Posted by Sandy GluckMonty (that's Lisa Mantineo), my producer and I are passionate about meatballs. Her memories are of her Grandma, Chansie, frying up meatballs for Sunday gravy and giving the grandkids some meatballs to try. Mine are of a childhood neighbor, Lena and her husband Cosmo who loved the fact that the kid next door wanted to help in the kitchen. Lena made a mean lasagna, studded with plump meatballs of pork, beef, and veal, a heap of grated Parmesan, breadcrumbs, milk, and an egg to bind.
Meatballs are comfort food and fun to eat too. In celebration of the meatball, today was "Meatball Madness" on Everyday Food. Five of us from the channel cooked up batches of our favorites and brought them in to share. All 5 were different (meatballs are like that, you can use whatever meat you like and season them however you like), and all were delicious.
1 Jen Sendrow, producer of Whole Living and Cooking with Emeril brought in her "me" balls: baked, not fried, rounds of beef, pork, and veal with Parmesan, seasonings and a surprise chunk of melty mozzarella in the center. These are the kind of meatballs that Jen might serve at a party, speared with a toothpick.
2 Mine were fashioned after Lena's, packed with caramelized onions, Parmesan, rosemary, and oregano, sautéed and cooked in a tomato sauce.
3 Perhaps the most unusual meatballs were Katie Macpherson's Curry Meatballs. Katie is the associate producer of Morning Living and the meatballs were her Grandfather's recipe. Influenced by the time he lived in Sri Lanka the meatballs were redolent of curry powder, and slightly sweet from the raisins in the gravy. All beef and super tasty.
4 Monty's is a cherished family recipe with ingredients she's not allowed to divulge, but they were large, tender, and meaty, and cooked in a rich tomato sauce. I think Chansie would be proud.
5 And Betsy Karetnick, my partner on Everyday Food brought in pork meatballs that had been simmered for hours -- a great ending.
From: Sandra Ciccaglione | 1/29/10 at 4:50 pm
I make meat balls all most every sunday for the last 40 years, plus more I have continue to do the traditional Italian sunday dinner! So if you are looking for pasta and meatballs your welcome to my house on Sunday.
From: srgluck@earthlink.net | 1/30/10 at 8:50 am
Sandra,
I love Italian Sunday dinner and miss it. I kept thinking I'd marry into an Italian family but my wonderful husband and his family are German, so there you go. That said, they are terrific cooks. But Italian Sunday dinner.....