I have this thing about cooking. If I have someone coming for supper I will have been thinking about what I’m going to cook pretty much since the moment I invited them. That isn’t to say that it’s necessarily something fancy, more that it’s something that fits with the person I’m cooking for and it gives me an excuse to try certain recipes that I haven’t been able to justify for just myself. Some people warrant ‘safe recipes’ – ones you’ve tried and tested and know are crowd pleasers but don’t take too much thinking about. This tends to be an evening where all element of risk is removed from the equation; generally speaking people you know less well. This was not one of those evenings.

The second thing about me and cooking is that once I’ve decided what I’m cooking, that’s it. There are no last minute changes and no backing out. Usually I will have bought food at least the day before. As I said… not one of those evenings.

I really really thought that pork mince is the kind of thing you can buy anywhere but on this particular day it felt as if it was sold out of every single mini supermarket in London. I’ve never had to ask someone I’ve invited for dinner to bring their own food before, but this is what happened. Charlotte, I’m very very sorry and I promise, the next time you come back from Africa I will not send you to THREE SUPERMARKETS looking for pork mince just because I’m too stubborn and unimaginative to think of something else to cook.

Confession out the way (I really did feel jolly guilty about that); let’s focus on the fact that I had been planning to cook these for supper since at least the weekend before which shows immense effort and thoughtfulness on my part (clutching at straws here??) – and that they were really rather good.

Another corker from Nigel Slater (thanks Nige) – this time it was from Apetite:

• smoked pancetta – a handful or so
• minced pork – 500g
• groundnut oil – a little for frying
• onions – either a couple of shallots or 4 small spring onions
• chillies – 3 or 4 small, hot red chillies
• coriander – a small bunch
• lime leaves or lemon grass – 4 lime leaves or 2 thick stalks of lemon grass
• garlic – 3 or 4 cloves, peeled and crushed

Chop the shallots or spring onions finely, then chop the chillies even finer, first removing the seeds if you don’t like things too hot. Scrub the roots of the coriander and chop them and the leaves finely, discarding the stems. Roll the lime leaves up and shred them finely, then chop them: if you are using lemon grass, remove the coarse outer leaves and discard them, then chop the tender inside leaves very thinly.

Chop the bacon or pancetta and add it, with the seasoning above, to the minced pork. Mix in a good pinch of salt, then cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for half an hour.

Shape the seasoned pork into small balls and flatten them slightly. To cook you will need to warm a little oil in a heavy frying pan, then lay the meatballs in – without crowding them – and let them colour on both sides before turning the heat down a bit and letting them cook all the way through. They should be done after 4 or 5 minutes – the centre should be juicy but not especially pink.

We had this with basmati rice and spinach and it was delicious. A really clean dish that was straightforward to cook but something a bit different. It was a pretty good match with the La Grille Chenin Blanc (see Tuesday’s post); texturally speaking it was perfect and the chilli in the meatballs was complemented really well by the off dry edge to the wine.

So not too much of a disaster in the end despite the somewhat hectic beginning. What jolly important meatballs these are to warrant so much fuss.