Greek Ball Hero

Hi, Everyone! I have an update for you. I was on my first shopping trip in 2 months (Masks and nitrile gloves) when somewhere in the cheese section, I spotted an old favorite of ours, a nice salty feta. It seemed like we were due for a treat after everything started changing around AGAIN what with who can work, who has to go to the office and all of that stuff. So, we took a hint from a page in our  cookbook, “The Food of the Greek Islands” by Aglaia Kremezi. Page 113 shows a meatball dish called, Soutzoukakia Lemonata, using rice and lemon broth. Sounds like a nice distraction from everything turning sideways, no?

I prefer lean meat since it’s not as fatty. We used 80-20 because we’re not fond of eating baby animals like lamb and veal, and ground beef is easiest to find. For taste, I substituted the rice in the meatballs with breadcrumb. I’ve tried the rice method with meatballs before, but it came out super crunchy, because it had no time to cook. I didn’t want to waste food on experiments, so since I know breadcrumb tastes better to me, I did it that way.

As for the cilantro, we didn’t have any left. This is the key ingredient in Cyprus, but we did have oregano, so I guess these didn’t come out the same way as the book specified. Oregano gives it that pizza flavor. Cilantro is sharper and stronger. To be perfectly honest, I would have liked to have seen feta in the recipe.

I couldn’t taste any of the lemon in there, but 1 lemon typically has 3 tablespoons and that’s what was added. We rolled it out as best as we could ere cutting it open so the juices can loosen up and flow more easily. The seeds aren’t as stuck inside either.

The meatballs were a little loose the next day in the broth, so we fished them out and pan-fried them to give them a little more stability after all that time in liquid, sucking in all of the broth flavors. (could be a technique to remember for later, sort of like marinating)

While he tended to the beef, I took out some hot dog buns, laid some greens on the bottom and crumbled feta for the top. It reminded me of the meatball subs my mom makes with the extras from macaroni nights. So, if people can use mozzarella and red sauce for that, why can’t I use spinach and feta for a Greek version?

Wherever you go, there will be some recipe for meatballs, be it France, Greece, Italy or even India. Perhaps this could be the start of a tour across the globe, so to speak sampling meatballs in the style of every country. Tell us what you think in the comments. Until next time, αντιο σας!