Ad

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Meatball Mini-Meme... Two Questions...

There are many ways to make a meatball, and many sauces that go with/over said meatball!
The questions today are as easy as usual;
1. What are your favorite ingredients in a meatball?
2. What is your favorite sauce to go along with it?

1. I like a ground beef, pork, veal(or lamb!) combo, bound with fine dry bread crumbs, egg, Worcester sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Basic, and can be expanded with Italian spices and herbs to go one way, or savory herbs to go another.. the veal or lamb "softens" it's consistency, giving it a a juicy texture when eaten..
2. I love many sauces on meatballs; BB-Q, Italian, Brown gravy/Herb, Swedish, Danish, etc... but if I had to go with only one- Danish. It incorporates chix broth, sour cream, dill, and a few other ingredients that make it my favorite!
Teach me something I don't know today about meatballs!

32 comments:

HoodChick said...

I like a spicy BBQ with about a cup of grape jelly. I know, it's strange but grape jelly with the BBQ is great!

Anonymous said...

I think I'm too boring too teach you anything in the meatball department. I love beef meatballs in italian sauces. Part to beat a good meatball sandwhich.

I'm excited to see what others have to say - clearly I need to spice my life up a bit when it comes to food.

Mona said...

Well, I like ground beef or lamb meatballs in curry.

I mix roasted grams powder as binder. I double grind the meat( 1 kg) in a meat grinder till it is a fine paste Then I mix roast gram powder( 2 tablespoonful) ginger paste( One tablespoonful) fried brown onion paste( two tablespoonful) half a teaspoonful of powder of following (black cardamom, green cardamom , cinnamon, black cumin, mace ,nutmeg and pepper) half teaspoonful of coriander powder and one teaspoonful of ground green jalapenos ( optional) and salt to taste.

Then the mixture is shaped into meatballs ( you can (optionally)fill the center with finely chopped onions and chopped parsley) . Then these have to be dropped in the gravy and cooked in the gravy itself. ( note: if you do not want them with gravy, then you can add a teaspoonful of raw papaya paste or some other tenderizer and roast them on skewer or shallow fry them. Then you will get the taste of typical Indian Sheekh Kebabs)

For gravy I pour two tablespoon of oil & fry bay leaves and two chopped onions, till they are transparent. Then I add garlic paste , coriander powder(1 tsp) some red jalapeno powder half a cup of yogurt and salt and fry till the oil and the gravy separates. then I add half a cup of water and bring it to boil. When the mixture is boiling, then I add the meatballs, let it boil for a minute then lower the flame & cover it and let them simmer for half an hour to 45 minutes.

You can serve it with boiled rice or tortillas.

buffalodick said...

Hoodie- Don't ever feel ashamed about grape jelly.. we use it in award winning chili and BB-Q sauce!
K- We all learn when we communicate- got some great cooks who come by here...

buffalodick said...

Mona- Is there nothing you are not an expert in? Everything you say is brilliant! You take a humble meatball and make it King for a Day! If we ever meet, it will be a feast we can sell tickets to!

Christo Gonzales said...

1: I dont think I have ever made them the same way twice but generally they have beef, lamb and pork, some kind of breading, egg, parmesean cheese, salt pepper, whatever herbs strike my fancy and the herbs depend on what kind of sauce I will be using too -dont want to throw tarragon in there without a reason you know...

2: I am not the biggest fan of sweet, ketchupy bar be quey kinds of sauces so those are last on the list...otherwise it has to do with what nationality I am feeling for the day, since I am neurotic and I channel multiple personalities it could be anything. wow I managed to answer quite verbosely and not say anything of value....

buffalodick said...

DogB- Only you, (or me!) could make this easy question into an endless, unresolved discussion

Belle said...

My favourite. Moroccan Meatballs.
Made with lamb, chillies, ground cuming and fresh coriander. Because they are spicy I usually serve them with a sauce made up of passata, chillies, garlic more cumin and creme fraiche. Scrumptious.

Dr Zibbs said...

My Italian In-laws used to make meatballs all the time for sandwiches. Awesome.

Then they stopped because they all have high cholesterol.

Belle said...

Oops that was a Freudian slip. Not cuming! Cumin.

buffalodick said...

Belle- you are pushing my food buttons, and a couple of other buttons to boot!
Doc- Italians proved if you mainline olive oil, you'll be fine..

Akelamalu said...

Well I'm sure you're the master at making meatballs Buff. I only make one kind beef with herbs in Tomato sauce, though I do put honey in the sauce. :)

buffalodick said...

Ake- You crazy woman! Only kidding- tomato sauce, sweetened is a great way to present them!

Tanya Kristine said...

i like the veggie meatballs. sorry. and red or white or combo of the two...danish sounds pretty dang good too!

Marjie said...

I make my meatballs out of straight ground beef, with no fillers. I love Danish sauce on them, too, but the Polynesian meatballs I make for the Superbowl (and made for New Years Eve this year) are really great. Who'd have thought meatballs and pineapple would be terrific together? My great grandfather came from Denmark, so that's how his wife made meatballs, and how his daughter in law (my granny) had to learn to make them for him and his son.

Kate said...

Funny. I've never made meatballs and have been searching recipes for them since last Friday. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm getting there.

CDB said...

I love that Belle corrected herself, since we wouldn't have noticed but instead, dwelled on it!

When in a rush, a great crockpot option: equal parts 7-Up and Ketchup, for Swedish meatballs. I spice it up with BBQ sauce.

Hey, I'm sharing your foodie blog with my moms' club soon!

Jeanne Estridge said...

What is the ratio of lamb to the other meats? Because I made a meatloaf a few months ago & used 1 part ground beef, 1 part ground pork and 1 part ground lamb, and it came out tasting a little gamey. (Old Dog loved it, but he's not exactly a gourmet.)

Heff said...

"Teach me something I don't know today about meatballs" ?

Hell, I don't know, YOU'RE the Chef on this blog.

Um, it hurts when you get kicked in them ?!?

Real Live Lesbian said...

I just love 'em! You make 'em....I'll eat 'em!

Just telling it like it is said...

Your imagination never sec's to amaze me...
I never think that deeply....

Mona said...

And I forgot...You also add one tablespoonful of poppy seed paste to the meat paste mixture. It is a great taste enhancer.

There is another variation. Toy can make them with boiled eggs filling. You coat the half boiled egg with the meatball mixture & drop them in boiling gravy. The cooking time here is lesser ( about 20 minutes).

g-man said...

Mona...Gotta love that girl!
Your recipe' is much like mine Buff, but sometimes I use finely crushed Cheezits instead of bread crumbs, the parmesian-garlic are particularly flavorful.

Odat said...

I do mine with ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, fresh chopped garlic, chopped onions.parm. cheese....just your regular old meatball.......
I do my sauce with chopped tomatoes, (I like the pieces) tomato paste....parsley, oregano.....

I don't like sweet meatballs either....

Peace

buffalodick said...

Tanya- I knew you'd say that! The dill really does help..
Marjie- I found a recipe for them 20 years ago, and I still get compliments..
Kate- The consistency of the meatball means much to me- too soft is disgusting, and too firm reminds me of a rubber ball..
CDB- The variations are endless, and most are great!
Jeanne- equal parts for a softer meatball... lamb has a flavor, while veal tastes like whatever you put on it..
Heff- Everybody has one trick up their sleeve...
RLL- The holidays "meatball" me out for a couple of months!
Darngirl- I think too much, than have to rush to get done!
Mona- That is definitely a new one on me!
G-man- That would work very well!
Odat- Sounds great for an Italian meal!

Angel said...

while I so love meatballs in tomato sauce...I also love meatballs in a rich brown gravy...over noodles. YUM!

HAR said...

Dad was born and raised in Calabria

I watched my Nona and kind of copied her meatballs.

Love to make meatballs, beef, bread,chopped garlic, parm cheese, fresh parsley, water, pepper, fried in olive oil on all sides then put into home made sauce for hours.

Boring but yummy and bad for you

buffalodick said...

Beth- I never seem to use the same sauce two times in a row!
HAR- Sounds like a great meatball!

Chef E said...

I am with Dog- I never make them the same way twice...but yours sound good...

snowelf said...

Aw man... I don't really eat hamburger, so I don't really know much about meatballs... I know I'd sample anything you cooked though. :D

--snow

tavolini said...

okay--have been vegetarian for 12+ years--there is NO good veg substitute for meatballs. I don't care what the recipes say--they're mushy and unforgiving.

Best sauce, hands down, is grape jelly and heinz chile sauce, mixed. It's just perfection, and easy.

AMIT said...

Really nice post written.

Boise real estate