What are you cooking?

[gwand]

I make my meatballs with combination of beef, pork, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and an egg. Works as a good meatloaf too. Extremely moist.

 

[jaylach]

I make my meatballs with combination of beef, pork, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and an egg. Works as a good meatloaf too. Extremely moist.

I don't do Parmesan in my scratch meatballs. Instead I put a chunk of Mozzarella in the middle. Of course it all melts away but adds flavor and moisture.

I also don't do bread crumbs. I use rolled oats soaked in milk as a filler. Sounds odd but really works. If you ever want to try the oats use 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup milks per 1 pound of meat. Also one egg per pound of meat.

 

[jaylach]

Omaha Steaks' meatballs are surprisingly good, tender and moist especially since they are all beef with no pork. They must be using 70/30 or mayhaps even 60/40 ground beef.

Question: What is the best part about making sketti sauce?
Answer: Having some crusty bread next to the sauce pot for 'test dipping'.

 

[gwand]

I decided to turn the chuck eye into a ragu. I browned the beef and then added diced carrots, onions, garlic and celery. A cup of red wine (home made) and a cup of stock. Set oven to 325 and the braise has been going 4 hours. The finished product will go over penne pasta.

 

[jaylach]

More sketti tonight but with pasta shells and chicken Parmigiana. Love medium shell pasta as the shells are like little spoons holding sauce. The exception is if I'm having Alfredo sauce with grilled and sliced chicken and steamed broccoli with the Alfredo. In that case it just has to be fettuccine pasta. I think it has something to do with twirling some pasta and then forking some chicken and broccoli to finish the bite. Don't get me wrong as I also like actual spaghetti pasta but not the normal regular. I prefer thin spaghetti. I also like rigatoni and penne but mostly if I'm doing baked pasta.

Was going to do meatball subs tonight but decided that would be better for Sunday's NFL playoffs. Since the sub rolls I have are not long (really large hotdog buns) I figure 2 meatballs cut in half per and one for each game. The subs will be topped with bell pepper, red onion and sliced black onions topped with Mozzarella cheese and baked. With the size of the meatballs it will be a bit under 1/4 pound of meatball per sub. Sounds like in-game tailgate type eating to me.

 

[MuddyWaters]

I made some spaghetti the other night with some really good crimini mushrooms in it (and roasted zucchini squash). I used grass fed beef, so nice and healthy.

I ate leftovers the next day and that night got gout. I don't get it much, so I forget about mushrooms and gout. Last night and today were pretty painful.

However, it's so good I ate more today. I might be cursing myself tomorrow, but I can't stand to see it go to waste LOL.

 

[gwand]

I made some spaghetti the other night with some really good crimini mushrooms in it (and roasted zucchini squash). I used grass fed beef, so nice and healthy.

I ate leftovers the next day and that night got gout. I don't get it much, so I forget about mushrooms and gout. Last night and today were pretty painful.

However, it's so good I ate more today. I might be cursing myself tomorrow, but I can't stand to see it go to waste LOL.

I have not had a gout attack in about 15 years. Those attacks were horrific. Had to use crutches to walk. And for some reason colchicine didn’t work and I couldn’t take anti inflammatory meds due to allergies. So I had to treat the pain with only Tylenol. Red wine and beer are my triggers. Can’t give that up so I went on allopurinol. Works like a charm.

 

[jaylach]

First NFL playoff game meatball sub is history and dang was it good. It was over loaded with onion, bell peppers and olives to where I needed a knife and fork but that is NOT a complaint.

 

[jaylach]

To finish my meatball rant...

I made sauce with the meatballs. After the second cooking I had cheese ravs in sauce along with three balls. Next night I had pasta shells with chicken parm and no balls. Tonight is two short meatball subs using a total of 4 balls. Just got done bagging and I have three vacuum quart freezer bags each with 2 balls and enough sauce for whatever pasta. The bags of balls from Omaha Steaks is 18 ounces and there were 13 balls. That boils down to an average weight per ball of ~1.4 once. That is a decent size ball.

I LOVE my vacuum freezer bag system as it is a manual pump instead of electric. Sure doing a vacuum on a sauce ends up with some sauce in the pump. With an electric system this can present cleaning problems but not with the manual pump. On my manual both ends of the pump unscrew opening everything for cleaning. Also with the electric systems it is a use once thing as most thermally seal the container. With the manual I have you just wash out the bag and use again. The bags have a normal 'zip seal' that has to be zipped before using the pump. It is the zip seal that allows for using again.

 

[jaylach]

OK, one last meatball thing...

This is what I mean by an over loaded meatball sub. Absolutely needed a knife and fork but oh SO good!

 

[Fishmanic]

OK, one last meatball thing...

This is what I mean by an over loaded meatball sub. Absolutely needed a knife and fork but oh SO good!
View attachment 335728

wow...that's a meal and a half...I also had a meatball sub for lunch from the local sub shop

 

[jaylach]

wow...that's a meal and a half...I also had a meatball sub for lunch from the local sub shop

Not as huge as it looks but way loaded. It is all just on a hotdog bun, just 2 meatballs cut in half. Had one for each of today's playoff games. Between the two there was only about 6 ounces of meatball.

 

[MuddyWaters]

OK, one last meatball thing...

This is what I mean by an over loaded meatball sub. Absolutely needed a knife and fork but oh SO good!
View attachment 335728

OMG!!!!
that looks so goooood! I need to find a drool emoji LOL.

My wife brought home a couple of ribeyes (the ONLY steak) and 2 nice russet potatoes. My gas grill ran out of gas, so twist my arm I broke out the charcoal.

Charcoal grilled steaks are SO MUCH BETTER than gas grilled ones. Gas is just so convenient. Anyway, I did the baked potatoes a little different- I baked them 25 minutes, then brushed with melted butter, and then about 35 more. Skin got crispy and inside was fluffy and steamy- so good!

It's cold outside, but I will grill in any weather.

 

[jaylach]

OMG!!!!
that looks so goooood! I need to find a drool emoji LOL.

Will this work for a drool emoji?

Or mayhaps this if you want animation.

 

[Essjay]

We've already got one. though it's not as good jaylach's. And we have an 'enjoying food' emoji