Meat, drink and be cordial
TODAY, 16 July, we have the Commemo- ration of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, whose order was founded in the 12th century by a Calabrian priest and claims to carry on the monastic traditions of Mount Cannel, which perhaps go back to the prophet Elias. Fancy. On 16 July 1251, our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, the English general of that order, and promised special blessings to all its members and all who wore its habit. The same day in 1779 saw the storming of Stony Point and in 1715 Prince de Soubise was born, to whom we owe the onion sauce, the pheasant soubise and the partridge and the hare soubise, all of which use the onion in large quantities. He was obviously enslaved by the bulb, and quite right too.
I was having a lovely after-Sunday Mass drink with the splendid Bob Schultz, the Aussie of haute couture in the days when fashion was fashion, and he has given me a very interesting method for making meat balls, quite different and much stronger than the usual ones associated with spaghetti.
Bob Schultz's meat balls
1 lb of good lean beef mince 4 slices of stale white bread — good-quality milk 2 crushed garlic cloves 2 good handfuls of parsley 1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest 1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger root 3 oz of freshly grated Parmesan cheese 2 medium eggs plain flour or fine toasted breadcrumbs olive oil salt and freshly ground pepper
I found this quantity made 16 meat balls, the size of golf balls, which I flattened a bit for easier frying. They looked more like mini-burgers. Soak the slices of bread in milk; when saturated squeeze the milk out and add to the mince in a bowl. Chop the parsley, including the stalks for flavour. Add the parsley, lemon zest, ginger, 'I was sacked for not being pregnant.' Parmesan cheese and the two eggs to the beef and bread. Season with freshly ground pepper and a little salt, remembering the cheese is quite salty. Mix all the ingredients very thoroughly, I find hands the best instrument. Form into golf-ball-size balls. Roll in the flour or breadcrumbs (not that terrible yellow stuff bought in packets — make your own); I rolled mine in a mixture of both, which produced a nice, crisp exte- rior. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the little creatures until browned all over. It is up to you whether you want them rare or not. Very good with any nice vegetables, or rice and a tomato salad. If you made them on a tiny scale they would be a delicious titbit with drinks.
As the elderberry syrup was such a suc- cess (with or without the water — mea culpa), I thought you might like another drink receipt. Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz has produced a magnificent book on preserves of many kinds called Clearly Delicious (Dorling Kindersley, f14.99), full of pick- les, jams, jellies, chutneys, oils, vinegars etc., but a saint's name always catches my eye, so here is: Saint Clement's cordial juice of 8 oranges (1 1/4 pints) juice of 6 lemons (12 fluid oz) finely grated zest of 2 oranges finely grated zest of 2 lemons 2 lbs of sugar I wonder which Saint Clement this is named after. Anyhow, put the juice and the grated zest into a saucepan. Add the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Increase the heat and bring to just below boiling point. Remove from the heat immediately and leave to cool completely.
Line a plastic sieve with a double layer of muslin. Strain the pulp through it into a non-metallic bowl. (Dot Wordsworth — note.) Gather the corners of the muslin and lightly squeeze to extract all the juice possi- ble. Pour into sterilised bottles to within 1/8th of an inch of the tops. Seal the bottles, label and keep in the refrigerator. Makes about 21/2 pints. Serve the cordial with equal amount of either iced, still or sparkling water, adding a slug of what you will, I should think.
Jennifer Paterson
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