Roman Meza Shannon Peck Albondigas

   The simplest foods are sometimes the best.  Albondigas is a soup.  How much simpler could you get? I think my favorite foods are soups. Pho, Italian Wedding Soup, Greek Lemon Egg Soup, Menudo, Posole the list could go on. Albondigas just means meatballs.  So we are working here with meatballs in a broth.  This soup has morphed for me over the years.  As I listened to other people speak of the albondigas they grew up with, I added and tweaked my original recipe which came from my mom and in turn came from her grandmother. MY grand mother was NOT a cook.  But my great grandmother was spectacular.  Abuelita was so precise and very rigid about the ingredients and the procedures .  Understand that you are getting a very family specific interpretation of this grand soup. It is also somewhat labor intensive. Having said that, there are shortcuts and items you can omit. Then you will have made Albondigas your family specific soup.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SOUP
oil to cover the bottom of a pot (I have been using grape seed oil lately.)
1 med onion diced
2 large stalks of celery cut in thumb sized chunks
2 large carrots cut size of the celery
1 chiyote or 2 Mexican squash  cut into about 1 inch chunks (you can use zucchini but it's not the same)
3 cloves of garlic minced
3 bay leaves
1 tsp of fresh oregano chopped coarsely
1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 can of diced tomatoes
8 cups of beef and chicken broth (can be 4 and 4 or 2 and 6)

FOR SOUP
1. Into a very large soup pot saute first 4 ingredients until onion is translucent.
2. Add garlic and  herbs. Stir.
3. Lower heat and add broth. Simmer with lid off until just before you add meatballs.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MEATBALLS
1 lb of ground pork
1  lb of ground lean beef
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp fresh thyme (just pull the little leaves off)
1 TBSP  fresh mint diced  very finely
1/4 cup cilantro chopped coarsely
1/2 cup raw long grain white rice  (sorry, can't be brown unless it's already cooked)
2 raw eggs whisked
2 tsps of salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp of black pepper

FOR MEATBALLS
1. Remove your rings .
2.  Into a very large bowl mix the meat together.
3. Add the ingredients one at a time and mix with a light touch. Kinda scoop and flop over. Don't knead.
4. Add the eggs and make sure that this is fully incorporated.  DON'T USE ANYTHING BUT YOUR HANDS TO MIX.
5. Raise the heat of the broth and bring it to a hard boil.
6.  Begin to make the meatballs and place them on a clean plate.
MEATBALL SIZE: SMALL ONES COOK FASTER. LARGE TAKE LONGER. duh

7. When all the meatballs are made, add a few at a time carefully to the boiling broth. The broth should be boiling while you add the meatballs.  Continue to boil for about 3 minutes.
8. Reduce the flame and simmer with lid on for 20-30 min. depending on the size of your meatballs. The meatballs are cooked when the rice "puffs up."
9.  Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

You can garnish with chopped cilantro and a wedge of lime.  Serve with tortillas.
About 8 servings.