Despite this being four dishes, the full meal can easily be made in under 45 minutes, with time to spare to imbibe one of Latvian's oldest and most popular beverages — beer. The meatballs are flavorful and tender and pair beautifully with the salty mushroom ragù. And one can piggyback on cooking the onions and bacon needed for both. The wax bean and tomato dishes each take less than 5 minutes to make.
Tender Meatballs (Kotleti)
1 piece thick-cut bacon, chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
½ lb ground pork [NOTE 1]
1 lb ground turkey [NOTE 1]
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup of milk
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 - 3 slices of white bread or 1 hamburger roll (I used GF)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add bacon to a small skillet over medium heat. Once it gives off oil, add onion, and turn heat to medium-low. Sauté until onions until soft and translucent, and starting to caramelize.
Beat both eggs in a large bowl. Add milk, paprika, and salt. Stir together. Tear bread into the bowl and toss with the milk. Let bread sit in mixture and soak for 5 minutes.
Add meat to bowl, mix roughly with milk and bread mixture. Add in onions and bacon and mix to incorporate. It’s OK if there are pieces of bead visible.
Using a bowl of water to keep your hands and fingers wet, form meat mixture into palm-sized balls, then flatten slightly. Place on a plate until ready to cook. You should get about 12 patties. Alternatively, you can divide meat mixture into quarters, then each quarter into thirds, to make 12 even pieces, then roll and flatten.
Add 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and canola into a large skillet over medium heat. Fry half of the patties until the bottoms brown, about 3 minutes. Flip and brown the remaining side. Move onto lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining 6 patties.
Place into oven for about 12 minutes, or until middle is cooked through.
NOTE 1: You can use any mix of beef, pork, turkey, chicken, or veal to equal 1½ pounds of meat. I like the pork/turkey ratio I used, because the pork adds a nice fat content and meat-umami to balance the lean turkey.
Mushroom Ragù
3 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into ¼-inch slices
½ medium onion, chopped
½ lb mixed mushrooms, ideally some wild ones included
½ tablespoon flour (I used GF)
½ cup water
pinch salt
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Add bacon to a large skillet over medium heat. Once it gives off oil, add onion, and turn heat to medium-low. Sauté until onions until soft and translucent, and starting to caramelize.
Wash the mushrooms, and cut into thin slices. Add to skillet.
Over low heat, stir with a spoon for 10 minutes. Add flour, water and salt.
Bring mixture to boil, and sauté for 5 minutes until the mixture has the consistency of gravy.
Add the sour cream. Mix together. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.
Wax Beans in Brown Butter
½ lb fresh wax beans, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons salted butter
Fill a small saucepan halfway with water, add the salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, drop in beans and cook for 5 minutes.
While beans are cooking, sauté butter in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Once it melts, watch it carefully. When it starts to turn a golden brown, remove pan from heat.
Drain beans and return to pot, filling it with cold water to stop the beans cooking.
Drain beans again, and put on serving plate. Pour browned butter on top.
Tomato Salad
1 pint ripe cherry, grape, or baby tomatoes
1 chive
1 tablespoon sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)
Rinse the tomatoes, and half or quarter them.
Finely chop the light and dark green parts of the chive only and mix with tomatoes. If using parsley, mix in as well.
Add sour cream and mix gently, to incorporate. Salt and pepper to taste.
FUN FACTS:
Riga, the largest city of Latvia, put up the world’s first Christmas tree — in 1510!
Although jeans were invented in the US, one of the founders of Levi Strauss was born in Riga and emigrated to the United States and is credited with the idea of using rivets on worker’s trousers.
Latvia has blue cows! ‘Latvian Blue’ cows are unique to Latvia and known for their bluish tint.
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