meet-balls
Happy Thursday fellow foodies;
I attempted an experiment last night with my Papa's ground deer meat. I didn't have much in the pantry; so I fried up some meatballs, a pot of sauerkraut and some smashed potatoes. I finished it with a brown gravy from the meatball pan.
I din't have eggs OR breadcrumbs. Hence: they were slightly fragile. I fried 3-ata-time and kept the moulded balls in the freezer until I dropped them in the pan. So they didn't collapse completely.
They turned out okay: but I added a bit too much salt/seasoning.
Eaters: Whats' your standard meatball receipe?
Any tips for me? Secrets? Seasoning combos? :D hungrychristel
PS: i love humour as much as anyone; please refrain from throwing the topic in the 'gutter' (if you can LOL)
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16 Comments:
I like to use ricotta or bread soaked in milk to add moisture, along with shallots, garlic, pepper and fresh herbs for flavor. An egg will help keep the balls together, as will rolling each ball lightly in flour before you pan-fry them.
Venison meatballs sound delicious!
A couple of recipes here:
Baked Chorizo and Turkey Meatballs
Veal and Lamb Ricotta Meatballs
bitchincamero at 12:11PM on 09/10/09
Vension meatballs are great - I usually cut venison 1/3 with beef to cut down the gamey-ness factor - the last deer my man bagged was a oldie...... a younger animal would not have produced such strong tasting meat. For regular meatballs I use a recipe I found on the web - I admit it, it contains Onion Soup Mix. It's incredibly quick, tasty and lends itself to meatball subs, spaghetti, swedish, you name it. But for fancy occasions, I use my mom's three meat (beef, pork, veal) meatballs - heavy on the sage. They are heavenly but more time intensive than the aforementioned ones. I shall dig up the recipe this afternoon.
Maureen at 12:23PM on 09/10/09
BTW in future if you are looking for a binder, try oatmeal - run it through the food processor if need be - it works well. I think probably other grain cereals (cream of wheat even?) would work as well if you made sure they were cut small enough that you didn't encounter a "chunk" in the meatball.
Maureen at 12:24PM on 09/10/09
I usually do turkey meatballs with about a pound of ground turkey, one egg, 1/2-1 c breadcrumbs (I go by texture mostly), half an onion or some shallot very finely minced, and lots and lots of dried herbs for flavor, plus a hit or two of olive oil if I need a little moisture. Usually served with vodka sauce and zucchini over spaghetti ... a staple in our recipe rotation.
I grew up on venison, though I haven't had it since I lived with my parents so I don't have any game-specific recipes.
joyyy at 12:34PM on 09/10/09
How strage! I made meatballs last night, too! I made turkey meatballs and I kind of went crazy with the ingredients, so please forgive the long list:
- Fresh parsley
- Parmesan
- 2 eggs
- Panko bread crumbs: half regular, half soaked in milk
- Super finely diced mushrooms, onions, and garlic sauteed in bacon fat and finished off with red pepper flakes and a bit of tomato paste
Ground turkey is basically just mush; it's very difficult to form them into actual meat balls unless you add things to give them texture. Panko, I've found, works best for this.
PumpkinBear at 2:53PM on 09/10/09
My meatballs are made with half ground beef and half pork. MIx in 2-3 eggs, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, panko or regular bread crumbs and my secret ingredient is evaporated milk. Add a little at a time until you have a wet/dry consistency that will stay together enough to brown. When they are browned all over put them into your sauce to meld.
Mine are pretty traditional, but you could use this same mixture with venison.
janaatwg at 4:03PM on 09/10/09
as usual: an abundance of applicable information. Thanks all!
In the future I may try the oatmeal concept (thx maureen-cheers to living with hunters!) to help bind the balls since I dont' usually buy eggs. @bitchincamero: I should have coated them! That would have made them better. @joyy: I grew up on it too but never really cooked it. beef was always a 'treat'. Ive been on a budget lately so I had to use it. I used a ton of fresh oregano and parsley to mask the gameish flavour. @pumpkinbear. weird! great foodie-minds think alike you know!!! I should try the bacon fat idea since i have a stash at the back of the fridge. @janaatwg: evaporated milk eh? like the sweetened stuff? interesting...
hungrychristel at 4:14PM on 09/10/09
When you posted "meet-balls," I thought you were referring to a dance where people could meet one another. But no, you meant "meatballs!" Sorry, I'm a vegetarian.
SavtaShayna at 5:13PM on 09/10/09
hahaha @SavtaShayna I was trying to be clever (obviously poorly executed) about "meeting" your "meatball" recipes and suggestions.
...yea....it was kinda lame. Got your attention tho! :D
hungrychristel at 5:47PM on 09/10/09
Meatballs are a very personal thing. Traditionally I use three meats beef, veal and pork for a big batch use 2 lbs total 2/3 of each meat
ground chuck will do if your are not feeling aventurous.
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs or bread or stale bread or panko
2-3 cloves of garlic finely minced or 1.5 tsp granulated garlic
2 eggs (3 if they are small)
1/4 cup water or milk
1 cup grated cheese of your choice (I use half parm half romano)
I brown these half way and then add them into the sauce to braise
This is the same recipe my grandmother used only I have assigned quantities to it as she never did.
On the milk versus water topic, once you fry them and add them to the sauce it does not matter what the 1/4 cup of liquid to the 2 pounds of meat is. It will not lend any flavor at all. The browning of the meat and the flavor of the tomato sauce will ride right over that like a steamroller.
If you do not believe me make half with milk and half with water and see if you can tell.
JerzeeTomato at 7:05PM on 09/10/09
Evaporated milk, not the sweetened condensed. Sorry that I don't have proportions like @Jerzee has. I am like her grandmother was. Mine would be like a crap shoot where Jerzee's would be more as she intends them to be. My MIL taught me the evaporated milk ingredient and all that I know is that her tasted a lot better than mine and she was a home ec teacher and I was a 19 yr old bride trying to look like a wife:-)
janaatwg at 8:06PM on 09/10/09
i like to add fresh parsley to the @jerzee tomato recipe.... and i toss them in the oven to brown before adding them to the sauce.
i don't think anyone's meatballs would ever taste the same as anyone elses....
and dats what makes the world a beautiful place!
pooch at 9:32PM on 09/10/09
Well, since there is anarchy happening on Facebook about meatballs and the bastardization of them, here it is...
ground beef
ground veal
ground pork (1lb of each)
good romano cheese (and a crapload of it)
1 egg, beaten
4 cloves of fresh garlic, microplaned
chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper
There are no vegetables in meatballs. There are no soup mixes in meatballs. There is no bread/oatmeal/rice/flour/wet bread/elmers glue/spackle in meatballs. Mix it all LIGHTLY. Brown them LIGHTLY. Drop them in BOILING HOT sauce and DO NOT touch them for a half an hour or so before you stir and they wont break apart, hence not needing all those gross fillers.
ChelleyD01 at 9:12AM on 09/11/09
I tend to agree with the above poster. My meatballs are meat any variations of ground meat.... eggs, seasoning. One trick I learned is to be gentle with the rolling part. Nothing will make meat tougher than rolling around and compacting too tightly, A gentle touch, and once rolled place in fridge to "set" before adding them to the pan. Sometimes, I brown them, and sometimes, I drop them into bubbling sauce.
doulamona at 7:12PM on 09/11/09
Y'know, I hate to say it, but even though my mom wasn't (to put it mildly) much of a cook, the meat balls she made with ground beef, garlic salt, ketchup, Italian pre-seasoned bread crumbs, Worcestershire or A1 Sauce, and the occasional chopped carrot or celery were pretty damn good in tomato sauce or on a hoagie roll with ketchup the night after. And that was fried in a skilled, browned on the outside 'till crispy, and soft in the center.
HeartofGlass at 8:38PM on 09/11/09
@heartofglass: I should try to put some A1 in there; thats a crutch of mine that I'm sure I'd adore; thanks for the tip :)
hungrychristel at 10:26AM on 09/14/09