Brochetas de albóndigas de carne de res (Mexico)

Spring's here and the time to BBQ outside is getting closer. But,...since the weather is not yet very steady and still a bit chilly for a drawn out BBQ session, I thought introducing these tasty meatball skewers, made inside, is a nice change from the previous posts of winter stews and soups. So put away the scarfs, gloves and ear warmers.

Brochetas de albóndigas are Mexican meatballs (Albóndigas) on a skewer. In Mexico albóndigas are commonly served in a soup with a light broth and vegetables but for this recipe they are made with fine chunks of peppers, cilantro, garlic, Habañero peppers and green onions, filled with a cube of Enchilado queso de leche or milk cheese, skewered on sticks and then baked in the oven. The word 'Albóndigas' is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, stemming from the term 'al-bunduq' referring to a small round object...no, not a UFO but a meatball.

So without any further ado, let's get to them. For eight Brochetas de albóndigas we'll need...

1 lb of lean ground beef
1 egg
1 green onion, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 Habanero pepper, de-seeded and finely minced for some heat
1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
1 Tbsp of Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbsp of ground cumin
the juice of half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
A cup of breadcrumbs

Ingredients shown are for 16 skewers

We'll start by finely chopping the garlic, red bell pepper, green onions, cilantro and the Habañero pepper. I suggest you wear some rubber gloves when working with the Habañero. Those chili peppers are rated 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale. Yes, that's hot. If you don't have rubber gloves handy and are working with your bare hands, make sure to wash them thoroughly and remember,...no matter what you do, DO NOT touch your eyes or you'll regret it!

Place all the veggies in a bowl and set aside. Onto the meat!

Crumble the ground beef into a large bowl and season with sea salt, pepper and ground cumin. Then add the egg, the Dijon mustard, lemon juice and the breadcrumbs.

Lastly, we'll add the veggies and mix everything together well. Make sure that all of the ingredients are well dispersed. Shape the meat into a tight round chunk, cover with plastic wrap and place it into the fridge to let the meat firm up for about one hour.

In the meantime, we'll turn our attention toward the cheese. I chose a milk cheese but you can use whatever you fancy, even Gruyere. But since this is a Mexican dish, I'd stick with a traditional cheese from Mexico. Cut the cheese into four even blocks/bars and then again into four even cubes per bar so that in the end, you have 16 pieces to work with (use only half if you're making this dish for only four people).

Place the cheese into a small bowl, cover it with foil and put it in the fridge with the ground beef. Meat loves a moist, soft and tasty companion especially when it's sitting in a chilly environment. But I digress. Anyway, give both items a 60-minute cool down to firm up again before moving ahead with the recipe. And since we're having 60 minutes to spare...guess what...it's time for a cold one!

Yes, Pacifico from Mazatlán, Mexico. Stayin' with the theme here. I admit Pacifico is my favorite one when to comes to Mexican beers. Anyway, once the 60 minutes are up, grab the meat and cheese out of the fridge and start out by gently pushing one cheese cube on each of the skewers.

On to the meat. Ideally, you would want 8 equal portions of the ground beef, or in my case 16, to go onto the skewers next. That requires a bit of math - or you can just try to eyeball it - but it'll be quick. One pound is 16 ounces. So for each skewer you'd need 2 ounces of meat, right? Wrong. Keep in mind that we added a bunch of stuff to the ground beef, such as the eggs and spices and veggies. They all carry some weight so I placed the entire chunk of ground beef on a digital scale and lo and behold it came out to 24.15 ounces (48.30oz in my case). Simply divide the 24.15 oz by 8 and it comes to 3.00oz. That's the amount you will need for each skewer. Very simple but accurate.

I do advocate to be as accurate and consistent when it comes to cooking because you will have much more control over the dishes or recipes and they will most likely turn out right each time. So yes, go ahead and weigh your ground beef before dividing it. Your measurements may vary compared to mine above but the calculations will be the same.

Take each 3.00 oz portion and flatten it out in the palm of your hand just like you would when making a burger. Then place one cheese skewer in the center and fold the meat around the cheese and close it. Make sure the seams are tightly fused together.

Prepare a roasting pan or baking sheet by drizzling a little olive oil on it and start pre-heating your oven to 375°F while you work on the rest of the skewers. Once they're all done, place them in the roasting pan and brush them with a basting liquid which consists of olive oil, ground cumin, paprika powder, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Go easy on the cayenne, though.

Now slide the skewers into the pre-heated oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes you can start to see the cheese seeping through the meat. Flip the skewers over and bake them for another 20 minutes.

The aroma is amazing at this point. You can smell the cumin, the cilantro, the garlic and the cheese wafting from the oven. After 40 minutes they are done and sport a nice brown color. Take them out and let them sit for about 5 minutes before plating them up.

As you can see, the cheese and meat produced a lot of grease, which is a good thing and makes the skewers a bit leaner. At this point, you can also place them on a wire rack with some paper towels underneath and let them drain a bit more. Arrange them on a large serving plate, with some garnish in the middle and a couple of Mexican dipping sauces on the side.

I served mine with a fiery chipotle adobo sauce, spiked with a little white wine, and a garlic cilantro sauce. There you have them...Brochetas de albóndigas de carne de res.

Buen provecho!