Mexiterranean Meatballs
Evan is chef and owner of Black Trumpet restaurant and co-owner of Stock & Spice, both in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Ondine Oyster & Wine Bar in Belfast, Maine, USA.
- Servings Makes thirty-six 28 gram (one ounce) meatballs
Ingredients
- 225 grams (½ pound) 70% lean pork (up to 85% lean will work)
- 680 grams (1½ pounds) ground beef
- 30 ml (2 tablespoons) minced garlic
- 30 ml (2 tablespoons) finely chopped fresh parsley
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) finely chopped fresh mint
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 pinches dried Mexican oregano (or dried Italian oregano)
- Half a Spanish onion, very finely chopped
- 7.5 ml (½ tablespoon) chili powder
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) cumin seed, toasted and ground in a spice grinder
- 15 ml (1 tablespoon) kosher salt
- 2.5 ml (½ teaspoon) ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs (100 grams liquid egg)
- 115 grams (1 cup) bread crumbs
Preparation
1. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and, using your hands, knead the mixture to fully incorporate the eggs and bread crumbs and to emulsify the fat. Refrigerate the mixture.
2. When you’re ready to make the meatballs, remove the mixture from the refrigerator and mold into 28-gram (1 ounce) balls. Return to the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes before cooking. The formed meatballs can remain refrigerated in this state for a day or two if necessary.
3. To cook the meatballs, place a small frying pan over medium heat. When the pan starts smoking, brown the meatballs in batches, rolling them around so they don’t stick to the pan. If you’re serving the meatballs on their own, transfer them to a roasting pan and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 6 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. If you wish, you may pour off the fat, leaving the meatballs in the pan, and add yogurt or sauce (I use poblano-yogurt sauce) to the hot pan. Stir with the meatballs and serve right away.
Evan Mallett
Evan Mallett is the chef-owner of Black Trumpet located in the historic seacoast city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. In 2017 he opened a new restaurant, Ondine Oyster + Wine Bar, in Belfast, Maine. Mallett is a four-time James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef, Northeast. He is actively involved and sits on the boards of Chef’s Collaborative, Slow Food Seacoast, and the Heirloom Harvest Project, an initiative that brings together farmers, chefs, and educators to identify and restore a food system native to the greater New England Seacoast region. He is the author of the cookbook Black Trumpet: A Chef’s Journey Through Eight New England Seasons (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2016).
Photo credit: Enna Grazier
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