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Writer's pictureMangia McCann

Meatball Mania: French Caillette

2022 Tour de France - Stage 14: Saint-Étienne to Mende .


Another day, another stage I missed. Not due to work today, but I was up in the city for my daughters’ concert. They both got to play at an old club I snuck out to as a high schooler, one where I’ve seen several shows at, as the culmination to their week-long band camp. They got packed together with other random girls, learned an instrument, and wrote their own rock song. Pretty neat. Check out Girls Rock! DC, if you’re interested.


With a day away from the kitchen, you’d think I’d eat something non-French since I’ve been cooking up French food for the past 2 weeks. You’d be wrong. We ended up at Je Ne Sais Quoi for breakfast and Le Diplomate after the show. I even got a new French cookbook at Kramer’s in between. Without further ado, today’s stage-specific dish if called Caillette. These are pork meatballs, cut with leafy greens. Healthy? Not quite, bc they’re wrapped in caul fat. I couldn’t find any near me, so I found a solution, a thin shaving of duck fat laid upon each ball.

Caillette

  • ½ lb chopped kale

  • 1 lb ground pork

  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

  • 1 tbsp kosher salt

  • Duck fat

Preheat the oven to 400.


Bring a pot of water to the boil and drop in the kale. Blanche for about 2-3 mins, then transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain, and squeeze the kale. Then, chop fine.


In a bowl, combine the pork, thyme and kosher salt, along with the kale and some black pepper. Form into baseball-sized rounds and place into a baking dish. Using a teaspoon, slice some duck fat from your container and place the shaved fat on top of the meatballs.


Bake for about 30 minutes, then broil until browned. Serve.

______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.


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