Random Food Questions Thread - Page 403

Are you sure? I found the same articles about Philadelphia, but what prompted me to google "broccoli rabe shortage" in the first place was not being able to find it at two grocery stores here in Baltimore that normally would carry it.

Obviously you have a better track to this sort of information than I do, but I can't imagine that in a world with, you know, trucks and stuff, that one city alone would have to go 4-5 weeks without the stuff (as indicated by what I read). The cause is alleged to be droughts in Cali and AZ where the stuff is grown? I can imagine that perhaps closer to the source, where supply chains are more localized, that you might not see as much impact in LA, but I'd think that what impacts Philly, e.g. larger producers with national distribution, would impact most of the rest of the country... which jives with my anecdote.

jibes with

yeah, that

Anybody got a good recipe for spicy meatballs? Preferably one that incorporates jalapenos.

It's not that difficult. Mix minced meat, egg, maybe a soaked bun or bread crumbs, salt, pepper, maybe some finely chopped onions, maybe minced garlic, parsley. Add whatever to your liking -- jalapeno, ras el hanout, cayenne pepper, cumin, anchovi.... just make sure that whatever you put in the meatballs is finely chopped. Also take your time when shaping the balls and make sure that there are no cracks (again, with big pieces of onions etc. your balls are more prone to cracks).

Anyhoo, if I may recommend the dish I cooked last week from Jerusalem, try the lamb meatballs with barberries braised in a white wine/stock/fig-sauce. Great flavors.
You can find the recipe here. It's the braised lamb meatballs. For some reason they used sour cherries instead of barberries. Replace the 70g dried sour cherries with 60g dried barberries (it seems a lot but it works perfectly well).

(yes, the plating is weird)
Edited by b1os - 1/19/13 at 2:30pm

I second the lamb meatballs. I've tried all the balls in Jerusalem, turkey, lamb and fish- all were delicious. No homo.

What's your favorite of the book so far? I just got around to cook the shakshuka and barberry balls. Will try more in the next few weeks.

Thanks b1os. I'm mainly concerned about the texture of the meatball. I had some amazing meatballs in NYC last weekend that weren't too dense, which is exactly what I'm looking for. They were fatty, juicy, and, again, not dense.

I believe they were beef-based, but might have had some pork in it.

To that end, I've never had lamb meatballs (I've had lamburger -- does that count?) but I'd like to stick to a very basic recipe -- like a really good homemade italian meatballs recipe.

Meatballs by Marcella Hazan:

450g minced meat (beef, preferrably neck)
1 slice of white breat, crust removed
6T milk
1T minced onion
1T chopped parsley
1 egg
1T olive oil
3T parmiggiano regiano
nutmeg
s&p
breadcrumbs

1. Low heat, small pot, bread and milk. Mash the bread with a fork so it absorbs all milk, turn off heat, let cool.
2. Minced meat, onion, parsley, olive oil, egg, parmiggiano regiano, 1/8t ground nutmeg, the soaked bread, s/p and mix with your hands.
3. Form smallish balls (don't press them together), dredge in bread crumbs.
4. Cook them to your liking (sear them, then finish them in a soup or tomato sauce or cook at mid-low temperature until done or sear and finish in the oven or something).

I guess that's pretty basic though I haven't dredged meatballs in bread crumbs yet.

Mmm.. sounds good.

Can I add garlic? I love that stuff.

You can either call her and inquire whether she's in favor of adding garlic or you can just add it.

Where do the best vanilla beans come from, and where can I buy them?

Epices Roellinger. He stocks a number of different ones from different regions, and they are all unique.

They were on vacation last week ): . You could try calling La Boite in NYC also.