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05/26/2002 Archived Entry: "Jewish Meatballs"

Why does almost all Jewish food taste better when made the day before it is eaten, I asked Mitchell Davis, author of The Mensch Chef. (Get it? The French Chef. The Mensch Chef.) He shrugged his shoulders, which really doesn’t work as comment on the radio.

It is sort of true, though. In the case of the following recipe, from Mitchell’s excellent and funny cookbook, it is absolutely true, and he says so in his introduction to it. Still, when I made these meatballs, Sean and I couldn’t keep our hands off of them. We kept going back to the pot to nosh some more. Eventually, I had to stash them in the refrigerator so we could “test” Mitchell’s claim. Sure enough, the next day they were even better.

Jewish Meatballs
Makes 14 to 18 meatballs, about 8 servings

For the cooking broth:
2 large yellow onions (1 pound) roughly chopped
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 or 5 potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

For the meatballs:
3 pounds ground chuck or ground beef (no more than 85 percent lean)
1 large yellow onion (1/2 pound), grated
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup matzo meal or unflavored bread crumbs

In a wide, heavy-gauge 8-quart pot, combine the onions, garlic, tomato paste, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt pepper, and 5 cups cold water, and set over high heat. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a wooden chopping bowl or ordinary mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, grated onion, eggs, salt, pepper, matzo meal, and 1/2 cup cold water, using a metal chopper or a wooden spoon to mix well. Be sure that all of the ingredients are evenly mixed.

Remove the cover from the pot of cooking liquid. The liquid should not simmer for more than 30 minutes. If you want to make the meatball mixture in advance and keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before you actually cook the meatballs, turn off the cooking liquid.

To shape the meatballs, wet your hands with cold water. Take a scant 1/3 cup of the meat mixture (about 4 ounces), and shape into a smooth ball, about 1 3/4 inches in diameter. Place in the simmering liquid and repeat with the remaining meat. You should have 14 to 18 meatballs in total.

Add the potatoes to the cooking liquid. Be sure all of the meatballs are submerged in the liquid.

Bring to a simmer and cook , uncovered, for about 1 hour, or until the meatballs are cooked through and the potatoes are tender.