15 Minute Meals- Part 5: Chilli con Carne Meatballs

I can admit that I am far behind in my 15 Minute Meals blogging... this is post number five and I have a backlog bringing me up to 15. In any case, what can I say about this beef dish? First of all, no self-boasting from Jamie, which makes me more at ease. The plates are well presented from a glance, but when you actually look at the plates, there is not an abundance of meat on the small plates. I can say (if I haven't already), that this is a good diet book- 437 kcals per plate. This meal is meant for four; it was eaten by the two of us + a mate. But let's break it down:

Ingredients out: 

Bulgar wheat! How exciting! I have not ventured far into the land of grains, and I am excited to give this a try AND within 15-or-so minutes. With the bulgar wheat, one preserved lemon (I used a fresh one) and one cinnamon stick. There are also a good selection of herbs and spices in this dish: garam masala, jarred red peppers, smoked paprika, fresh coriander, cumin seeds. In the Ministry of Food book, combinations such as these have never disappointed. 

Get the flavoured bulgar wheat going and crack on with the mince- salt, pepper, and garam masala. You are instructed to make four meatballs out of 400g of lean minced beef. 100g of meat per person is a suitable portion; however, I decided to adapt this instruction based on the previous 15 Minute Meal cooking and break the meatballs into six... in the future I would break these down even further again. In any case, four minutes in and I am feeling confident.

Paragraph two: get Kenny out to blitz the peppers, spring onions, paprika, passata, half of the coriander, and salt & pepper. Bring the liquid to the boil in a heated frying pan and simmer. If you choose to eat grilled chili peppers, then blacken them under the grill now. 

The third paragraph asks to add the beans and cumin seeds to pan of meatballs... but, doesn't say how long to fry them off for. I chose to warm the beans through until the cumin seeds were aromatic. This might have been a mistake as it brought me a bit close to 15 minutes.

At 12 minutes, I've transferred the meatballs into the sauce and continued to simmer down. Or simmer up... the trouble with this sauce is that although it is tasty, it's jumping all over the place! It's all up the wall, all over the hob, all over the book (hence the splatter in the first picture). I thought about a spatter-guard but I have never been able to aptly control the steam so not to make a sauce too watery. 

As the sauce simmers to the 15 minute mark, I check the meatballs... still pink :( 

Simmer and splatter on, the dish is finished in just under 20 minutes. As you can see, my portion is larger than the four mini-dishes and I've included a side-salad to add some extra colour and fibre. And how did it taste? This was super tasty! One might even call if "fresh" in an urban dictionary sense. Jamie's concoction of eastern flavours and tomato rich dishes wins again. The bulgar wheat was tender, well flavoured, and a great alternative to rice. This dish is kept fresh (not in an urban dictionary sense)- all dressed up with yoghurt, spring onions, and coriander. A "well-wicked" midweek meal!