Every couple of weeks I look at all the bits and pieces of vegetable and salad stuff knocking around in my fridge and decide to make a Phyllis Diller Garbage Soup.
I feel very virtuous using up all my odds and ends, chucking in a tin of beans and some kind of random spices and cooking it all up. This is then packaged up in singleton portions and crammed into any spaces I can find in my under-counter freezer.
I pounce on these with glee for work lunches which I then heat up in the microwave, feeling very smug when colleagues around me are paying a fortune for “street food” from Camden Market.
I wasn’t feeling so smug last week though. I started heating up a block of what I thought was Garbage Soup but it turned out to be uncooked Olympia Dukakis’ Meat Balls mix! I must get one of those machines that create labels that go on freezer bags. Or at least a pen that writes on them and doesn’t just slide off.
No matter, the meatballs were DELICIOUS for my dinner and I hereby announce that they FREEZE WELL.
I had some for my tea that day with veggies and some a couple of days later with spaghetti and sauce (I know this isn’t an authentic way of serving GREEK meatballs, but it was good!).
Olympia Dukakis’ Greek Meatballs
1/2 pound / 225g ground/minced beef
1/2 pound / 225g ground/minced veal
1/2 pound / 225g ground/minced lamb
1 large egg
1/4 cup / 65ml milk
1 large onion, chopped
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon tamari (or soy sauce)
1 teaspoon dried oregano, divided use
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 drops red-wine vinegar
1/3 cup / 30g plain dry breadcrumbs (or cornmeal)
1/2 cup / 15g chopped fresh parsley, divided use
In a large bowl, combine the beef, veal, and lamb. Add egg, milk, onion, mustard, soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of the oregano, 3/4 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, vinegar, and breadcrumbs. Gently mix with your hands until combined. Shape into walnut-sized meatballs, or make smaller meatballs for a buffet or for the kids, Olympia suggests.
Heat a 12-inch nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Add half the meatballs and sprinkle them with 1/4 teaspoon of the remaining oregano and 2 tablespoons of the parsley. Cook, gently turning the meatballs as they brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a platter, keep warm and repeat with remaining meatballs, oregano, and parsley. Transfer the last batch to the platter with the other meatballs, sprinkle on the remaining 1/4 cup parsley and serve.
Makes 36 large meatballs
Ha Ha .. never heard it called that before . Phyllis Diller Garbage soup ! Basically what I’ve been eating last couple of days before a big shop at weekend ! ‘The make it up as you go along with whatever’s left over and still usuable’ is my less catchy title for it !
Haha! When my friend Heather came round and insisted on defrosting my freezer she found endless bags of it and said something like, “what the hell is Goldfrapp Soup”?!