Belgian Meatballs are Awesome!
La Boulets a la Liegeoise or Meatballs in Rabbit Sauce (relax, no rabbits in the sauce) is a regional Belgian specialty from the Liege area, where it is almost universally available. The dish consists of one or two large meatballs made from beef and pork (or veal and pork), bread crumbs, onions and parsley. The meatballs are simmered in a sweet & sour Rabbit sauce (named after a local tax collector) made from onions, vinegar, brown sugar and Sirop de Liège. It is traditionally served with frites (fries), mayonnaise, and a salad.
I like to serve this dish to guests because I can prepare it ahead of time, then cook up some frites when it’s time to eat. But sometimes I am just in the mood for this delicious comfort food and will cook up a batch on a weeknight, since it can be ready in a little over an hour. The recipe is fairly simple to prepare, even though there are a good number of ingredients. Try out the recipe below – you will probably fall in love with it.
Ingredients - Meatballs
2.25 lbs 50/50 mixture of ground beef and ground pork
2.25 ozs Breadcrumbs
0.33 ozs Milk
1 Onion – finely chopped
1 bunch Finely chopped parsley
2 Eggs
½ tsp Nutmeg
2 TB Butter or olive oil for frying
Ingredients – Sauce
2 TB Butter
3 Onions – halved and sliced thickly
2 tsp Dried thyme
3 TB Dark brown sugar
1 TB Red wine vinegar
1 bottle Dark Belgian Beer (I prefer a Dubbel or a Quadrupel)
24 ozs Beef stock (good quality)
8.5 ozs Sirop de Liège* or apple butter
2 Bay leaves
6 Juniper berries
4 Cloves
¼ cup Golden raisins
Salt and pepper to taste
*Sirop de Liège is a specialty jam from Liege made from apples, pears and figs. You may have to order it online but it is worth it. If you can’t find any, apple butter is a decent substitute.
Cooking Instructions
To make the sauce, melt 2 TB butter in a pan and sauté onions with thyme until they start to change color, then add brown sugar to lightly caramelize onions.
De-glaze the pan with the red wine vinegar, then add beer and beef stock.
Bring mixture to a boil and add Sirop de Liège* (or apple butter) along with the cloves, juniper berries, raisins and bay leaves.
Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes. If you want a thicker sauce, dissolve a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch in warm water and add to the sauce at this point. Set sauce aside.
To make the meatballs, put all of the meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl and use your hands to mix them together. Roll into balls (½ cup each).
Heat butter or oil in a sauté pan and gently fry meatballs to a golden brown, turning with spoons and taking care not to break them up.
Re-heat the sauce and add the meatballs. Simmer for 10 minutes over low heat.
To serve, allow two meatballs per serving and serve with frites, homemade mayonnaise, a green salad and a dark Belgian beer. Heaven!
