Melissas Meatballs Food

NORTH AFRICAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• To make the North African Sauce:
• In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion and garlic until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest and olives and cook for 1 more minute. Add the white wine, deglaze the pan, and let it reduce for a 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, canned tomatoes, sugar, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon, and simmer to blend flavors, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• To make the Meatballs: In a medium bowl, add the egg and tomato paste and stir until smooth. Add the cilantro, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon and mix until well blended. Stir in the ground beef and oats, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and combine gently after each addition. Do not overmix. Rolling with your hands, make about 32 meatballs, about 1-inch in diameter.
• In a large saute pan, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat, and brown the meatballs in batches until golden on all sides. Add more oil, as needed. Transfer the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and let simmer for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve over the Couscous with Dried Dates.
• Couscous with Dried Dates:
• Bring the water, stock, and oil to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the dates followed by the couscous. Cover the pan tightly with a lid, remove from the heat, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.
• Yield: 4 servings

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, soak bread crumbs in warm milk while you prepare the onions.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir in onions and a pinch of salt and cook until pale golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer half the onions to a large bowl and set aside.
• Prepare sauce: Add brandy to skillet with onions and ignite with a long match or igniter (or if you're using a gas stove, just swirl pan, brandy should catch fire). Let flame die down, then add the remaining butter, letting it melt. Sprinkle in flour. Sauté until flour browns, about 3 minutes. Whisk in broth, cream and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer, whisking, until reduced to a sauce, about 5 minutes. Add mustard, if you like, and season with more salt, if needed.
• To large bowl with onion, add remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt, soaked bread crumbs, beef, pork, eggs, garlic, pepper, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Roll into 1-inch balls (about 2 tablespoons each), placing them on one or two rimmed baking sheets as you go.
• Heat broiler. Drizzle meatballs with oil. Broil meatballs, switching pans' positions if using more than one so they both get close to the broiler, until well browned all over, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with gravy, garnished with herbs.

MELISSA'S MEATBALLS

Steps:

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
• 2. In a large bowl, combine beef, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, 1/2 C broth, milk, eggs, parsley, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg with a fork or very clean hands. Hint: It's easier and faster to use your hands!
• 3. Using 2 spoons shape meat into balls. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Space meatballs on pan so that they are not touching. Cover bottom of pan with additional beef broth.
• 4. Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer meatballs onto paper towels.

CAJUN MEATBALL STEW

Steps:

• In heavy dutch oven (preferably cast iron or cast aluminum), heat oil over medium high heat. Add flour. Stir, constantly, until flour is dark brown, being very careful not to burn. Flour should be almost the color of chocolate syrup. This is your roux, which is the base of your gravy.
• To the flour mixture, add 2 cups of the chopped onion, 1 cup of the bell pepper and 1/2 cup of the celery. Reduce heat to medium, cooking until onions are transparent. Add enough water or beef broth to fill pot 2/3 of the way. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
• While this is cooking, make meatballs by combining ground chuck, remaining onions, bell pepper, and celery, 2 cloves of the minced garlic, eggs, milk, worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup of the parsley, bread crumbs, and salt and cayenne pepper. Mix well.
• Form into whatever size meatballs you prefer. I like to make mine about 1 1/2 - 2" round. One trick to making tender meatballs is not to pack the meat too firmly. Just form them enough for them to hold together. Also, do not pre-cook the meatballs after rolling.
• Add meatballs to the gravy. DO NOT STIR FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES! Stirring them will break them apart. Cook over medium low heat until gravy is desired consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt and cayenne pepper. Skim as much of the fat as you can off of the top.
• Stir in remaining garlic, parsley, and chopped green onions. Cook for 5 minutes longer.
• Serve over hot cooked rice. I usually serve this with a side of early green peas or corn, and a fruit salad of some kind, such as pineapple, topped with grated cheddar cheese.
• As for the prep and cooking times, I just took a wild guess. Hehe!

CHICKEN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Place the chicken and the bacon on a plate and freeze to chill for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the bread, chili powder, cayenne, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until you have fine bread crumbs. Divide the bread crumbs between two medium bowls. Set one bowl aside and stir the milk into the bread crumbs in the other bowl.
• Add half the chilled chicken and all of the bacon to the food processor and pulse to combine into a rough mixture. Add the milk-and-bread-crumb mixture to the food processor along with the egg, onion, garlic, and Parmesan and process until very well combined (the mixture will be almost creamy). Add the remaining chilled chicken cubes to the food processor and pulse just to combine. The mixture will be semi-smooth with small chunks of chicken. Using a 1-inch small scoop, divide the mixture into about 30 small meatballs. Place the meatballs on a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet and freeze for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the freezer and roll the meatballs through the reserved bread crumbs to lightly and evenly coat the surface. Return the meatballs to the parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the broiler to high. Drizzle the meatballs with the oil and broil until they're cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with Parmesan and the parsley (if using), rest for 5 minutes, and serve.

SKILLET MEATBALLS WITH PEACHES, BASIL AND LIME

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together ginger, garlic, cumin and salt. Add pork, panko and basil. Using your hands, gently mix everything together, making sure not to overwork the mixture. (Otherwise, the meatballs get tough.) Form into 1 1/4-inch balls.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high, then add the oil and let it heat up until it thins out. Add meatballs in one layer. Cook, turning and shaking the pan, until meatballs are browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Pour the wine into the skillet and move meatballs over to one side of the pan, scraping up the browned bits. Add peaches, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons water to the empty side of pan. When peaches are simmering, cover the pan, lower the heat to medium, and let cook until the meatballs are no longer pink at their centers, and the peaches juicy and tender, about 5 to 10 minutes longer.
• Uncover the pan. If the mixture seems too runny, let it cook down for another minute or so. The peaches should break down into a chunky sauce. Hard or unripe peaches may take a few extra minutes.
• Add the onions to the pan and mix them in so they wilt slightly. Squeeze lime juice all over everything, then taste and add salt and lime juice, as needed. Sweeter peaches will need more lime juice, tart ones, less.
• Serve the meatballs sprinkled with more cumin and garnished with torn basil leaves, over the rice or greens.