I made these meatballs specifically for my Yogurt & Barley Soup with Meatballs. The recipe I made was a blend of two Armenian soups, Madzoon ov Kofte (Armenian Yogurt and Meatball Soup) and Tanbour (Armenian Yogurt & Barley Soup). The recipe for this is very simple and you can change any number of items in them to get different flavors and textures. The main point of this recipe is to go over a good way to make meatballs that can you can transfer into other recipes.
For the binder in this recipe I took buckwheat and ground it to a powder. This gave the meatballs a nutty, earthy flavor. You can substitute this for breadcrumbs (which will generally give you a softer meatball), flour (which will normally be a little denser), or nothing at all (which is more of a balance between the flour, fat, and liquid in the mix). Because the buckwheat absorbs liquid, I was able to add a little more wet ingredients and still maintain a tight form.
I used an 80%/20% ground beef mix for this, though you can go less fat if you want. You can also swap out into other meats; turkey, chicken, pork, veal, etc, just be sure to adjust the fat content you are using to work with the meat.
Lastly I added onions to this. You can use raw onions, but when they cook they change shape and will make your meatballs have small gaps in them where the onions will cook down. This leads to them breaking down a lot easier, especially in soups. To remedy this I small diced the onions, cooked them through, and cooled them prior to added them to the meat mixture.
Once all the ingredients are mixed together, I balled them out on a sheet tray, and put them into the refrigerator for at least 1 hour prior to cooking. This helps the meatball stay firm while cooking and retain the spherical shape.
Ingredients
Ground Beef, 80/20%* 2 lb
Mint, finely chopped 2 T
Avenue Spice 1 T
Dijon Mustard 1 T
Onions, small, small diced 2 ea
Buckwheat, ground 1/2 cup
Eggs 2 ea
*If you are using a beef with a different fat ratio, you will want to adjust the eggs and buckwheat to compensate.
Method of Procedure
Small dice your onions and saute them until translucent, about 15 minutes while stirring on medium heat.
Let cool.
Mix your ground beef, mustard, avenue spice, eggs, and buckwheat.
Once cooled add your mint and onions and mix. The resulting blend should be tacky, but stays together.
Roll out the balls between your two hands to approx 2 oz portions (larger or smaller depending on your final use, but remember that the cooking time will change) and place on parchment lined tray.
Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour to chill.
Saute your meat balls to brown and finish in the oven.*
*Depending on what you are doing you can bake, fry, boil, even microwave to get your final product. I like to get some color on the outside first, then finish in the oven. I normally will add them to soups when reheating to serve, rather than holding in the liquid.
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