Italian Trilogy Ends with Meatballs.

I like trilogies; the beginning which sets the stage; middle expanding the story; the ending which completes.  I also believe in the number 3; in math it is classified as a real number; in faith, it is a power number.  The Grecian 3 Fates deciding when life will end; The Triple Crossroads of birth, life, death; The Holy Trinity; The 9 Levels of Hell, and the square root of 9 is 3…a perfect number.  I am ending my trilogy with an all-time favorite at any Italian dinner table, meatballs; let me set the stage.

A favorite show on the Food Network Channel is Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"; I find new places to try, but also recipes to try out in my own kitchen.  I like Guy too; he's funny, ridiculous at times, and knows how to draw you in to enjoy the show.  Many of the places he features does Italian food, so I pay particular attention to those, since Italian is one of my favorite cuisines.  One diner owner prepared meatballs, using fresh sliced, white bread soaked in milk as the binder for the meat.    

Growing up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; I learned in my family, and other families, to use bread crumbs, mainly from loaves of Italian bread that had gone stale, ground into fine crumbs and then added to the meat mixture.  In my first marriage, I learned that was the way his family, who were Italian, also did it, so who was I to question the norm?  Then again, I've become a lot more adventurous in the kitchen since those days, and was going to try this other method of bread soaked in milk.  Another reason, where I live now, you cannot find real, authentic Italian bread made with Semolina flour; it's all made with "enriched white flour" which, to me, is basically plain, old white bread.

Instead of the dried Italian seasoned crumbs, I broke up slices of white bread, about 6, and soaked them in 1 cup of milk instead of the 3/4 cup called for in my recipe.  I also increased my Italian seasoning mixture to 1/4 cup.  Adding this to the rest of the ingredients, I found that you had to work the soaked bread into the meat more, making sure to break up any large clumps. Baking time was the same, but I only got 18 meatballs instead of the usual 20; not a big deal though.

After cooking these in sauce came the taste testing; besides hubby and myself, I asked a couple of other folks to try them out against my regularly made meatballs, without telling them which was which.  The conclusion: While the bread soaked in milk meatball had a firmer texture, the overall taste was the same as my original style meatball. Everyone liked both types and would willingly eat both without a problem; they were delicious, they were authentically homemade; not those rubber ones sold in the freezer department of the grocery.  One comment I especially liked was, “These are the most tender meatballs I have ever eaten!” so there you go.

Overall conclusion: it comes down to basically what you grew up on, are comfortable making, and eating.  However, by trying a new idea, I know now, that if I'm out of dried bread crumbs, I can use the milk soaked bread, still get a decent result, and not a disaster.

Here’s my Original Meatball Recipe:

 

Lean ground beef (90% or more) is best for meatballs, since they are finished off cooking in sauce.  If a lesser lean meat is used, the fat would seep into the sauce, making it oily and unappetizing.  The meatballs are first baked in an oven to remove any excess grease.  These meatballs are the typical New York Italian style, about the size of a tennis ball, and while great with a pasta dish, they can also be used for meatball sandwiches (subs, heroes, grinders, or whatever they are called in an area).

Ingredients:

4 lbs. lean ground beef (90% or more)

2 lbs. ground pork (NOT ground breakfast sausage!)
1 ½ cups Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/8 cup Italian seasoning mix
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup diced onion
¾ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray jelly roll pans with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together thoroughly; making sure all dry ingredients are mixed well with wet ingredients.  Form the meat mixture into balls, about 2 ¾” (size of a tennis ball); place on jelly roll pans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake meatballs for 20 minutes; dab on paper towels to remove any grease and immerse into sauce.  Allow meatballs to cook in sauce until sauce is ready; 4-6 hours depending on cooking technique (crock pot or stove top) being used. 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve with pasta, or use meatballs for a sandwich.

Makes about 20 meatballs.

 

Mary Cokenour

 

 

Smoked Sausage in a Burrito! Why Not?

Recently I began my new travel blog, The Southwest Through Wide Brown Eyes, and I've been busy going through hundreds and hundreds of photos.  I try to choose the ones that, once posted, you can actually see what I'm seeing through my eyes; not just a photo of some place, but the emotions behind seeing it for the first time.  Truth be told, I know for a fact that photos never do a breath taking area justice; but one can only try and, at least, get others interested in visiting and discovering for themselves.

The same can be said for my cooking; at one time, cooking Southwestern or Mexican food was not a consideration I'd make.  Oh sure, if there was a Mexican restaurant around, I'd go to it; or make tacos from some store bought, boxed, name brand, but that was the extent of it.  Since moving out to Utah though, I've taken the proverbial bull by the horns and experimented with the cuisine I was afraid to try from scratch.  It's not just about reading a recipe and imitating it; I research the origins of it, just like I do for my travel blog.  There is more to blogging than posting a photo, putting a name on it and saying, "there ya go, find out your own info cause I know nothing".  I can now make some outstanding Southwestern or Mexican food items, like Enchiladas.  I really thought it would be so very hard, filling the tortillas, rolling them, making the sauce and working with the chilies (fresh, roasted or dried and ground; it's not. It's like with any cuisine really, practice and patience win out at the end of it all.  Well except for Asian cuisine, I'm still struggling with that, but I haven't given up.

Anyway, while watching "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives", Guy Fieri visited a hot dog place that did a hot dog burrito; interesting, but I'm still a hot dog purist: spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut on a toasted split top bun.  Then an idea came to me, what if I replaced that hot dog with a smoked sausage of some type, like kielbasa or bratwurst.  I first asked some people what they thought about the idea, and I got a positive push to begin the experiment.

Johnsonville are the brat masters as far as I'm concerned, so I purchased a package of their smoked ones; basically for convenience and time saving. I split them in half lengthwise and let both sides caramelize a bit on a flat top grill. Since I know how good this little invention of mine tastes, you know I'll be trying it out with fresh, right off the barbecue grill, brats next time. The other filling items were chili made with ground beef and red beans, Frito corn chips (the strips, not the scoops), shredded cheese (Sargento Mexican mix) and an authentic homemade Mexican cheese (Queso Casero). The tortillas were fresh flour, 10 inch in diameter; couldn't find any 12 inch, otherwise I would have put two split brats into each burrito. The tortillas must be fresh, they're more flexible and you need that for the folding process.

The Queso Casero is a homemade cheese that can be made from either cow (smoky flavor) or goat (tangy flavor) milk.  It is a semi-soft, mild, white cheese and does not melt rapidly.  If you cannot find it, or prefer a melted cheese, Queso Fresco is an excellent substitute as it's a soft cheese,  easily crumbles, and is more readily available in supermarkets.



In the center of each tortilla, spread out 1/4 cup of cheese; with the Queso Casero I simply pulled it apart with my fingers into little pieces.  Lay the split sausage on top of the cheese.




Spread a 1/2 cup of chili over the sausage, then another 1/4 of cheese.  While the shredded cheese will melt thoroughly during the grilling process, the Queso Casero will keep its firmer texture for the most part.





The final addition is the Frito corn chips, a 1/4 cup should do it up nicely.






Fold the section of tortilla at the short end of the sausage as far as you can, being careful not to pull too tightly.  You don't want to tear the tortilla, or have the corn chips puncture any holes in it.







Now you want to fold the long ends over, again being careful not to tear or puncture the tortilla.  If the short ends stick out, or become loose, gently tuck them back in.   The burritos are now ready for the grill; I'm using a stove top flat top grill (oiled), but an electric is fine, or you might be daring and use a well oiled barbecue grill.


Place the burrito seam side down first; with the fresh tortillas, they are moist enough that you will not have to spread water around the edges to help seal them shut.  Once browned, turn them over and brown the top side; remove to a plate and either cut them in half, or just pick up the whole thing and take that first big bite.

The Smoked Sausage Burrito



Don't be stuck in a rut by cooking only what you know, or only the cuisine of where you live.  Develop a passion for cooking and travel the world by experimenting with the various food items and cuisines.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

A Tale of Two Meatballs.

I have my favorite shows that I watch on Food Network and one such show is Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". Not only do I find places to try, but recipes to try out in my own kitchen. I like Guy too; he's funny, ridiculous at times, and knows how to draw you in to enjoy the show. Many of the places he features does Italian food, so I pay particular attention to those, since Italian is one of my favorite cuisines. I watched as one diner owner prepared meatballs, using sliced bread soaked in milk as the binder for the meat. Funny I thought, I'd heard of this method, but hadn't ever tried it myself; to make that is. If I'd eaten this type of meatball before, I really didn't know as I hadn't thought to ask about it.

Growing up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; I learned in my family, and other families, to use bread crumbs, mainly from loaves of Italian bread that had gone stale, ground into fine crumbs and then added to the meat mixture. After I got married, I learned that was the way my first husband's family, who were Italian, also did it, so who was I to question the norm? Then again, I've become a lot more adventurous in the kitchen since those days, and was going to try this other method of bread soaked in milk.

Back on March 18, 2011, I posted my recipe for Homemade Meatballs, but instead of making you search for it, I'll just repost it today and note what changes I made to try the new way.

Homemade Meatballs

Ingredients:
4 lbs lean ground beef (90% or more)
2 lbs ground pork
1 ½ cups Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/8 cup Italian seasoning mix
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 cup diced onion
¾ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray jelly roll pans with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together thoroughly; making sure all dry ingredients are mixed well with wet ingredients. Form the meat mixture into balls, about 2 ¾” (size of a tennis ball); place on jelly roll pans.

Bake meatballs for 20 minutes; dab on paper towels to remove any grease and immerse into sauce. Allow meatballs to cook in sauce until sauce is ready; 4-6 hours depending on cooking technique being used. Serve with pasta, or use meatballs for a sandwich.

Makes about 20 meatballs.

Out where I live now, you cannot find real, authetic Italian bread made with Semolina flour; it's all made with "enriched white flour" which, to me, is basically plain old white bread.

Instead of the dried Italian seasoned crumbs, I broke up slices of white bread, about 6, and soaked them in 1 cup of milk instead of the 3/4 cup called for in my recipe. I also increased my Italian seasoning mixture to 1/4 cup. Adding this to the rest of the ingredients, I found that you had to work the soaked bread into the meat more, making sure to break up any large clumps. Baking time was the same, but I only got 18 meatballs instead of the usual 20; not a big deal though.

After cooking them in sauce came the taste testing; besides hubby and myself, I asked a couple of other folks to try them out against my regularly made mealballs, without telling them which was which. The conclusion: While the bread soaked in milk meatball had a firmer texture, the overall taste was the same as my original style meatball. Everyone liked both types and would willingly eat both without a problem.

Overall conclusion: it comes down to basically what you grew up on, are comfortable making and eating. At least I know now, that if I'm out of dried bread crumbs, I can use the milk soaked bread and still get a decent result, not a disaster.

Mary Cokenour