With the boom of nearby Mexican restaurants in San Francisco has come to the proliferation of Mexico City’s guisados — the circle of relatives-style stews served in a massive pot at the middle of the desk with a pile of tortillas and rice and beans. When made at home, those hearty braises usually close nicely past one meal, and the meat-enriched sauce works for other dishes too, as Gabriela Cámara of Cala restaurant writes in her new cookbook “My Mexico City Kitchen. That’s indeed the case with this albondigas recipe from Isabel Caudillo.
Chef-owner of El Buen Comer in the Mission District. One batch of the meatballs made more than sufficient for two meals for my family of 4, and I’m already thinking about what to do with the leftover chipotle-infused tomato sauce they were braised in. A Mexico City expat, Caudillo at first launched her San Francisco enterprise from her home kitchen and later went via the La Cocina incubator application before starting El Buen Comer in 2016, which is run with the aid of her and numerous family contributors.
There, she serves guisados like this one, in addition to a mole Verde with red meat and mole Rojo with fowl, in a cazuela, or terra-cotta casserole, to be shared at the desk. That’s also how she gives her brothy black beans with epazote and purple rice, much like you might at home. For the meatballs: In a meals processor, pulse onion, garlic, and mint till very finely chopped. Pour this mixture into a big bowl and combine with the eggs. Add the floor pork and salt, then use your palms to mix. Using a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, degree 1½ tablespoons of the floor beef aggregate. Roll the scoops into balls together with your arms and region them onto a baking sheet. Heat the olive oil in a huge Dutch oven over medium-excessive heat.
