Meatballs - The topic

[Huntsman]

My Mom's meatballs were all beef. They were flavored with some red sauce, a generous amount of sauteed onions and peppers, parsley, parmagiano (usually a Grana), an egg, garlic, and oregano. All those things are liquefied in a blender -- that is used to moisten the meat. Then add bread crumbs to bind. S&P to taste, of course. We baked them at 400F on a sheet pan and then add them to the sauce.

~H

 

[Qzar]

I was recently toying around with the concept of Meatballs after finding myself in a situation similar to yours. I remember having made meatballs once or twice before but I still wasn't sure exactly how to go about it and I was beginning to crave a meatball sub.

After going through about 4 batches of meatballs I discovered a method that sort of worked for me. The meat I was using was rather lean, I had it ground at the butcher and I remember having gone a little leaner than I normally would. I had around 4 pounds which I partitioned into four batches of 1 pound each. The first batch I made with just the ground beef, and the results were good but the texture was a little dry. I decided to add half a pound of Italian sausage to the next batches and it improved the meatballs dramatically. I tried regular ground pork for one batch and it wasn't as good, though I think it was because I started out with leaner beef. The flavor of the sausage complemented my meatballs perfectly though so I stuck with it.

For the breadcrumbs I went with panko, since that's what I had on hand. I also used ground up tortilla chips I soaked in milk and then drained (I didn't have enough panko). They worked really well although I had to be careful about the saltiness. I think what you end up using isn't going to have a huge impact on the recipe, but panko seems to work great. I remember using around 1 cup of "breadcrumbs" but I was going mainly for consistency.

I generally found that the perfect meatball came as a result of a low ratio of meat to egg/breadcrumb. I used 2 large eggs for 1.5 pounds of meat. At first It seemed like a lot but the results were significantly better than when I used just one egg for the same amount of meat. They didn't look right when I was making them but they tasted great.

For flavoring agents I went rather conservatively (I was using a really flavorful tomato sauce to cook these in so I didn't need a huge amount of flavor).
2 minced shallots
2 garlic cloves minced and pressed
Little basil chopped fine
Little oregano chopped fine
Salt and Pepper
You can add just about anything to them though and they will turn out fine. I made mexican meatballs for one of the batches by adding homemade chili powder, jalapeno, cumin, and cooked them in a chipotle sauce and they were amazing.

COOKING METHOD:
This was the great discovery: the secret to a perfect meatball is not searing them! I know that going through the searing process adds flavor as a result of the browning but searing will destroy the texture of the meatball. If you drop them in a simmering sauce and leave them there for an hour or so (until the internal temperature reaches around 155 degrees) they will come out perfect and still retain a lot of flavor that they absorb from the sauce. The sauce too also gets a really lovely meaty flavor that I didn't see as pronounced when they were seared. I compared the two methods and really the added flavor from the searing does not make up for the tougher composition as opposed to the absolutely ethereal texture of those that were only cooked in the sauce. Searing works great before braising tougher cuts that contain more collagen but with something as delicate as ground beef, the high heat pulls moisture out of it at an alarming rate.

Spoon those bad boys into some bread and cover with melted cheese and you'll never want to eat anything else ever again.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Qzar

COOKING METHOD:
This was the great discovery: the secret to a perfect meatball is not searing them! I know that going through the searing process adds flavor as a result of the browning but searing will destroy the texture of the meatball. If you drop them in a simmering sauce and leave them there for an hour or so (until the internal temperature reaches around 155 degrees) they will come out perfect and still retain a lot of flavor that they absorb from the sauce. The sauce too also gets a really lovely meaty flavor that I didn't see as pronounced when they were seared. I compared the two methods and really the added flavor from the searing does not make up for the tougher composition as opposed to the absolutely ethereal texture of those that were only cooked in the sauce. Searing works great before braising tougher cuts that contain more collagen but with something as delicate as ground beef, the high heat pulls moisture out of it at an alarming rate.

Spoon those bad boys into some bread and cover with melted cheese and you'll never want to eat anything else ever again.

I like your cooking method. The absolute best meatballs I've had have been cooked in the sauces. Yes, sometimes seared just a bit, but most of the time, they were basically cooked in the sauce. They come out soft and just perfect.

 

[Spatlese]

^ You know, while I still prefer them browned first, I found this unseared way to produce a nice result too. And the funny thing is, I discovered this accidentally: I made a batch once and froze some; when I went to fetch them from the freezer later, I forgot they were still raw and dropped them partially defrosted straight into the sauce (thinking I was just reheating cooked meatballs). It finally dawned on me they were raw, so I turned down the heat and cooked them slowly. Pretty good!

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Spatlese

^ You know, while I still prefer them browned first, I found this unseared way to produce a nice result too. And the funny thing is, I discovered this accidentally: I made a batch once and froze some; when I went to fetch them from the freezer later, I forgot they were still raw and dropped them partially defrosted straight into the sauce (thinking I was just reheating cooked meatballs). It finally dawned on me they were raw, so I turned down the heat and cooked them slowly. Pretty good!

I know exactly what you're going for, and it's so, so good if you're going for something a little more hearty. To me a meatball that has been cooked in the sauce for about an hour is one of the ultimate comfort foods.

The earlier posted to likes to lock things in mentioned Turkey meatballs. I must say, that whole foods sometimes makes particularly scrumptious turkey meatballs.

 

[Dewey]

I blend ingredients when I'm cooking for my children. They have little mouths and do not like "things" in their food. I have blended the onions & herbs & garlic with oil for meatballs and meat loafs I hope they will eat. I never considered blending the meat as well. I will try it, Huntsman.

Some meatballs (swedish?) are boiled, yes? You drop them into broth and "fry"

them in the pan?

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Dewey

I blend ingredients when I'm cooking for my children. They have little mouths and do not like "things" in their food. I have blended the onions & herbs & garlic with oil for meatballs and meat loafs I hope they will eat. I never considered blending the meat as well. I will try it, Huntsman.

Some meatballs (swedish?) are boiled, yes? You drop them into broth and "fry"

them in the pan?

yes that's one way, but you can bake them too. Ultimately they get covered in a thick sauce.

 

[SField]

One of my older friends has kids and they too hate "stuff" in their food. Blending is one of the ways you can make nutritious food without feeding them crap.

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by Dewey

I blend ingredients when I'm cooking for my children. They have little mouths and do not like "things" in their food. I have blended the onions & herbs & garlic with oil for meatballs and meat loafs I hope they will eat. I never considered blending the meat as well. I will try it, Huntsman. Some meatballs (swedish?) are boiled, yes? You drop them into broth and "fry"

them in the pan?
Whoa, sorry I was unclear, Dewey. I don't blend the chopmeat -- I figure its suffered enough. I just blend all the flavorings to extract their essences and distribute it throughout the meat. My parents blended a lot of my meals when I was that age --typically whatever the family was eating. If I didn't like it, then they'd break out the canned muck. They like to regale people with how much I went for veal marsala and fettucini....and with my current interest in food, they created a monster! Be wary of what you're doing ! ~ H

 

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by SField

Sorry, I meant;

When was the last time someone who could read, has all their teeth, and was reproduced from a diverse gene pool flash fried a steak?

In almost every case, frying something, especially meat, is usually to cover up the lesser quality of the cut.

Hmm, well, you've got me there. I was in Germany, and they would take these nice cuts of veal, bread them, and fry them. They called it "schnitzel". They had their teeth, they seemed pretty diverse, although, it seemed that some could not read English. . .

I hear the Italians do something similar.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

Hmm, well, you've got me there. I was in Germany, and they would take these nice cuts of veal, bread them, and fry them. They called it "schnitzel". They had their teeth, they seemed pretty diverse, although, it seemed that some could not read English. . .

I hear the Italians do something similar.

Scallopini is lightly fried as is calamari. My contention with that person was that believed that you have to fry something to "lock in" the flavor, which is an incorrect and stupid assumption. It simply is not how most people make meatballs.

If frying is the way you do something, you do so because you think it tastes good, but don't be dogmatic about it, like there's no other way to do it if the entire world doesn't see it your way.

And I'm sorry, but I think Germans have some of the most barbaric tastes in food besides the Scottish. You can't go to that country without gain 2lbs of fat and retaining another 5 in water weight from the barrels of salt they put in everything. There are many things they've done in high culture that no one can match. Their food isn't one of them. Also, I'm pretty sure that shnitzle is made of pork, 9 times out of 10, but I only lived there for one and a half years so how would I know.

 

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by SField

Also, I'm pretty sure that shnitzle is made of pork, 9 times out of 10, but I only lived there for one and a half years so how would I know.

Well, you did spell it wrong...

Wiener schnitzel is veal. There can be pork schnitzels as well, but, in my experience, the menu indicated it was schwein.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

Well, you did spell it wrong...

Wiener schnitzel is veal. There can be pork schnitzels as well, but, in my experience, the menu indicated it was schwein.

Considering that Wiener just means Viennese, and "wieners" as in what you put int hot dogs, are pork, I think you're wrong. I spent a great deal of my summers in Vienna and most of it was pork. I ate a lot of it (on a broetchen) or with spetzla and a hollandaise.

 

[Lucky7]

Veal & Pork are a MUST add! I don't make them becuase they never taste as good as my mothers. I am a damn good cook, but meatballs I leave to mom.

 

[Davidko19]

holy crap, i swear to god Im making s-ghetti tonight.