Boulets à la Liégoise – Liège boulettes

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 1 kg minced meat, mixed (beef and pork)
• 4 slices of crustless sandwich toast
• Milk
• 1 onion(s), finely chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tbsp herbs de Provence
• nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• Breadcrumbs, if needed
• 4 thick onions, finely chopped
• Fat for frying
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 4 tbsp sugar, brown “Cassonade brune”, alternatively brown cane sugar
• 4 carnations
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 juniper berries
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 liter beef broth, strong
• ½ liter of beer (dark caramel beer “Biere de Table”), alternatively malt beer
• 2 tbsp syrup, Liège (apple-pear-date herb), alternatively apple herb
• Cornstarch or sauce thickener, if required
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours

Walloon specialty reminiscent of Sauerbraten, easy to prepare

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (top/bottom heat). Dice the bread and soak it in the milk. Knead the minced meat with the bread cubes, onions, eggs, herbs, and spices until well combined, then roll the mixture into 10 thick, round meatballs. Bake the meatballs in a large casserole dish or on a baking sheet for about 40 minutes, until nicely browned. Do not overcook, so they do not become too dry. Discard any rendered fat and any egg whites that collect in the dish. Do not add them to the sauce, so it does not become too greasy. Heat the cooking fat (margarine is best) in a large pot or deep frying pan and sauté the diced onions and thyme over moderate heat until the onions are translucent and soft. This will take some time; do not increase the heat out of impatience, and do not fry them too hot or too dark! In the meantime, lightly crush the cloves and juniper berries in a mortar and pestle, for example, and place them in a tea bag with the bay leaves. Caramelize the onion mixture with the brown sugar, deglaze with the red wine vinegar (careful, it will sting your nose), add the tea bag, and pour in the hot beef broth. Reduce heat to high for about 30 minutes. Pour in the beer, bring to a boil, stir in Liège syrup, and simmer over medium heat for a while, then remove the spice bag. The diced onions should now be almost cooked. If you don’t like diced onions in your sauce, you can puree or strain the sauce. Thicken with cornstarch until you reach the desired consistency, season with salt and pepper, and add the meatballs to the sauce. This is a lovely dish for guests because you can prepare it from scratch and just heat it up. It also freezes well. We like to serve it with croquettes or—the ubiquitous Belgian side dish—fries. As a vegetable, you can serve gratinated chicory, Brussels sprouts, or chicory salad; the tart flavor of these typically Belgian vegetables harmonizes beautifully with the sweet meatball sauce. The Belgian “Cassonade brune” is a very dark brown, caramel-like sugar, commonly known as rock candy. It’s not comparable to what people in (Northern) Germany call rock candy; this is a different type of sugar. In Germany, you can buy Cassonade online. As a substitute, I would suggest brown cane sugar. Belgian caramel beer, also known as table beer, is sold in 0.75-liter bottles and has a very low alcohol content of 1.2%. In Germany, it can easily be substituted with non-alcoholic malt beer. The original Liège syrup (turquoise cup) is available in some supermarkets in Germany. A similar product called “Lütticher Delikatesse” is now also available from a German manufacturer. Alternatively, you can use simple apple syrup, but never beetroot syrup.