Wednesday, June 30, 2010

You must try Keftethes!

Greek meatballs, that is. So delicious...flavorful meatballs in a delightfully light tomato sauce. Make it. Just do as I say and quit asking questions! (Oh, I've been hanging out with Homey a lot apparently!)
For the meatballs proper, you'll need 2 lbs of ground beef, 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 2 cloves of garlic, a pinch of cumin (generous pinch here...I love cumin!), 2 pinches of oregano, and salt and pepper.

Just take your rings off and mix all that together in a bowl. Per Greek tradition, form elongated meatballs...
Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and throw those meatballs in. Don't burn 'em! This is where I get rammy...I'm not great at dealing with meat in general. I think I had my pan a little too hot.


But it all turned out okay. Just cook them in batches until they're all done (it makes a lot of meatballs, dude.)

Now let's make the sauce. I'd never made a sauce like this before. I texted Tracy earlier in the day to ask "Have you ever grated a tomato?" The reply I got back was "You've gone insane." So I guess she's not used to grating tomatoes either. But that's what we're going to do!

First, find a charming husband that's willing to play sous chef. Have him grate said tomato.
Excuse the pre-meal adult beverage next to the sous chef. That's just how we roll...

According to Mr. B, you're going to want to grate the tomato from top to bottom. If you do it from the side it'll all fall apart...a sad and messy story. But this is what you're going to end up with:

Dump that in the skillet you used for the meatballs, and season the tomato with salt, pepper and just a bit of sugar.

Once it's warmed through, add the meatballs to the sauce. Let them simmer for 5-10 minutes.

This. Is. Making. Me. HUNGRY! My mercy, can you see that pan of spanakopita behind it? I can't even stand how good this meal is.

Keftethes, served with homemade spanakopita and homemade tzatziki sauce. And Homey's head trying to pose with the meal...

I think this has to be the most perfect meal ever. Especially since Homey loved it and declared that Mommy is the "best cooker ever. Daddy is the best driver, and Mommy is the best cooker" (Insert big broad Homey smile...it's good to know she's proud of our strengths, heehee!)

8 comments:

  1. Can't wait to try it. Now I just need the recipe for homemade spanakopita. We miss Homey!!

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  2. I'll make more spanakopita and blog it when the a/c is fixed, lol. Homey misses Justin! Thanks for checkin' out the blog! There's a Kathleen blog post in there somewhere...just fyi...

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  3. Casey used to say "mama, you're my best cooker!" too. This looks delicious. I hope it won't be long til your AC is back!

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  4. Jamie used to say I was the best cooker too but I couldn't touch your spanakopita Julie. The ones you made for me are delicious. I'll be looking for the blog on how you do it. On the meatball thing, do you pour out the grease from the meat before you add the tomatoes? I'm coming to live with you.

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  5. Sally, you pour out about half and leave the rest. Strangely, it wasn't a lot of grease. So glad you liked the spanakopita! It'll be a 2 person job to blog it (messy hands!), and you can come live here as soon as the AC is back :) I did get oddly domestic in the heat today and made chicken salad (at 9am when it was cool), pesto, and pie crusts for future blogging...

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  7. mmmmmmm. I'm always looking for something to do with ground beef!! Dig the crate and barrel mixing bowl ;)

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  8. I loved homie's head shot!

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