A dish you might want
to try before you move your cooking outdoors for the summer is Königsberger
Klopse: meatballs in gravy. Savory
meatballs, of course, date back to the Middle Ages, or further. Those known as
Königsberger Klopse were invented in the city of Königsberg around 200 years
ago.
Königsberg, once the
capital of East Prussia, today is known as Kaliningrad, Russia. It is not to be confused with the less famous
Königsberg in Bavaria or with Königsberg in der Neumark (now known as Chojna in
Poland). Kaliningrad is a seaport city
and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian
"exclave" located between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea and
geographically separated from the rest of Russia. Unlike Königsberg, Kaliningrad does not have
yummedy meatballs named after it.
Ingredients
3/4 lb. beef chuck,
ground
1/4 lb. pork, ground
2 small hard rolls
1/2 cup light cream
1 medium onion,
chopped
6 Tbsp. butter
4 anchovy fillets
(You can eyball fillets and use equivalent paste, but
paste has added salt/vinegar, and maybe not
as strong a flavor. Fillets are about 1 1/2",
paste has added salt/vinegar, and maybe not
as strong a flavor. Fillets are about 1 1/2",
so 1 1/2 to 2" paste should work.)
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly
ground pepper
Lemon juice
2 tsp. Worcestershire
sauce
2 tbsp. chopped
parsley
1/4 tsp. dried
marjoram
5 cups beef bouillon
1 cup dry white wine
4 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 small
skinless/boneless sardines
1/3 cup drained
capers
Have the beef, veal,
and pork ground twice.
Break up the rolls
and soak them in cream for 10 minutes.
Then press out the excess liquid.
Melt 1 tbsp.
butter and saute onion, chopped fine, until lightly browned.
Combine meat,
moistened rolls, sauteed onion, and anchovy in a blender. Then add the eggs, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp. of
lemon juice, the Worcestershire, 1 tbsp. of the parsley, and the marjoram. Mix thoroughly and shape into 12 balls.
Heat the condensed
beef bouillon and dry white wine in a deep skillet or pot. When the liquid is just boiling, carefully
drop the meatballs in, reduce to a simmer, and cook 15-20 minutes, covered. Then remove the meatballs from the stock and
keep them hot while you make the gravy.
Mix the dry mustard
and flour, and cream with 4 tbsp. butter.
When the roux is smooth, add enough of the hot stock to make a thin
paste free from lumps. Turn up the heat
under the stock and add the roux, stirring until smooth and boiling. Mash the sardines with 1 tbsp. of butter and
then stir into the gravy blending well.
Add the drained capers, 1 tbsp. of parsley, and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
When all is blended, add the meatballs, reheat, and serve.
Most will serve this
with boiled potatoes and pickled beets, but I recommend spätzle noodles with the beets or cole slaw.
*Adapted from Morrison
Wood’s Cooking with Wine
