Meatball Maddness

@ Sin Ming Bakery / Cookhouse / Whatever

While browsing through my recipe books I stumbled upon a  recipe for a Greek rendition of meatballs: Yiouvarlakia in Avgolemono Sauce (which basically translates into Meatballs in a Lemon-Egg sauce) and I thought to myself “a lemon-egg sauce? I wonder how that would taste"!”, so off I went to the kitchen to give it a try!

So here is my attempt at the Yiouvarlakia in Avgolemono Sauce recipe that I found in the June 2011 edition of Epicure magazine.

Ingredients – Yiouvarlakia (meatballs)

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 grated onion
• 300g minced beef
• 3 tablespoons of uncooked long grain rice
• 2-3 sprigs of chopped dill
• 1 egg
• Salt and Pepper
• 700ml Chicken stock

Directions – Yiouvarlakia

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and season to taste
2. Using your hands or a small ice cream scoop mould meatballs
3. Heat chicken stock in a pot, once simmering add meatballs, cover and allow to simmer
4. Once meatballs start to float they are cooked, sift liquid and removed meatballs

Ingredients – Avgolemono

• 2 eggs
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Directions – Avgolemono

1. Using a whisk, beat eggs and lemon until frothy
2. Ladle in meatball sauce into the egg-lemon mixture to temper (this gently heat egg yolks before adding to a hot sauce by adding a small bit of the sauce, this technique prevents curdling)
3. Heat on very low heat until the sauce thickens
4. Add meatballs

And hey presto you’re done! You can dress up the meatball soup with a few additional sprigs of dill!

Bon Appétit – Sidney

google Tags: Epicure, Greek Meatballs, Yiouvarlakia, Avgolemono