Meat Balls and Czech Mates (Budvar and Thornbridge collaboration)

Meat balls turn up in all sorts of cuisines, from Italy to Sweden rolled balls of minced meat are the choice of the frugal chef with a gang to feed. This is real home cooking. You can use all sorts of different minces and, indeed, mix them up. I chose pork for these because it has a large fat content, this means that the meat balls will remain moist on the plate. I decided to make them a bit of a homage to Ikea with a creamy gravy.

• 500 gms of Pork mince
• One small onion, finely diced
• Dash of oil
• 30 gms butter
• 30 gms flour
• 250 ml of rich vegetable stock
• 75 ml of double cream
• Boiled new potatoes and peas to serve
• Redcurrant sauce    

Gently fry the onions in a little oil until they start to soften. Place the cooled, cooked onion in a bowl with the mince. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the mix with your hands, making sure its all fully amalgamated and sticky. Divide the mix into 10  and roll into balls. Oil the frying pan and seal of five meat balls at a time, Place all of the meat balls in a roasting dish and pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes until cooked.

In the mean time melt the butter in a small saucepan until foaming. add the flour to create a roux. Slowly add the stock to create a thick rich gravy. Add the cream and bring to the boil. 

Serve the meat balls with the boiled potatoes and peas. Pop a teaspoon of the redcurrant jelly on the side.

The Match

I am quite cross - Nobody told me! When two of your favourite breweries in the world come together to create a great beer, and you completely miss it, you need somebody to blame! 

This beer is lovely, a Czech style premium larger, complete with decoction mash finished with English hops. I purchased mine in Lidl at a price which was very low for the quality of the beer.

As it sat somewhere between Czech larger and English Pale ale it stood up to the meat balls really well, The grassy woodiness of the beer sat with the rustic nature of the meat. There was just enough bitterness from the hops to cut through the creaminess of the gravy.