Thursday, December 24, 2009

What is the best meatball recipe?

';Famous'; Pizza Meatballs


1 1/2 pounds ground beef


1 teaspoon onion powder


1 egg


1 cup panko bread crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)


1 1/2 teaspoons freshly chopped garlic


1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce


Salt and pepper, to taste


Italian seasoning (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano, and basil)


8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch cubes





Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a flat baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl add ground beef, onion powder, egg, panko crumbs, garlic, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, couple dashes of Italian seasoning. Mix thoroughly. Shape into 1-inch balls. Push in to the mixture a cube of cheese. Reshape the meatball. Place on lined baking sheet. Do this until all of the meatballs have been formed. Bake in the oven until browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. If the cheese cube that was used is too big it will melt out of the meatball. Serve with a tomato sauce and spaghetti or make them into a delicious sub sandwich.





or





Authentic Italian Meatballs


2 slices white sandwich bread, stale


1/2 pound ground pork


1/2 pound ground veal


1/2 pound ground beef chuck


1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan


1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley


2 teaspoons kosher salt


1/2 medium onion, grated (about 1/4 cup)


2 cloves garlic, minced


1 large egg, beaten


Freshly ground black pepper


1/3 cup olive oil, divided





Grate the bread or pulse into crumbs in a food processor. In a small bowl toss the bread crumbs with 1/3 cup cold milk to re-hydrate.


In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, pork, veal, beef, Parmesan, parsley, salt, onion, garlic, and egg and mix until combined. Season the meat mixture with pepper.


Using your hands, gently form the meat mixture into 18 slightly larger than golf ball-sized balls. (Packing the meat mixture too tightly together will result in tough meatballs). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.


Heat half the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Drain the oil and wipe out the skillet, return to the heat, and repeat with the remaining oil and meatballs.What is the best meatball recipe?
Chipotle Meatballs Recipe











Chipotle chiles are jalape帽o peppers that have been smoked and dried. They are often served in an adobo sauce made with chiles, garlic, vinegar, onions and tomatoes. We came across this recipe for Chipotle Meatballs recently in the New York Times (a corrected version of the recipe) and it sounded so good we gave it a whirl. The verdict? Excellent! Particularly good served with plain rice or tortillas. Quite spicy, best accompanied by something cool - sour cream, salad. It has been added to our list of new favorites.





3 slices bacon in 1-inch pieces


3 garlic cloves, peeled


2 large eggs


陆 cup bread crumbs


Salt


1 录 pounds ground pork


陆 cup (loosely packed) coarsely chopped mint leaves, more for garnish


1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted), drained of all but 录 cup juice


1 or 2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, stemmed, seeded and sauce reserved


1 teaspoon dried oregano


About 1陆 cups beef or chicken broth.





1 Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a food processor, combine bacon and 1 garlic clove. Process until finely chopped. Add eggs, bread crumbs and 1 teaspoon salt. Pulse several times to combine thoroughly, then add pork and mint. Pulse a few more times until well combined but not a paste. Remove meat from processor.





2 With wet hands, form meat into about 16 plum-size balls and space them out in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.





3 While meatballs bake, combine tomatoes, 录 cup tomato juice, chipotles, 1 to 2 tablespoons chipotle sauce, oregano, remaining garlic cloves (cut in half) and 陆 teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor. Process to a smooth pur茅e.





4 When meatballs are ready, spoon off rendered fat from baking dish, then pour tomato mixture on top, covering meatballs evenly. Bake until sauce has thickened somewhat, 15 to 20 minutes.





5 Heat broth in a small saucepan. Divide meatballs among four dinner plates, leaving sauce behind. Stir enough broth into sauce to give it a spoonable consistency. Taste and season with salt, if necessary. Spoon sauce over meatballs, decorate with extra mint leaves, if you wish, and serve.





Serves four.What is the best meatball recipe?
My favorite meatball recipe comes from epicurious.com. It's a green chile and pine nut meatball. I've totally converted my husband to those.
Here's my secret. Instead of all beef I add half beef and half veal. Also add some dry red wine. mmmmmm
Chicken and Basil Meatballs:





25 min 15 min prep


4 servings





500 g ground chicken


1 egg, beaten


2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil


1/3 cup breadcrumbs


1 tablespoon oil


1 tablespoon butter


1 cup ready-made pasta sauce


1/4 cup white wine


1/4 cup cream


2 tablespoons sliced almonds or slivered almonds, toasted





1. Combine mince, egg, basil and breadcrumbs and mix well.


2. Divide mixture into 12 portions and roll into balls.


3. Heat oil and butter in a frypan and fry chicken balls until well browned on all sides.


4. Allow to cook through (about 8 minutes) While cooking the chicken, combine pasta sauce, and wine and simmer for about 10 minutes to recuce by 1/3.


5. Add cream.


6. Divide sauce among 4 plates, top with meatballs, and sprinkle with toasted almonds.
Here are mine. (I ALWAYS cook them with the sauce which cooks for at lest 4 hours). I don't measure seasonings, so use your best judgment





Preheat oven to 350 (you'll use the oven to brown them before putting in the sauce)


1-1/2 to 2 lbs ground chuck


2 egg


parsley


2 cloves fresh crushed garlic


(2 tblsp or more?) oregano


(1 tsp?) basil


Italian seasoning blend


I use about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of an herb stuffing mix soaked in milk. Squeeze out the milk, and add to mixture. Mix all together and make into desired size and place in baking pan and put in the preheated oven. Just keep them in there unti they start to brown, then add to your sauce.





I used to brown in the fry pan, but no longer. That method required constant turning and causes grease splattering. Soooo much easier sticking them in the oven. Just don't cook too long... till just browned a little. They will be wonderfully tender cooked in your sauce. I've had meatballs in Italian restaurants that were so hard, and flavorless, it was obvious they weren't cooked in the sauce. Also, some people say you don't need to brown them. I've tried it without out, and they were disgusting. The slight browning firms up the outside of the meatballs.

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