Meatballs from the Mini-Kitchen

I know what you’re thinking. Really? Yet ANOTHER food blog? Do you people really have nothing better to do than take pictures of food? Well, in my case, not really. My favorite hobby is cooking. It’s what I look forward to when I leave my work. What am I going to make tonight?

I can say that, in a way, I am a bit of a food fetishist. Not THAT way, but food can be seductive and sexy. The way that a perfectly cooked scallop melts over your tongue is like music. The buttery richness and fresh sea taste that fills your nose as you breathe in while it sits and melts in your mouth. It’s edible sex…and not in that fruit roll-up panties kind of way.

Now, what I cook isn’t always sexy. Most of it is actually comfort food. But then again, a perfect lemon pound cake can be quite exquisite. My hope with my posts here is to show that delicious, comforting and yes, even sexy food can be made in a small kitchen.

My biggest issue with most cooking shows it that they are always in a perfect culinary world. There are people behind the scenes doing all the chopping, cleaning and all the messiness that we have to deal with on the other side of the TV or computer. There are just some dishes that are NOT achievable in an apartment or tiny kitchen. I’ve had to learn how to cook in a much more scaled down environment, with a limited pantry, refrigerator and counter space. It has not been an easy transition, more on that next time.

Today, we start with a simple recipe. This is a basic meatball recipe that is great for multiple meals. It was adapted from Anne Burrell’s Excellent Meatball Recipe, but altered to use the limited ingredients that I typically have on hand. I hope you take the time to make these little balls of succulent happiness.

Let’s get to it!

Ingredients:

• · 1 ½ tsp of dehydrated onion.
• · Kosher Salt
• · Finely Ground Black Pepper
• · 2 garlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped (or pressed through a garlic press if you want it finer)
• · Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• · 1/2 pound ground beef
• · 1/2 pound ground veal (found in most supermarkets, not really in Wal-Mart) **NOTE: If you don't want to use veal, you can use equal parts sausage and beef to make up the difference. You will, however, be missing out on the moistness and richness the veal provides. No politics here, just facts!**
• · 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage (this can be bought at your local market out of the casing)
• · 2 large eggs
• · 1 cup grated Parmigiano
• · 2 tbls finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
• · 3/4 cup breadcrumbs (if you can make your own and have somewhere to store them, power to you. I had a can of them on hand that it works just fine)
• · 1/2 cup water (plus a little extra for onions)
• · Extra Virgin Olive Oil (for sauté pan)

Hardware:

• · Mixing Bowl (I found a four quart bowl works best)
• · 10” sauté pan
• · Half sheet pan (or any rimmed baking sheet you have on hand)
• · Tongs
• · Paper towel
• · Your Hands (As Alton Brown says, they are the best mixing tools)

Cook Time: About an hour with clean up. 45 min of actual prep and cooking.

How to do it:

1. Rehydrate the onions. Place the dehydrated onions in a small bowl, cup or vessel that you have on hand. Cover the onions with water about a quarter inch. Some will float to the surface but don’t worry, they will re-hydrate too. Let the onions sit for about 10 minutes. Once they start looking like onions again, pour the contents onto a strong paper towel (over the sink, please!) and wring out the excess water. Once they are moist but not soaking, set aside.

2. In the mixing bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley and breadcrumbs. Squish the mixture with your hands until combined. Add the onions, season generously with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands some more. Add the water and do 1 final really good mixing. The mixture should be quite wet.

Test the seasoning of the mix by taking about a tablespoon of the mix, forming a patty and cooking it in the sauté pan. The mixture should taste herby and meaty. If it doesn't it is probably missing salt, add more until you find that perfect blend.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Shape the meat into desired size. I prefer meatballs slightly larger than a golf ball since they are very versatile at this size. Coat the sauté pan with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat (between 5 and 7 on your apartment burner depending on if it runs hot or not). Brown the meatballs on all sides. They will NOT be perfectly round after this, but they will be DELICOUS. Be sure not to crowd the pan, we don’t want to steam them. I tend to only put 5 or 6 meatballs in at a time. Place them on a cookie sheet.

**NOTE this step can be skipped if you have an aversion to frying. They won’t have that golden crust on the outside but they will still taste good! Personally, I love the crust.**

5. Bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through.

Doesn't that look moist and delicious?!

If using right away, add them to your sauce or serving platter. If not using right away, they can be frozen for later use. These portions make about 30-35 meatballs based on the size you want. You can easily double it (especially since the meat is all sold in 1lb units) or wrap up and freeze the other half of each of the meats so that I can make meatballs again in a month or two.

I find that these are perfect for sandwiches. A delicious meatball sandwich can really help you decompress after a stressful day. A little sauce (I always have a jar handy) and melted mozzarella and parmesan on a buttered piece of French bread with 3 or 4 of these little happy nuggets are a lovely supper.

I hope you all enjoy these. See you next time in the tiny kitchen!