Cuisine from Spain 19 - Albondigas

[Ben]

Marina makes meatballs!

Listen here.

[ValenciaSon]

I haven't had these type of albondigas in years! Reminds me of my late grandmother from Spain who use to cook these. She never made them with mashed potatoes but I bet the combination would be most satisfying, especially on cold days like these.

Thanks for the enjoyable podcast. The french have great pastry but the Spanish pastry ain't too shabby. Do you guys like brazo de gitano?

[MikeF]

Albóndigas and mash! That's got to be (anglo-español) fusion cuisine. It's a great combination that we have at home now and again as well. I could almost smell the albóndigas frying. Hope you enjoyed the tarta de manzana as well.

[Ben]

VS - Never had brazo de gitano, no!

MikeF - The tarta was very good, every bit as good as anything I've tasted over the border in France!

[Marina]

The Apple cake was fantastic. The recipe comes from my ex-work mate's - Oscar - mother. I took one into my brothers house when I went to see my nephew - after making the albondigas podcast - and my brother's friend told me that her mother does exactly the same cake, so it must be a classic recipe. I'll have to podcast it at some point soon. By the way, when I came back from my brother's, Ben had eaten half of the second cake that I bake for us

[richardksa]

So, just to try it out I ordered Abóndigas and Croquettas in a tapas bar tonight and mashed the croquettas, much to the amused waiter's puzzlement. So he didn't get a tip and, besides, as each croquetta cost more than a euro, I wasn't about to leave one!! I was lazy in the rain and ate in the Plaza Mayor, (about a 30 second walk) so it serves me right I suppose.

[ValenciaSon]

Originally Posted by Marina

The Apple cake was fantastic. The recipe comes from my ex-work mate's - Oscar - mother. I took one into my brothers house when I went to see my nephew - after making the albondigas podcast - and my brother's friend told me that her mother does exactly the same cake, so it must be a classic recipe. I'll have to podcast it at some point soon. By the way, when I came back from my brother's, Ben had eaten half of the second cake that I bake for us

Have you ever eaten apple pie ala mode? Maybe you could do the same with your apple cake. Warm up a piece in a conventional oven and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You see this desert in many diner menus in the US.

[Diana]

Originally Posted by Marina

By the way, when I came back from my brother's, Ben had eaten half of the second cake that I bake for us

Well, I guess it is fair if he only ate his half!

[ValenciaSon]

Originally Posted by Marina

By the way, when I came back from my brother's, Ben had eaten half of the second cake that I bake for us

Now if that were me, I would be in trouble!! She looks small in my avatar picture but don't let size fool you!

[luliladewyoming]

Just made the Albondigas this weekend and my son has been eating the leftovers for 3 days since. He loves them.

[Hank Freid]

Hi,
"Albondigas" means "meatballs" in Spanish, and the trick to perfect albondigas soup is to put chopped mint leaves into the meatballs. The mint is what gives an albondigas soup meatball its unique flavor. For more information to follow the link.

http://soup-aholic.blogspot.com/2006...igas-soup.html

[Marina]

Hi Hank,

Mint does give a very good taste to the meatballs, but that is a marrocan influence, the original Spanish meatballs would have parsley instead, which is also nice but more subtle than the mint.

[ValenciaSon]

How about pine nuts in the meatballs? I know it's not in your posted recipe but I think I remember some from my grandmother and most recently in Madrid? I suppose this recipe can have many variations.

[Marina]

Pinenuts in the sauce are delicious!!!
Of course there are many delicious variations from my point of view a recipe should never be static

[Barcelona60]

Your all making me so hungry just hearing about this great food!

Cuando vamos a comer amigos???

Barc60

[Meg]

I made these this past weekend and they were delicious! Thanks Marina! I also made another recipe that was good, but very different. It used ground chicken or turkey and bacon to make the meatballs, and the sauce/broth was much thinner with a shredded carrot and tomatoes. Are you familiar with this variation? Just curious if it is an authentic receta de albondigas.

[Barcelona60]

Please share this wonderful food.

Barc60

[speige]

Can you give some recipes for those foods?

[simrnz]

Here's what I make and it tastes pretty good, you can give it a try!

For about 30-35 meatballs
1kg of minced beef or pork or a combination of both
8 soupspoons of bread crumbs
6 soupspoons of white wine
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 teaspoons of parsley finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
a plate of plain flour
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil for frying the meatballs
for tomato sauce:


8 soup spoons of olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1kg ripe tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl put the parsley, garlic, slightly beaten egg, minced meat, bread crumbs, wine and some salt and pepper to season. Mix well with your hands and then use your hands to make small balls from the mixture and then cover them lightly in the flour.

Now you can make a choice. In Spain the meat balls would be fried in a large amount of light olive oil but you may prefer to shallow fry them. Whichever way you choose you should heat the oil in a large, heavy frying pan and cook the meatballs for about 5 minutes turning them often to brown them evenly all over.

Remove the meatballs from the frying pan and place them in a casserole making sure they are not touching the sides of the casserole or each other.

To make the sauce heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion. Fry gently for about 5 minutes until it starts to become golden. Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook them for about 10 minutes crushing them well with the back of a slotted spoon, add the salt, pepper and sugar and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the mix from the heat and use a handheld food blender to blend the sauce.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs, place the casserole on a gentle heat and cook the meatballs for another 10 or 15 minutes in the sauce. Serve with crusty bread which you can use to mop up all the sauce.

[Barcelona60]

Getting really hungry just reading!