In Search of the Perfect Italian Meatball

[jiarby]

Looks yummy jiarby! (how do you pronounce jiarby anyway?)

i gotta ask... how is it you just happened to have pics at the ready?
sure wish i had that sandwich right about now!

jiarby is pronounced "G-R-B"... It is a "hooked on phonics" bastardization of my initials.

Competitive cooking has been a hobby of mine for a while, especially BBQ & Chili cookoffs... but I like to cook anything. Like Charlie Sheen... "WINNING... Duh!!"

One of my offshoot projects is a website/cookbook focusing on burgers and all burger stuff (side dishes, equipment, ingredients, buns, etc..). Those photos are from the segment for my Marinara Meatball Burger. Everything from scratch as much as possible. We ground the meat, made the buns, made the sauce, etc...

I may be a published author someday... If I ever get it done!

 

[ForgeInc]

Fred, I have made this recipe several times, and can speak to how good they are. Sometimes I leave out the veal and just go half beef half pork. The trick is to not manhandle them when they are frying, or they will fall apart. BE GENTLE! Set em in the hot oil and let them rest for about 2 minutes before gently rotating. Get all sides brown. DON'T mix marina in the meatballs! The trick is to brown them in olive oil, then finish cooking by dumping them into the pot of cooking marina. AFter you do this be careful when stirring marina or again they will fall apart. As they cook in the sauce, they will start to hold together better.

Whenever I make this recipe (I actually just pulled out a batch from the freezer to thaw) I always start by making the marina first. Then I prepare the meatballs. By the time you have the meatballs all ready and slightly cooked by frying, you dump them in the marinara sauce to finish everything up.

There are also some great recipes that swear by adding a slight bit of milk to the breadcrumbs when you assemble the meatballs, This prevents the meat from overcooking and becoming rubbery. It's a science thing. Do a search for Americas Test Kitchen meatballs, I saw an episode of a batch they made using this method. Haven't tried it, as I always fall back to mama's recipe...but I wanna!

http://soulfusionkitchen2.blogspot.com/2006/01/mamas-meatballs-roccos-mama.html

 

[Si Allen]

Hey Forge ... great recipe ... except needs some Basil in the marinara sauce.

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

BE GENTLE! Set em in the hot oil and let them rest for about 2 minutes before gently rotating. http://soulfusionkitchen2.blogspot.com/2006/01/mamas-meatballs-roccos-mama.html

I was going to say that's a given, but then the next sentence presented THE biggest oxymoron I've ever heard.

 

[ForgeInc]

lol. Touche.

i'm tellin ya, them's some good balls!

And yes, some fresh basil at the end, after you've cooked em up nice n good, right before serving... makes for an even better finish!

 

[Salmoneye]

When I read the thread title I thought for sure the answer was going to be Gino.

 

[cdiesel]

Glenn, I'm coming over for dinner at your place!