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-- Meatball Pozole ---

Since we're on the cheapest CSA plan with Marin Sun Farms we end up getting 5 lbs. of ground meat (and 5 lb. of other cuts) a month. So I'm constantly searching for ground meat recipes.

This recipe started out with a simple thought, "I wonder what kind of Mexican Meatball recipes are out there". A detour into a Bodega or two in the Mission and I had what I needed but the recipe bloomed into something much more elaborate then intended.

I ended up making some kind of Pozole - or at least that's what I'm calling it. I didn't really use a recipe but looked at a dozen or so Mexican soup & meatball recipes online.

This is one of those recipes where each component is good but the real magic happens when everything goes into the bowl together and the flavors mix and contrast in just the right way.

-- Ingredients --

Stock:
1 pigs foot split in half the long way
2 quarts water
2 onions
2 head garlic
2 tsp Mexican oregano
2 cloves
4 sprigs cilantro
4 sprigs mint
black pepper
salt

Coleslaw:

1/2 head red cabbage
1 tsp. whole cumin
salt
1/2 lime, juiced

Salsa Fresca:

1 lb. tomatoes
1/2 large white onion
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 lime
salt

Pepper Sauce:
15 dried chilles (I used a mixture of Pasilla, Guajillo, and mild New Mexican red chilles)
7 oz. can chipotle peppers
1/2 tsp cumin
salt

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground meat
1/2 white onion
1/2 cup minced cilantro
1/2 cup minced mint
1 egg
salt & pepper

Soup:
3 carrots
1 yellow onion
1 jar (or can) pozole

Pickled Radishes:
1 bunch radishes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 Tb. vinegar

Other Toppings:
1 avocado
8 oz. fresh Mexican cheese (panela)
cilantro

-- Instructions --

(1) Cover the pig's foot with 2 quarts water. Coarsely chop the onions, smash and peal the garlic and add to the pot. Add the herbs and spices and bring everything to a gentle simmer. Cook 2-3 hours. Strain, reserving the onions, garlic and pigs foot. Return broth to pot.

(2) While the broth is cooking prepare the toppings. For the coleslaw finely chop the cabbage, put into a colander in the sink and generously salt. let sit for 30 minutes and then squeeze out excess moisture (it should be slightly wilted but still crunchy). Roast the cumin in a small frying pan until it brown and just begins to smoke. Crush the cumin with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Move cabbage to a bowl and mix in the lime and cumin. Refrigerate.

(3) For the salsa fresca cut up the onion into small dice. Mince the cilantro and mix with the onion. Cube the tomatoes and put with onion-cilantro mixture. Add a pinch of salt and the lime juice. Mix and refrigerate.

(4) To pickle the radishes slice them and mix with salt, sugar and vinegar. Refrigerate. Slice the avocado and cheese and refrigerate on a plate. Put a couple drops of lime juice on the avocado just to keep it green.

(5) Put the dried peppers and chipotle into a heat proof bowl. ladle a cup of the pork broth and let sit 30 minutes to rehydrate. Once the broth is finish mix in reserved onions and garlic into the pepper mixture. Puree (with a hand blender, food processor or blender) and test seasoning adding salt as appropriate. Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a small pot and add cumin. Cook until cumin becomes fragrant and then add the pureed pepper mixture. Be careful as it will splatter. Cook stirring with a rubber spatula 5 minutes or until all the ingredients are cooked. Set aside.

(6) Pick meat and skin off the pig's foot, finely chop and toss it into the finished broth mixture.

(7) Thoroughly mix meatball ingredients.

(8) To finish the soup, peel and slice the carrot into disks. Slice the onion into long slivers. Saute on high heat until they just begin to brown on the edges. Add the broth, cooked pozole and bring to a boil. Form the meatballs and drop into the soup. Turn heat down to gentle simmer and cook through (15 minutes, but you should pull a meatball out to check).

(9) Stir in the red pepper mixture. Bring the pot to a simmer.

(10) To serve ladle into shallow bowls. Put a pile of coleslaw in the center and array the other toppings in a circle around the slaw. Add some fresh cilantro leaves and (if you like) a couple of drops of lime juice.

one egg. a little salt. and as much flour as it will hold. made with my hand acting as a mixer, swirling around and around, gradually blending in the flour to the egg.

rolled ultrathin and cut with a knife. dried for an hour and then made into one of the best dinners ever. simple. almost no ingredients.

Friends are coming over for lunch on wednesday. i went through the inventory of the deep freezer in my mind (15 days of no grocery shopping so far) and kept coming up with a blank. Chefs writers' block. There is ham hock, tripe, chicken feet, five billion blackberries and cherries. Nothing that they would like.

I go through this daily at the beginning of a "no shop" (i did five months of no grocery shopping last year, not consecutively). I think that I have nothing and once I start cooking, I realize, I have so much and before I know it I am making three dishes at once and dreaming of others I can easily make: boston baked beans, eggplant parm (with goat cheese), baked apples, almond tarte, tomato and basil salad with walnuts, and the list goes on. If I can, I write down my brainstorming ideas for those moments of "i dont have anything to make" then after a few weeks of no shopping, I feel like I have more food and choices than I did before.

Wedensday, we will have homemade fettucini with a basic though homemade tomato and garlic sauce and sauted zucchini, apple and walnut salad and an exquisite almond tarte. (they are brining the cheese course and the beers!)