Meatballs

I make my own bread.  Not many things come close to freshly made bread, but as all good things out there, home made bread doesn't stay fresh for long.  If not eaten within a couple of days, its just not the same anymore, and then it can be used for french toast or other dishes where the bread is cooked.  You don't want to throw away bread that you put your heart and sole in.  With a little more effort, it can be transformed into another great meal.  

On one such occasion I had some leftover bread, so I decided to make bread crumbs with it.  I cut it up in slices and left it on a paper towel to dry.  The drying time will depend on your local climate and humidity.  Here in California, it takes about 3-4 days for bread slices to dry.  Once it was completely hardened, I used food processor to chop it up.  Home made bread crumbs from a home made bread.

Now I just needed a dish that requires bread crumbs.  I settled for meatballs.  Why not.

Below is the list of ingredients I used.  You can modify quantities of the main ingredients, and add or take away spices to your liking.

1 lb ground bison (beef will also do)

1 lb ground pork 

2 eggs

1 cup bread crumbs from the prologue

1 cup milk

1 cup finely chopped onions

1/4 cup shopped parsley and fresh oregano

1 cup parmesan cheese

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

seasoning: salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of turmeric (it's healthy so I try to put it in anything I can)

oil (I used avocado oil, but any kind of cooking oil will do)

First, I seasoned the meat and decided to try mixing it in the Kitchen Aid mixer.  It worked well.  Still, you need to get your hands dirty a bit later, but this buys you some time.

While the meat is being mixed, combine the breadcrumbs with milk and let them soak.  

Pick some fresh oregano from the garden.

Chop onion, garlic, oregano and parsley, scramble the eggs, and shred the parmesan cheese. 

Mix in eggs first, then the rest of the ingredients.  I used the lowest setting for mixing.  It is not necessary to mix any faster.  

Once you have a homogeneous mixture, as much as meat and chopped veggie mix goes, you can start shaping meatballs.  The meat will stick to your hands, so when I do this I keep a bowl with water and wet my hands for each meatball.  It really helps with sticking. 

Here they are.  All of them.

Heat up the oil in the pan and fry the meatballs.  On all sides.  

At this point you can choose to pack some meatballs away and freeze them for later.  A great way to make two meals at the same time and at the cost of only one mess.

I added tomato sauce to the remaining meatballs for the immediate meatball experience.

Cook some spaghetti and pour the wine, and- dinner is served!

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