Croquettes Baked in Lemon Juice

If you read my polenta recipe below and wondered what you could possibly do with a pound of sirloin that you used to make a sauce yet did not eat, here is one possible answer: Crocchette al Limone, also credited to Giuliani Bugialli from The Fine Art of Italian Cooking. The breaded beef croquettes are fried and then briefly baked in lemon juice, and are very tasty and not too difficult to make.

Start with your cooked beef, 10 sprigs of Italian parsley and 2 large cloves of garlic. Using a food processor, grind up the meat, garlic, and leaves of the parsley into a very fine mixture.

Then cut the crusts off of 4 pieces of white bread.

Bring 1 cup of milk to a boil and add the bread to the pan, stirring for about 7 minutes to form a cooked paste.

Combine the meat mixture with 3 large eggs, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, freshly grated nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Next add the cooled bread/milk paste and mix very well.

You will need some bread crumbs to coat the croquettes. Bugialli stresses that the quality of bread crumbs is very important here, should be made from "first-class bread, unflavored, and slightly toasted". I made mine from a good baguette and toasted them in a pan on the stovetop.

Heat 1 quart of vegetable oil (2 parts corn oil to 1 part sunflower oil is recomended) to 375 degrees, as well as your oven. Spread your bread crumbs out on a plate and shape about 2 tablespoons of your meat mixture into a ball, flattening it as you press it gently into the bread crumbs.

When all the croquettes are ready, fry them a few at a time until lightly golden all over, about 1 minute.

Drain the croquettes on paper towels.

Squeeze the juice from 4 large lemons.

Arrange the croquettes in a single layer in a glass or crockery baking dish. Pour the lemon juice all over them, sprinkle on a little salt, and bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.

Serve immediately. We garnished ours with parsley and hard-boiled eggs.

Swedish Meatballs

Traditional Swedish meatballs, or köttbullar, are a tasty blend of meat, onions, and breadcrumbs, and are normally served with Lingonberry preserves, potatoes and pickled cucumbers. This makes a delicious meal, especially on a cold winter night. It also has the advantage that it can be made ahead of time, making it a perfect dish for a dinner party or for a busy family!

The recipe I use for Swedish meatballs is taken from the Aquavit cookbook by Marcus Samuelsson.

At least several hours and up to five days before serving, prepare the quick pickled cucumbers in the following manner:

Slice an unpeeled cucumber as thinly as humanly possible, preferably with a mandoline as seen below. Watch those fingers :)

Assemble your other ingredients: kosher salt, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 c sugar, 1 bay leaf and 2 allspice berries.

Toss the cucumber slices with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and let them sit in a colander for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf and allspice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then let it cool. At the end of the 30 minutes, rinse the salt off of the cucumbers and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Combine the cucumbers with the brining solution in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3-6 hours before serving.

Now, assemble your ingredients for the meatballs. You will need:

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1/2 lb. ground chuck or sirloin

1/2 lb. ground veal

1/2 lb. ground pork

2 tablespoons honey

1 large egg

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

First, combine the cream with the breadcrumbs in a small bowl

Next, heat a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, and saute the red onions for 5 minutes.

Now combine the ground beef, veal, pork, onion, honey and egg, mixing well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bread crumb/cream mixture and mix well. With wet hands, shape the mixture into about 24 golf-ball sized meatballs.

Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat.

Add the meatballs in batches if necessary, and fry them for about 7 minutes, turning frequently, until browned on all sides and cooked through.

Transfer the meatballs to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.

To make the sauce you will need:

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup lingonberry preserves

2 tablespoons juice from the quick pickled cucumbers

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Return the pan to the heat, adding the stock, cream, preserves and pickle juice. Bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through.

Serve the meatballs hot accompanied with mashed potatoes, lingonberry preserves and pickled cucumbers.