A Random Recipe – Finkadella: Scottish Meatballs with Carrots & Leeks

Finkadella - Scottish Meatballs

 – A Random Recipe –

 Finkadella: Scottish Meatballs with Carrots & Leeks

Finkadella: Small meatballs made with ground meat and seasoning.

Many of Scotland’s recipes reflects its past links with France. Mary of Guise and her daughter Mary, Queen of Scots influenced cooking in the Scottish courts. The name of this recipe is thought to be derived from the French fins quenelles – a quenelle being an oval shaped meat or fish enriched dumpling.

It’s time for another Random Recipe – this is one of my favourite monthly blogging challenges and is hosted by Dashing Dom from Belleau Kitchen.  Dom’s latest punishment  challenge is to count your cookbooks and choose number 17, or Lucky 17 as he says in his post about the challenge. I have cookbooks stashed all over the place, therefore my challenge was tricky, so in the end I had to get hubs to choose a stack and then I counted to seventeen…..and I was pleased to see that number seventeen was a book that I really love, but that I’ve not used for a while, Around Britain Dairy Cookbook, and published by your milkman, well the Dairy Diary people anyway!

I opened the book  randomly and the recipe that I was presented with was one I might not have bothered to make, Finkadella, a sort of meatball stew with vegetables, but, I’m so glad I did, as it was delicious, and so simple to make too. These meatballs do not need to be seared or pre-browned and I was pretty sceptical about that at first, but all was fine and the meatballs soaked up the beefy stock and were really tasty. I would say that it’s essential to use a REALLY good beef stock and extra lean minced beef too, as these are not seared beforehand as I mentioned before, and therefore fatty mince and flabby flavoured stock will not enhance this dish at all.

Finkadella - Scottish Meatballs in a Vegetable & Beef Stock

We ate these on a chilly spring evening, with fluffy mashed potatoes and I loved the fact that this was more or less a one pot meal – I could have served this with just crusty bread. I bet you could make your wee finkadella beforehand and pop them in the freezer for convenience, and that would cut back on prep time if serving this recipe as a family mid-week meal. So, once again, Dom’s Random Recipe challenge has introduced me to a new recipe and one that I will make again too………result! And, I am being EXTRA nice to Dom as there are PRIZES this month for Random Recipes – two Mary Berry books are up for grabs, and I WANT one of them!! 🙂 So, here is the recipe, with some changes to the ingredients – I increased the vegetables. You can buy this amazing book on the Dairy Diary website HERE. That’s it for today, I will be back tomorrow with CAKES for Mothering Sunday! See you later, Karen.

Finkadella – Scottish Meatballs with Vegetables

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Serves	4
Prep time	50 minutes
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 10 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party
Region	British
From book	Around Britain Dairy CookBook

Many of Scotland's recipes reflects its past links with France. Mary of Guise and her daughter Mary, Queen of Scots influenced cooking in the Scottish courts. The name of this recipe is thought to be derived from the French fins quenelles - a quenelle being an oval shaped meat or fish enriched dumpling.

Ingredients

• 225g extra lean beef mince
• 75g white breadcrumbs (fresh)
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 600ml good beef stock
• 1 shallot, peeled and grated
• 50g shredded beef suet
• salt and black pepper
• 4 large carrots, peeled and diced very small
• 2 large leeks, trimmed, washed and finely shredded
• Parsley, to garnish

Note

Many of Scotland's recipes reflects its past links with France. Mary of Guise and her daughter Mary, Queen of Scots influenced cooking in the Scottish courts. The name of this recipe is thought to be derived from the French fins quenelles - a quenelle being an oval shaped meat or fish enriched dumpling.

Directions

Step 1	Put the minced beef and breadcrumbs into a bowl and mix well with your hands. Add about 3 tablespoons of the stock to the mixture along with the cream, chopped shallot and suet and mix until a stiff and firm consistency has been achieved.
Step 2	Shape the meat mixture into small walnut size balls, you will get about 12 to 16 balls out of the mixture and place them in a plate, and then chill for 30 minutes. If the mixture is too sticky, add a little flour.
Step 3	Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables, cleaning, cutting and shredding them ready for cooking, as described in the ingredients list.
Step 4	Place the vegetables in a large deep-sided frying pan, such as a wok, that has a lid and pour the remaining stock over the vegetables. Bring to a slow boil and then add the meatballs. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer, poaching the vegetables and meatballs for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the meatballs and vegetables are cooked through.
Step 5	Adjust the seasoning and then serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes and with the vegetables and cooking liquor poured over them. It is best to serve this meal in bowls. Also nice when served with crusty bread for dipping and dunking!

Finkadella