#forcemeat

After the Wassail turned out so well, I decided to try another recipe from the Townsends channel. I needed a good protein base for my lunches for the week, so I decided on Forcemeat Balls.

After watching the tutorial, I ended up with this recipe:

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground chicken

1/2 lb ground ham

bacon to taste

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp mace

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 egg yolks

flour

suet

I couldn’t find ground chicken or ham at the market, and they said any kind of meat will do, so I substituted both the ham and the chicken for ground beef. I also substituted olive oil for suet.

“To taste” ended up meaning 11 strips of bacon for me - I used the pre-cooked stuff I keep around for breakfast. 

Directions

Mix ground meat(s), bacon, nutmeg, mace, pepper, and egg yolks to a paste consistency.

Form the paste into balls, approximately the size of a half-dollar in cross-section.

Pour the flour onto a dish, and roll each ball in flour to coat.

Heat suet (or olive oil) in a frying pan.

Fry the balls in the suet (or olive oil), stirring so that they brown evenly. If you aren’t sure if they’re cooked through, you can do what I did and sacrifice one from each batch as a tester. Cut it open and see if there’s any pink left. If not, you’re good to go.

When they’re done, remove the balls and set them on dishrag or paper towel to soak up some of the fat/oil.

Rabbit Ballotine stuffed with pork and rabbit forcemeat with an apple cider demi-glace, pickled carrots and mustard seeds from Trenasse

Play with your food! Poultry, oven roasted.

(recipe follows) My father and his family immigrated to the US from the Azores sometime in the late 60’s. My mother moved to Los Angeles from Marietta, Georgia around the same time. Announced or unannounced, when you visited my father’s family there were home made breads in the pantry, cakes in tins, cookies in jars, soups on the stove. The women could make anything in no time at all. My mother’s…