Inspired by a post on my friend’s blog:He Cooks She Cooks about their meatballs, I developed this tweak using some twists of my own and some ingredients from the Spice and Tea Exchange of Charleston, where I work. I have provided links for these ingredients but you can make substitutions for them if you need to. These meatballs are made with the traditional meatloaf mix of beef, veal and pork, but you can use just beef and pork if you cannot find veal, or you can substitute ground turkey for the veal. They are mixed with lots of aromatics and interesting flavors and then braised in beer and chicken stock which also has lemon and hot peppers floating about. The sauce is a rich sour cream based horseradish sauce. It is easy to put together and I had a large container of meatballs left for another use. I made mine about 1 1/2 inches in size so that I can use the leftovers for appetizers.

Beer Braised Horseradish Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 2 pounds of meatball mix using beef, pork and veal or just beef and pork
• 1/3 cup extra strong horseradish
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup extra fine panko or bread crumbs
• 1 cup finely diced onion (I used a purple onion)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup dried shallots reconstituted and strained
• 2 tablespoons chopped dill weed
• 4 Tablespoons Spice and Tea Exchange Sweet Onion Sugar
• 1/4 cup Feta Cheese Powder
• 1/4 cup Vic’s Garlic Fix (you can substitute minced garlic)
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup of butter and 1/8 cup of olive oil for browning

Braising Liquid

• 1 bottle of beer (I used a light amber)
• 1 1/2 cups of good chicken stock
• juice and peel of one lemon
• 4 hot peppers (serrano)
• one bay leaf

Sauce

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup braising liquid
• 1/4 cup horseradish
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
• lemon  pepper to taste
• salt to taste

Method: 

• In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients together till they are finely blended
• Make into golf ball sized meatballs
• Place on a tray on parchment paper and chill for one hour
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Make braising liquid and simmer in a Dutch oven
• In a large skillet, melt butter and olive oil and brown the meatballs in batches. When they are all browned place in the hot braising liquid, cover and braise in the oven for 30 minutes

When the meatballs are finished, remove them from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Make the sauce, in a frying pan and add the warmed meatballs. Serve over noodles or rice or put toothpicks on them and serve the sauce on the side.