The Twitchin Kitchen - Beef

Capri Style Burgers

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:45:18 -0500

This recipe on how to prepare the ground beef is now my "go to" for making burgers
I would like to thank my friend Rob-A-Lou for this one!
BEWARE: there is a lot of garlic in here!

*you will need a hand (stick) mixer for this as it fits nicely in the measuring cup you'll need for the "secret ingredients". 2 cup size is perfect for this.
*warning! this is very garlicky - don't breathe near anyone for a month! (just kidding about the month.)

Ingredients:

3 pounds ground beef. The leaner the better!
1 shallot - a little on the large size
1 whole bulb of garlic. Make sure it's fresh!
salt & pepper to taste
Buns - I like the Brioche style
tomato slices
FRESH (wet) mozzarella
FRESH basil leaves
Balsamic glaze

Grab your measuring cup and we'll use this to make the secret ingredients for the meat.
Peel ALL the cloves of garlic in that bulb and put in that measuring cup.
Peel and cut the shallot into the measuring cup.
Add some salt and pepper
Now take that stick mixer and use the low setting first and start blending that, once it's a little more broken down, turn it up on high and blend that until it's nearly a liquid like goop.

In a big bowl, put the chop meat and this mixture and mix it all, by hand until completely blended nicely.
Make burger patties and cook 'em up!
While they are cooking, slice up your tomato and mozzarella.
Take the largest basil leaves you can find and take off the stem.
Put the mozzarella on top of the burgers for a few minutes until they melt when you are almost ready to call them done.
Drizzle balsamic glaze on the top and bottom bun.
Build your burger - Burger, tomato, basil - cheese is already there.

Enjoy!

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Shepherd's Pie

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 19:10:53 -0400

It's cold and rainy out, you want something more than some soup and it must be tasty!
How about some comfort food?

Shepherd's Pie

ingredients:

*pre heat your oven to 350º F

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion finely chopped
dash of pepper
1 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
4-5 potatoes boiled (I used 3 large baking potatoes for this)
1-2 Tbsp butter
milk to thin the potatoes
salt & pepper to taste

1- for the filling:
brown the meat and onion in a frying pan, seasoning with the salt and pepper.
Add the beef broth, worcestershire sauce and cook for 5 minutes
Add the 2 Tbsp butter to the pan and let it melt.
Stir it all together
Add the flour gradually as you stir so it thickens to a gravy consistency
Add the frozen veggies, stir and cook for 5 minutes

2- potato topping:

Peel and cut up the potatoes and put them in a pot of boiling water
When potatoes are soft enough to mash, drain the water out and add some butter and milk and mash those up until they are a creamy consistency.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Put the mean into a 2" deep baking dish and top with the mashed potatoes.

Bake for 30 minutes until the top is brown and the pie is heated through.

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Halupkies

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:17:00 -0400

This dish is Polish in origin and is VERY popular in the Pennsylvania coal region.

Halupkies (Stuffed cabbage rolls)

1 head of cabbage (about 3 lbs)
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tspn pepper
1 can stewed tomatoes (or substitute Campbell's tomato soup)
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp shortening

Cut cabbage deeply around core to loosen leaves. Boil the cabbage leaves about 5 minutes and set aside to drain. In a skillet, add ground meats, onions, shortening, salt and pepper, and fry slowly for about 15 minutes. Wash rice, drain, add to meat and mix well.

Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center of a cabbage leaf and roll. Place rolls side by side in pot. Pour tomatoes over top and add enough water to cover 3/4. Add another tbsp salt and pepper. Cook 1 and 1/2 hours.

Also called "galumpkies". An Americanized name is "blind pigeons".

Butter Beans and Steak

Mon, 11 May 2009 14:39:07 -0400

OK here is my version of the Grill Sergeants recipe I told you I was going to try.

Butter Beans and Steak

Ingredients:

1 lb lean steak cut in bite sized strips - I used fillet mignon for this as it stays the tenderest. Just get a GOOD cut of steak and make sure it's tender!
2 15 oz cans butter beans - drained
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 Tbsp cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Stinky Italian cheese - I like to use grated Pecorino Romano

Saute the meat in a skillet in the oil. Set the meat aside, leaving the juices and oil in the pan.

Now saute the onions, pepper, garlic, and celery until they start to soften. Throw in both cans of beans, mix in the meat and let this all blend in for a couple minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Put in serving dishes and sprinkle cheese on top.

Now if you go to the Grill Sergeants page like I have in this topic ( click me ) he gives different directions on making this dish.
The above is exactly how I watched him do it live on TV and I think I prefer this way.

Serve with a salad.

Here's a picture of my dish while it's still in the pan. yummmmm

Butter beans and steak.jpg (Size: 67.21 KB / Downloads: 9) <-- click for full size.

Pot Pies

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:32:04 -0400

:united states:
Pot pie is one of my favorite winter foods. It's all the goodness of a stew and bread all at the same time in one big bowl. No need to serve with bread or rolls because you have the bread built right in!

You can make this like I do in one big bowl and serve out of it or you can make it in small individual servings so everyone can have their own 'pie' for themselves.

Sometimes stocking up on those small tin foil pans is a great option for this.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Make yourself either chicken, beef or turkey stew.

Make a pie crust for the top and bottom of the dish.
I cheat, I buy the Jiffy pie crust mixes for this. Just follow the box directions for a two crust pie. You might need to use two if you are using a very big bowl for a large family.

Line your 'pot' or individual little bowls bottom with the crust, let some overhang about an inch. fill each one with your stew and leave about 1/2 inch from the top to prevent overflow.

Put the tops of the crusts on and fold the overhang with the top and pinch shut like you would do a pie. Vent the top by poking a few holes in the middle.

Place on a baking sheet and place in oven to cook until the crusts are golden browned and filling is bubbly.

Serve and enjoy!

Swedish Meatballs ~ Sweden

Thu, 29 May 2008 14:10:51 -0400

Who knew how easy these are to make! I make them all the time now. )

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground lean pork
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp snipped parsley
2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup salad oil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt *yes again
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp pepper *yes again
2 cups water
3/4 cup sour cream

Mix thoroughly the beef, pork onion and bread crumbs, parsley, 2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, the Worcestershire sauce, egg and milk. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Shape the mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls into small balls. Set the balls aside.
In a large skillet heat the oil and then brown the meatballs in this until they are all nicely browned evenly on all sides. Set meatballs aside keeping warm. DO NOT drain the oil!

Blend flour, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper into the oil in the skillet. Cook over low heat stirring until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the water,scraping the 'flavor' off the bottom. Heat to boiling stirring constantly. Boil and stir for one minute more. Reduce heat and gradually stir in the sour cream mixing with a whisk until smooth.

Add the meatballs, cover and simmer on VERY LOW until the meatballs are heated through.

Serve with Lingonberry jelly on the side.

Note: Currant jelly or beach plumb jelly can be substituted if you cannot find Lingonberry jelly!

Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

Thu, 01 May 2008 18:52:34 -0400

This was probably made on the plains by the 'cookie' on a chuck wagon using buffalo. They probably thought of this way of cooking buffalo steaks as something 'different or creative' to do with the 'meals on wheels' of the day.

If you can get good buffalo steaks, pound them well and thin for this but for this recipe we're going to use cube steaks.

Chicken-Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

Ingredients:

4 cube steaks, around 5 oz each OR 4 small round steaks pounded real thin (use buffalo if you can get some!)
1 cup flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup oil for frying
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste * I like lots of pepper on mine!

Season the flour with salt and pepper.
Dredge the meat in the flour mixture. Set aside on a plate.
Mix the egg with 1/2 cup milk. Dip the floured meat into the milk mixture and then into the flour again.

Pan fry the meat in a large heavy cast iron skillet in the oil. Brown on both sides and remove from the pain to drain on paper toweling. Keep warm on a serving platter in a warm oven.

Drain all the remaining fat from the pan except 2 Tbsp. Stir 2 Tbsp of the seasoned flour mixture and scrape the bottom of the pane carefully so that you remove all that lovely brown 'goodness' left over from frying that meat.

Using a wire whisk, in this same pan, stir in the rest of the milk and stir over medium heat until this makes a nice thick gravy. If the gravy becomes too thick, simply add a bit of milk to thin it down.

Taste the gravy for salt and pepper and adjust accordingly.
Serve the gravy over the meat you have keeping warm in the oven.

This goes wonderful with mashed potatoes, corn, a green salad and Cranberry Orange Relish!

Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:23:57 -0400

This dish has many names and the most recognizable is the colorful "Shit on a Shingle" as immortalized by the U.S. Army.
Originally made popular by the Pennsylvania Dutch, it makes a great change for breakfast fare.
There are allot of 'closet SOS' eaters out there and you can still see SOS on many truck stop menus across the country today!

Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp chopped yellow onion
2 cups hot milk
1/2 pound dried chipped beef
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Black pepper freshly ground to taste
Tabasco (optional)
1 Tbsp dry sherry

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the yellow onion until the onion is clear. Stir in the flour with a wire whisk and then add the hot milk while whisking until the mixture thickens.

Once thick, add the remaining ingredients and heat up for a moment.
Serve over toast.

Twitchy's Out of this World Beef Stew

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:45:15 -0400

This is a basic stew recipe but with my own twist. If you're eating stew out of a can (blasphemy!) you really ought to try making it yourself. It's so easy and most times you have the ingredients in the house already except for the meat! It'll taste much better too!

Twitchy's Out of this World Beef Stew

Note: all ingredients are measured by 'eye' or 'pot size'. I kind of 'wing it' when I make stew! Try to leave your pieces of food as big as possible for the best flavor but not so big you can't pop it in your mouth comfortably.

Ingredients:

2 pounds or so of stewing meat cut into bite sized cubes
3 - 4 med sized potatoes, skins on, cut into big bites sized chunks (white potatoes hold up nicely without breaking down)
3 Celery stalks - cut into bite size chunks
4 or so carrots, washed, SKIN ON, cut into bite size chunks
Two large onions
Flour
Butter
Salt & pepper
Worcesterchire sauce
Bay leaves
Enough beef broth (or water) to cover all ingredients and then another inch or so more extra above.
beef boullion if you don't use stock or broth. About 6 - 8 cubes or spoonfuls
Frozen peas
Frozen green beans

Chop and prepare all your vegetables except one onion and put them aside in a bowl.
Save the frozen peas and beans until the very end.
Take one of the onions and cut into slices. Put aside.
Cube your meat.

Take a cup of flour and put it in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. I like to use allot of pepper. The flour should look a little like it has fleas from the pepper.

Toss in the meat chunks and coat each with flour lightly.

Heat a BIG pot and throw in some butter or olive oil, not much, just enough to keep the meat from sticking.

Toss in the meat and onion you just sliced up. Keep these moving and brown the meat. You want to do this on a HOT temperature and do the browning FAST. Like wok style.
Let that gunk on the bottom that builds stay there!

Once the meat is nice and brown and you got some good gunk on the bottom, take out the meat and onions and put them aside a minute.

Take about 1/3 cup of the broth and use it to deglaze the pan while it's still hot. Loosen up all that good gunk! It's your flavor and it's wonderful.

Now, toss in all the rest of your veggies and the meat you just took out, fill with broth to cover and add more to keep the liquid about 1 -2 inches above the food. You want to be able to stir this as it cooks easily.
Use a pot big enough so the food is not crowded in there.

Toss in your bay leaves, more salt and pepper if you wish and let this boil SLOWLY until the potatoes are tender. Throw in like 10 good shakes of the Worcestershire sauce as well.

When the potatoes are tender you can now call it almost done. Toss in a fistful of peas and a fistfull of beans and let them simmer while you prepare your roux for thickening the stew.

In a separate pan, put equal amounts of flour and butter. Usually I use 6 Tbsp each.
Let this blend on a low flame and let it 'cook' a bit till it turns a little brown. This gives so much flavor to your stew too. The more you let the roux brown, the more flavorful it is. Just don't over-do it!

Now, once this is done, VERY SLOWLY add this to your stew pot and keep the liquid moving as you add. Add a little at a time until it's thick enough! Don't toss it all in at once or it can become too lumpy or too thick.

Serve hot with nice rolls on the side and a garden salad.
This batch should make enough for dinner, leftover dinner the next night and lunch in between!
Leftover stew tastes better the next day too!

Cattle Cutters Jerky Recipe ~ * beef jerky

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:18:26 -0400

one Bottle of Liquid Smoke
One Bottle Of Worchestershire
one Bottle Of Terriaki sauce
One 4 oz Season Salt
One Bottle Of Tabasco Sauce
One Bottle Of Garlic Powder
2 lb Brown Sugar

Add 5 lb Of meat of choice , Mix All Ingreadients First. Then Place the Mix in a bucket with a lid , then add the meat. Let the mix soak in the bucket for 24-48 hours , ad to our dehydrater to desired temp.

this recipe was submitted by Paul "Cattle cutter" Patton

Bistecca Al Giambotta ~ Italy

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:23:43 -0400

Bistecca Al Giambotta

Bistecca Al Giambotta is a classic Italian-American dish that translates (very loosely) into English to "seared steak with braised vegetables." Though ribeye is used in this recipe, any fine quality beef steak can be used.

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce rib-eye steak
1 Spanish onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup red-wine vinaigrette
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup veal stock demi-glace

Start by trimming excess fat from the ribeye. Prepare the vegetables by chopping into small pieces.

Use a small iron skillet to heat the olive oil then add the onions and sauté until translucent. Next, add the remaining vegetables, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for ten minutes, stirring often.

Remove the cover and add the steak. Continue to cook the vegetables until they are tender and no cooking liquid remains in the skillet (about 10 more minutes). Add the red wine vinaigrette and veal demi-glace to the pan. Blend and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Finish cooking on a low flame for another 5 minutes, then serve hot.

(Veal stock demi-glace can be purchased in the form of a condensed paste from some supermarkets and most specialty markets. It is also available from several online sources. Red-wine vinaigrette can be store-bought or, preferably, home-made from olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper.)

Twitchy's Chili

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:57:02 -0400

Chili is not really a Mexican dish as we are lead to believe but more a Tex-Mex concoction.
Chili Con Carne is not what this is but Chili comes unique to America and there are so many variations of it. It's revered across the country so much that there is a traveling national Chili Cook-off that is widely popular! I even participated in one once with my green chili!

Twitchy's Chili

Calories: 568 per cup
without beans: 486

Ingredients:
2 pounds chop meat
5 strips bacon
1 onion - chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can red kidney beans - optional
2 cans (give or take) of tomato sauce (not home made pasta sauce, but the cheap junk in cans)
chili powder
oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Brown the chopped meat in a heavy pan until it's brown. Remove and drain the fat.

Brown the bacon in the bottom of a heavy pot until it's crispy. remove and crumble a bit. Don't toss the bacon grease!

saute onions in bacon grease until translucent, toss in the garlic for a bit.

When onions and garlic are translucent, toss in the meat, let it cook and blend for about 3 minutes. Add the beans, don't toss the bean water! Toss it in with the meat and beans.

Add tomato sauce, a little at a time until the meat is covered by sauce. Add more to your liking. We keep the sauce on the less abundant side making for a 'thicker' less watery chili.

Let this cook for about 15 minutes and then add chili powder and oregano. This is to taste. We usually toss in a good healthy 5 tablespoons or so of chili powder and a good 'shake' of oregano.
If you're making this the first time, go easy on the chili powder and you can add more as you cook it. The chili powder will get stronger the longer it cooks. So I suggest starting with 3 tablespoons and cooking a while and then add more if you like.

Cook now on med-low heat for at least half an hour. Adding more chili powder as needed/desired. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes.

Serve over rice or elbow macaroni, top with cheese if you like and put some crackers on the side.

Enjoy!

Variation:
Substitute ground chicken instead of beef.
Calories:
294 with beans per cup
without beans: 117 per cup

Moussaka ~ Greece

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:02:40 -0400

Although this is native to Cyprus, this dish can be found in every Greek recipe book and the recipe rarely varies. Cyprus is also part of Greece so I stuck this here.

Moussaka
Cyprus

1 pound eggplant, unpeeled
1 pound zucchini, unpeeled
1 pound potatoes, peeled
salt

meat sauce

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pounds ground beef or lamb
1 1/2 cups tomato puree
1/4 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Bechamel Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper
salt
2 eggs lightly beaten

Cut eggplant into slices 1/4 inch wide. Place in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 mins. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Cut zucchini lengthwise, slice potatoes and zucchini the same width as eggplant.

In a large frying pan over high heat, pour in olive oil to cover the base of the pan. Beginning with potatoes and ending with eggplant, fry vegetables until lightly browned. Add more oil as needed.. Drain vegetables on paper towels.

To make meat sauce, cook onion in the same pan over medium-low heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for a few seconds. Add ground beef or lamb and cook over high heat, stirring often, until the color changes. Add tomato puree, wine, parsley, sugar & cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

For Bechamel sauce, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour an cook for 2 minutes; do not allow to brown. Add milk all at once, stirring constantly, until milk comes to a boil. If sauce is lumpy, stir with a balloon whisk. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Stir in nutmeg, 1 tablespoon cheese and salt & pepper to taste. Cover surface of sauce with plastic wrap if not using immediately.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potato in a layer in the bottom of a greased 10 inch x 13 inch baking pan. Spread with half the meat sauce and top with zucchini slices. Spread remaining meat sauce on top and cover with eggplant slices.

Stir eggs into bechamel sauce. Pour over eggplant, spreading evenly. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. Bake until tops are golden brown, about 50 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

serves: 6
cooking time: 2 hours

Twitchy's Tasty Meatloaf

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:26:35 -0400

I hate meat loaf! But what do you do to fancy up chopped meat when you're on a budget, and have only this in the house for meat? Meat loaf of course! But mine's much tastier than any you all have made or had, I'm sure of it!

Twitchy's Meat Loaf

Ingredients:
2 pounds chopped meat
1 large onion - chopped
1 onion - sliced (reserve for cooking - don't mix in meat!)
1 clove garlic - crushed
teaspoon crushed rosemary
small handful oregano
very small handful salt
pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (more or less to your taste)
4 eggs
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Light olive oil for frying - not too much, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan
*option - handful or so of pine nuts*

In a large bowl, mix meat, 2 eggs, garlic, onions, oregano, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce until it's all mixed together well. Make a 'dent' in the center and toss in a good amount of bread crumbs. Mix well. Add another egg, more bread crumbs and adjust until this all comes to a nice workable consistency. It should be dry, not slimy from the eggs, and be able to hold a shape, kind of like a meatball. Keep adding bread crumbs or eggs until you find the right consistency.

Divide the mixture into 4 even lumps and shape each one into an oval meatball that's a little on the 'flat' side. Not too round, as you want it to stay put in the pan!

Take out a large heavy fry pan that you can put a lid on. Heat up the olive oil and place the small mini loaves you just made in to brown. Brown them on all sides until you get a nice rich brown coloring on each.

Lower the heat and slowly add water to the pan, deglazing it and just enough to cover the bottom of the meat, about an inch or so - the sliced onions, over the tops of the mini loaves and cover.
Let simmer for a good 45 mins or so, until they are done.

Serve each individual loaf for each person.
Side dishes to your choosing.

cheat hint: If you misjudge your cooking time and your little loaves are not quite done in the center, you can microwave them for one or two minutes to cook the centers to well done. This will no way take away from the texture or flavor because you already infused the meat by cooking it on the stovetop first!

Classic Beef Stroganoff ~ Germany

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:13:05 -0400

Classic Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 pound beef tenderloin Or sirloin steak about 1/2 inch thick
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 medium onion, minced, (about 1/2 cup)
10 1/2 ounces beef broth
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 crushed clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup sour cream
3 - 4 cups hot cooked egg noodles (we use extra wide size)

Cut meat across the grain into 1/2 inch strips, about 1 1/2 inches long.
Melt butter in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender then remove from the skillet.

In the same skillet, cook meat until light brown. Reserve 1/3 cup of the broth, stir in the rest of the broth, ketchup, garlic & salt. Cover & simmer for about 15 mins.

Blend the reserved 1/3 cup of broth and flour, stir into meat mixture. Add mushrooms and onions. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Reduce heat. Stir in sour cream, heat till just evenly hot all over.

Serve over noodles.
4 servings

Chop meat variation: You can use chopped meat instead of steak. Simply brown about a pound or so of lean chopped meat, making sure to keep it in large-ish chunks. Don't let the meat crumble into fine pieces.

We use this variation if we don't have steak in the house.

Highland Meatballs with Mustard and Whiskey Sauce ~ Scotland

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:06:18 -0400

I found this recipe on another site. I forget where but I thought it sounded interesting to say the least. I've never had the opportunity to make this and I'm hoping someone does and lets us all know how it is!
The place I got it from said nothing about it's ethnicity so from the name, ingredients and preparation I'm going to be so bold as to say it's Scottish!
If anyone knows it's origins, please feel free to let me know and I'll make the proper corrections.

Highland Meatballs with Mustard and Whiskey Sauce

For the Meatballs:
4 slices packaged white bread, crustless and crumbled
1/2 cup milk for soaking
1 large egg
3/4 teaspoon dried Thyme
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 cup finely diced onion cooked in 1 tablespoon oil until soft
1 3/4 pounds ground beef chuck, chicken or turkey (If you substitute ground turkey or chicken, then season the poultry mix with thyme and sage and omit the coriander)
Salt and freshly ground black Pepper
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs for coating

For the Sauce:
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 clove garlic, minced
20 ounces white mushrooms, stems removed, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup Scotch whiskey
1/4 cup coarse-grain Mustard
2 tablespoons flour
2 1/4 cups beef Stock
1 bay leaf

For the Vegetable Garnish:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch rounds
2 teaspoons sugar
3 leeks (1/2 pound), white parts only, cut into 3/4-inch rounds
3 stalks celery (6 ounces), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch lengths
3 parsnips (1/2 pound), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch lengths
1/3 cup minced parsley, for garnish
Boiled potatoes or cooked rice for serving

RECIPE METHOD

TO MAKE THE MEATBALLS:
Soak the crumbled bread in the milk for 15 minutes or until softened. Squeeze out the excess moisture and transfer the soaked bread to a food processor along with the egg, thyme, rosemary and coriander. Process until combined, then add the cooked onions, 2/3’s of the meat, salt and pepper to taste, and process until blended. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the remaining meat and mix with your hands. Roll the meat into thirty two 1 1/2-inch meatballs, then roll the meatballs in the dry bread crumbs, coating all sides.

TO COOK THE MEATBALLS AND MAKE THE SAUCE:
In a 6- to 7-quart casserole, over moderate heat, heat the vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter. In two batches, brown the meatballs making sure they are crisp on all sides. When they are brown, remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the shallots to the remaining fat in the casserole and sauté for a couple of minutes or until tender. Add the garlic and mushrooms and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Add the whiskey and boil, scraping up the juices on the bottom of the casserole into the whiskey and simmer for a minute or so or until the whiskey has almost evaporated. Add the mustard and the flour and cook for a minute. Add 2 cups of the beef broth and bring it to a simmer, whisking all the while. Add the bay leaf and simmer for a couple of minutes. Adjust the seasoning and return the meatballs to the sauce (the dish can be made a day or two in advance up to this point). Simmer the meatballs, uncovered, to heat them and finish cooking them while you make the vegetable garnish.

TO MAKE THE VEGETABLE GARNISH:
In a separate 12-inch skillet over moderate heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the remaining butter. Add the carrots, sugar and the remaining 1/4 cup of beef broth. Cover and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until partially cooked. Add the leeks, celery and parsnips and 3/4 cup of water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes longer or until the vegetables are tender. Uncover the skillet, evaporate the liquid over high heat until the vegetables are glazed. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

TO SERVE THE DISH:
Discard the bay leaf. Spoon the meatballs onto a plate and top with mushrooms and gravy. Scatter glazed vegetables over the meatballs and garnish with the parsley. Serve with boiled potatoes or rice.

Twitchy's Italian Meatballs ~ Italy

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:54:00 -0400

Twitchy's Italian Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 pounds chopped meat
2 -3 cloves garlic - crushed
a couple spoons basil
small handful oregano
very small handful salt
pepper to taste
4 eggs
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Light olive oil for frying - Or you can broil until browned.

In a large bowl, mix meat, 2 eggs, garlic, oregano,basil, salt, pepper, until it's all mixed together well. Make a 'dent' in the center and toss in a good amount of bread crumbs. Mix well. Add another egg, more bread crumbs and adjust until this all comes to a nice workable consistency. It should be dry, not slimy from the eggs, and be able to hold a shape. Keep adding bread crumbs or eggs until you find the right consistency.

Make lots of little balls, about an 1 1/2 in diameter. We like small meatballs, the big ones are just too 'familiar'

You now have the choice to either fry them in olive oil/veg oil combo *half & half* or broil in the broiler. You don't have to worry about how well done they are because now you are going to toss them into that vat of sauce you have on the stove!

Basically you want to cook the meatballs in the sauce for about an hour or two or three. The longer the better, but you need to 'learn' the too long point. Tossing in meat balls into the sauce makes the sauce even more flavorful.

The same goes for sausage and bracciole. Any meat that goes into your sauce, you brown it well on the outside and let it fully cook inside by tossing it into your cooking sauce.

If you need to continue cooking the sauce, simply take out the meat, set it in a bowl and continue cooking the sauce until you're satisfied.

You can cook meatballs fully through and toss them, once cooled, into a baggie and freeze them to use any time you make sauce. Simply toss in the frozen meatballs and they'll cook up fast enough!