Asian Flavored Meatballs
For meatballs:
1 ½ lb ground beef (I used 80/20)
1 egg
¼ to ½ cup breadcrumb
5 or 6 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ inch slice of onion
1 inch piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems
1 tablespoon low salt soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons amontillado sherry
1 shake hot pepper flakes, or more if you like
salt and black pepper to taste
For sauce:
9 oz Heinz’s Homestyle Gravy, savory beef flavor (from a 12 oz jar)
1 or 2 tablespoons water
2 or 3 small pieces peeled fresh ginger
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1 small piece onion
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 glugs amontillado sherry
dash of hot pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray.
In a food processor, process garlic, onion, ginger, parsley, cilantro and red pepper flakes until very finely chopped and well combined. Combine these ingredients with beef, egg, soy sauce, sherry, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt because the soy sauce already contains quite a bit, even though it may be the low salt variety. To check the seasonings, fry a bite-sized patty of the meat mixture and taste it.
Loosely roll into golf-ball sized balls. You will probably get 24 or 25 of them. Dip your fingers into warm water to prevent the mixture from sticking to them too much. Place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 or 15 minutes, and then carefully turn each one. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until golden brown on both sides.
Allow to cool. Then freeze in 2 batches in zip-top bags for a busy work night.
On the busy work night when you want to eat the meatballs, combine all ingredients for the sauce in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Sure, you could use home made beef gravy if you have it on hand, but come on, this is a busy work night. When gravy is warmed through, add meatballs from freezer and continue simmering until hot.
Serve over rice or pasta. I used whole wheat spaghetti and it worked very well in this dish. It resembled lo mein noodles. Make it a complete meal by adding cooked vegetables to each serving. Steamed broccoli was great with it. I imagine string beans, snow peas, or carrots would also be good.
A teaspoon or so of this meat mixture placed between wonton wrappers and steamed or boiled would probably make a tasty dumpling.
This mixture would likely taste better with ground pork, but I didn’t have that on hand when I created it. I did not have green onion either, but I think that would be good sliced finely and sprinkled on top of each serving. However, it was a tasty and clever Asian flavored meal as it was.
1 ½ lb ground beef (I used 80/20)
1 egg
¼ to ½ cup breadcrumb
5 or 6 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ inch slice of onion
1 inch piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems
1 tablespoon low salt soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons amontillado sherry
1 shake hot pepper flakes, or more if you like
salt and black pepper to taste
For sauce:
9 oz Heinz’s Homestyle Gravy, savory beef flavor (from a 12 oz jar)
1 or 2 tablespoons water
2 or 3 small pieces peeled fresh ginger
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1 small piece onion
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 glugs amontillado sherry
dash of hot pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray.
In a food processor, process garlic, onion, ginger, parsley, cilantro and red pepper flakes until very finely chopped and well combined. Combine these ingredients with beef, egg, soy sauce, sherry, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Be careful with the salt because the soy sauce already contains quite a bit, even though it may be the low salt variety. To check the seasonings, fry a bite-sized patty of the meat mixture and taste it.
Loosely roll into golf-ball sized balls. You will probably get 24 or 25 of them. Dip your fingers into warm water to prevent the mixture from sticking to them too much. Place them on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 or 15 minutes, and then carefully turn each one. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until golden brown on both sides.
Allow to cool. Then freeze in 2 batches in zip-top bags for a busy work night.
On the busy work night when you want to eat the meatballs, combine all ingredients for the sauce in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Sure, you could use home made beef gravy if you have it on hand, but come on, this is a busy work night. When gravy is warmed through, add meatballs from freezer and continue simmering until hot.
Serve over rice or pasta. I used whole wheat spaghetti and it worked very well in this dish. It resembled lo mein noodles. Make it a complete meal by adding cooked vegetables to each serving. Steamed broccoli was great with it. I imagine string beans, snow peas, or carrots would also be good.
A teaspoon or so of this meat mixture placed between wonton wrappers and steamed or boiled would probably make a tasty dumpling.
This mixture would likely taste better with ground pork, but I didn’t have that on hand when I created it. I did not have green onion either, but I think that would be good sliced finely and sprinkled on top of each serving. However, it was a tasty and clever Asian flavored meal as it was.
Comments