Albondigas Meatballs En Chipotle Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a small skillet over medium-low heat.Add cumin seeds and toast,stirring constantly until they begin to pop and remove immediately from heat.Grind cumin seeds to a fine powder in a spice grinder,set aside.
• Peel all garlic cloves and the onion.Mince 5 of the cloves of garlic and leave 4 whole.Grate the onion very finely or you may mince it,but it must be very very fine or the meatballs will not hold together well.
• Mix together meat,1 teaspoon of the cumin,the minced garlic,the onion and the rice;form into meatballs using about 2 tablespoons for each meatball;set aside.
• Now roast the tomatoes.There are several ways to do this:you may roast them in an iron skillet over medium high heat until charred in places on both sides or you may put then under a hot broiler about 15 minutes,turning halfway through until charred and softened.Tomatoes could also be roasted directly over a flame if you have the means to do this.
• In a blender combine tomatoes,1 teaspoon cumin,1 cup broth, and all remaining ingredients for the sauce.Blend to a smooth sauce.
• Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet or dutch oven over medium heat until a drop of sauce sizzles in the oil.Add all of the sauce at once and stir for about 5 minutes.Sauce should be simmering.
• Carefully drop in about 1/3 of the meatballs and reduce heat to medium.cook for about 6 minutes,stirring the sauce occasionally without disturbing the meatballs.Carefully turn all the meatballs and cook another 4-6 minutes until they are cooked through.Remove to a covered dish.
• Add 1/2 cup broth to the pot,mix well.When sauce returns to a simmer cook a second batch of meatballs in the same manner.
• Repeat for last batch of meatballs.Add all meatballs back to the pot and warm through.Serve over rice,if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place ground pork into a large mixing bowl, making sure to break meat into smaller pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix by hand until all the ingredients are well blended. Don't overwork or the meatballs will be mealy. Form into 1-ounce balls, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place them closely together on a sheet pan. Place the pan into the top half of the oven and cook until the meatballs are just firm to the touch, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drop into the Chipotle Tomato Sauce. Simmer 5 minutes and serve.
• Put the tomato sauce, chipotles with sauce and the rest of the ingredients into a large, heavy bottomed saucepan. Stir well and place over high heat until the sauce begins to bubble. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, being sure to stir every 10 to 15 minutes so it doesn't burn.

Steps:

• Slice the tomatoes and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Drizzle a tiny bit of EVOO over and sprinkle with a little salt. Place in a 450 oven and roast for 20-25 minutes... meanwhile Make the albondigas: place the bacon and garlic cloves in a food processor and whiz. Add the eggs and bread crumbs, whiz again. Add the ground chorizo and tukey, mint and/or basil and 1 tsp salt. Whiz to combine all but dont overdo it into a paste. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl. Scoop 1/2 of this meat mixture into a ziplock baggie and freeze for easy albondigas later! Set bowl aside. Clean out the food processor. Remove the roasted tomatoes from the oven when they are ready and scrape them and all their juices into the clean food processor. Clean off the baking sheet that had the tomatoes on it and oil it lightly for roasting the meatballs. Roll large spoonfulls of meat mixture into meatballs about the size of a golf or ping pong ball. Place them on the baking sheet. Roast in the same 450 oven for 15 minutes. Turn them and roast an additional 10 minutes. While the meatballs roast: Add the onion and garlic to the food processor with your roasted tomatoes. Whiz to chop well. Add the chipotles and the adobo sauce plus 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar. Whiz to a nice thin paste consisitancy. On the stove top, heat 2 TBS EVOO. When oil is hot, add the tomato/ chipotle mixture. It will sputter and pop. This is good. Stand by with a wooden flat spoon or sturdy spatula and let the sauce cook for 5 minutes or so, undisturbed, to develope that wonderful dark crud underneath. Stir well and continue to cook, letting the crud keep forming and then scraping it up for about another 20-25 minutes total. This is where the flavor deepens! Manage the heat and your stirring so it doesnt burn.. just keep developing that rich brown crud, then scrape it up smooth it out, and wait for it to form again.... now add the chicken broth and stir to deglaze. Add the red wine and sherry. Stir and let cook 5 minutes or so. Add the cinnamon, cloves and handfull of chocolate. Stir to melt the chocolate. Season with salt as needed. Turn off heat. Your meatballs are probably done now. Remove from oven and place them into the crock pot. Pour the cooked sauce over and stir gently to combine. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours or more until soft and cooked through. Stir in or garnish with chopped fresh cilantro at the end and serve with crushed chiltipin on the side for those who like the extra heat!