Liège-style meatballs – rabbit sauce with Liège syrup
The Liège-style meatballs are large Belgian meatballs made from beef and pork, served with a sweet and sour rabbit sauce with Liège syrup, dark beer, vinegar, vergeoise, veal stock and raisins. A traditional recipe from Liège, to be served with fries.
Pour: 3 personnes
Ingredients
For the cannonballs
- 250 g ground beef
- 200 g sausage meat
- 100 g stale bread, crumbled
- 100 g milk
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- ½ càc nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
For the sauce
- 1 chopped onion
- 60 g of Vergeoise
- 1 tbsp wine vinegar
- 20 cl veal stock
- 33 cl dark beer
- 1 bouquet garni Thyme and bay leaf
- 3 tbsp cork syrup
- 10 juniper berries
- Salt and pepper
- A handful of raisins Optional
For the beurre manié
- 25 g butter
- 25 g flour
Préparation
- Dip the stale bread in the milk and set aside for about fifteen minutes.
- In a bowl, place the ground beef, sausage meat, softened bread, onion, egg, parsley and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients well with your hand. Divide the filling into six and form into balls. Place the meatballs in a baking dish with two tablespoons of butter. Bake for thirty minutes at 180°C.
- Pour the cooking juices from the meatballs into a frying pan and sauté the onion. Add the vergeoise, mix and let caramelize for a few seconds.
- Deglaze with vinegar, then stir in the veal stock, beer, bouquet garni, juniper berries, cork syrup and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then reduce over low heat for thirty minutes.
- Add the raisins.
- Work the butter with the flour until you get a homogeneous mixture.
- Stir the beurre manié into the sauce, stirring gently.
- Arrange the meatballs in the sauce, and simmer for a few minutes, until they warm up.
- Serve with fries.
Notes
Rabbit sauce does not contain rabbit. Its name probably comes from an old rabbit sauce with prunes, later used to accompany Liège meatballs.
Raisins are optional, but they enhance the sweet and sour side of the sauce. For an older version, you can replace them with a few prunes.
The sauce should be bright, coating and balanced: add a little vinegar if it seems too sweet, or a little cork syrup if it lacks roundness.
