Fish Meatballs with Green Sauce (German)

Fish meatballs German style, gently poached and served with a tangy, herby green sauce. This is a surprisingly quick dish to put together, once you know what you're doing. If you have a meat grinder, the meatballs come together in a flash (If you don't have a meat grinder, pulse fish fillets in a food processor, or chop finely with a knife), and the sauce really doesn't take more than a few minutes to make. And if you pre-grind the fish and keep it in the fridge, you could easily whip this up in less than 30 minutes.

Fish Meatballs:
1 lb ground fish
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. sea salt
6 Tbsp. plain breadcrumbs
2 tsp. fresh dill, minced
2 tsp. fresh parsley, minced

Green Sauce:
¼ cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup shallot, minced
1 cup fish or chicken stock
2 Tbsp. spinach, amaranth or lamb's quarters, minced
¼ cup sorrel, chopped
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh garlic chives, minced
1 sage leaf, minced
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature

To make the meatballs, simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl and form into small meatballs, about the size of a walnut. To cook, bring a large pot of salty water to a boil and gently lower the fish balls one at a time into the water. They will sink. Turn the heat down to a bare simmer - if you let it boil again, it can destroy your fish balls. Simmer gently until the meatballs float. Look for a total cooking time of about 10 minutes or so.

Remove the fish balls from the hot water and set aside.

While you are heating up the poaching water, make the green sauce. Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the shallot and sauté until it's translucent and soft, about 3 minutes or so. Don't let them brown. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Boil hard for a few minutes until the sauce reduces by about one-third.

Turn the heat as low as it will go and stir in all the herbs. Let them all wilt. Add salt and black pepper to taste and turn the heat off.

When all the fish balls are ready, turn the heat back onto the sauce to warm it, and coat the fish balls with the sauce. When the sauce boils again, turn off the heat, let the bubbling subside and add the sour cream, stirring constantly. Adjust for salt and black pepper once more and serve at once.

Makes 4 servings.