Monday, December 15, 2008

I do not know how to make meatballs.

I bought a bag of frozen meatballs last night, and feel a little ashamed about it. But I've never found a meatball recipe that worked for me; they always wind up falling apart when I try to cook them. What's the trick?

Thanks to everyone who checked in over the weekend; I didn't lose power, and my StablIcer ice spikes (another birthday present from Anna and Jen) kept me from falling on the ice. Dizzy didn't seem to mind it at all.

It's supposed to warm up considerably today, so everything will melt before the next round arrives tomorrow.

I have a massive pile of work to finish this week, so posts are likely to be short. Send me your meatball recipes, if you've got any.

4 comments:

Tom Ehrenfeld said...

I don't have a perfect recipe but I believe the important controls are: how tightly you pack the meatball (I believe that you shouldn't pack too densely), how high the oil is you cook em in, and then, of course, getting the right amount of egg and breadcrumb in the mix. Not much help I know.

Karen Olson said...

I used to make my grandmother's Swedish meatballs every Christmas. And then IKEA moved into New Haven and changed everything. IKEA meatballs taste remarkably like my grandmother's. So now I serve those on Christmas Eve instead and no one notices. It's quick and easy, which is what my life demands these days. It's the same reason why I got a fake Christmas tree four years ago. Maybe someday I'll make Swedish meatballs again, but it does take all day. The secret ingredient: mashed potatoes.

Anonymous said...

Here's a link to Cook's Illustrated meatball recipe. Instead of breadcrumbs it uses torn up bread soaked in buttermilk which makes for a very tender meatball!

http://food.yahoo.com/recipes/cooks-illustrated/115084/classic-spaghetti-and-meatballs

-kathleen

Laura Benedict said...

Joy of Cooking--1975 edition I think. Fabulous! Ground pork, ground veal, ground beef. The key is lemon zest. I'll see if I can dig it up!