Irish Meatball Soup

I love corned beef with cabbage and potatoes.

My family doesn't.

Not a single one of them.

Such a pity, really.

Rather than continuing my yearly torture of a traditional St. Patrick's Day feast that only I enjoy, I have recently started a new one. I don't know if this is actually an authentic Irish anything, but it contains lamb, cabbage and potatoes. With a side of some sort of soda bread, it's Irish enough for me.

Lamb...some people aren't much into lamb. To be honest, I'm one of those people. But what I do is mix it wish some bison and wow! It's rich and delicious without being overpowering in any way. I know they're both an expensive meat...but after all, I only make it once a year. And it's worth it. Especially when everyone loves it and I'm not left eating a whole corned beef on my own. If you can't get or don't like either of the meats I use...by all means, use ground beef.

Irish Meatball Soup
Printable Version

Soup
8 cups chicken stock (I sometimes use turkey stock)
1 russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, diced
1 leek (white and light green parts) sliced
7 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/4 - 1/2 (depending on the size) head of cabbage, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 TB barley
Salt and pepper to taste
Bouquet bag of a sprig of parsley, a couple of sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf (you can make a bouquet bag using cheesecloth or by using a tea strainer)
2 lbs meatballs, partially cooked (recipe below)
Garnish with a nice herb butter made with melted butter with added minced parsley, chives and thyme

Meatballs
1 lb ground bison
1 lb ground lamb
1/4 cup diced onion
4 TB minced garlic
1/4 cup minced parsley
1/3 cup panko crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper

To make the meatballs:
Mix together all of the ingredients and gently stir until just combined. Don't squish it around too much or you'll end up with a dense, dry meatball.

Roll about a tablespoon of the meat into 1 inch balls. In a medium-hot pan drizzled with a little oil. brown on all sides and set aside. You will do this in batches....probably 3 batches.

To make the soup:
Pour the chicken stock into a large pot. Add the vegetables and seasoning. Heat to just before a boil and reduce heat a bit, allowing it to barely bubble but not boil. Cook for about 30 minutes. Add the meatballs and continue to cook until the vegetables and meatballs are cooked through, about 15 more minutes.

Remove the bouquet bag and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Drizzle each serving with the herb butter.

HBin5 Tabbouleh Bread, Kibbeh Burgers and a Winner!

Let's get the exciting news out first! I mean...it's not like it's a good news or bad news kind of thing....it's all good, but I wanna mix things up (I usually announce the winner at the end of a post)...Let me tell ya who won the $30 Willow House Giveaway....

Joanna from Go Ahead and Snicker!!!

Let's give Joanna a big round of applause! Woooo hooooo!!! (whistles, cheers, hurrays)

Send me an email or contact Michele from Willow House directly :) Congrats girlfriend!!!

I also want to thank Michele for allowing me to host such a fun giveaway!

And now for the other half...the food half of this post. I've been a little slow in the bread area of my cooking / baking. I haven't had the time or....energy to really dig into the past couple of assignments. Not that Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day takes much time or energy but between the Pom Wonderful Dinner Party, Cupcake Camp LA and Thanksgiving, all within 3 weeks of each other....I had my hands full. Not that I didn't enjoy every minute of everything I was doing and created some great memories and awesome experiences. But, it just didn't leave much room for venturing into new bread. I mean, I did make some bread for the dinner party and in between...just nothing from the new assignments.

Btw...just in case you're new on the block....HBin5 is an online bread baking braid (group) that I participate in, hosted by Michelle over at Big Black Dogs. If you'd like to check it out and see what it's all about, (and please do, I highly recommend it. We still have a year to go in our baking adventures and you're all invited to join in, anytime) click ------>HERE<-----------

Oh boy...I just realized that this particular bread....Tabbouleh Bread with Parsly, Garlic and Bulgur is from a month ago and I totally missed the assignment from the 15th (not sure if I'll get to that or just begin on the Dec. 1st assignment next)....but either way...better late than never. I have to say, this bread was worth the wait. So glad it was late rather than never. I love the aroma....garlic, onions, and parsley, along with the earthiness of bulgur wheat...YUM! I have to say I was surprised that it didn't brown more. But, hey...with all those flavors, you don't sweat the little things, right?

 This dough made beautiful buns regardless.

I want to take a quick moment to say how useful Facebook can be. You see, this was my first experience with bulgur wheat and I really didn't need that much for the dough (I've got lots left over). I asked my friends on Facebook what I could make with bulgur (besides tabbouleh) and I got a whole slew of wonderful ideas! One of them being to make Kibbeh. Kibbeh? (I asked)....What's Kibbeh? After a shared recipe and a little research, I found that it is a Lebanese dish similar (though not exactly) to meatloaf...only more interesting.  Problem is, I'm not a meatloaf fan (I know, I know...so very unamerican of me). Or a fan of large masses of ground meat in any form. That's when I decided to make the meat recipe into burgers (though I did find out I'm not the first person to think of this). The results were wonderful! Flavorful! Delicious!

I'm not claiming that this recipe is authentic. It seems that Kibbeh recipes vary as much as meatloaf recipes do (with a few common threads)....I did adjust my version a bit to suit my families tastes. (I have to admit that I didn't tell anyone what they were eating until afterward....I hate preconceived taste bud notions). 

Kibbeh Burger
Printable Version

1 lb ground meat (I used 1/2 lb beef and 1/2 lb lamb)
1 cup soaked, drained, bulgur wheat
1/2 cup water
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Cheese of your choice (I used a mediterranean cheese called halloumi)
burger buns

In a food processor, process the onions until finely chopped. Add the meat and 1/2 cup water, salt, pepper, cumin and allspice. Process until smooth. Add the bulgur wheat, parsley and pine nuts....mix briefly. Form into 6 patties and cook as you normally would any other burger.

Meanwhile, I mixed a little mayonnaise with some garlic, green onion and lemon juice to spread on my Tabbouleh Burger Buns, after they were toasted a bit of course

A little cheese, lettuce and tomatoes and you have a filling, tasty, if slightly different, kind of burger.

You see that cheese there? Like I mentioned earlier...it's called halloumi. Its a very mild, almost crumbly, a little dense, kinda soft, not so hard cheese made from a mixture of goats milk and sheeps milk (man....it's all over the cheese spectrum). It's suppose to be great for grilling and frying since it holds up to heat really well. Halloumi can be found in Middle Eastern markets in case you'd like to check it out. I like it...and am thinking it would be great for breading and deep frying instead of mozzarella cheese.

And don't go too far away. I have a couple more giveaways up my sleeve coming your way real soon.

This is my entry into Hearth and Soul Blog Hop this week. I hope you take a moment to hop around and see what everyone's been up to.