tomatoes and garlic.  Place all the roasted veggies into a blender.

Add a can of tomato sauce and puree the salsa until you have smooth consistency.

Add the lime juice, salt, sugar and ground chiles to the salsa and pulse a few more times.

Time to make the salsa verde.  You will need diced green chiles, onion, garlic, tomatillos, cilantro, lime juice, salt, sugar and chicken broth.

Peel and rinse the tomatillos and garlic.  Chop the onion and place all in the blender.

Once everything is blended, add the cilantro, lime juice and sugar.  Puree until mixed well.

Pour all the salsa mix into a skillet over medium heat and let the sauce come to a boil.  Add chicken broth as needed to thin the salsa, about 1/4 – 1/3 cup.  Let simmer 15 minutes. Salt to taste.

There is approximately 2 cups of salsa verde and 2 cups chile de arbol salsa.  Cover and set aside or refrigerate until meatballs are ready.

Pan frying the meatballs will provide that outer crunch that tastes so good.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet and heat up over medium heat.

Turn the meatballs as they begin to brown on the bottom.

They will appear to caramelize and crust over as they cook.  Turn them often over 10 – 12 minutes cooking on all sides until they are cooked throughout.

I divided the meatballs and placed half in one skillet.  Pour just enough salsa to cover the meatballs and let the sauce heat up and simmer for a few minutes.

Now do the same with the remaining meatballs using the salsa verde.

I served these meatballs over polenta but they could easily be served with Spanish rice or fried potatoes. One of my secret favorite things is fries with salsa, now I’m wishing I had gone with that.  Next time!

Sprinkle some crumbled queso fresco over top and enjoy!


New Mexican Inspired Meatballs (Albondigas con Salsa)

Meatballs

1 pound Lean Ground Beef
1 pound Lean Ground Pork
3 links Hatch Green Chile Pork Sausage (or your favorite sausage links)
1/4 cup Green Chile, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup Roasted Red Chile, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 Sweet Onion, grated on a hand grater
2 cloves Garlic, grated on a microplane hand grater
1/2 – 3/4 cup Tortilla Chip Crumbs, processed through a food processor
1/3 -1/2 cup Queso Fresco Cheese, crumbled into small bits
1 Egg
1/4 cup Cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Combine the meats together, add grated onion, garlic, cheese, roasted red and green chile, cilantro and salt.  Work into the meats until well combined.  Add the tortilla crumbs and the egg to the mix.  Work into the mixture until all ingredients are well distributed throughout the mix.  Take a large spoon and mound the meat into round balls.  Try to make them the same size.  Set aside the meatballs that you need for your meal and prepare the rest for the freezer.  Place rounded meatballs on a tray lined with wax paper and set in freezer for 30 minutes.  Package the meatballs in freezer bags or vacuum seal.

To cook meatballs, heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat .  Add a drizzle of olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan).  Set meatballs in the hot pan and cook 10 – 12 minutes, turning the meatballs every few minutes as they brown and form a crunchy outer texture.

In a clean skillet layer as many meatballs as needed.  Spoon salsa over meatballs and bring just to a simmer.  Heat up for 2 – 3 minutes.  Serve meatballs over polenta, Spanish rice or fried potatoes.  Garnish with additional crumbled queso fresco cheese.

Chile de Arbol Salsa

4 – 6 Chile de Arbol, toasted
2 medium Tomatoes
1/2 Onion, cut into quarters and separate the layers of the onion
4 small Tomatillos (remove outer papery shells, rinse and core)
2 cloves Garlic, leave the outer shell in place
Spritz of Lime Juice (about 1 teaspoon)
1 (8 oz) can Tomato Sauce
1/8 teaspoon Sugar
Salt to Taste

Toast the dried chiles in a small skillet over medium heat.  Toss the chiles for 2 – 4 minutes and remove from heat as soon as they become fragrant.  Remove stems and break the chiles into smaller pieces.  Run the chiles through a coffee grinder or crush with a small rolling pin and run a knife over them back and forth until your have a finer consistency.  You should have approximately 2 teaspoons of ground chile de arbol.

Heat oven on high broiler setting.  Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, set aside.  Arrange tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic on the prepared baking tray so that they can broil evenly.  Drizzle olive oil over top and broil for 6 – 8 minutes turning the tomatoes and tomatillos every couple minutes as they blister and begin to soften.  The onions may take a couple minutes more to char the edges and soften throughout.  When done, remove peel from tomatoes and garlic.

Place all the roasted ingredients into a blender along with the can of tomato sauce and puree until smooth.  Add the lime juice, sugar and ground chile.  I usually start with 1 teaspoon of ground chile and taste.  For a hotter tasting salsa, add more ground chile.  Salt to taste.

Makes approximately 2 cups.  Freeze any unused salsa in an airtight container.

Salsa Verde

3/4 cup Green Chile, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 Onion, quartered
2 cloves Garlic, peeled
4 Tomatillos, (remove outer papery shell, core and cut in half)
3 tablespoons Cilantro
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1/4 – 1/3 cup Chicken Broth
Pinch of Sugar
Salt to Taste

Place green chile, onion, garlic and tomatillos in a blender and puree until well mixed.  Mixture will be slightly chunky.  Add the cilantro, lime juice and sugar.  Puree again until all is mixed well.

Pour contents into a small cooking pot  and heat over medium high heat until it begins to boil.  Add chicken broth as needed to thin the salsa.  Turn heat down to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Salt to taste.

Makes approximately 2 cups.  Freeze any unused salsa in an airtight container.