Meatballs are a favorite in the Danish kitchen. Generally they consist of a mix of minced pork and beef added onion, flour, milk and egg. They are simple and delicious. But you can easily add a vegetable – and they will be even better, as the vegetables give them texture, taste and “juice”. If I have a stalk of celery, I might add that, or a carrot, spinach, fennel, spring onions or something else. Some times I will add a bit of chili, garlic or fresh parsley. This time I had some pickled red cabbage which is usually used as a condiment or a side for other dishes – but I did not have very much – hardly enough to make use in its original form. Therefore, I decided to try to add it to the meatballs and the result was a huge success. My point is, – you can mix and match in various ways!

Ingredients:

500 g minced pork

500 g minced beef

1 large onion finely chopped

2 dl milk (1 cup)

2 eggs

3 tbsp flour

50 grams finely choppe pickled red cabbage (or other vegetable)

1 1/2 salt

pepper to taste

A few tbsp of canola oil for frying

Method:

Finely chop the desired vegetable you would like to add – in this case I used pickled cabbage. With a hand mixer, mix the meats, the vegetables, eggs, flour, milk, onion, salt and pepper. The mince needs to be smooth, not runny. Basically, you need to be able to form “balls” with a spoon and smooth enough for frying on a pan without falling apart. If the mince is too dry, it will fall apart when frying and if too soft – they will just “run” when frying. If you find the mince too dry – add a bit more milk. If too runny – add more flour.

When the mince is good, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. With 2 spoons, scoop up a spoonful of mince at a time, shaping a meatball with the spoons. Add them to the frying pan and cook for approximately 7 minutes (it depends on the size…the larger, the longer). Try to aim for a size of a small golf ball. Fry them until brown on all sides. You will need to add extra oil to the pan for every other batch.

These can be eaten warm and cold. They are great in sandwiches as well ..or just as a finger food snack.

Basically you can add what ever you want in a tortilla. This is yet another recipe meant for inspiration. Often we do tortillas with either beef, lamb or chicken…but as a rule, we only have tortillas when I have some left over meat of some sort. In this one, I used the remaining part of a roast…sliced it, turned it over in a rub, fried it and used it as the base of tortillas.

Ingredients

Warm Tortillas (this portion made enough filling for 10)

Beef:

450 g beef

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

Oil

salt and pepper to taste

Guacemole:

2 ripe avocados

1 good handful fresh cilantro

2 cloves minced garlic

juice of 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon

1/2 tsp salt

Suggestions to other fillings:

Finely sliced salad

1/2 red capsicum finely sliced

1/2 green capsicum finely sliced

1/2 cucumber finely sliced

12 chopped cherry tomatoes

sour cream

grated cheese, – I prefer a mix of cheddar and emmenthal

Method

Beef:

Cut the meat you have in slices. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the meat and the dry ingredients. Add a bit of oil to a frying pan and fry the meat rubbed in the spices until warm…approximately 10 minutes.

Guacamole:

Rinse the cilantro. Peel the avocado and chop it. Add it to a bowl with minced garlic. Add the lemon juice. Salt and pepper. Process/blend. To make the guacamole less creamy, – leave a bit of the avocado, chop it up with a knife and mix it with the blended avocado mix.

Other fillings:

Rinse and slice and serve together with the beef and the guacamole.