Name: Moscows
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: 1 pound 80/20 ground beef; ½ cup finely minced onion; 1 teaspoon crushed caraway seed; ½ cup rye bread crumbs (4 whole slices rye bread, see note above); 1 egg; 1 ½ cups fine grated Swiss cheese, divided; ¼ 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

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Moscows are a uniquely delicious Eastern European-inspired meatball made with ground beef, rye bread crumbs, beet horseradish, Swiss cheese and sour cream. These are fantastic!

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!

Martha

Martha is part of the husband-wife team that creates A Family Feast. She loves to cook and entertain for family and friends, and she believes that serving a great meal is one of the best ways to show someone that you care. Martha is a self-taught home cook, who loves to read cookbooks and try new recipes. After a decades-long career in business and online marketing, she now runs A Family Feast full-time. Her specialties are baking, desserts, vegetables and pasta dishes.

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