About this recipe

A few years ago when my friends Greg and Fran where living in Amsterdam, I’d often drop in and stay with them for a couple of days when I was in Europe on business. On countless occasions, we’d all go out for Bitterballen and Hoegaarden.

Nearly everyone knows Hoegaarden, but not many people know about Bitterballen. Bitterballen is a Dutch fried meatball often served in cafes and pubs and is typically served with Dijon mustard. On the outside they are crumbed with breadcrumbs and on the inside have a creamy, meaty and somewhat cheesy centre. Very morish. 

Since visiting Holland I’ve created an Australian recipe for Bitterballen which is flavoured with red desert dust opposed the traditionally flavour of curry powder. This recipe can be used to make croquets as well. Why not serve as a condiment to the bitterballen or croquets, my Smokey Paperbark Dijonaise.

Ingredients

250g (9 oz.) butter
200g (7 oz.) veal mince
50g (1 ½ oz.) onion, finely chopped
15g (1 tablespoon) red desert dust
7ml (1 teaspoon) lemon juice
1 sprig parsley, finely chopped
200g (7 oz.) flour
100ml (½ cup) milk
100ml (½ cup) beef stock
150g (5 oz.) dried bread crumbs
2 egg, beaten with 15ml (1 tablespoon) water
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
500ml vegetable oil for deep frying

Cooking instruction

Heat just 50g butter in a frying pan and sauté the veal and onions until browned. Drain the veal in a colander, then place into a mixing bowl. To the veal mince, add the salt, pepper, half the Red Desert Dust, lemon juice and parsley.

Heat the remaining butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook this for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the beef stock and milk. This is basically a volute, so continue to cook, stirring constantly, until it begins boil and thickens. Add the veal mixture to the beef volute and stir to combine them thoroughly.

Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool. Then chill for at least three hours in the refrigerator until solid. When the mixture is solid, begin to roll it into bite sized balls.
With the remaining red desert dust add this to the breadcrumbs mix. Then roll the balls in the bread crumbs, and coat with egg and water mixture and then back into bread crumbs again.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep saucepan and fry a couple at a time until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with mustard.