Posted at http://mynew30.blogspot.com
1-1/2 quarts of water
1 cup of dark roux*
1/2 of a medium onion, grated or finely minced
1 stalk of celery, finely minced
1/2 of a small green bell pepper, finely minced
1/2 of a small red bell pepper, finely minced
Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped or
small palmful of dried
2 stalks of green onions, sliced very thin
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground pork
12 small whole cloves of garlic, or 2 to 4 sliced** (see note)
1 teaspoon of dried basil
1 egg
2 pinches of Kosher salt, or to taste
20 turns of the pepper grinder, or to taste
1/2 cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Splash of heavy cream, to moisten
Couple dashes of dried crushed red pepper flakes
In a 4 quart stockpot, add the water and stir in the room temperature roux and bring to a boil. Start with 3/4 cup but add more roux if needed to achieve the desired thickness; boil for 5 minutes; reduce to medium.
Combine all of the ingredients and shape into 12 large balls. Insert a slice of the raw garlic into each meatball, pinch closed and roll the ball a bit more to tighten it. Put the raw meatballs in the sauce and once it returns to a bubble again, reduce the heat to a low to medium low simmer, and low simmer the meatballs for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
Sprinkle with a few dashes of dried crushed red pepper flakes and serve over rice with some of the brown sauce. Add a side of steamed green beans or a nice garden salad to round it out.
*This recipe uses a pre-made roux that has been cooked ahead and cooled, so you'll want to bring 1 cup of the roux up to room temperature, rather than use it straight out of the fridge. Then add the cool roux to a pot of warmed water, not hot water. Of course, you can certainly do the roux on the fly when you need it. When I do use a hot roux, I find it helps to just slightly warm the water first and then slowly whisk the water a little at a time into the hot roux, until it is incorporated. Don't add boiling hot water to just made roux - it's just too dangerous.
**Traditionally, beef boulettes are stuffed with a small whole clove of garlic, or sometimes a small button mushroom or an olive, and then the meat is wrapped tight to seal it in. Since Hubs doesn't care at all for olives, nor does he like big chunks of mushroom or garlic in his food, I slice up the garlic cloves into smaller slivers and then insert them. He doesn't seem to notice them that way!
