Springing Forward

                   

Although the last few days here in NYC have been punctuated by rain, they have fortunately for us all been encapsulated by a welcome parenthesis of warm weather. Sunny days are here again—briefly, no doubt—but that doesn't mean we haven't all immediately broken out our spring coats and fought a stranger for an outdoor seat. While the food may not have caught up with the seasons quite yet, I'm happy to say that I'm feeling the need to eat a bit lighter. Not healthier, per se, but certainly something that takes the weight of winter off my shoulders (if it also takes a little something off my hips along the way, all the better). Most winter produce doesn't really permit for much light cuisine, but there is one particular soup that is light in texture, and yet filling, with a handful of a great winter ingredient tossed in.

Escarole is often ignored because it's considered bitter, which of course it is, if eaten raw. But the funny thing about escarole is that even though we often treat it as a lettuce here in the states, it is in fact a winter green in the chicory family, much like its bitter cousin the endive. While it works well in mixed green salads, many with an Italian background may be more familiar with it as a cooking green. It's a wonderful ingredient for bridging the gap from winter to spring, when we're all looking to layoff off the heavy stews and move on to something bright and vernal. Escarole is a great transition ingredient, especially because it cooks up incredibly quickly. It's almost always ready before you think it is, and requires almost no extra liquid to wilt. It's bitterness melts away with a hint of garlic and lemon, almost lending it a sweet flavor.

I most commonly associate escarole with Italian wedding soup. With its light broth and buoyant, meaty little orbs, Italian wedding soup is a festival of protein (there's also egg cooked into the broth) that's wrapped up in a seemingly weightless package. The meatballs are cooked right in the broth, lending their meaty flavor to the base of the soup, and the escarole is tossed in at the last minute to avoid overcooking, right before the egg goes in. Everything about this soup is fast, the most time consuming portion being rolling the meatballs. The smaller the meatball, the easier they are to roll, and the faster they cook, so 1-1 1/4 inch meatballs (traditional size for this soup) are your best bet.

I try to use a low sodium broth for this whenever possible since you'll have salt and seasoning from the meatballs flavoring your broth, in addition to grated parmesan cheese. Freshly grated is a must here both for flavor and texture. This is also a great place to use your leftover parmesan rinds--just toss them into broth to cook away with the meatballs, and whatever hardened cheese is left will melt away into your soup (but make sure to remove any wax or paper on the outside of your rind--natural rinds are fine to throw in as is). Some recipes call for pasta, but it's certainly not a requirement. I often like to throw in a handful of something small, like a tiny pastina or even Israeli couscous if I'm looking to make something a little heartier. Kids love this soup and a handful of star shaped pasta certainly couldn't hurt. So if you feel like eating lighter as the days get longer, give this soup a try—you'll be surprised by how pleasantly full you'll feel.

Italian Wedding Soup

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 cup milk (soy is fine)
2 Tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
6 cups chicken stock
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 cups escarole, washed and roughly chopped
salt

1. Bring stock to a boil and keep heated on low while you make the meatballs. In a bowl, combine beef, pork, milk, breadcrumbs, parsley, nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, garlic powder and onion powder with your hands until well mixed. Roll into 1- 1 1/4 inch balls and set aside.

2. Add meatballs to the hot stock and bring mixture to a low boil. Cook until meatballs are still soft but cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and eggs and continue stirring until they are cooked and form long white threads, about 30 seconds. Add escarole and cook until just wilted. Taste soup for salt and add as necessary. Enjoy!

-Laura

Lighter Fare

I love soup. Even on obscenely hot days that make you wish you were part Eskimo, I am still likely to consider eating or cooking soup. I work in a turbo air conditioned high rise in NYC where the cooling system helps you forget the sticky, musty and all around icky feeling of the morning's commute, but also has you wrapped in a blanket and drinking hot chocolate by lunchtime. So it's no surprise that even though I work up quite a sweat on the walk to work, I'm usually wearing 8 layers and craving a warm bowl of soup on your average summer weekday. The cafeteria can't always be counted on the satiate my appetite and provide exactly what I crave, so occasionally I have to wait until I can make my own meal to put together what I want to eat.

I found myself really wanting both a light summer soup (because it is 85 degrees out, after all) but also something hearty. I got to thinking about Italian wedding soup, which is mostly just a chicken or vegetable broth with meatballs and Parmesan cheese. If I could find a way to make the soup refreshing but filling I'd be set with exactly what I was looking for. So, I decided to make a lemon broth and super teeny tiny (and quick and easy) Parmesan meatballs. It turned out great, and the soup was in fact quite refreshing and the meatballs were tiny, light, meaty morsels. I ended up eating the entire two-person portion (which isn't at all unusual, come to think of it) and didn't even touch the salad I'd made on the side. The meatballs are quicker and lighter than the ones I usually make and are the perfect size to eat with a spoonful of broth. I top the whole thing with julienned iceberg lettuce for some refreshing crunch, and mix in a heap of Parmesan cheese for saltiness. Here's the recipe I came up with:


Lemon Broth with Easy Parmesan Meatballs

Broth
6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
Juice and zest of 1 large lemon

Meatballs
3/4 lb ground beef
1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 cup milk
vegetable oil (or your favorite light oil)
1 cup julienned iceberg lettuce

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large pot and add all of the lemon juice . Simmer on low heat until meatballs are ready.

2. Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl along with a pinch of lemon zest and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Form mixture into small meatballs no more than an inch in diameter.

3. Heat oil in a skillet and cook meatballs until browned on each side and just slightly undercooked in the center (about a minute on each side).

4. Turn heat up to medium and add meatballs to broth along with lemon zest. Cook for about 2 minutes them serve soup and meatballs topped with iceberg lettuce and grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

-Laura

Great (Meat) Balls of Fire

As I've written in the past, I once spent quite a bit of time seeking out the perfect meatball. I of course eventually found that ideal meatball, but it doesn't mean I haven't kept searching for new and interesting recipes. I recently revisited a few of those recipes that I'd originally discarded when I became obsessed with dip-able meatballs. I didn't want to do the big fat meatball and heavy marinara thing, so I decided to go with a middle eastern/Greek inspired preparation. I already had all of the necessary herbs and spices on hand and a nice tub of yogurt in the fridge that would act as the base for a refreshing dipping sauce. The only thing left to figure out was what the carb would be--after all, what's a meatball dish in any country if not juicy morsels served over a carb of some kind with a tasty sauce? I wanted to avoid pasta and potatoes (my usual carb companion of choice), so I went with couscous, which I know is technically pasta, but somehow seems lighter.

I had the perfect opportunity to test out this recipe in my farewell dinner with Gloria. Well, it wasn't really a farewell dinner since she'll only be in France for a little over a week, but for best friends who see each other every day (and have always worked in the same 2 buildings) it's actually quite a bit of time apart. The anchor of this bon voyage meal was obviously the meatballs, which had very little in common with the kind that I typically make. These meatballs were incredibly fragrant with the heady scents of cumin, coriander, fennel and cilantro. I would highly recommend using whole spices and roasting and grinding them yourself, if just for the experience of cooking while their aroma hangs in the air. A lovely aromatic cloud floats through the whole dish since the spices in the yogurt sauce echo those of the meatballs. The couscous was a perfect carby foil for the dish, being both light and flavorful at the same time. I use the standard method of preparation, but usually make it in strong chicken broth with lots of butter and olive oil to keep it light and fluffy.

Needless to say,the dish was successful. It is extremely rare for the two of us to sit and do anything in silence, and we almost succeeded if not for the occasional "yum" groan. It's a perfect dish to share with your friends and eat with your hands--just grab a meatball, dunk it in the sauce, and scoop up of a forkful of couscous. I guarantee if you make this to entertain, your guests may just postpone their vacation.

Spiced Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce

1 1/4 lb ground beef
1 onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup Greek style yogurt (whole milk)
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp coriander seed
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt
pepper

1. Dry roast all of the fennel, cumin and coriander seeds in a hot pan until fragrant. Grind spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.

2. Add half of the spice mixture to the yogurt along with the cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet and sweat onions and garlic until soft (do not brown). Set aside to cool.

4. In a large bowl, toss breadcrumbs with milk to soften. Add cooled onion mixture, egg, cilantro and remaining spices to the bowl. Add meat and mix until everything is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Roll meat into 1 to 1 1/2 inch wide balls and fry (in batches) in 3 Tbsp oil (I used light olive oil). Add any extra oil as needed.

6. Serve over a bed of couscous with yogurt sauce on the side. Enjoy!

The Great Meatball Caper

It wasn't so long ago that I became obsessed with meatballs. I know this may sound strange, but they're tiny, juicy morsels of meat always served with a carb. They're perfect. I'd made Italian spaghetti and meatballs many times, but was never quite satisfied with what came out of my kitchen. So, to learn more about how to go about making truly great meatballs, I immersed myself in meatball history.

Many cultures have laid claim to the invention of the meatball, but no real creator has ever been proclaimed. Having already tried the Italian style, I moved on to the next most popular type, Swedish meatballs. They were okay, but always seemed bland and only edible thanks to the sauce. These were not winners. After seeing a public access program on German cuisine I decided to give klopse a try. They were similar to the Swedish style but slightly more hamburgery. Not there yet.

Unsatisfied by northern and central Europe I decided to let my palette lead the way and I skipped over to Middle Eastern style meatballs. I knew that I liked the smoky and aromatic spices of the region, so hoping for better results I decided to try making koftas and keftes. This was much closer to what I was looking for. The meatball itself has all of the flavor and doesn't rely on heaps of gravy for substance, although I do love dipping them in a yogurt based sauce. These were the meatballs I'd make for months, until, like all of my culinary obsessions, I finally tired of them.

It was only recently while flipping through my grandmother's cookbook (which I may or may not have stolen from my mother while visiting her in Spain) that I came across a Spanish recipe for meatballs. Why it had not crossed my mind to try this out earlier was beyond me. After all, I've only ever had great meatballs in Spain, and they're served over home style fries. Talk about your perfect dishes. Not to mention, the spices and methods used to make them are startlingly similar to my favorite Middle Eastern meatballs. After some research I learned that (not surprisingly) meatballs are thought to have been brought to Spain some 1200 years ago by...Middle Eastern settlers during the Muslim occupation! Of course! So, I set forth to make Spanish style meatballs, known to us as albóndigas. I now (of course) have a favorite kind of meatball. Here's how to make them, with a few tweeks to the recipe, of course:

Albóndigas

Meatballs
Ground beef (I used just under 1lb)
1 cup white wine
2 eggs, beaten
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup parsley
1 tsp cumin
2 slices bread (crusts removed) soaked in milk
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp minced onion
4 Tbsp olive oil

Easy Fries
2 large (or 3 small) Yukon gold potatoes
2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup olive oil (not extra virgin)

1. Season meat with salt, 3 Tbsp of the minced garlic (reserve the rest for the light gravy), parsley (reserving 1 tsp of it for the gravy), cumin and a Tbsp of white wine, and allow to marinate 15 minutes.

2. While the meat marinates, cut the potatoes into 2 inch long by 1/2 inch wide fries and set aside. Start heating the oil in a medium sized pot.

3. When the 15 minutes have elapsed, add the two eggs and bread slices (squeeze out any excess milk) to the meat mixture. After everything is well incorporated, roll into 1 1/2 inch wide balls and lightly coat in flour. When you're about halfway done rolling the meatballs, carefully add the potatoes to the pot of hot oil. Stir and flip them periodically until cooked through (You can set them aside in a foil covered plate if done before the meatballs).

4. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add meatballs to oil and cook on medium high heat until one side is golden brown. Flip over and cook other side until golden brown, and almost completely cooked through.

5. Remove meatballs from the pan and set aside. Reduce heat to medium low and add onion and remainder of the garlic and parsley to the pan. After a minute, deglaze the pan with the remainder of the white wine. Add 1/2 tsp flour and cook for another 30 seconds. Add meatballs back to the pan and allow to cook through.

6. Serve meatballs with pan gravy over fries. Enjoy!

-Laura