This Meatball Chili is my make-ahead-keep-in-reserve dinner this month. Each December, I focus on baking cookies, breads, and cakes, pickling herring, making pâtés, and curing meats for our traditional Scandinavian and Ukrainian Christmas celebrations. Other meals throughout this month are often thrown together at the last minute from leftovers and pantry ingredients. This year, I decided it would be helpful to have a pot of comforting food for impromptu family and friend get-togethers, and this Meatball Chili recipe is ideal. It makes 10-12 servings, keeps well and tastes better after refrigeration, freezes well for longer storage and can be served in various ways.
I found this Meatball Chili recipe in a 1990 edition of The Best of Gourmet, which contained a year’s worth of “splendid seasonal menus” for “gracious entertaining.” Thirty soups and stews are included in this album of recipes, some elegant, others simple. Still, this recipe stands alone without a celebratory menu and is uncharacteristically rustic for Gourmet magazine.
What intrigued me most was the spice assortment not customarily found in chilis. In addition to the usual cumin, chili powder, paprika, and cayenne, the spices also include allspice, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, and cardamom. Surprisingly, however, these spices blend into a wonderfully balanced, flavorful taste when cooked. While this recipe had promise, it was too bland and thin for my taste.
Over the years of travel, since this Meatball Chili recipe was introduced in 1990, I developed a spicy palate and now prefer recipes with a more vibrant flavor profile. So, I tinkered with Gourmet’s version of this recipe. I double the spices to intensify the flavor, add sugar to mellow tomato acidity, make smaller meatballs with a one-inch cookie scoop so the sauce can permeate the meat and dust them with flour to thicken it. To simplify preparation, I substitute soaking and cooking dried beans with the same amount of canned beans, which can be doubled as I did. This recipe is forgiving and can easily be adapted to taste.
This Meatball Chili requires no fancy ingredients nor complicated chef skills and can be prepared over several days. The small meatballs are quickly formed with a one-inch ice cream scoop and can be fried a day ahead and refrigerated.
Forming meatballs
Chopping and frying the onion and garlic for the sauce is easy and can be prepared ahead. The remainder of the sauce comes together in minutes from store-bought ingredients.
Sauce ingredients
As Gourmet suggested, I first served this Meatball Chili in bowls over rice with a scallion garnish. It was delicious but staid like other dining in that volume, although it was not included as a featured celebration dinner.
Now, I make this Meatball Chili a centerpiece of an informal help-yourself party. A pot of Meatball Chili warms on the stove with a stack of bowls and spoons nearby. Purchased guacamole (homemade would work as well), crema Mexicana, assorted tortilla chips, cornbread, pico de gallo, chopped cilantro for those who love it, chopped scallions and a complement of hot sauces are arranged nearby. A bowl of rice is added as well. I invite everyone to eat when hungry, tailoring the chili to personal taste.
Meatball Chili with garnishes
Serving Meatball Chili with these additions is a hit. Guacamole and pico with tortilla chips make good snacking or a great starter before tucking into chili topped with assorted garnishes. Cilantro and scallion-garnished chili goes well with cornbread, a winning combination. A dollop of crema mellows the chili’s spiciness, which is also delicious when ungarnished. A glass of cider, red wine, or a Modelo, Corona, or Dos Equis go well with this meal.
However you eat this Meatball Chili, it is heartwarming on a winter’s day after outdoor activities, when decorating the house with evergreens, garlands, and a wreath, setting up and decorating the Christmas tree, wrapping gifts, or simply enjoying the company of family and friends. This is an unpretentious, pleasurable dish, perfect for casual entertaining.
Meatball Chili, adapted from The Best of Gourmet, 1990 edition, Condé Nast Books, 1990.
For the chili:
1 cup (200 g) dried dark red kidney beans, picked over
OR 1-15.5 ounce (439 g) cans dark red kidney beans
1 pound (454 g) chuck, coarsely ground
1 pound (454 g) ground pork
1 ½ cups fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup (30 g) minced fresh parsley leaves
¼ cup (118 ml) half-and-half
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1 large egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt|
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup (118 ml) vegetable oil
2 cups (540 g) chopped onion
4 garlic cloves
1-8 ounce can (227 g) tomato sauce
2-15.5 ounce (439 g) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar (omit if tomatoes are not too tart or add more if necessary)
2 cups (475 ml) vegetable or chicken broth
¼ cup (30 g) chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
For accompaniments (optional):
1 cup (100 g) thinly sliced scallions
1 cup (100 g) cilantro, chopped)
3 cups (600 g) steamed long-grain rice
1 cup (250 g) crema Mexicana
1 cup (240 g) guacamole
1 cup (240 g) pico de gallo
Assorted Mexican hot sauces
Corn tortilla chips
Cornbread
Preparing beans: Omit this step if using canned beans. Combine the dried beans with enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches in a saucepan. Bring the water to a boil and boil the beans for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and let the beans soak for 1 hour.
Preparing meatballs: While beans are soaking, if using dried beans, in another bowl, thoroughly combine the chuck, pork, breadcrumbs, parsley, half-and-half, cumin, paprika, cayenne, allspice, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, cardamom and salt to taste.
Meatball ingredients
(Test raw meat mixture for salt and spices by microwaving a teaspoon for a few seconds until browned. Adjust salt and seasonings if necessary.) Form this mixture into quarter-size meatballs using a cookie scoop or a teaspoon and place on a rimmed sheet pan, dusted with flour. Makes 60- 1 ¼ inch meatballs.
60 meatballs — ready for frying
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Lightly roll each meatball in flour and brown meatballs in batches, transferring them to a bowl when browned. Do not wash the skillet.
Frying meatballs
Assembling chili: If using dried beans, drain in a colander, rinse, and reserve them. When using canned beans, drain, rinse, and reserve them.
Heat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
Add onion to same skillet and cook over moderate heat until golden. Stir in garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Then transfer onion mixture to a large pot and add tomato sauce, tomatoes with juice, a teaspoon of granulated sugar, broth, chili powder, meatballs with accumulated juices and beans.
Meatball Chili — ready for the oven
Bring chili to a boil, and then move the pot to hot oven and braise covered for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until beans are tender.
Meatball Chili — ready to eat
Chili flavor improves if cooled to room temperature, uncovered, and refrigerated overnight. Reheat for an hour at 300ºF (149 ºC) before serving.
Serve with chopped scallions, chopped cilantro and steamed rice or with guacamole, other condiments of choice, Mexican hot sauces and tortilla chips.
Serves 10-12 for the main course.
Photo credits: all photos: Slava Johnson
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