Nov 19 2015
I was glad the day turned out pretty nice for doing the meatballs out in the smoker. I made up the meatballs early using the gift of Turkish spices, Kofte Bahari (mixed spices), Pul Biber (red pepper) and Kisnis (Coriander). I set the bowl in the fridge for a little over an hour to let all the flavors meld.
Turkish meatballs I think are typically made with ground lamb but the recipe I adapted had substituted ground beef. I wanted to mix in some ground lamb but could not find any so I used some ground pork sausage. After the meat mix had set I made up the meat balls and covered with plastic wrap and they set in the fridge about 3 hours before smoking. I got 13 meatballs from the pound of meat.
The meatballs are usually served with flat bread or pita bread. I found some mini Indian naan bread that looked perfect to use. Red cabbage is a good side, either as a slaw or cooked. I used a recipe by Bobby Flay from food network that looked good, it had orange and lime juice, olive oil, garlic and onion pureed for a dressing. I made up the slaw a couple hours before cooking. For another side I nuked some cauliflower and then browned it in a skillet with butter.
I had my Traeger heated to 200 deg. about 215 deg. grill level when I put the meatballs on. After 35 minutes I eased the temp up to 315 deg. grill level. They cooked a total of an hour 15 minutes and were done at 6:00 PM. I checked about 10 minutes before and they were at 156 deg. IT so went inside and nuked the cauliflower for 2 minutes then in a skillet with some butter to brown a little.
I brought the meatballs inside in a covered dish while the cauliflower finished browning. I served the meatballs on the naan bread topped with some garlic yogurt sauce and parsley for garnish. I served the slaw and cauliflower on the side.
I had a little salt and fresh ground pepper over all of mine. The wife and I both thought it was pretty good!
For the meatballs
Garlic yogurt
For the slaw
My supper
Smokin Don
Recipe:
Kofte with Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Recipe Type: Main
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
Kofte:
• 1 pound ground beef, I used 2/3 ground beef and 1/3 pork sausage
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs, I used Panko
• 1 egg
• ½ cup minced onion
• ¼ cup chopped parsley, loosely packed
• 2 teaspoons meatball spice (or some combination of cumin, sweet paprika, allspice, black pepper, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon)
I used a teaspoon each of Kofte Bahari (mixed spices), Pul Biber (red pepper) and Kisnis (Coriander).
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Torn parsley, for garnish
Garlic Yogurt Sauce
• 1 cup plain yogurt, I used Greek yogurt
• 1 large garlic clove minced fine
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions
For the Kofte:
1. Put the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, onion, parsley, meatball spice, and garlic in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands until well combined. I like to let mine set in the fridge for and hour, form the meatballs and cover with plastic wrap and let them set in the fridge 1 to 2 hours before cooking.
For the Garlic Yogurt Sauce:
1. Put the yogurt and garlic in a small bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add the lemon juice and stir in
3. Serve immediately or store in a covered container in the fridge.
Cook your favorite way and serve with or on top of flat bread or pita bread. Serve with the Garlic yogurt sauce. If you fry these in a skillet you may want to roll them in flour first.
