Albondigas

The weather continues to be erratic here.  Cold and windy one day, and then, today, muggy and foggy with the promise of falling temperatures (again) this afternoon.  Monday evening, with the cold still hanging in the air, I decided to make some albondigas, meatball soup, to warm our bellies and our toes.

I like to keep my meatballs simple.  Back in the day, I would put a few pinches of rice, maybe some cut up potatoes, into the mixture but simple really is best.  Salt, pepper and 1 egg, maybe some bread crumbs if they're on hand.  After a little mixing, not too much, I form small little meatballs and let them hang out while I warm up my dutchie on the left hand side.  A little olive oil and, in small batches, sear them a bit.  (I don't thoroughly cook them.)  Also, they aren't perfectly round and really, who cares?

You have to make these in batches otherwise they will fall apart during the flipping process as well as being boiled rather than getting a nice brown color.  No bueno.

After they're all done, pour in some diced shallots until slightly translucent.  A little tomato paste and chicken/beef broth, or water, to remove all the bottom Klingons.  Bring to a boil and, if you didn't use broth, like me, put in a couple of tablespoons of your Knorr, bouillon base, a Mexican staple.  A little time and let it boil for a minute before adding your noodles.  I have ceased using rice because I still get called out on the childhood incident when I poured more than a couple of cups of rice and made porridge with meatballs.  Thanks, mom.  Anyhow, noodles is best. 

I like Oaxaca cheese so a few little cubes go in along with a little lemon.  Throw in some toasted up tortillas to help scoop up some of this deliciousness as Roseanne, Season 1 on Netflix plays and you're good to go.