Name: Meatballs Like Mama Makes (Albóndigas de Mi Mama)
Yield: At least 6 to 8 servings as a main-dish soup, more as a first course
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves; 1 pound lean ground beef or ½ pound each lean ground pork and beef; ¼ cup masa harina; ¼ cup warm water; ¼ cup lard or vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon flour; ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste; Freshly ground black pepper to taste; 4 garlic cloves, 3 minced and 1 left whole; 8 cups Caldo de Pollo Casero; 4 medium-size scallions, white and some of green part, chopped; 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves; 2 fresh chiles, Anaheim or (for hotter flavor) jalapeño, roasted, peeled, and finely chopped; 1 large ripe, red tomato, roasted, peeled, and chopped (or ¼ cup canned tomato puree if good tomatoes are not available)

Preparation info

At least
6 to 8
servings as a main-dish soup, more as a first course

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Food from My Heart

By Zarela Martínez

Published 1992

About

This recipe calls to mind the llaves (outdoor water faucets) on the ranch, which were always surrounded with patches of yerba buena—“good herb,” or mint. Whenever my mother made albóndigas I would be sent out to pick some fresh for the soup. She always served it with freshly made corn tortillas, salsa casera (homestyle sauce), and refried beans with asadero (“roasting” cheese; the nearest thing here would be mozzarella).

Whenever my mother comes to