"Les Trois Grâces" Meatballs, by Alex

MEAT

(60% dry aged ribeye cap or any beefy/musky muscle ) OR

(50% dry aged beef + 10% dry aged beef fat )
40% short ribs.NON-MEATS
Breadcrumbs - 2/3 of the fillers should be soaked breadcrumbs,
Onions - 1/3 be onion flesh
Greek Yogurt

Blitz 2 onions in a food processor. Sweet onions both work great here, as we'll get the punch from the
side condiment anyway. Get the juices out, we only need the flesh here.

Mix 1/2 - 3/4 cup breadcrumbs with 1/2 - 3/4 cup Greek yogurt. Important bit is to let them soak the
dairy in for 30 minutes. A splash buttermilk will help a lot here. Buttermilk is only here to loosen the
texture, as yogurt is thick. Remember that in the end the dairy-breadcrumbs combo should look thick,
but still be able to fall out of a tablespoon. Supple.

Season with salt and pepper. Taste, Adjust.

SPICE MIX

A few notes :

Cumin
Cinnamon
Garlic powder or 1 big garlic clove instead.
Nutmeg
Thyme

The ratio is : 1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder, 1.5 tsp of cinnamon powder, 1 tsp of garlic powder, 3/4 tsp
of nutmeg, 2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp ground pepper (black).

Now you take some of that mix and you add it to the non-meat bowl. Mix very well and knead the
meat.

Place the mix back in the fridge to firm up before shaping.

SHAPING AND PAR-FRYING

Gold sized meatballs using your hands.

Wet hands, not oily hands. Get them smooth, and par fry them in oil for 30s each, at 180°C 360°F.
To fry them without damaging the roundness : Use the gentle slope of a wok.

ROASTING

Oven has to be preheated at 450°F or 220°C.

Meatballs can be roasted without a mould, but they will flatten a bit.
I used a "half sphere" silicon mould. You can also make your own by pressing a billiard ball into some
aluminium foil.

17 minutes if you did not par fry them first. ~14 minutes otherwise.
Slightly pink centre is good. Red is not. Grey is ok, as they will still be very moist anyway.

SAUCE (make it in advance)

Sauce is kept minimal on purpose. There's no need for a real thick gravy with this type of meatballs.
Sauce is there to provide a bit of moisture, and also because without sauce, life is annoying. It supports
for the flavours, underlines them.

When roasting these meatballs produce the absolute best juices in the world. Gather these juices, pour
them in a bowl and add a splash of good quality soy sauce, just for saltiness and umami. The ratios are
3/4 meatball juices to 1/4 soy sauce. Mix it up.

Drizzle on top of the meatball.

COUNTER BALANCE (make it in advance)

Finely chop flat leaf parsley 2/3 with

1/3 basil leaves and
1/2 onion.
1/2 Lemon Squeeze on it. Flaky Salt and coarsely ground pepper.

Add on top of the meatball or on the side.