It was cold, windy night, dark by 5 pm, and I was in the mood for chili. I was also alone in my pajama pants and had no intention of leaving my toasty apartment for the tomatoes and onions I didn't have. I knew I had a frozen pound of ground beef in the freezer, a box of pasta, a stalk of broccoli, though. So instead of putting the meat in the chili, I figured I'd put the chili in the meat, make chili meat balls, serve them on garlic pasta, with a side of good-for-you greenery.
I keep a good stash of fresh spices in my freezer. I made the preparation hard on myself by cooking the spices and garlic in some olive oil before adding them to the meat—brings out the flavor in the spices, but you can add everything raw if you're rushed. It all came together quickly while the pasta water boiled, nevertheless. I made more meatballs than I needed so that I'd have a bite for lunch the following day. I stored the rest raw, in the ziploc with the flour, in the fridge to make again in a couple of days once I'd gotten some tomatoes. (And I did get tomatoes—at a drugstore. This felt strange to me. But more and more, we're treating food as medicine in this country so it makes a kind of odd sense—a couple of the many issues I tackle in my new book GROCERY: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, due out in May.)
The meatballs tasted deeply of the paprika and chipotle and cumin. They tasted so great, in fact, it occurred to me they'd be a perfect Superbowl snack (serve with some harissa sauce and sour cream on the side for dipping!).
Here with, the chili meatballs (I trust you can handle garlic pasta and boiled, buttered broccoli on your own.) But I highly recommend this spice ratio. This recipe will make 16 one-ounce meat balls. And you could feed four people with these quantities, if you wished. Happily, I had some avocado on hand which I diced and put on top of the meatballs, which was fabulous as well!
It sometimes feels good to be alone when you can eat this well with what you have on hand.
Ruhlman's Chili Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika (this is mildly spicy; double the amount for more heat)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- vegetable oil as needed for pan frying
- ½ avacado, diced optional
Instructions
- Combine everything but the meat and vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over high heat, stirring. When the spice-oil is bubbling, the spices are mixed, and the garlic is tender, remove from the heat. Put the bottom of the pan in cold water to cool the spices. Add the mixture to the meat and mix by hand till the spices are thoroughly combined. Then shape the meat into 16 balls, more or less as you wish (the smaller they are, the more crunch from the crust you get). (If you are like Yogi Berra with pizza, you can shape them into 30 balls if you're particularly hungry.)
- Put about a cup of flour into a plastic ziploc bag, if you're doing this step. Put the meatballs in the bag, seal the bag and turn the balls over until they're coated with flour.
- Heat a quarter inch of oil in a saute pan, medium high heat should do. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs and cook till they're medium-rare to medium, three to five minutes depending on their size. Drain on paper towel.
- Serve on pasta tossed with garlic and oil, top with avocado if using, along with cooked buttered broccoli. If making these to serve on their own, put out a bowl of harissa and/our sour cream; for more color garnish with thinly sliced scallion.
Notes
If you liked this post, take a look at these links:
- My past posts on Travelin' Man, Spicy Orange Chicken, and Chicken Romano.
- Everyone loves a meatball, Serious Eats has a plethora of recipes on fining your ideal meatball match.
- Taking Back Our Pasta a post featuring Chef Mark Vetri's pasta making book "Mastering Pasta".
- Don't forget to follow more of my moments on Instagram.
© 2017 Michael Ruhlman. All rights reserved.
I think of you every time I'm in a grocery store buying crackers or see St Andre cheese. From your last book of essays emulating Reynolds Price. Or was it short stories? Not sure of that rule & I have it on my kindle & forgive me , the name will come to me as soon as I close my iPad. I remember enjoying it as much as my Reynolds Price book.
Looking forward to the new grocery store book and hope your writing one on pâté, my wife doesn't like mine unless it's rustic style, simply chopped, not puréed. I need your guidance, hopefully you'll do a how to post & make it look easy like you always do. Jacques Peppin does an interesting sautéed version where he puts ketchup in it.
And a good gin martini is the perfect companion to any pâté.
Cheers!
A
In Short Measure: novellas.
Sorry, I have CRS, can't remember shit
I've always been afraid of the tomatoes at the drug store, but after reading this realize they're probably no different than the ones at the grocery store, which are are scary in their own right, but more acceptable because they're not stacked next to bubblegum and cough drops. Looking forward to your new book!
they're the same commodity product. look for san marzano or muir glen.
Hi Michael - thanks for this post! Not sure if we're hosting or guesting for Super Bowl - negotiations are still underway. But either way I think I'll make this - looks and sounds fabulous! I am on the hunt for the perfect veal meatball - currently served in our local wood fired pizza place, but also want to eat it way more often. Nice to see you back here on the blog, I look forward to your posts!.
I finished the last of my veal salt so I made veal stock and reread the original post, it mentioned malt vinegar works well.
I don't have any malt vinegar, but I have plenty of beer vinegar (another old post), and used it instead.
Results were great. It's perfect for potato chips, French fries and roasted veggies. So easy, you don't have to make veal stock.
Looks great Michael - you make it look so easy and your description of your winter evening really set the scene.
Hope you enjoy the cooking and the writing of it for your blog as much as we enjoy keeping up with it.
thanks tim!
Thanks for the recipe and smile, Michael.
I wonder how many culinary masterpieces have been conceived because someone was standing around in pajamas and couldn't be bothered to head down to the store to find the "right ingredients".
A little forced creativity can be a wonderful thing!
I made these a few days ago, and they were absolutely delicious! They really did taste like chili. My husband loved them too but didn't enjoy the spaghetti + broccoli pairing. I'll be thinking of ways to use these meatballs with something else, without turning them right back into chili. Also, instead of chipotle powder, I used some chipotle with adobo.