I have mixed feelings about this recipe. It was tasty and I enjoyed it, but I didn't really feel that it was optimally tasty. Also, the meatballs were very soft. I realize that they're probably supposed to be like that -- very tender and all -- but I didn't really care for the texture. I like my meatballs to have a bit more chew to them. And being so soft also made them very difficult to handle. I've reduced the amount of panade called for in the recipe below and added an egg. Hopefully that'll help make the meatballs a bit sturdier.

I've made some notes in the Creole seasoning post about what I'd do differently there next time. But a sub-optimal spice mix wasn't the only problem. TF and I both felt that there was somehting missing. I said that I thought it needed an acidic component. I actually tried stirring a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar into the leftovers after we'd all had our dinner tonight, and that did help some. But it still wasn't quite right.

Now that I'm looking at the recipe again, I see that we were meant to serve it with Louisiana-style hot sauce. That probably would have added that acidic component I was looking for! I am slightly annoyed that both white rice and hot sauce are called out as "important parts of the mix" in the preamble, but then only white rice is mentioned in the actual recipe. If it's so important, put it in the recipe! Oh well, now I know that, should I ever be making these meatballs again, they really need to be served with a highly acidic hot sauce to balance out all the flavours.

Cajun Meatball Fricassee

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country August/September 2020

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 40g saltines, crushed
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 900g ground beef
• 1 large egg
• 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp. Creole seasoning
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground

Stew

• 1/3 c. oil
• 1/3 c. flour
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 slices streaky bacon¹, cut into 1cm pieces
• 6 scallions (green onions), chopped, whites and greens separated
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. Creole seasoning
• 1L chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• cooked rice, to serve
• Louisiana-style hot sauce, to serve

Directions

Meatballs

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and set a wire rack in a baking sheet lined with foil or a silicone baking mat.
2. Grease the rack.
3. Combine saltines, milk, and Worcestershire sauce, mix, and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Whisk saltine mixture until smooth.
5. Add beef, Parmesan, Creole seasoning, thyme, and pepper and mix with hands.
6. Make 24 meatballs (a scant 1/4 c. each) and place on prepared wire rack.
7. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for ~25 minutes.

Stew

1. In Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat until just smoking.
2. Stir in flour with rubber spatula and cook, stirring constantly, until roux is peanut butter coloured².
3. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the roux is the colour of milk chocolate.
4. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and bacon and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Add scallion whites, garlic, and Creole seasoning and cook for a minute longer.
6. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
7. Add meatballs.
8. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 20 minutes.
9. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened (10-12 minutes).
10. Serve over rice and top with scallion greens and hot sauce.

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¹ I didn't have any bacon, so I tossed in a bit of pancetta instead. ^Back
2 The recipe said that this should be done at medium-high heat and take 2-5 minutes. But my roux was already peanut butter coloured after barely a minute! The rest of the cooking was supposed to take a further 5-10 minutes, but mine only needed 2 to reach the milk chocolate stange. I've reduced the temperatures here to try to get the timing more in line with the recipe. (I wasn't even using induction for this, so I don't know why it went so much faster than the recip expected.) ^Back