Breaded Meatballs

Name: Breaded Meatballs
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 10 pieces
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 350g ground beef (or mixed beef+lamb); 1 medium onion; 45g rice (short grain); 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/4 teaspoon pul biber (or to taste); 1/2 teaspoon salt; black pepper; a few sprigs of parsley; 2 eggs; 3 tablespoons flour; 2 tablespoons oil; pieces: 10

February 12, 2015

Simple Recipes Veal Budget Recipes Meat Dishes Rice Turkish

I first ate these breaded meatballs in Susurluk, Turkey. As strange as they seemed at first glance (really? breaded meatballs???), they tasted surprisingly delicious and "light" when I tried them. I found the recipe for kadinbudu kofte ("lady's thighs") in a cookbook I bought in Bodrum and I'm sharing it with you because I think it's a successful variation of the usual schnitzels and meatballs.

The recipe calls for fresh parsley, but last night I found myself without parsley and didn't want to go out just for that. That's why parsley doesn't appear in the photos. To compensate, I sprinkled them with a little dried mint when serving.

Ingredients

350g ground beef (or mixed beef+lamb)
1 medium onion
45g rice (short grain)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon pul biber (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper
a few sprigs of parsley
2 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons oil

Pieces: 10

How to prepare breaded meatballs

Finely chop the onion. Divide the meat in two. Boil the rice in salted water, then drain.
Saute the onion in hot oil until very soft. Add half of the ground meat and fry over high heat until it changes color and all the released juices evaporate. Add the salt, cumin, pul biber and ground black pepper.
Combine the remaining ground meat with the rice, the sauteed meat with onion, chopped parsley and one egg yolk. Let it cool completely and only then mix for 5 minutes. Refrigerate the meatball mixture for at least 30 minutes.
Wet your hands with cold water. Take meatball mixture the size of an egg and flatten them (about 1 cm thick), giving them a slightly oval shape (see photo 4).
Beat the egg and the remaining egg white in a wide plate. Put the flour in another wide plate.
Heat about 3 mm of oil in a wide pan. Set the heat to medium-low.
Dredge each meatball in flour, shake off the excess lightly and then dip them in egg. Place the meatballs in the pan with space between them and fry for 2.5 minutes on each side (until nicely browned).
Remove the meatballs onto paper towels to drain the excess fat.
They're good warm or cold. Serve with boiled potatoes and a fresh salad. They're also great with pickles.