Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Greek Wedding Soup

Sit down folks. Today marks the first day that we cooked soup with ground beef! I think Alayna and I are going to become mega carnivores now. Like Acrocanthosaurus-type carnivores. Because meat tastes good. I also discovered some weird satisfaction from the feeling of rolling the meatballs in my palm.

Which was when, actually, Alayna said something casually like, "Who doesn't love the taste of raw meat?" I was taken aback as I had already washed my hands 3 times because of my close proximity to raw meat which I assumed if I didn't continually clean myself I'd obviously, you know, die. I probed further and Alayna admited that though she wouldn't eat "a whole raw meatball" she would "lick her hands afterwards.*"

Just like a cat. Which makes sense because for the first half of this soup I read Alayna's cat behavoir book outloud. We learned all sorts of helpful tips about what cats are trying to say when they bunt your hand and turn back their ears. I also began to feel super guilty that Toaster is an indoor cat and had a moment where I vowed I'd buy one of those cat climbing towers for her.

That'd just be awesome. Little meaty Mary with that cat climbing tower in her apartment. What a prize I'm becoming.

Anyway, this soup is really good. I know I say that every week. But this week I really, really mean it.

I love meatballs!

*Editorial Note: Alayna would like to point out that it is perfectly acceptable, even FANCY, to eat your steak practically raw, and that it's all cow anyways. Also, sushi.

Greek Wedding Soup!
  • Bring about three quarts of chicken broth to a boil, then down to a simmer (we used a combo of leftover real chicken broth from last week and water/fake broth)
  • In the meantime, combine about a pound of ground beef or lamb, two eggs, a handful of finely chopped parsley, about four finely chopped garlic cloves, 1/3 a cup of breadcrumbs, 1/4 a cup of crumbled feta cheese and 2-3 sprigs of finely chopped oregano into a bowl
  • Use your hand to mix up the ingredients until smooth, and then roll up 1 inch balls and set aside on a plate
  • Once your broth is boiling, add the meatballs and about a mug and a half of orzo to cook for about 8 minutes
  • Bring down the heat and add any leftover parseley, a handful of roughly chopped mint, the grated rind of one lemon, one large grated carrot and a box of arugula. Let cook another five minutes and serve!

8 comments:

  1. I've made a similar zuppa with turkey meatballs. Delicious recipe!

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  2. While it is true that people eat fancy steak almost and even completely raw, it comes from one muscle on one animal. Ground beef is a mix of different cuts and different animals, making the possibility of contamination much higher. Eating raw ground beef (unless you just ground it from a whole muscle) is very unadvisable.

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  3. Look Claudia posted our first spam mail! We're so popular!

    And I'll call out andkilos as being Pauly D from VT.

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  4. well pauly/kilos, in my defense I

    1. love my butcher and
    2. they really HAD just ground the beef!

    also I subscribe to the "yes you should always eat streetfood" model of lie where what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

    What's that, you say? heck year my future children will probably end up eating dirt off the floor, and you know what? that's okay too.

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  5. Fair enough, but many people do not go to the trouble of having beef freshly ground at the butcher. You just don't want people going to the supermarket thinking they can make tartare out of ground beef. and yes, always eat street food.

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  6. I want Zach to make tartare out of ground beef.

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  7. Tartare ala Zigawa, a dish fit for a king!

    But seriously, fellow soupies, at times like these, when it's been six days since the last soup, and you just know, that right. now. there is a new soup bubbling away, aren't you so happy to be alive?

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