55 replies to this topic

[OTB]

I know we have burger topics but I haven't seen any for meatballs per se.

I figured I'd kick this one off. The folks over at Hickoryworks asked me to formulate a dish using two of their products so I came up with a holiday meatball. Part of this is motivated by the fact that I have a superbowl party to attend next month where "balls" is the theme for the dishes.

Here's what I came up with. They were good. Really good.



Hickory Meatballs for the Holidays

[Rail Paul]

I know we have burger topics but I haven't seen any for meatballs per se.

I figured I'd kick this one off. The folks over at Hickoryworks asked me to formulate a dish using two of their products so I came up with a holiday meatball. Part of this is motivated by the fact that I have a superbowl party to attend next month where "balls" is the theme for the dishes.

Here's what I came up with. They were good. Really good.



Hickory Meatballs for the Holidays

The meatballs look good.

I was surprised you used ground turkey as the primary meat. I've found that 1/3 ground sirloin, 1/3 ground veal, and 1/3 ground pork works well as the meat component. Bread crumbs, worcestershire sauce, chopped garlic, chopped peppers, and an egg are the other elements.

I like to pan fry them to get a crisp edge, but I'm sure that would be a pain in the butt for 50 or 100.

[bigbear]

In my late teens, I would come home late at night and eat cold meatballs, in spaghetti sauce, out of the fridge. The next day, my mother would chide me for closing the bars and for killing what she had planned for supper. She always added, "How can you eat cold meatballs anyway?"

Decades later, she admitted to me that she had eventually tried a cold meatball or two and they weren't half-bad.

I still love meatballs.

[Suzanne F]

I know this sounds weird from me, but I was hoping I could find a recipe I developed some years ago for meatballs in honor of the Bush-Cheney ticket (for a potluck). They were part pork, part buffalo, and wrapped in puff pastry and baked after the preliminary cooking.

Mmm, cold meatballs. Just as good as cold meatloaf, but more convenient.

[Daniel]

Looks really nice., Jason..

Suzanne, That reminds me of this Vietnamese Dish which is pork meatballs in puff pastry.

Had a decent version of lion's head meatballs last night at Shanghai Cuisine in Chinatown. And Sicilian Meatballs from Joe's of Avenue U on Saturday Night.. Pine nuts and currants in the meatballs. And I had fish cakes rolled into balls and stuffed with shrimp on Friday night that were interesting.

[Rail Paul]

I know this sounds weird from me, but I was hoping I could find a recipe I developed some years ago for meatballs in honor of the Bush-Cheney ticket (for a potluck). They were part pork, part buffalo, and wrapped in puff pastry and baked after the preliminary cooking.

Mmm, cold meatballs. Just as good as cold meatloaf, but more convenient.

That sounds wonderful, Suzanne.

[OTB]

The meatballs look good.

I was surprised you used ground turkey as the primary meat. I've found that 1/3 ground sirloin, 1/3 ground veal, and 1/3 ground pork works well as the meat component. Bread crumbs, worcestershire sauce, chopped garlic, chopped peppers, and an egg are the other elements.

I like to pan fry them to get a crisp edge, but I'm sure that would be a pain in the butt for 50 or 100.

The meat mixture in this recipe isn't so much as important as the seasonings and the sauce, and the smoked sausage. I picked turkey because its an ingredient that is used in holiday meals and that it cooks "white" which shows off the colors of the peppers, and there are people that don't eat pork. But a pork/veal/beef would work fine if not better. For the party next month I will probably use a regular meatball mix ratio.

[Wilfrid]

I just ate "turducken: meatballs at The Meatball Factory on 14th Street (review forthcoming). Turkey - ahem, LaFrieda turkey - Bell & Evans chicken, and somebody or other's duck confit.

Really surprisingly good.

[bloviatrix]

I've made the lamb meatballs from the Ad-Hoc cookbook a number of times. They contain a small dice of zucchini with preserved lemon and I served them per Keller's suggestion with slow-roasted roma tomatoes. Quite good. Never tried them cold as there are never any left.

[Stone]

Somewhere an Italian grandmother is crying.

[fentona]

Just to make nonna cry some more: I like the frozen meatballs from IKEA. I'll keep a bag of them around for a fast dinner option. With red sauce and spaghetti, even.

[OTB]

Just to make nonna cry some more: I like the frozen meatballs from IKEA. I'll keep a bag of them around for a fast dinner option. With red sauce and spaghetti, even.

As pre-made product they aren't bad. They're good to have in the freezer for quick meals.

Frankly, it's one of the few things that can be used to motivate me to go to an IKEA in the first place.

[OTB]

Somewhere an Italian grandmother is crying.

Italians don't have a monopoly on meatballs. Just about every major food culture I can think of has some form of meatball or meatloaf. Chinese have them, the Spanish have them, Germans, the French, Eastern Europe, Scandanavia, Middle Eastern etc. More so than the hamburger it's an extremely basic food and there are no rules that govern what they should contain.

[SLBunge]

I've made the lamb meatballs from the Ad-Hoc cookbook a number of times. They contain a small dice of zucchini with preserved lemon and I served them per Keller's suggestion with slow-roasted roma tomatoes. Quite good. Never tried them cold as there are never any left.

I don't have that cookbook. Can you post the recipe?

I often use a combination of lamb and pork in my standard "spaghetti and meatball" meatballs. Because of some food allergies with the consumers I have to avoid egg and dairy so the meatballs are essentially just spiced meat. Adding zucchini sounds like a good idea.

Edit: I found the recipe here.

[Wilfrid]

Somewhere an Italian grandmother is crying.

Good. Teach her to make cannonballs stuffed with sodden bread and egg.