Friday, August 29, 2014

August 29, 2014

Another week, another taste test!  You know me...I love to try out several versions of a recipe and try to find the best.  Because our garden is producing so many tomatoes this year that I decided to make 3 fresh tomato sauce recipes.  One was based on our usual sauce, one was from Giada, and one was based on a quick marinara that we make.  Hmmm...we didn't really love them; no keepers among them.  But, we still have more tomatoes coming so perhaps we'll still find one.

We did make scratch meatballs to use with the sauce taste test dinner, and they were an amazing hit, voted to unanimous keeper status.  They are made the way my mom makes them, though I had never made them this way before.  Now I doubt I'll make them any other way again!  Super easy, and super delicious.  They are fall apart tender without falling apart...you'll have to make them to see what I mean!

A few new recipes in the works for the week ahead...we'll see what pans out!

Happy Cooking

New Recipe
Mom's Meatballs

Mom's Meatballs


Ingredients
* 1 lb ground beef
* 1/4 cup tomato sauce
* 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
* 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
* salt and pepper

Directions
1.  Place a piece of tinfoil on a cookie sheet and then place a rack on top.  Spray the rack with cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. 
3. Form small meatballs from the mixture and place them on the rack.  Bake the meatballs for approximately 12 minutes or until browned and coked through. 
4. Use with your favorite pasta sauce or for meatball subs, or however you want to! 

Notes
Talk about easy and delicious!  The absence of egg in the meat mixture creates a more tender texture to the finished meatball.  The breadcrumbs and cheese help bind the meat, and cooking them in the oven ensures they get cooked through.  Add more or less of the ingredients as you desire, or change the ground beef to chicken, turkey or venison.  This recipe can be your jumping off point!  Enjoy!