Food Lion in Winter

To put it mildly, the Food Lion on the Outer Banks in the winter is not the most well-stocked grocery store I ever seen. In the summer, the shelves overflow. Things like endives and goat cheese are available in abundance. In the winter, if you go looking for ground lamb, the closest you're going to get is something called "meatloaf mix," a blend of beef, pork, and veal. I should have guessed that the Food Lion would not lay down for the lamb.

As it happens, these little meatballs were almost as good with the mystery meat as they were the times we've made them with lamb. The real trick is to go heavy-handed with the spice. They smell delicious when they fry.

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Aromatic Everything-But-Lamb Meatballs
Adapted from Nigella's Aromatic Lamb Meatballs (from Feast)

Combine in a large bowl:
1 lb ground meat (lamb preferred, meatloaf mix totally acceptable)
1/4 cup sliced scallions
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour (Nigella says to use semolina)
1 egg, beaten

Mush the whole mess around lightly with your hands. I don't know why, but the rule with meatballs is that you must always mix them with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Now comes the fun part: Make a bazillion meatballs. Tiny ones, "toytown small," according to Nigella. You should get about 75 from one pound of meat. As you roll, drop them on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or plastic wrap. If your hands get too sticky, Nigella has the helpful hint to rinse them periodically in cold water.

Heat a healthy (by which I mean unhealthy) amount of vegetable oil in the bottom of a large skillet and fry the meatballs in batches, about a minute on a side, until brown.

Eat in a pita sandwich with hummus and tzasiki (as I did), over rice, or in stew.