Freezing Outside, Hearty & Warm Inside

It's been f-ing cold in Denver. Single digits, negative temperatures, wind. And to make this cold snap even more delightful, there is no heat in my house. Apparently there is a problem with the boiler and they're "working" to get it fixed. Meanwhile, I have nothing to do but freeze and cook to try to stay warm (the oven is an excellent space heater).

There's a dish over at Root Down that I quite fancy, and I decided to warm up by making my own version. This dish is completely different from theirs (which I crave constantly) but is inspired by it. I eat so much bacon that I keep bacon fat on hand but the recipe below assumes that you don't just have bacon fat hanging out in your fridge. (Sidenote: You really should have bacon fat hanging out in your fridge. It's the perfect flavoring for any kind of greens or beans).


Lamb Meatballs In Broth W/ Veggies

--olive oil
--1 lb. ground lamb
--several cloves of garlic, minced
--salt & pepper
--4 slices bacon
--small onion, chopped coarsely
--can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
--1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
--chicken broth
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Mix garlic and ground lamb together and form into meatballs. Season with salt & pepper. Cook 2 minutes on each side, turning so all sides are brown. Remove from heat.

In the same skillet/dutch oven cook the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon but leave the fat in the pan. Feel free to eat the bacon!

Turn heat down to medium and toss the chopped onion in. Cook for 2 minutes until begins to brown on the edges. Remove pan from heat.

Now the "tricky" part. Take a bowl or measuring cup and place paper towels on top of it. Take the pan and strain the onion and bacon fat through the paper towels. You'll have a golden liquid of rendered bacon fat (with onion flavoring) in the bowl and all the funky stuff is caught in the paper towel.

Pour the rendered fat back into the skillet/dutch oven. (I added some of the onions back in but that is completely up to you!)

Add the chickpeas/garbanzo beans and kale. Cover beans and kale with chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Add the meatballs back to the pan. Add more chicken broth if you like and allow to simmer until broth has consistency/amount you desire!