Greek Keftedes Meatballs

I should have known better...
But this happens almost every time I go grocery shopping.
I buy one food item or another
thinking that I'm going to cook up this or that,
ending up with left over fresh ingredients in the refrigerator,
that must be cooked up or frozen before they go bad.

Today was one of those tropical arm pit of America days
and I wasn't about to go bake in the strong sun so...
I spent the day cooking in the lap of air conditioning.

Well I wanted to make an authentic "Shrimp with Lobster Sauce".
Which came out as close to the real Chinese restaurant dish as possible,
NO, even better because I had all the freshest ingredients.

In this dish you need 4 ounces of ground pork.
You can't buy 4 ounces of ground pork,
so I had about a pound of freshly ground pork
in the fridge waiting for me to do something with it.

Many years ago I was doing some carpentry work
at the house of one of my relatives of Greek heritage, "Diamond".
Every day she would make lunch for us.
Great food like breaded and pan fried sole fillets.

For lunch one day she made these terrific Greek meatballs called "Keftedes".
They have the fantastic taste of fresh mint in them.
Her recipe is in my first cookbook.

Well I never made these minty gems until today.
They came out perfectly. I must have some Greek blood in me.
Although Diamond used ground beef and I used ground pork,
I think they are very close to her recipe.

Oh ya I had some fresh shrimp left over from that
Lobster Sauce recipe that needed to be cooked up.
And I had some dry beans soaking over night to cook.
I also made a pot of basmati rice.
And some roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

What a great hot and humid summer day I had.
Doing what comes naturally to me,
and what I like to do best,

Cook Stuff.

The secret to great, juicy keftedes
is to make the mixture as loose as possible,
but still dense enough that the little meatballs
will hold their shape when fried.

It is common practice in various parts of Greece
to add either grated tomato or milk, or both, to the mixture.
The liquid adds the requisite moisture to the meat,
and changes its color so that the finished keftedes have a light,
pinkish tint when broken apart.

Frying the meatballs has its tricks, too.
You actually don't need that much oil for this recipe,
as the keftedes are pan fried, not deep fried.
What you will need is to pay attention to the oil.
It should not be so hot that the keftedes burn
on the outside but remain undercooked within.


3/4 pound ground pork
1 large red onion, minced or grated (about 1 cup)
1 large tomato, grated
2 tablespoons dried Greek mint
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, as needed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour for dredging
Olive oil, for frying


Combine the ground pork and onion in a mixing bowl.
Add the tomato, mint, salt, and pepper,
and knead well for 3 minutes to combine.
Pour in the milk and continue kneading until
the liquid is completely absorbed.

If the mixture is so loose that the keftedes do not retain their shape,
add a few tablespoonfuls of plain fine bread crumb.
Cover the mixing bowl and refrigerate the mixture for
at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours, so that the flavors meld.

To form, season the flour with salt and pepper,
and spread out on a large plate.
Have a second, clean plate ready.
Take a tablespoonful at a time of the meat mixture
and form into a small ball, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Roll in the flour and shake in the palm of your hand
to remove the excess flour.
Place the dredged meatball on the clean plate.
Continue with the remaining mixture
until all the meatballs are shaped.

To fry,
heat about 1-inch of olive oil or other oil in a large,
heavy skillet over medium heat.
Using a tablespoon or a fork,
gently place as many meatballs as will fit
in the pan without crowding.
Fry them, turning once or twice so that
all sides are browned.
Remove, drain slightly on paper towels,
and serve, either hot or at room temperature.
The meatballs may be made several hours ahead and stored,
covered, at room temperature.

ENJOY !