Keftedes
Ah keftedes. I love these Greek 'meatballs'. They remind me of gatherings and celebrations. My mum made hundreds of them for our engagement party. They're usually accompanied by a Greek salad & Greek chips. What are Greek chips you ask? They're very similar to British chips, same size, cooked the same way but they're made with Greek potatoes, which have a a really distinct flavour. They're a little sweet and a lot delicious. I don't make Greek food enough, but my keftedes were approved by the whole family so I should probably try it more often. To make these you will need:
- Pork mince
- Parsley
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Breadcrumbs
- Eggs
- Cinnamon
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Dried mint
- Lemons
- Sunflower oil
You will notice I haven't given you quantities. I have found there is a rough formula for most of it, these are not an exact science and I make a different amount each time and am constantly varying the amounts. You want just under half the amount of onions and potatoes to pork mince. So that helps no matter how much you're making. The onions and the potatoes need to be grated, I do mine in the food processor (because ain't nobody got time for dat). When you have grated the onions and potatoes, place them in a sieve over a bowl to let the water drain. Whilst that's happening, finely chop or blitz in the food processor the parsley and the dried mint. Say you are using two packs of pork mince which are about 850g, you'll want at least one large bunch of parsley and a jam jar (that's a quantity) full of dried mint. I say jam jar because my grandmother, yiayia, dries the mint she grows in the Cyprus sun and sends it over to us in jam jars. The dried mint is really important. You want the taste to come through but you don't want it to be over powering. For the amount of pork mince I have said above, one heaped teaspoon baking powder is fine. Mix everything together with a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of black pepper. Add one egg and just enough breadcrumbs to bind the mixture. When it's combined, make small oval shaped keftedes. You can make them round if you like but we've always made them oval. If you have time leave them in the fridge to take shape before frying. Otherwise heat a saucepan with sunflower oil. You want them to deep fry. They need to fry fairly slowly so they cook inside and get crispy on the outside. What's great about these is they are nice room temperature or cold and can be made the day before and then heated up in the oven. I like to cut mine in half, squeeze lemon and sprinkle salt on them and devour. Enjoy!