Saedeh’s Persian Meatballs

This ethnic recipe came from an art class Joy's taking, taught by an inspirational Persian woman. 1 lb ground beef 1 cup chopped flat leaf parsley 1 cup chopped cilantro ½ cup chopped basil ¼ cup chopped tarragon 3 lg cloves of minced garlic (Saedeh uses powdered garlic) ½ bunch chopped green onion 2 large eggs (Saedeh doesn’t use eggs but it makes it hard to keep them together) Salt & pepper to taste (at this point I add cayenne pepper also) 1 pitted prune per meatball Olive oil Tomato paste 1 medium onion (I also add ruff chopped jalapeno) Saffron Mix the ground beef, parsley, cilantro, basil (you can add a teaspoon of dried basil with the fresh) tarragon, garlic, green onion, eggs and salt& peppers together microwave a small amount to taste the seasoning. Form nice size meatballs 2 ½” to 3” in diameter then place a pitted prune in the center. Fry a roughly chopped onion in about a ½ cup of olive oil until near translucent then add the meatballs brown them a little and add about 2 cups of water. Cover and cook until meatballs have given up most their fat about 30 mins. (This is my step I remove meatballs strain sauce into a strong plastic bag. Hold the liquid diagonally over the same pan and cut a small hole in the bottom and let the broth drain stopping the flow of fat on top) Put the meatballs back in the broth with a ¼ cup of tomato paste dissolved in a cup of water. Cook another 10 to 15 minutes covered remove cover and add a couple pinches of saffron dissolved in warm water cook 5 mins. Serve over pasta, couscous, or rice. Sour cream or good cream line yogurt is a good accompaniment.