Belgian Meatballs

BELGIAN MEATBALLS

Ingredients: for about 10 balls

• 300 gr. minced beef
• 700 gr. minced pork
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• some parsley (finely chopped)
• 4 slices of bread (well soaked in milk)
• 2 eggs
• some breadcrumbs
• salt, pepper and nutmeg

Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients to get a homogeneous preparation
2. Roll up the balls (about 120 gr.) . 
3. Dip your hands in lukewarm water from time to time

Cooking

1. Place the balls in a buttered dripping pan
2. Put the pan in the oven (180°) for 34 about minutes

Sauce

1. Brown 4 onions (roughly chopped) with a pinch of thyme, 1 bay leaf and 2 cloves in a little fat
2. Add 4 tablespoons of brown sugar to get a caramel . Deglaze with a dash of wine vinegar
3. Moisten either with meat extract diluted in water or veal stock
4. Add salt and pepper
5. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of genuine ‘Sirop de Liège’
6. (Sirop de Liège,apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce produced by long, slow cooking of apples and pears with cider or water to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes turning the apple butter to a deep brown)
7. Cook in a sauce pan for 35 to 40 minutes
8. Finish the sauce thickening it with cornflour or beurre manié ( mixed butter and flour )
9. Add some raisins soaked in peket (Belgian gin) and some juniper berries
10. Adjust the seasoning
11. Drop the balls in the sauce and simmer gently on a low heat for a few minutes

Source: The French Cooking Academy