POST NUMBER 200!!!!

Yup, got here. The "goal" so to speak, is 300, and we're almost there. And the subject of this blog is really appropriate, as we get to this symbolic number, because the topic today is one of the symbols and themes of this whole project: feeding friends.

I have posted entries on my meat balls, and my turkey meatballs, But here comes another one, and this is why. Last week, I learned that a friend was very ill. One of his symptoms is a loss of appetite. To think of this friend as having a poor appetite - and actually seeing it, was a real shocker to me. And it's something we all have to think about: how quickly things can change for us, in an instance. I am not living with my friend, of course, and I am not living with what he and his partner go through, every single minute of the day, so I cannot imagine what this is like. What I CAN say is that it's a challenge to push aside the sense of "OH MY GOD" and be cheerful, and try to make everything as even and positive as possible.

In chatting with my friend, I learned that one thing that his partner is eating, is chicken. And the other thing I gathered from what he told me that his partner was eating, was that smaller items were more appealing than, say, a big steak.

Meatballs. That's what I thought of immediately. And given the other things I was told about my friend's bad appetite, I thought of making a lighter tasting item. So it was chicken, in a Greek style, with dill and lemon. I tasted them, and they were really good. They were delicious in a chicken soup, by themselves, and also good with some meat sauce, just in case the appetite got a bit stronger. Here's what I did.

I took two pounds of ground organic chicken, and added a diced spring onion. Just one. If there weren't any spring onions, I would have added a shallot. A larger onion might have been too strong and too sulfuric. I also grated in the peel of one whole lemon, and chopped up half of a bunch of fresh dill. I mixed all of this up with one egg, and about a half cup of breadcrumbs. My "rule" for breadcrumbs in meatballs, by the way is this: add one egg to two pounds of meat. This makes the meat slippery and wet. Then add bread crumbs, until the stickiness is just about gone. That's how I determine how much is needed. Finally, I added just a bit of dried oregano (just about the only herb that I like better dried than fresh). I formed walnut sized balls, and dropped them into hot stock, and cooked them for about fifteen minutes.

I got about 30 meatballs this way, so I guess they were about an ounce each. They kept the lemon flavor nicely, the dill, less so. And the stock took on a bit of the dill flavor.

Of course, the test of any recipe is: does the person served eat it? That remains to be seen. But I hope so. There is really very little anyone can do for someone who is ill other than hope, and do what they think will make him or her feel better, and not get hurt feelings if it doesn't work. In cases like this, I truly feel that it IS the thought that counts.

GET BETTER BIG GUY.