I could eat frozen meatballs in a pinch but H would.not.touch!!
Meatballs are pretty easy! For a pound of meat (ground beef, chicken or turkey) I usually do something like this:
Pound of meat
1 egg
1/4 panko or crushed crackers (if you use crackers watch your other added salt)
Salt
Pepper
Spices tailored to recipe (if doing italian, oregano-garlic powder - basil - parsley. if doing an asian dish: ginger, garlic powder, parsley. That kind of thing
A splash of milk (to keep moist)
Mix and roll balls. Can freeze this way or you can put on a rack and bake till browned/cooked through, then freeze. You can vary your size for your preferences.
Thanks for the meatball recipes! I realize it will be a while until I try them because the freezer bag of them that we bought at Costco (hubby’s idea) is huge.
Time to have a party and serve those little meatballs in a yummy sauce for an appetizer!
Meatball subs is another good way to serve meatballs. Italian wedding soup. The famous NYT Thai Inspired Chicken Meatball Soup (I’ve been wanting to make this but H will not eat it!)
Today was chicken tika masala (jar sauce). I think we could serve guests and they wouldn’t know it was from a jar. It was @raclut from here who first gave me the idea to buy sauce, and I think of her whenever we have it.
1214mom - can I ask what brand of jar tikka masala you use? Have tried a few - H loved the type served in restaurants and I’ve been trying to replicate!
Not 1214mom, but I use Maya Kamail tikka masala sauce. I think it’s almost as good as my favorite Indian restaurant. I have an Indian friend (came to the US for grad school) who recommended the brand, but also gave me her recipe for it.
@abasket i have bought tikka masala sauce at Costco. I don’t know if they still have it.
Coincidentally I used it on Sunday night. I had nothing planned for dinner and I found a jar of the sauce that I had forgotten about. I ended up using carrot, cauliflower, garbanzo beans and chunks of a leftover potato. It was good and looked like I had planned it.
Yes, I’ve bought jarred sauce different spots - TJ’s, Costco, etc. Just wondered about the Maya Kamail that @Bromfield2 mentioned!
I have also bought the refrigerated chicken tiki masala at Costco which is decent - I often just add more chicken if I have it, more paprika and a little more butter if needed - have it over rice and I’ve got a few meals! (H won’t eat it…)
We had some thawed and marinated pork chops in the fridge last night, which were set to become dinner.
Usually I just bake them and make some type of potato side dish, and maybe some green beans or a salad. But for some unknown reason last night I was feeling like stir-fry. Alllllrighty then.
Anyone can cook rice, chop and cook pork chops, and dump some frozen veggies into a pan and stir them. But the real fun in this was making a sauce from scratch. To wit, this is what I used:
Rice wine vinegar (about one healthy tablespoon)
Soy sauce (about two tablespoons)
2-3 TBSP brown sugar
A few shakes of garlic powder
A shake of cayenne pepper
S&P
A cup of water
I brought that up to a low boil in a skillet and let it simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then I added the meat and veg and let it simmer another 15 minutes or so.
It ended up pretty good. It didn’t taste quite like any other Chinese or Japanese sauce, but there were similarities. I think I might have been missing sesame oil or… something. But it was decent.
