Savory + Aromatic Swedish Meatballs, Kind Of (TTH)

• 5 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon umami paste or anchovy paste
• 2 slices stale white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
• 4 ounces pork fatback, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill [Though it would work well in this, one tablespoon isn't enough to justify buying a bunch of dill]
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry
• 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons store-bought low-sodium broth
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum or cornstarch (Missed my golden opportunity to buy xanthan gum for the first time]
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• Lingonberry jam (from iKEA or elsewhere) for serving [Nope]

Mise en place for the meatballs themselves.  Decidedly more than the number of ingredients in your average Swedish Meatball recipe and with different spices.  Apparently the traditional spices are nutmeg and allspice.  Forget fresh herbs, anchovies, and fatback; even onion and garlic.

Oh, by the way, you shred the white bread into tiny pieces and pour the milk over it.  It's like a panade?

Which seemingly isn't a popular enough usage of the term to have a page on wikipedia.  Interesting.

Cook onion, garlic, and salt until the onion softens.

Add spices and cook for another two minutes.  Add umami paste (Eh, just minced some anchovies even though that's not even the same thing as anchovy paste) and stir until combined.

Let cool.

Mix mixture with lamb and panade with a wooden spoon until roughly combined.

Add herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Overmixing is apparently an issue, but I made sure to season aggressively and yet avoid overdoing it while searing off pieces in a pan.

I did a good job.

Final mise en place.  The meatballs don't exactly stay spherical like that.

One is supposed to sear the meatballs just lightly until they begin to brown, but I wasn't paying as much attention as necessary on the first batch.  Didn't ruin it, but I learned my lesson.

 
Transfer the meatballs to a plate.  Add sherry and deglaze.  Cook until nearly evaporated.
Add meatballs back to the pot along with 3/4 cup of chicken broth.  Simmer until cooked through.
Mix xanthan gum (Damn, I should have totally bought some) with remaining 2 tablespoons chicken stock.  Push meatballs to one side of pan and whisk mixture into bubbling liquid.  Stir the meatballs back in and cook until sauced has thickened.

Season with sherry vinegar (I think it only needed that 1 tablespoon), lemon zest, salt and black pepper and...  It was awesome.  The most complex succulent Swedish meatballs I've ever had though there's not much to compare these to except Stouffer's and one trip to Ikea.  Dill makes so much sense, but it was still totally good without it.

Pasta with Fried Zucchini and Cannellini in Vinegar Sauce (FM)

• 1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2 x 3-inch sticks
• Salt
• Olive oil as needed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• Black pepper
• 2 cups cooked or canned cannellini or other white beans, drained
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, or to taste
• 8 ounces any pasta, preferably whole wheat
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint, dill, or parsley [I forget what I had here.  I'm thinking parsley?]
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, for serving.

Mise en place.  The zucchini has been salted for 20 minutes and patted dry.

I was not quite happy that olive oil is used to fry the zucchini in this recipe.  A half-inch of it.  Decided to strain it through a coffee filter after this step.

Which was, by the way, wicked dangerous to start off with, but Mark Bittman's recipe didn't state to let the oil come back to temp between batches.

Cook onion and garlic (with some salt and pepper) in 2 tablespoons of the oil until onion begins to softer.

 

Add beans and mash with fork or potato masher until more or less broken up.

Toss everything together and adjust the seasoning.  The dish already seemed totally sad at this point.
Maybe if I had used a full 1/2 cup in general in topping the dish, divided among the servings of course, this dish would've been palatable, but it really shouldn't be that way.

Bittman says that "You don't really see vinegar in pasta dishes too often", but personally I've seen vinegar applied to Italian dishes at least and within Bittman's other cookbooks to much better effect.  I've never seen it used with cannellini beans, and overall the dish struck me as muddled, unspecial, and a waste of olive oil.
Oh well, they can't all be winners.

Roast Potatoes and Chicken with Romesco (FM)

• 6 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed
• 1 1/2 lbs new potatoes or small potatoes, halved
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 bone-in chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 1 large or medium ripe tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, or to taste
• 1 packed cup fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons sherry or white wine vinegar [I used sherry vinegar]

Toss potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for 10 minutes in single layer.

Top potatoes with rosemary sprigs, then chicken and salt and pepper.  Drizzle with another 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Roast for 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Throw ingredients for romesco into blender.

Romesco (Catalan pronunciation: [ruˈmɛsku]) is a nut and red pepper-based sauce from Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. It is typically made from any mixture of roasted or raw almonds, pine nuts, and/or hazelnuts, roasted garlic, olive or sunflower oil, bitxo peppers (similar to New Mexico chiles) and/or nyora peppers (a small, round, variety of red bell pepper). Flour or ground stale bread may be used as a thickener or to provide texture. Other common ingredients include roasted tomatoes, red wine vinegar and onions. Leaves of fennel or mint may be added, particularly if served with fish or escargot. It is very often served with seafood, but can also be served with a wide variety of other foods, including poultry and some red meats like lamb and vegetables. During the springtime, salsa romesco is served as an accompanying dip for calçots, a spring onion typical to Catalonia, during traditional springtime calçot barbecues called "calçotades". During calçotades, calçots are roasted over an open fire until their outer layer is charred. The charred layer is then removed and the tender part of the onion may be dipped into the romesco.

Deliciousness in wait.

 

OMG, I found a new favorite sauce.  Romescu is beautiful, rich, tangy, nutty, flavorful...  Awesome on the roast chicken and potatoes.

Plenty of leftover sauce for my forthcoming Mixed Grill entry.