September 18th
2008
Sometimes colloquial food names can give foreigners a major headache. Fleischpflanzerl. Fleisch- What? The Bavarian term for fried meat balls or patties is definitely one of them. Or do you think the combination of the words Fleisch (=meat) and Pflanzerl (=little plant) really makes sense?
These little patties are sooo delicious, don’t let the funny name distract you! They are great eaten hot from the pan with mashed potatoes or as a cold snack, let’s say packed between two halves of a bread roll. Usually they’re made out of pork or beef meat, or, even yummier, out of minced meat from veal. We’re lucky to have a great little Turkish grocery shop (Fresh House) within walking distance (thanks Kristin for the recommendation!), hence I am completely sold on lamb meat.
I’m not sure you’ll like lamb! That’s anyway what my mum used to say when I was young, afraid I wouldn’t touch or at least finish my plate if I ordered -out of curiousity- something with lamb. She, like many others, had eaten rather traditional strong tasting lamb, meat that I’d claim tastes more like old mutton. Today, I think we’re far beyond that, yet I still hear a lot of people being cautious about lamb meat (and it’s not because of the cuteness of the little animals!). Good quality lamb is one of the finest meats you can get, there’s absolutely no odd taste to it, seriously, give it a try. Throw in a little Eastern spice concoction and you have the most amazing Fleischpflanzerl – oriental style. They even deserve an TFVFE-Award = the fastest vanishing Fleischpflanzerl EVER!
Fleischpflanzerl/meatballs – oriental style:
Cut the stale white bread into slices, add to a bowl, pour over the milk and let soak until soft (at least 15 minutes). Squeeze out as much milk as possible (discard) and put the bread back in the empty bowl, tearing it in smaller pieces.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the finely chopped onion, garlic and red chili and season with the saffron and the ground cumin. Saute for a few minutes over medium heat, then add to the bowl.
Add the minced meat together with the eggs, the mustard, the chopped parsley and the rest of the spices (pimenton de la vera, nutmeg, sea salt, black pepper) and use your hands to knead everything together until the spices are evenly distributed and the dough comes together nicely. Season to taste (if you don’t mind tasting raw meat) – otherwise fry a test piece and adapt seasoning afterward.
Heat oil and butter in a large pan. Wet your hands with a little water and form either little patties or little meatballs (if you want them to have an equal size, you may use an ice cream scoop). Fry over medium heat, turning them every now and then until done, which takes usually 8 to 10 minutes.
We served them with an ad hoc made-up salad creation, an absolutely fabulous, juicy carrot sesame salad:
Dry roast the sesame seeds over low to medium heat until they gain a nice golden color. If you are up for a more pronounced sesame flavor, grind half of the amount in a mortar.
Grate the carrots finely and season to taste with canola oil, the sesame seeds, the finely chopped galic clove (optional), sea salt and black pepper. Finally add the Greek yogurt.
Fleischpflanzerl/meatballs oriental style - with carrot-sesame salad
Recipe source: own creation
Prep time: about 45 to 60 minutes
Ingredients (serves 3-4):
.
Fleischpflanzerl/meatballs
100 g stale white bread or bread rolls
200 ml milk
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1/4 tsp saffron
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin, freshly ground
1-2 garlic clove
1/2 red chili
400 g minced meat (lamb)
2 eggs
1 tsp mustard
a handful chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp pimenton de la vera
freshly ground nutmeg
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
sunflower oil and butter
.
Carrot sesame salad
3 large carrots
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp canola oil
1 garlic clove (optional)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
250g Greek yoghurt
P.S. I have a question, what is the function of the white bread soaked in milk? Is it really necessary??
They look delicious! Lamb is the only red meat I really like, and it makes yummy meat balls and souvlakia.
I have a question: what do you use to chop your chilli, onion etc. so incredibly small and neat??
We call them keftedes in Greece! Great meze for ouzo...Is your book available on Amazon US yet?
Martin, selber hacken!!! Dann gibt's das jeden Tag!
Und ich weiche auch vorher das Brot immer in Milch......Das haben wir wohl von unsren "Luisen" ( so hiess meine auch!)
LECKER sage ich nur!!!
hmmm...sounds great, I'll definitely have to try these soon. we get plenty of funny names here in switzerland/basel...chäsekichli was one of them but is delicious.
we also get something else here....your book. I suddenly saw it on the shelf yesterday here in the shop. but it was in german and i'll hold out for the english version. but it looks stunning and I like the idea of the sections based on holiday/family etc.
congratulations on a beautiful book.
I love Fleischpflanzerl and I often make them for parties or just for a picnic - and your recipe sounds great, although I prefer beef to lamb.
[...] Ein leckeres “Fleischpflanzerl” (Frikadelle oder wie ihr es im restlichen Deutschland auch immer nennt) Rezept bei Delicious:Days: [...]
I'm Kurdish and my mother made a version of these all the time. She used beef or lamb, her's were thinner and we'd eat them with pita, fresh onion (both white and green) and slices of tomato and topped it with sumac. YUM! Much better than a plain old hamburger!
Liebe Katia "Bolliskitchen",
Du wirst überrascht sein, ich habe kein Fleischwolf zu Hause!
Schande oh Schande, ich weiß....... :))))
Halt die Ohren steif,
Martin
BerlinKitchen: The milk-soaked bread helps keep them from falling apart and makes them a bit juicier. The same technique is used in the traditional Swedish meatballs.
Every country seems to have their own way of cooking meatballs and each one is delicious. How can something so simple work so well?
Mighty meaty recipe. Great! Thanks for the share.
Never thought that I'd learn about lamb on a German site! They look absolutely marvellous!
Must say, I adore your site - put you on my blogroll so that I never forget to read it. :)
You are truly talented!
these look yummy . you made me feel hungry. :-)
I can also share my secret adress with you. The best lamb meat I buy in Munich come from a turkish supermarket very close from Bussone (Thalkirchnerstr)
Yummmm...I am a fan of anything meatbally, spicy (that's me being typically Indian) and fried! I can just imagine these patties for my girls' night in tomorrow!
Ich glaube mit Pflanze hat das Fleischpflanzerl nichts zu tun. Vermutlich eher mit Pfanne...
I love meatballs on a sandwich, served with a hot salsa. Will try your recipe!
@Bratengel: Wikipedia agrees with you...
"Die vornehmlich in Altbayern übliche Bezeichnung Fleischpflanzerl entwickelte sich aus der Bezeichnung Fleischpfannzerl, das Fleisch aus der Pfanne."
in catalan the name is "mandonguilles", in spanish "albondigas".
the bread in the milk is to give the balls a stronger structure, otherwise they will melt
My husband (give me a little tingle to say this word... we are just married!) also had bad experiences with lamb, which have left him tainted... the solution we found was to buy only good cuts of lamb tenderloin (will be posting a recipe shortly) that apparently doesn't have that mutton taste! Have you tried your meatball recipe with fresh coriander instead of parsley, and if so how does it work?
Erika
bread is to make the balls stronger
Wow - these look fantastic!
Could we not use veal rather than lamb?
LECKER
Von Donnerstag bis Samstag gibt es im KaDeWe extra Lammhack, da werde ich gleich mal vorbeischauen.
Alles Gute,
Martin