Wild Rice Meatballs

Wild Rice Meatballs

(40 meatballs)

Ingredients:

¾ cup Wild Rice

1 ½ cups Water

¼ cup Yellow Onion, finely chopped

1 large clove Fresh Garlic, minced

½ tbsp. Olive Oil

¼ tsp. Salt

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

1 large Fresh Egg, slightly beaten

¼ cup Water

1 lb. Lean Ground Beef (90/10 approximately)

Directions:

In a sauce pan, combine the rice and water (1 ½ c). Bring mixture to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. Rice should be nearly tender when you remove in from the heat and let it rest. In a saute pan over medium heat bring oil to temperature and add the onion. Saute for about 5 minutes or until tender and then add garlic. Continue about 1 minute more or until garlic is fragrant. Put this mixture in a large bowl and add the wild rice, salt, pepper, egg and water (¼ c) before adding the ground beef. Combine well together by hand but don't over mix. Form mixture into 1 inch balls and place (not touching) on a rimmed baking sheet that has been sprayed. Place baking sheet in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until meatballs are no longer pink. Serve as a entree, side dish or snack.

Note: You can change up the amounts in the ingredients for a slightly different taste. Try using a cup of wild rice with 2 cups of water. A ½ cup of onion and/or 2 cloves of garlic gives a different flavor too.

Note:  Use a number 50 scoop to make the meatballs and you'll get around 40 meatballs.

Ideas for Future Efforts

Meatballs II (meatballs continued)

Last week I started talking "Meatballs" and gave a couple of recipes.  This week I want to continue on the meatball theme.

I have always considered any type of meatball to be comfort food.  But really they're more than just that. Besides just having them as part of your entree.  They can be much more diverse.  Meatballs make a great snack item or buffet dish.  The size can go from small to large and thus change their function.

Back in the 70's I lived in Colorado.  At that time there was a small town a few miles outside of Boulder called Louisville.  They had 5 (if I remember correctly) family Italian restaurants.  All made homemade pasta and incredible meatballs.  At my favorite, if you ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, you received only one. But it was the size of a baseball.  Maybe between a hardball and a softball in size.

I've been to and even catered parties that the meatballs were less than an inch in diameter.  Of course the guests going through the line never took just one.  And I've seen them in every size in between too.  That's part of the fun with meatballs.  You can do so many things with them.

One thing is to use different sauces to coat them.  Some ideas there are sweet & sour, sweet & spicy, teriyaki glazed, BBQ, oriental sesame, a Mexican type sauce, a cranberry holiday sauce and even different types of gravy.  You could even bread the meatballs if you wanted.  Last week, the "Ham Balls" came with a sauce and the "Turkey & Bleu Cheese Meatballs" did not.

Meatballs can be cooked several different ways too.  Most people either bake their meatballs in the oven or in a skillet on top of the stove.  But you can also deep fry meatballs.  You could even grill them outdoors over charcoal.

Different types of protein, various sizes, with or without sauces and a number of ways to cook them, who could ask for a more flexible food to eat?  And I've probably haven't even mentioned the half of it.

Thursday, the recipe is for "Swedish Meatballs" and they come in a gravy type sauce.  Tomorrow's recipe is for "Wild Rice Meatballs" and they don't have a sauce but could.

There are a few other recipes on this blog too. Here are links to them; Meatballs (with Potato) and Italian Meatball Burgers.

I hope you enjoy trying some of the meatball recipes and maybe even create one of your own.  Until next week "Happy Cooking."

Turkey & Bleu Cheese Balls

Turkey & Bleu Cheese Balls

(8 balls)

Ingredients:

4 cloves Fresh Garlic

½ medium Yellow Onion, chopped

2 medium Jalapeno Peppers, halved & seeded

1 lb. Ground Turkey

3 tbsp. Bleu Cheese Crumbles

½ cup Plain Bread Crumbs

3 fresh Egg Whites

3 tbsp. Olive Oil

1 ½ tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 tbsp. Dried Parsley

1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning

1 tsp. Black Pepper

1 tsp. Chili Powder

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse the garlic until minced. Add the onion and pepper and pulse again until minced. Scrape the onion mixture into a large mixing bowl. Next add the turkey, cheese, bread crumbs, egg whites and oil. Mix well and then add the soy sauce,parsley, Italian seasoning, black pepper and chili powder. Mix again and form into 8 equally sized balls. Place the balls on a foil lined rimmed baking pan that has been sprayed. Put into a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until golden and have an internal temperature of 160. Remove and let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Note: You can exclude the Jalapeno peppers if heat is not your game.

Ideas for Future Efforts

Ham Balls

Ham Balls

(18 balls)

Ingredients:

1 ¾ lb. Ground Ham

¾ lb. Ground Beef

2 Fresh Eggs, beaten

1 cup Milk

1 ½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

1 (10 ¾ oz.) can Tomato Soup

1 ¼ cup Brown Sugar, packed

½ tsp. Prepared Mustard

Directions:

In a large bowl mix the first 5 ingredients well. Using a 1/3 cup, fill level with mixture and form into a ball. Place the balls in a 9x13 baking dish. Whisk together the soup, sugar and mustard. Pour this mixture over the balls and bake for 1 hour in a pre-heated 325 degree oven. Bast the balls frequently with the sauce during the baking. The ham balls should have an internal temperature of 160 before removing from oven. Let sit 15 minutes before serving.

Note: You can use a different sauce if this one doesn't meet your tastes.

Ideas for Future Efforts

More Than the Traditional Meatball

I believe that most people when they think of "meatballs", think Italian food.  Those traditional dishes of "Spaghetti & Meatballs" or "Meatball Sub Sandwiches".  But there are many different types of meatballs throughout the world.

Going back to the "Italian" type meatballs.  Everyone makes them differently too.  Chefs, professional cooks and even home cooks will use a variety of different meats to make their Italian meatballs.  They will use just one type of meat or some combination of meats to produce their favorite meatball.

Some of the most common meats used are ground beef, ground pork, ground veal and ground turkey.  But you will find people using ground lamb, ground chicken and even ground buffalo today.  They will also use other exotic meats.

You will find eggs and different kinds of bread (crumbs or pieces) to help bind the meatballs together.  The use of spices help to create all those different flavors and styles of meatballs.  A fun fact is that meatballs are easy to make and hard to screw up.  Just don't burn them.

Besides the meatballs, there is usually (but not always) a sauce that goes with them.  The Italian ones have a tomato based sauce mostly.  But you will find BBQ sauces, Asian sauces and different gravies offered with meatballs too.

Even for meatballs today.  Let's look at what recipes are coming up this week.

Tomorrow's recipe even uses a meat not already mentioned, ground ham.  That's right, tomorrow's recipe is for "Ham Balls" and although that may sound a little strange, they are very tasty.  I'm going to say they're a Midwest thing.  I've really only run across them in Iowa and Missouri.  I'm sure there are other states where they are popular.  Guessing most hog producing states make them in some fashion.  They are truly worth trying.

Then on Thursday, I have "Turkey & Bleu Cheese Meatballs" for you.  They consider these a little more healthy because you are using turkey.  I like them because they are using Bleu cheese.  The ham balls recipe above needs the meats stated in the recipe.  But in this one you could use a different type of meat if you wish.

I'm going to continue next week with some more "meatball" recipes and talk.  That's because there are so many different types.  In the meantime, "Happy Cooking" until next week.

Pecan Bread

Pecan Bread

(2 loaves)

Ingredients:

½ lb. (2-sticks) Unsalted Butter

2 ½ cups Sugar

4 large Fresh Eggs

1 cup Sour Cream

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 ½ tsp. Baking Soda

1 cup Pecans, chopped

Directions:

In a large bowl, blend the butter and sugar together. Now start adding the eggs, sour cream and vanilla into the mixture. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda together before starting to add to the wet mixture. Once flour is just incorporated, add the nuts. Mix in nuts carefully and don't over mix. Pour batter into two 5x9 loaf pans that have been greased and floured. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Note: To grease and flour the pan (glass or metal) use butter or oil. Use enough to coat the insides of pan without excess. Sprinkle a little flour into pan and shake to coat sides and bottom of pan. Knock out any excess before filling with batter.

Ideas for Future Efforts

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread

(2 loaves)

Ingredients:

3 cups Sugar

3 cusp All-Purpose Flour

½ tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Baking Soda

½ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Grounded Cinnamon

1 tsp. Grounded Nutmeg

1 cup Canola Oil

1 cup Water

4 large Fresh Eggs

1 (15 oz.) can Pumpkin

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

! cup Walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (first 7) and in another bowl the wet ingredients (next 5). Now combine the dry into the wet bowl and mix until just combined. Add the nuts and mix just enough to incorporate. Pour into two 5x9 loaf pan that has been greased and floured. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to1 hour or toothpick comes out clean.

Note: To grease and flour the pan (glass or metal) use butter or oil. Use enough to coat the insides of pan without excess. Sprinkle a little flour into pan and shake to coat sides and bottom of pan. Knock out any excess before filling with batter.

Ideas for Future Efforts