Meatballs In Chipotle Sauce(albondigas Enchipotladas)

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds (reserve 1/2 for sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 medium onion, peeled
• 1/8 cup cooked rice
• 1 lb ground beef, ground lamb or 1 lb ground lamb
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 roma tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tablespoon mexican oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• salt, to taste
• 6 chipotle chiles in adobo
• 2 cups chicken broth, preferably homemade
• 2 cups cooked rice (optional)

Recipe

• 1 heat a small skillet over medium-low heat.add cumin seeds and toast,stirring constantly until they begin to pop and remove immediately from heat.grind cumin seeds to a fine powder in a spice grinder,set aside.
• 2 peel all garlic cloves and the onion.mince 5 of the cloves of garlic and leave 4 whole.grate the onion very finely or you may mince it,but it must be very very fine or the meatballs will not hold together well.
• 3 mix together meat,1 teaspoon of the cumin,the minced garlic,the onion and the rice;form into meatballs using about 2 tablespoons for each meatball;set aside.
• 4 now roast the tomatoes.there are several ways to do this:you may roast them in an iron skillet over medium high heat until charred in places on both sides or you may put then under a hot broiler about 15 minutes,turning halfway through until charred and softened.tomatoes could also be roasted directly over a flame if you have the means to do this.
• 5 in a blender combine tomatoes,1 teaspoon cumin,1 cup broth, and all remaining ingredients for the sauce.blend to a smooth sauce.
• 6 heat the oil in a large heavy skillet or dutch oven over medium heat until a drop of sauce sizzles in the oil.add all of the sauce at once and stir for about 5 minutes.sauce should be simmering.
• 7 carefully drop in about 1/3 of the meatballs and reduce heat to medium.cook for about 6 minutes,stirring the sauce occasionally without disturbing the meatballs.carefully turn all the meatballs and cook another 4-6 minutes until they are cooked through.remove to a covered dish.
• 8 add 1/2 cup broth to the pot,mix well.when sauce returns to a simmer cook a second batch of meatballs in the same manner.
• 9 repeat for last batch of meatballs.add all meatballs back to the pot and warm through.serve over rice,if desired.