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In honor of my mother’s birthday today, we’re sharing a recipe that is by far one of the most uniquely-delicious recipes we’ve found so far in her old recipe box. It’s a recipe called Moscows.
This recipe was a bit of a mystery for us – a handwritten list of ingredients on an index card – but no instructions. We were really fascinated by the eclectic list of ingredients including ground beef, rye bread, beet horseradish, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and sour cream – an obvious mix of Eastern European-inspired flavors! Being of Polish decent, I can totally see why this recipe appealed to my mother.
So my husband Jack and I wondered, “Are Moscows a type of meatloaf? Or are they meatballs?” We weren’t really sure – so Jack spent some time online researching the recipe, but all he could find were recipes for a cocktail named Moscow Mule.
Without any other information to go on, we decided to form the mixture into meatball-sized portions and baked them in a muffin pan. And – as soon as these Moscows came out of the oven, we knew we had a winner! The smell was fantastic and they were moist and delicious with an amazing flavor, unlike any other meatball I’ve ever eaten!
And Jack and I both agree – that beet horseradish (which can be found at most supermarkets in the refrigerated section) – really makes this dish. These Moscows are great served warm with boiled potatoes (and more horseradish and sour cream on the side) or served between slices of rye bread as a sandwich! You’ve got to try this recipe!
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Moscows
Ingredients
- 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
- 1/2 cup finely minced onion
- 1 teaspoon crushed caraway seed
- 1/2 cup rye bread crumbs (4 whole slices rye bread, see note above)
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups fine grated Swiss cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup beet horseradish (this is very mild and sold right next to regular horseradish in your average supermarket)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup well drained sauerkraut chopped
- 2 tablespoons beef broth or water
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix all ingredients until combined except ½ cup of the Swiss cheese.
- Divide the mixture into 12 balls and fill a 12 cup muffin pan with the meatballs. I used a large ice-cream scoop so they were flat on the bottom and round on top.
- Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of cheese over each and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and discard fat in each muffin cup.
- Serve with additional sour cream and beet horseradish with boiled potatoes, or between slices of rye bread and eaten as a sandwich.
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Notes
You can either lightly toast the rye bread slices or let them sit out overnight to get stale before turning into bread crumbs in your food processor. Remove crusts before processing.
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I think the recipe was for Moscow meatballs, but what a creative alternative! I can’t wait to try this. Here’s a link to check out:
http://www.familycookbookproject.com/recipe/2990893/moscow-meatballs.html
Thank you so much Krystal!! This definitely looks like the original inspiration! Thanks so much for sharing the link!
As good as your page is, it’s WAY to “busy”. It takes for bloody ever(!!) to download. Twice, I stopped it midstream, thinking my computer or the link had died. You gotta prune something (a LOT, actually) to make it more user-friendly. Like the comments — couldn’t you whittle them down to, say, the most recent 8 or 10? Weeks (months??) of comments get very tedious, and eat up computer and network time like you wouldn’t believe. Or get rid of a LOT of the “side” clutter. Gotta do sumthun, Lady!
Yes, great site, but WAY TOO BIG and cluttered.
Thanks for your feedback Maurice! We’ve done quite a lot on the backend to make our site load faster – I’m sorry you are still having problems! Have a nice weekend!
I have never heard of anything like this – but I love all of the flavors, so there is no doubt this would be a winning recipe with my family! Adding this to the things I need to try soon!
I hope you enjoy the recipe Jamie!
All these ingredients are part of good old Reuben Sandwich!! I’m totally intrigued by your interpretation of your mom’s recipe. YUM!! You’re so creative!!
I just made these. I couldnt wait! OMG….so delicious! I doubled it and added lean ground turkey with the 80-20 beef and omitted the caraway but bought rye with caraway in it. Turned out great! Next time I think I will use ground pork and turkey rather than the beef. Reminds me of Kielbasa!
Glad you liked the recipe Lauren – and great ideas for changing up the meat for different flavors!
Now I have to search hell and high water for this beet horseradish. I love this so hard. Love that you made them in a muffin tin for perfect portions. And most of all I love the cheese!! I have to make this!
That is so cool that you whipped this up with just an ingredient list. Now that is talent. I love pulling my mom’s recipe book out on her birthday. Makes me feel more connected to her. This recipe is just amazing. Great job improvising.
Thanks Kim!
Now this is a recipe I need to try ASAP. I just love all the flavors in here, especially those rye croutons. Definitely a great find.
Yes, whenever I see the word Moscow, a Moscow Mule comes to mind, so I was looking forward to seeing what these were. And wow – how unique and how delicious they both look and sound. I’ve always wondered what to do with beet horseradish. I must try these!
I hope you like the recipe Heather! We were joking that we’d have to eat Moscows WHILE drinking Moscow Mules as a themed dinner some time! 🙂
These little meatball inspired treats sound amazing! I love the idea of adding in beet horseradish. I have seen it in the store but never bought it. I need to change that!