Albondigas!!!!

This coming week's soup is the Mexican meatball potion Albondigas! This is one of the first soups I ever made years ago. Our daughter Shawna loved Albondigas soup when she was little, especially when we visited our favorite Mexican restaurant in Pomona, Xochimilco's on Indian Hill. Bertie's Mom, Maria, also made Albondigas on a regular basis for the Saturday get-togethers at her house for their huge family.

I never got Maria's recipe for her Albondigas but the one I have is pretty good. I got it from allrecipes.com. I add more pork sausage than originally called for and use our own green salsa instead of store bought. This time I added chorizo to the meatballs so we'll see how they taste.

Making the meatballs is always fun especially if you've got kids around, be sure you plan far enough ahead so you have a chance to chill the meat because it is much easier to work with when cold versus room temperature.

Here's the recipe as I've modified it except for the chorizo twist:
Broth Base
84 oz. of beef broth (I recommend Pacific Natural Foods broths)
10 oz. of green chili salsa (recipe below)
1 onion, chopped
2 14.5oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I recommend Muir Glen brand)
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup of white rice

Meatballs
1 pound of lean ground beef
1 pound of pork sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup of corn meal
1/2 cup of white rice

Green Salsa
1 lb of tomatoes (any type) with stems and cores removed
3-4 yellow chills, 3 if they are large or 4 if they are smaller
1 tablespoon of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1. Boil the tomatoes and chilis for 40 minutes
2. Remove the tomatoes and chilis with a slotted spoon and place in a blender, reserve the water
3. Add the salt and garlic powder to the blender mixture
4. Blend until the mix is smooth
5. Taste and adjust spices accordingly
6. If the salsa is too spicy use the reserved water to dilute until the taste is to your liking

Soup Directions

1. Mix together beef broth, salsa, 1 onion, tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, and pepper. Bring to a boil and keep at a low simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Combine the ground beef, pork sausage, 1 onion, egg, salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, garlic powder, milk, fresh basil and cornmeal in a large oversized bowl. Mix by hand very well. Grab bunches of the meatball mixture and squeeze through your fingers until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
3. Cover the meatball mixture with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is fine.
4. Form the chilled meat into meatballs by grabbing about a tablespoon's worth of meat mixture and roll into meatballs. You can vary the size of the meatballs from smaller ones to the large ones you get with a tablespoon's worth of meat.
5. Add the meatballs and rice to the broth. Simmer covered very slowly for 1 to 1.5 hours. Test the meatballs for doneness.