Extraordinary German Meatballs (Königsberg Meatballs)

German Meatballs (Königsberg Meatballs). The dish is named after the Prussian city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) and is one of the delights of East Prussian cuisine. In Germany, the dish was officially called “Kochklopse” or “boiled meatballs” (see related boiled meatballs recipe here). This is to erase any reference to its namesake city, which in the aftermath of World War II had been annexed to the Soviet Union, with its German inhabitants expelled.

The German meatballs are ideally made from very finely ground veal (though cheaper beef or pork is often substituted), onions, eggs, anchovy, and spices.

The meatballs are carefully simmered in a spiced broth, and the broth is then mixed with cream, egg yolk, and pickled capers.

The German meatballs dish is usually served with boiled potatoes or, less traditionally, with rice or noodles. I recently tried it on Tagliatelle, which gives it a little bit of an Italian-German fusion twist.

Extraordinary German Meatballs (Königsberg Meatballs)

Eleanor Craig

Here is my variation of this popular classic: served with truffled mashed potatoes. My Extraordinary German Meatballs (Königsberg Meatballs).

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 1 hr 30 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 2 hrs 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine German

Servings 6 people

Calories 482.5 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

FOR THE MEATBALLS:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 70 grams bread crumbs - very fine
• 70- milliliter milk
• 750 grams ground veal (minced veal) - or mixed beef/pork
• 2 medium green onions (scallions or green shallots) - finely chopped
•  
  2 medium anchovy fillets - finely minced
• 2 tablespoons parsley - finely chopped
• 1 medium egg
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper - to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt - to taste
• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard - or medium regular Mustard

FOR THE BROTH:

• 1.5 liters beef stock (beef broth or beef bouillon) - substitute: instant beef bouillon -see instructions
• 1 medium lemon - thick slice
•  
  1 medium clove
• 2 medium dried thyme
• 1 large bay leaf (bay leaves) - or 2 small leaves
• 3 medium parsley
• 5 pieces ground black pepper
• 3 pieces pimento corns (also called allspice or Jamacian Pepper)

FOR THE SAUCE:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour (plain flour Australia and UK)
• 1 liter beef stock (beef broth or beef bouillon)
• 2 medium egg yolk
• 2-3 tablespoons capers
•  
  100 grams Crème fraîche
• 1 medium lemon - juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper - to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt - to taste

FOR THE MASHED POTATOES:

• 400 grams potatoes
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon truffle oil
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt - to taste

Instructions

 

BEGIN WITH THE MEATBALLS:

• Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan and sauté 2 finely chopped shallots until soft but not brown (about 2-3 minutes.).
• Combine 70 grams of very fine bread crumbs with 70 milliliter of milk, 750 grams of ground veal or mixed beef/pork.
• Add 1 whole egg, 2 extremely finely minced anchovy filets, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard (or medium regular mustard), 1/2 teaspoon of paprika powder. Mix well until you have a smooth, well-mixed meat dough. Should the dough be too moist, add further bread crumbs. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper. Place in the fridge and let the taste develop for the time it takes to prepare the rest.

MAKING THE BROTH:

• In a large cooking pot, combine 1.5 liters of veal or beef stock with 1 thick slice of organic lemon, 1 clove, 2 thyme twigs, 1 large or 2 small bay leaf(s); 3 twigs of parsley, 5 black peppercorns, 3 pimento corns. Let mixture simmer at medium temperature for 30 minutes.
• Strain through a sieve and return strained broth to the cooking pot. If you do not have liquid veal stock, you can also use instant beef bouillon, however, use only half of the amount of instant powder as opposed to what the bouillon instructions say.

COOKING THE MEATBALLS:

• Form the dough into meatballs about the size or slightly larger than golf balls. Bring broth to a short boil, reduce heat to 1/3 and add meatballs. Let meatballs simmer at low temperature for 20 minutes.

IN THE MEANTIME:

• Place potatoes in a boiling pot. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and water until potatoes are almost (but not completely) covered. Place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil on maximum heat. Once steaming, reduce to 1/3 of temperature and let simmer for 20 minutes.
• Strain the capers. After 20 minutes, remove meatballs from the heat and sauce and keep warm. Also, remove the broth from the pot.
• In a pot used to cook the meatballs, melt 2 tablespoons of butter at medium temperature. Once melted, add 3 tablespoons of flour and stir hard with a whisker until you have an even mass. Bring to a short bubble. Remove from heat and add half a cup of the broth. Stir hard with a whisk until you have an even dough again. Return to heat. Add 1 cup of broth and stir hard with a whisk until again you have an even dough. Repeat this procedure on low, medium heat until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Remove from heat as needed, so the flour/broth mix does not turn brown while stirring. Add additional broth until you have the consistency and amount of sauce you want.
• Combine 2 egg yolks and 100 grams crème fraîche. Remove sauce from heat. While constantly stirring, add 1 tablespoon of sauce to the added egg/crème fraîche mixture and stir. Repeat three times. This is to bring up the temperature of the egg/crème mixture so the egg does not clot. Add the mixture to the sauce while stirring with a whisk. Season sauce with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
• Add capers and meatballs to the sauce to keep warm, and *do not* bring to a boil anymore at this point!
• Warm plates in the oven.

THE MASHED POTATOES:

• Remove water from potatoes. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons of truffles oil, and a pinch of nutmeg. Mash hard with a potato masher until you have your desired consistency of mashed potato. (I like to leave some texture). Season with freshly ground salt.
• Decorate mashed potatoes and meatballs to your preference on a warm plate.
• Serve with dry white wine or a cold beer.

Nutrition

Calories: 482.5kcalCarbohydrates: 38.9gProtein: 38.2gFat: 19.8gSaturated Fat: 7.9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1.9gMonounsaturated Fat: 7.4gTrans Fat: 0.003gCholesterol: 212.9mgSodium: 2668mgPotassium: 1432.5mgFiber: 4.2gSugar: 9.5gVitamin A: 968.2IUVitamin C: 36.3mgCalcium: 209mgIron: 4.1mg

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