Meatballs

I made meatballs for dinner on Friday night.

No pictures of the meatballs because they actually fell apart while cooking in the sauce. Well, most of them did, and I didn't think it was photo worthy.

I used this recipe found on About.com: Chili Meatballs.

Only I was unable to follow the recipe (as is customary for me - either I'm missing one ingredient or I have too much meat to use, it's always something).

Here is the original recipe. I'll list the recipe again with my modifications.

Ingredients:

* Meatballs:
* 1 pound lean ground beef
* 1/2 pound ground pork, or more ground beef
* 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper, red or green
* 1/4 cup ketchup
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 large egg, slightly beaten
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 3/4 to 1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
* .
* Sauce:
* 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) zesty chili style diced tomatoes
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Preparation:
Line a shallow baking pan with foil. Heat oven to 425°.

Combine the meatball ingredients, adding enough bread crumbs to make a firm mixture. Shape into 1- to 1 1/2-inch meatballs and arrange in one layer in the prepared pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove and turn the meatballs; return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, combine the sauce ingredients in a large saucepan. With a slotted spoon or tongs, add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with hot cooked rice, with freshly baked cornbread and cooked beans on the side, if desired.
Serves 6.


Modified version:

Ingredients:

* Meatballs:
* 2 pounds 9 ounces lean ground beef
* 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
* 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
* 1 medium sized finely chopped red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup tomato sauce
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 large egg, slightly beaten
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups fine bread crumbs (week old break, whole wheat 9 grain style, kind of dried out, freshly ground in food processor)
* lemon zest from two lemons (Kev's addition to the recipe)


* Sauce:
* 1 large can 28 ounce petite diced tomatoes
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 4 cans (8 ounces) tomato sauce
* 1 teaspoon oregano, basil and thyme
* 1 onion chopped
* 5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped

Preparation:
Combine the meatball ingredients, adding enough bread crumbs to make a firm mixture.

Shape into 1- to 1 1/2-inch meatballs.

Fry meatballs in fat of your choice. I used a couple of tablespoons of butter.

Meanwhile, combine the sauce ingredients in a large saucepan, heat until boiling and simmer for 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon or tongs, add the meatballs to the sauce. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

We decided to serve our meatballs and sauce over whole wheat spaghetti. Dh didn't like the sweet taste to the meatballs, which was obviously brought on by the addition of brown sugar which I added to tomato sauce, since I didn't have any ketchup on hand. I used mild chili powder, which to my tastebuds added no "spicy" taste whatsoever. We are refraining from using our hot chili powder since it causes dh to have heartburn during the night.

I also made some delicious garlic butter, and thanks again to Mrs. Datadyne for the fresh garden addition, Italian parsley. Kev brought it home from church at least two weeks ago, and I had not used it yet. But look how fresh and lovely it still looked! I'm sure much due to Mrs. Datadyne having wrapped the parsley in a moist paper towel and then inside a baggie.

Butter topped by seven cloves of garlic put through the garlic press, topped by one tablespoon of finely chopped garden fresh parsley.

The end result. It was delicious.

Until next time.