Spicy meatballs

This recipe was a result of finding a bouquet of coriander in my fridge that was, as my mom would say "on its last legs" and leafing through my Cuisine d'été to find a way to salvage it. The answer was with some mexican inspired meatballs à la française (meaning not really that spicy at all).

I am not a fan of fresh coriander. In California, we call it cilantro. My mom calls it "Ci-LAN-trrrrro". It's used in mexican, indian and thai cooking because it balances the spiciness well. I think it smells like feet. I bought a large bouquet of it (I keep referring to bouquets of herbs. I guess the correct term in English is "bunch") to make Chicken Pad Thai a few weeks ago, and just remembered about it when I opened my frigo this evening.

These meatballs were in the "picnic" section of my book - and can be served cold or hot. I chose to pan-fry them, but you could bake them as well. Once you get over your fear of touching raw meat (something instilled in me since childhood), squishing all the hamburger and other ingredients together is fun. Rolling them into little balls is almost theraputic. Eating them is even better...

Cilantrofied spicy meatballs

• 500g 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large bunch of cilantro (fresh coriander)
• 1 large onion (white or yellow)
• 1 jalapeno (or other small pepper - I had to settle for a generic green pepper, jalapenos being almost impossible to come by here)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp bread crumbs
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Salt, pepper
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp paprika (or cayenne pepper)
• Olive oil (if pan frying)
  

Finely mince the cilantro. Peel and mince the onion and the jalapeno. In a small bowl, mix the flour and paprika.

In a large bowl, mix the beef, cilantro, cumin, onions, egg and bread crumbs. Salt and pepper generously. The best method for thoroughly mixing everything is to get your hands dirty - squash it all up with your hands! Then form very small meatballs by rolling between palms and pressing so they don't come apart while cooking. Roll in flour/paprika mixture until covered and place on plate. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refridgerator for at least 30 min.

Heat 1 cm oil in frying pan and cook the meatballs turning over constantly until cooked through and browned on all sides - about 10 minutes. Place on paper towels to absord excess oil. Serve with potatoes or grilled vegetables.