Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Tasty Tuesday!

So last week, two friends and I went to The Chopping Block and took the Mystic Pizza class. It was so much fun, and we ended up with a ton of food. Of course we were all so hungry by the time the food was ready that we managed to eat most of it. This weekend, I'm making the roasted garlic foccaccia, but last night I made meatballs.

Granted, these meatballs were originally supposed to be inside calzones, but I don't do meat with my cheese unless it's a hamburger, which I suppose technically makes it a cheeseburger. Whatever. Instead, I made them and had spaghetti and meatballs, which I knew the wee ones would chow on. And they did.

Little Miss proclaimed these The best meatballs ever, Mommy! right before she decided she didn't feel like eating anymore and told me she didn't like them. She was lying. They were good. Mister Man concurred saying Mommy, you make the best meatballs ever. Yeah, I've got them trained well. And I didn't even do the training!

Regardless, these meatballs totally rocked, although I forgot to buy the pork, so add that when you make them. And with Little Miss being dairy free, I didn't put the Parmesean in them, but I certainly doused the pasta with it and ate my saucy meatball with bites of Parm. And then ate my pasta with sauce and more cheese. Because I don't like meat mixing with my pasta. I've got food issues, I know.

I only have the after pictures of this because, well, my hands were meat filled. I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer, so I had to thaw it in the microwave, which meant I had to keep taking off the defrosted parts and putting them in another bowl so they wouldn't cook instead of just defrosting. And then in my mixing, I forgot to put in the salt and pepper. So Mister Man had to do that. And then I couldn't show you the precooked balls because this all took way longer than I thought since I had to walk the wee ones through each step very slowly. And my meat wasn't defrosted. So I had to cook them right away. And ok, so I just totally forgot until I'd served half the meatballs. Sue me. Actually, don't, but just deal with the lack of show you how pictures. It's meatballs, not rocket science today!



For more yummy stuff, check out this week's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday with Blessed With Grace!

Rockin' Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (that's hamburger meat for morons like me who didn't know what to look for at first)
1/2 pound ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup Panko flakes (which ended up all over the floor and stool since my hands were totally meat filled and I let Mister Man do this step 100% by himself)
1 c grated Parmesean (it's possible that when we made this the first time around we put in ummm slightly more than this. And it was good)
1 T sea salt (or ummm as much as Mister Man can grate by himself since my hands are still meat filled which means like a half teaspoon)
Black pepper to taste (and since this is easier to grind, we had more pepper than salt)
1/2 c chopped fresh parsley, basil or oregano (or cilantro since that's what I had, and it was pretty good)

Can you tell I'm slap happy writing this recipe? Mommy's tired.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Remove all rings and jewelry. Very gently mix the ingredients together until you can no longer see the egg. Don't squish and overwork the meat, or you'll end up with dry meatballs. Shape into small ping pong sized balls. This makes about 24 meatballs, which is enough for two meals in our house. Fortunately, I like leftovers.

Place meatballs on a parchment or sil pat lined baking sheet. Bake about 15 or so minutes until nicely browned. And yes, you'll end up with some leaked out fat if you only use the ground beef. The pork and Parm fixes that mostly. It doesn't stick to the meatballs when you lift them up, I promise.



Enjoy!

20 comments:

Amy the SaltyMomma March 3, 2009 at 8:19 AM  

Thanks! I've been looking for a good meatball recipe, and I LOVE your little "cooking notes."

Amy ~ The Salty Momma

septembermom March 3, 2009 at 8:28 AM  

My son's all time favorite thing to eat is meatballs! I'll try your recipe. It sounds great especially after your kids' rave reviews! It must be fun going to a cooking class. I'll have to try a class one of these days. You get so many great tips and ideas :)

Sarah March 3, 2009 at 9:57 AM  

I'll be making these! My family loves speghetti and meatballs but I have not found a favorite meatball recipe. I like that they are baked.

Anonymous March 3, 2009 at 10:38 AM  

These sound delish! I have a cooking helper just like yours, so we'll have to try these.

Debra March 3, 2009 at 4:08 PM  

Thanks.....I've never made meatballs before so I think I will try...finally! :-)

Melisa Wells March 3, 2009 at 4:57 PM  

I LOVE THE CHOPPING BLOCK!!!!!!
(and the German restaurant right across the street! :) )

Yumm-o!

Michelle March 3, 2009 at 7:32 PM  

Amy - I didn't know there WERE good meatball recipes. Much like my mom's green beans, hers were always unseasoned and overcooked, so I avoided them like the plague!

septembermom - The classes really are a blast. Plus, it's the totally adult time. Weird thing about this one -- my two friend, one other girl, and I were the only females in the class... it was all guys otherwise, which is quite unusual. As in never happened before.

Sarah - If I'd had more time, I would have plopped them in the sauce for another ten minutes or so after they were done, but ... the natives were getting restless!

Kara - Cooking helpers are great. I figure another five years and I won't have to cook myself at all!

Brenda - Thanks. They're pretty yummy!

A Frugal Friend - I'm with you. Putting my hands in and squishing things around was a new experience for me -- but worth it!

Melisa - AHHH! YOU were the one who knew about The Chopping block :) What about Cafe Sel Marie? That's better than the German restaurant, in my opinion.

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace March 3, 2009 at 10:01 PM  

These sound wonderful and I seems like your little man had fun making them. Thanks for participating, this week, in TMTT.

Michelle March 3, 2009 at 10:59 PM  

Lisa - Thanks. I talked to the friend who went to the class with me last week, and she was making them tonight and had made them on Sunday, too! And yep, the wee ones love to help me cook.

Sarah J. March 3, 2009 at 11:21 PM  

Oh my, I LOVE meatballs but have never been good at making them...thanks for the tip! And...um...could you tell I was up late writing that post? LOL! I used 2 cups of rice. Thanks for stopping by!

Karen March 4, 2009 at 7:43 AM  

After the entire post, and still can't get past the "I don't do meat with cheese" phrase. That's just kinda weird. And I say that lovingly. ;)

Kaycee March 4, 2009 at 10:18 AM  

These look awesome. I've always wanted to try making meatballs, but I'm intimidated by them for some reason. Isn't that weird? I wonder if there's a phobia name for that.

Jenn March 4, 2009 at 12:00 PM  

OK, it's my turn to be the moron. What are Panko flakes? Are they a bread crumb or a potato flake or something else altogether?

BTW-love the commentary! Very real, Very Funny!

Michelle March 4, 2009 at 8:01 PM  

Mrs. D Lightful - Welcome! I'm with you (obviously, given my having to take a class to figure this out!) on having not making meatballs well before. Try them - they're not at all hard, and thanks for the update on the rice!

Karen - Yeah, I know. I have food issues. I don't like meat in my spaghetti sauce. I can't do any chicken and cheese combo. I could go on, but I won't scare you more....

Kaycee - If there isn't, there should be a phobia because I was totally intimidated by meatballs before these!

Jennifer - Totally not a moron. Panko is a kind of Japanese breadcrumb. In my mind, kinda like green container parmesean vs a block of Parmesean. They're bigger and lighter and fluffier and taste much better (in my humble opinion). Glad you enjoyed :)

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home March 5, 2009 at 7:58 AM  

I love meatballs like this. Great recipe!

Lana March 5, 2009 at 9:41 AM  

I'm all inspired now! I saw Rachel Ray make meatballs the other day and have been thinking about doing it myself. Thanks for pushing me over the edge! :-)

Anonymous March 5, 2009 at 2:20 PM  

The meatballs look wonderful and the recipe sounds great! Thanks so much for posting this...and I loved the vivid {funny!} details of your meatball making.

Michelle March 5, 2009 at 9:28 PM  

Jerri - Me, too! Try this one and let me know what you think.

Iana - We all need a push. Mine was actually *doing* it and realizing that it's really not so bad. Good luck!

Mary Beth - Hey, cooking is in the details. Even the messy details. You can't cook without love, right?

Angela March 7, 2009 at 2:08 PM  

Yum! Sounds great! You are cracking me up with some of these cheese and meat and food placement issues. But I totally understand because I am a reasonably choosy eater myself (notice I did not say picky... neither one of us is picky, we're just careful!)

I have got to get one of those silpat liners. I have a credit I need to use at Williams Sonoma...Hmmmmm.... I see sil pats in my future!!

Michelle March 7, 2009 at 10:08 PM  

Angela - Ahhh, choosy. I love it! How do you not have a silpat? They rock. I have ummm three. And I use them all! Frequently. Go. Buy. Now.

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