SKENDERBEG MEATBALLS

The best meatballs (notwhitstanding the Kosovar köfte at Kebaptore Gjakova e Vjeter in Prishtina, of course) are made with a creamy brandy sauce and served with (also creamy) mashed potatoes. In the original recipe for the brandy sauce one would use legendary Finnish Jaloviina, but in Kosovo you want to use Skenderbeg that works just like the Finnish brandy. The historical hero Skenderberg, of course, at least as legendary ---  ..but back to the recipe, this blog not being one concentrating on history.

The recipe is simple enough – just mix all the ingredients (minced meat with onions, spices etc) and prepare the meatballs in the oven (175 degrees C) or on the stove.

To prepare the base of the sauce, you need to mix butter and a small amount of wheat flour into a thick sauce, after which demi glace is added to the mix. When this mixture is smooth, add hot water and bovril (thick, salty meat extract that gives more taste to your sauce) and let simmer for at least 15 minutes. Add the brandy (Jaloviina, Skenderbeg, ..) about 5 mins before all else is ready to be served (meaning the meatballs and mashed potatoes, or what ever is your choice to be served with the meatballs). Taste, taste, taste – and according to taste you may wanna add some more (but be careful not to serve sauce that tastes too much of alcohol…).

 

Skenderbeg in action!

The mashed potatoes can be spiced with some chopped onions, some butter, and milk or cream. The onion mix in potatoes is a Northern Finnish tradition, and as most of our crew at the Karelian Pie Association are not from Lapland, we tasted the onion mix for the first time at this Sunday dinner. This was a very welcome addition, and from now on, onions in mashed potatoes warmly recommended!

For four:

Meatballs
400 g minced meatready made onion soup mix
onion and garlic
egg(s), ..breadcrumbs

Sauce
50 g butter
1 dl flour
2 dl demi glace
2,5 dl hot water
2 rkl bovril
1 dl cream
0,5 dl Skenderbeg

Enjoy! Bof mire! Пријатно! Hyvää ruokahalua!