Ingredients
- 70g rock salt
- 6 large rooster potatoes
- 180ml cream
- 120g butter, diced
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 1tbs vegetable oil
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 400g beef mince
- 400g pork mince
- 2 egg yolks
- 1tsp ground white pepper
- 2tsp allspice powder
- 5tbs breadcrumbs, soaked in 100ml milk
- 1 cucumber
- 2tbs malt vinegar
- 1tbs caster sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1tbs vegetable oil
- 2 knobs of butter
- 5tbs malt vinegar
- 800ml single cream
- Juice of half a lemon
- Dill fronds, to garnish
- Start by making the mash. Preheat the oven to 200C. Add the rock salt to an oven tray and place the potatoes on top. Prick them with a knife before baking for 50-60 minutes until the skin is crispy and the potatoes soft throughout. Remove the potatoes from the oven, cut in half, and scoop out the pulp, discarding the skins. Press the pulp through a ricer and into a saucepan, or mash well with a potato masher if you don’t have a ricer.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan until steaming, then gradually add it to the mashed potato. Finally, add the butter, mixing all the time, and season with salt and pepper. The mash can be reheated gently in the saucepan before serving.
- Heat a large non-stick pan and add the vegetable oil and diced onion. Sweat the onions for two minutes over a low to medium heat until they just begin to soften but don’t begin to colour. Then remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly.
- In a bowl, mix the beef and pork mince, cooked onions, egg yolks, white pepper and allspice, and season with salt. Squeeze any excess milk from the breadcrumbs before adding to the mince mix, then mix thoroughly.
- At this point, wash your hands. Now, keep your hands wet while you roll the meatballs (this will stop the meat sticking to your hands). The meatballs should be golf-ball size.
- For the cucumber, slice in rounds as thinly as possible, carefully using a mandolin or sharp knife, and place the slices on a tray. Season with the vinegar, sugar and salt and allow to marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Place a large, heavy-based non-stick pan on the heat and add some vegetable oil and a few knobs of butter. Add the meat balls and brown on all sides for two-three minutes before transferring on to a plate.
- Into the same pan, add the vinegar and cream, scraping up all the caramelised meaty bits from the base of the pan with a wooden spoon, and heat until simmering. Add the meatballs back into the pan and cook over a high heat for four-five minutes, or until a thick, sauce-like consistency is achieved. The meatballs will cook through as the sauce reduces, thickens and glazes them. Turn them every minute as they cook.
- Check the meatballs are cooked through by piercing them with a metal skewer for three seconds. If the skewer is then hot to touch, they are ready. You can add a little more cream and keep reducing if needed.
- Remove the pan from the heat and finish with some lemon juice, cucumber pickle slices, black pepper and ripped dill. Serve with mash.
