dear fellow crumbsnatchers,
i would consider myself an adventurous eater and i'm lucky enough to have a partner who is probably more adventurous than me! over the years, i've tried bison, wild boar, elk, goat, alligator, snake, duck, quail, squirrel and even rocky mountain oysters. granted, i grew up eating things from my korean-greek heritage like kimchi, lamb, octopus and all kinds of seafood that developed my wordly palate from birth. so it's no surprise that i love trying new foods and cuisines. the manfriend's palate, on the other hand, was a total surprise. he grew up in a small town in southeastern indiana that the most exotic foods were sauerkraut on pizza (which is delicious, btw) or cinnamon-spiced chili over spaghetti noodles.
i knew i loved him when we were driving back to our old apartment and were discussing chicken wings. we mutually agreed that boneless chicken wings were just chicken nuggets tossed in sauce and flats over drums, always. sharing a plate of hermanaki wings from ale emporium with the manfriend is my idea of the perfect date night.
a few years ago, the manfriend and i made a morrocan-style lamb and chickpeas stew on the smoker to change up our usual eats since we normally have a stock of game meat like ground lamb in the freezer. the pandemic has changed our eating habits. we never know what the store has in stock for our grocery pick-up or delivery. so sometimes we play our home-version of food network's iron chef and chopped. we had a pound of ground goat in the freezer we needed to use, so i went to google to find a new recipe to try and found my midlife kitchen's merguez ground goat meatballs recipe. since we had everything for the recipe in our garden, pantry or fridge and we liked the morrocan lamb stew, we decided to try it out. and we loved it!
merguez goat meatballs recipe
crumb confession: check the label on your favorite harissa sauce. harissa is a spicy and aromatic chile paste that’s a widely used staple in north african and middle eastern cooking. it's usually a blend of smoked hot chili peppers, garlic, olive oil and spices, like cumin, coriander, caraway and mint. tomatoes and rose petals are also common ingredients. packed with flavor, it's become one of my favorite condiments. i didn't know that harissa comes in both mild or spicy varieties. the first time i bought it was to make harissa ketchup to go with molly yeh's pigs in the blanket. i've also added it as a condiment to my scrambled eggs and breakfast tacos. apparently, that was the mild version. not all grocery stores carry harissa so when my supply was getting low, i opted to buy another jar for the pantry the next time i saw it. thinking i bought the same mina's harissa, i generously dolloped the sauce on our merguez goat meatballs. the manfriend took his first bite and said "it was fire." confused, i thought maybe i added too much cayenne, but when i took my first bite - call the fire department - it was the harissa. thank goodness for the cooling basil yogurt sauce and brown rice to balance the fire in our mouth. we love spicy food, but if you don't want to break out in sweats like we did, be sure to purchase the mild harissa sauce.
cuisine: north african, morrocan
prep time: 15 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
serves: 4
ingredients
1 1/2 cup long grain brown rice
2 cups water
meatballs:
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs harissa sauce, mild or spicy
1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 lb ground goat or lamb
basil yogurt sauce:
5.3 oz cup plain greek yogurt (about 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tbs fresh basil, chiffonade
salt and pepper, to taste
directions
add brown rice and water to rice cooker and set to cook. to cook rice on stove top, follow package directions.
preheat oven to 400F. line sheet pan with parchment paper.
add meatball spices and seasonings, harissa, onions and garlic in a medium mixing bowl and mix together. i wear food-safe gloves and mix by hand.
add ground goat to spice bowl and mix to combine.
roll meat mixture into 12 mini football-shaped meatballs and place on sheet pan.
bake for 30 minutes or until browned.
while the meatballs are baking, combine basil yogurt sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl. cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.
serve 3 meatballs over rice with dollops of basil yogurt sauce and harrisa.
my midlife kitchen suggests serving this dish with orzo or couscous but i actually loved it with brown rice. we also served this with a big garden salad to get vegetables on our plate and complete the meal. if you can't find ground goat (or you're not ready to try it just yet), you could easily replace it with ground beef or lamb. i think goat and lamb are similar in taste and lamb is easier to find in grocery stores. to make this a portable lunch, add the meatballs and yogurt sauce with some pickled red onions and crunchy lettuce in a pita pocket. if you are looking for a way to travel the world through a pandemic, i would encourage you to try a new recipe and bring the world to your dinner table. you never know, it could become your next favorite meal.
love and crumbs,
christina & gypsie
p.s. did you make this recipe? be sure to drop us a crumb on instagram at @crumbsforgypsie and hashtag it #crumbsforgypsie.
recommended equipment
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