Great Balls of Meat

Some days trying to maintain a gluten-free life style for my son sucks rocks! The high cost of gluten free flours and pastas means that I can't afford for us all to eat gluten-free and cooking two sets of food is such a pain. As much as I have rearranged my meals to suit my son's needs, the biggest challenge has been communicating the seriousness of his condition to others. At social gatherings, I cringe whenever some kindly person offers him a bite of something and I have to jump in like the Food Gestapo with a million questions about the ingredients.

West Indians love to feed people. We are wonderful like that. On the beach or by a river lime, just hang about close enough to a group of people on an outdoor cook and a plate of delicious food is bound to be sent your way. Imagine then in the face of such generosity giving someone a lecture about a little known medical condition and then a third degree as you seek to find out whether every single ingredient used was gluten free.

Trying to explain gluten intolerance at birthday parties does not help you win friends and influence people. Word quickly gets around about the weirdo mom with a bag of alternative snacks. (Sheepish) yeah that’s me in the corner trying to ignore the frowns of disapproval while I deflect my screaming toddler from the minefield of gluten-filled cake, cookies, ice-cream and chips that ALL the other children are eating. It’s good enough for the other kids right, so what the heck is her problem?

It would be nice to get a day off and eat out with my family once in a while without the burden of planning meal and snack replacements all the time or being the poster girl for my son’s gluten-free diet. Sometimes I just want to relax and eat with my family! A call to one of the country's premier restaurants revealed that this might not be likely for me anytime soon.

Me: Good evening. Do you offer any gluten free meal options on your menu?

Maitre d’: Uhmm gluten free. Everything in this restaurant is gluten free.

Me (rolling my eyes skyward): Would you please confirm that with the chef for me.

Maitre d’: Yes m’am please hold while I check that for you. (A few minutes later) The chef assures me that he doesn't cook with gluten and EVERYTHING is gluten free.

Me: Do you serve pasta?

Maitre d’: Yes we do.

Me: You do know that pasta contains gluten?

Maitre d’: Does it?

Me (oh boy): Thanks for your help, good evening.

I wasn't upset that the restaurant in question did not have a gluten free option on their menu. However I was very angry that they proclaimed themselves to be gluten-free when in fact they didn't seem to have a clue about what gluten-free meant. Had I gone there my child could have been seriously ill! This was the situation for my friend whose night out at a different restaurant, in another country ended her up in the ER. She has a shrimp allergy. There was no shrimp in her dish but cross contamination had occurred when the cutting board used to prepare her dish had been used earlier to prep shrimp. Chefs are not dietitians but don't you think that everyone who works in a restaurant has a responsibility to be knowledgeable of food allergies in order that they might correctly inform and keep customers safe from harmful food choices?

It is becoming increasingly  difficult for my toddler as he observes others around him eating different food from what is on his plate. Now at meal times he only wants to eat the food from his brother’s plate. This is why I think that these meatballs are so great. We can all enjoy the same thing together.By swapping out the breadcrumbs with readily available and not so expensive farine I can create meatballs that we call all enjoy. Bonus – they taste better and are even more moist than my old meatballs with breadcrumbs. I always make several batches of this in one go so that I can freeze the extras. Thaw and reheat for when you want a quick meal.Serve with your favourite sauce and gluten free pasta.

RECIPE

MeatBalls (Gluten Free)

3lbs of minced beef
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup green seasoning
1 tbs tamarind chutney
1/4 tsp anchovy paste
3/4 cup farine soaked in the same amount of water.
6 oz plain yogurt (fat free)
Salt to taste (bear in mind that the anchovy paste is already very salty)

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large mixing bowl, add the meat, the egg,  the green seasoning, the tamarind chutney, the anchovy paste, the farine and the yogurt.

With clean hands mix everything together and shape into small balls. I got about 60 balls. It only sounds  like a lot but my family is large and I always have to factor in packed lunched for work and school the following day. Spray a baking sheet with oil. Set balls on tray and bake for 15 mins. Turn meatballs and bake for 15 minutes more.While the meatballs are baking make the marinara sauce.

QUICK CARIBBEAN MARINARA SAUCE

2 tbsp olive oil

3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large onion, diced

1 large jar gluten free spaghetti sauce

1 cup water
carrot, grated or one table spoon sugar
3 or 4 tbsp green seasoning
salt to taste

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium-low heat.
2. Add the chopped garlic and onion and cook gently until light brown in colour, taking care not to burn the garlic.
3. As the garlic just begins to brown add the spaghetti sauce and stirl.
4. Add the water the sugar or the carrots and salt and bring to the boil, stirring frequently.If carrots are used use and immersion blender to make a smooth sauce.
5. Once the sauce starts to boil, add the meatballs reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with the lid and simmer gently for around 15 - 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
6. Once the desired consistency has been reached, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the freshly chopped seassoning.
7. Serve with cooked gluten-free pasta. 

COOKING NOTES: Tomato based sauces from the United States tend to be a bit too acidic for me. Our tomato sauces and ketchup are somewhat sweeter so I add a little sweet to my marinara sauce. The idea of the carrots replacing the sugar came about during my bout with gestational diabetes during my second pregnancy. It works well sometimes I may add more carrots.

	This recipe has been entered into the Gluten-Free Wednesdays Blog Carnival over at  The Gluten-Free Homemaker's Blog.