Koenigsberger Klopse
Koenigsberger Klopse is a recipe for German meatballs in a white sauce. The dish got the name from the town Koenigsberg in East Russia, which is now Kaliningrad, Russia. The meatballs are made from ground veal and pork meat. I replace the veal and pork mince with chicken mince; you could use just pork as well. The lemon juice, zest and the capers are giving the dish a fresh note. It is traditional served with boiled potato and beet root, but I prefer mashed potatoes and a green salad. Give it a try and let me know what you think, the flavour is very unique…
Ingredients
- 80 g stale bread
- 180 ml milk, divided 80:100
- 2 white onions, both peeled, 1 finely chopped, 1 whole
- 600 g chicken mince
- 1 egg, size M
- salt and pepper
- 0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 l chicken broth
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 whole cloves
- 10 pimento berries, whole
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 4 Tbsp margarine
- 100 ml milk
- 1.5 lemon, zested and juiced
- 40 g capers plus their liquid
- dill fronds for decoration (optional)
Instructions
- Bring the chicken stock, the whole onion, the bay leaves, the cloves, the pimento berries and some salt in a large pot to simmer.
- Put the stale bread and the milk into a bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Squeeze the bread and discard the excess liquid.
- Mix the bread, chicken mince, egg, 10 g salt, black pepper and nutmeg until everything is well combined.
- Form golf ball size meatballs and simmer them in the chicken stock for 20 to 25 minutes without boiling.
- Remove the meatballs from the liquid and set aside.
- Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve and reserve the chicken stock.
- Heat the margarine in the pot which you used to cook the meatballs in, whisk in the flour and let the mixture simmer briefly.
- While stirring constantly, add 700 ml of the chicken stock and 100 ml milk.
- Keep whisking while the sauce starts to thicken.
- Simmer for 2 minutes before you add the lemon juice, lemon zest, capers and the caper liquid.
- Bring the liquid back to boil before adding the meatballs.
- Reduce the heat to low and let the meatballs warm through.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and a green salad.