blind finches bourguignon

2021-07-15

The sauce makes or breaks this dish.
Meatballs by themselves are rather monotonous in texture and flavor.
Add a really nice sauce, and that won't matter in the least.

Because of the twine, the meatballs are very dense and will take a long time to be fully cooked.
Resist the temptation to turn up the heat. They'll end up too dry if cooked too quickly.

This is the same sauce as beef Bourguignon: a meat velouté sauce with mushrooms, carrots and red wine. It really lifts this dish to a higher level of kitcheneering than the meatballs only.

Mango provides a delicious flavor contrast.

This meat mix was quite good. I used leftovers for a sandwich and a burger.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 8 servings:

1 lb. ground beef & pork each
1 1/2 lb. Milanese steak (= thin-sliced beef)
1 small jar non-pareil capers
3 eggs
S&P
berbere, soy sauce

sauce:

8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
2-3 carrots, diced small
red wine of your choice
S&P
2 tbsp. liquid flour

potatoes

milk, water, 2 cups each
potato flakes
1 egg
nutmeg

mango: fresh or canned

Pic8: headless bird, Bourguignon sauce

Directions

2021-07-15

Pic9: meat mix
Pic10: Milanese
Pic11: twined meatballs

Prepare meat mix by combining ground meat with capers and seasoning. Mix thoroughly.
Lay out the sliced beef. Add 1 tbsp. meat mix.
Wrap tightly and tie down with twine.
This works imo better than toothpicks.

Pic12-14: brown meatballs

Chop 1/2 onion small.
Saute in butter or olive oil until transparent.
Brown the meat over high heat on al sides.
The meatballs are not done yet, require further cooking.

Pic15: bake
Pic16: sauce
Pic17: bay leaves, candied ginger

Transfer meatballs to an oven-proof dish.
Bake the meatballs @ 270-300 ºF for 30 minutes with some extra butter or olive oil.

sauce:

Add 1 cup red wine to the onions to deglaze the frying pan. Add 2 cups water and/or red wine.
Add sliced mushrooms, 1-2 bay leaves, optionally some (candied) ginger slices.

Pic18-20: sauce

Bring to a roiling boil.
Reduce heat and simmer high for 20-30 minutes to reduce sauce by 50-75%.
Add 1-2 cups red wine to desired volume of sauce.
Simmer some more.

Pic21: thicken sauce (liquid flour)
Pic22: baked meatballs
Pic23: finishing

Bring to a roiling boil.
Thicken the sauce with liquid flour or oil dough, to desired thickness.
Simmer 5 minutes.

Finishing up:

Transfer the meatballs to the sauce.
Simmer 10 minutes over low heat while frequently basting with the sauce.

Pic24-26: mashed potatoes

Bring 2 cups of water to a roiling boil. Add 2 cups of milk and reduce heat.
Add potato flakes to desired thickness.
Stir in whole egg.
Season to taste with S&P, nutmeg.

Pic27-29: served

Serve meatball(s).
Serve potatoes in a large dollop and make a well in the center.
Serve sauce over potatoes and meatballs.
Add diced mango on the side.

Pic30-32: served

Even though these meatballs have been cooking for over 1 hr. they are still juicy at the center.
The capers don't have all that much flavor left in them after all that time, but I still noticed them.
Enjoy.
Refrigerate leftover meatballs in the sauce.

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org