Angela, Head Chef

Now THAT’S a Meatball

Cheesy title aside, these did turn out fabulously. I recently moved in with my friend Angela who doesn’t really have much cooking experience. Meatballs are a good starting place, I felt, so these were her babies. Don’t they look great? She did the meat mixture entirely by herself. They are melt-in-your-mouth good (it doesn’t hurt that they were Idaho beef courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law.) I recommend that you eat these on a bed of pasta- possibly some homemade mac and cheese- fontina, cheddar and parm is a good combo- or even your traditional spaghetti marinara with a little mozzarella. As usual, these are sal-neg. Hope you enjoy!

· 2lbs beef, or meatball mixture

· 1cup breadcrumbs (as usual, I used dad’s bread)

· 1/2cup parmesan cheese

· 1 egg

· 1tbsp parsley fresh or dried covered in oil

· 2tsp soy sauce

· 2tsp salt

Heat oven to 300 degrees- grease two sheet pans with oil. Mix everything in order until nicely combined. One to one and a half inch balls are best. This should make about 50. Cook for 30-40 minutes turning halfway through. Cut one in half to make sure they’re done. These can be frozen for up to six weeks.

Today was the day of round, brown balls. I woke up this morning thinking two things; “I’m hungry,” and “I think I can make chocolate fritters.” Since my curiosity could solve both problems I got out of bed and started heating some oil. Here’s my recipe!

· 1 cup flour

· ¾ cup sugar

· 1/3 cup cocoa powder

· 1tsp salt

· 1tsp baking soda

· 2tsp lemon juice

· 1 ½ cups milk or half and half

· Oil for frying

· Sugar for dusting (confectioners or granulated)

Heat the oil to 350 degrees in a deep pan, four quarts is a good size; it should be about an inch and a half deep. While the oil is heating mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine juice and milk until it looks kind of weird and curdly. Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients and start adding the milk mixture. Stir until well combined. Scoop the batter into oil with a one tbsp. cookie scoop. Four or five at a time is good- don’t crowd them cook about a minute on each side until browned. Drain on a paper towel quickly and then dust with the sugar. If you want, hold them in a 250 degree oven until all of them are ready. Enjoy!!