That's a spicy meatball!

Well, not really spicy persay, but tasty? In the words of Mr. T. : I pity the foo (that doesn't like these meatballs)!

I always wanted to make meatballs. Before we'd always just put ground beef in the sauce and it was quite good, but I wanted something that stood out. I'd never made meatballs, but I'd had them before. Some were good, most were old "family recipies" that just fell too short in the taste area, tasting like cooked meat without spice. So I wanted to make my own, and I did last week!

I took 1 cup Bread Crumbs, 2 Eggs, 1.5 lbs ground Beef, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Garlic powder, 1/2 tsp Pepper.

So after combining the ingredients, I started to work with the greatest tool ever invented for food preperation: the Hand. From there, I combined, by hand, the ingredients until they were all integrated equally. While this was a bit dry, I did add in bits of beef stock as needed, about 1/2 cup or so, it depends on how much moisture your meatballs desire. You're looking for all the bread crumbs to get worked into the meatballs. If you still have some crumbs hanging out in the bowl, use a bit more stock/water until it's worked together.

Once everything is integrated, it's time to roll by hand. I took a decent chunk, about a golfball in size or so and rolled it in my palms until it was roughly round. From there I placed the meatballs in a greased pan. You can use some olive oil, or merely nonstick spray.

I left a decent space between each meatball so they could cook on all sides. I used 2 pans here, as I ran out of room in the first.

Once each pan was lined up, I popped these babys into a preheated oven @ 350 for about 25 minutes.

They came out beautifully, nice and firm on the bottom with a slight crust, fully cooked all the way through. Don't worry, I'll show you next post what I did with them the following day (OMG Yes I waited till the next day to eat them, I still don't know how I resisted!).

1.5 lbs 85/15 Ground Beef (you can use 90/10, I chose a slightly higher fat content for moisture)

1 cup Bread Crumbs 

1/2 cup Beef Stock (varies on how much you'll need)

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 Eggs, beaten

The Meatballs your grandmother made were delicious because of the amount of bread crumbs she used. Meat was a scarcer resource back in the day. Breadcrumbs hold onto moisture, making Meatballs more tender, so don't skimp on the crumbs and add more meat in. 

Combine all above ingredients into a large bowl. Add Beef Stock in at bit at a time until all the bread crumbs are thoroughly mixed in with the meat. This will take about 2-3 minutes of constant kneading and adding stock. You can add more pepper/garlic as your tastes permit. Once combined, pull of about a golf ball sized bit of mix, and roll between your palms. Place in a greased pan with 1/2 inch between each Meatball. Bake in an oven @ 350 for 25 minutes. Don't stir the meatballs! They'll develop a delicious crust on the bottom of the Meatball.

From there the applications are great. Add to a tomato sauce for Meatball subs, add to pasta for mega Meatball pasta. Drizzle with an Alfredo sauce for creamy goodness. I'll show you later how I applied it to a marinara sauce I stumbled into. Enjoy!