Oven Roasted Meatballs

Homemade meatballs are indeed time-consuming, I won’t lie ……. BUT once you have eaten homemade meatballs  you just can’t possibly go back to store-bought!  I hate the messy greasy job of  frying them in the pan, so I eliminated that step by throwing them in the oven instead.  To get the softest meatballs I have used a ratio of 3:1 (3 eggs for 1 lb of ground beef) Also this is where you want to splurge on calories and get 80/20 ground beef. Of course the addition of milk and bread crumbs also adds to the texture.

I usually buy a huge package of ground beef from Costco 7 lbs or so and I make a huge batch and take the morning to cook them up and then I have many meals of meatballs that I freeze.  I love just eating them with a bit of marinara sauce and fresh cheese, meatball subs, spaghetti and meatballs, sweet and sour meatballs etc 🙂

• Servings: 15-20
• Time: 3hrs
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 4 lbs of ground beef 80/20
• 12 large eggs
• 2 cups of milk
• 2 cups of panko bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup of fresh garlic chopped fine
• 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped onions
• 1/3 cup of parsley finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of basil finely chopped
• 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp of kosher salt

Directions:

Turn oven on to 375 . Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  In this instance clean hands will be your best friend to really get it mixed up well.  I use a cookie size scooper for getting the perfect amount of the mixture every time.  Roll in a ball and place on a lined half sheet pan.  Cook for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy 🙂

TIPS:

• If you have a food processor use it for all the chopped ingredients, it really goes soooooo much faster.
• I take tinfoil to line my half sheet pans and use pam spray so they don’t stick!
• A small ice-cream scooper really get the perfect amount of meatball mixture every time so they cook evenly
• Don’t overcook! If you want that soft melt in your mouth texture watch the clock! I actually under cook them a bit because once you take them out of the oven to rest the heat will still be cooking them as they sit! Also if  I am going to freeze them, well-done meatballs will give you a firmer texture when you go to rewarm them.

Almond Encrusted Halibut with Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa

• Servings: 8
• Time: 20 min
• Difficulty: easy
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Mango Salsa Ingredients:

• one mango diced small
• 1/2 red pepper diced small
• 1 jalapeno pepper diced fine
• 2 green onions diced small
• 1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• zest and juice of one lime (2 tbsp)

Directions:

You want to make up your salsa in advance so the flavors have time to develop and blend together. I suggest at least a few hours before you want to cook your fish. Basically we add all ingredients in a bowl and stir.

 

Almond Encrusted Halibut

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 45min
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 4-6 pieces of fresh halibut
• 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup of thinly sliced almonds chopped medium
• flour for dusting (I add salt and pepper to this for taste)
• egg wash for dipping

Directions:

I get my dipping station ready. Take a few eggs and beat together in a bowl with few tablespoons of water. Set aside. Place 1/2 cup or so of flour on a plate. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix. Set Aside. Mix together the panko bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and almonds.  Place mixture on a plate.

Preheat your frying pan on medium high heat with a tbsp of veg oil and a tbsp of butter.

Ok so now we dry the halibut well with paper towel. Dip in the flour mixture, then the egg wash and finally the star attraction almond mixture.

Note: I used matzo meal instead of panko bread crumbs in this picture.  Just in case you noticed the texture was off. I made this during the days of unleaven bread during passover so I couldn’t use panko but normally I would.

Place in your pan and cook till golden brown and flaky. Do not overcook halibut it can dry out very quickly. Cook your fish in batches adding more veg oil/butter to your pan as necessary.

Then you are ready to enjoy with a side of the mango salsa! It is so fresh and yummy 🙂

Meatloaf

Pass the ketchup! Loved by many and easy to make. It will feed your crowd:)

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of meatloaf
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs (I like the seasoned ones for more flavor)
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion finely diced.
• 2/3 cups of ketchup
• 3 table spoons of brown sugar
• 1 table-spoon of Dijon mustard

Directions:

Saute your onions in a frying pan with a bit of butter till browned. Then take off heat.

In a large bowl combine the ground beef with the bread crumbs, milk, eggs, sautéed onions,  Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix together and place in a loaf pan.

Note: I like to make a sling for the loaf out of tinfoil so that once cooked it is easy to remove the loaf for cutting into slices. Just hit the tinfoil with some Pam spray first.

For the ketchup sauce combined the ketchup with brown sugar and Dijon mustard. Whisk together and slather on top of the meatloaf.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

Meatloaf

• Servings: 6
• Time: 1 1/2 hrs
• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients:

• 1 pound of meatloaf
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of Panko bread crumbs (I like the seasoned ones for more flavor)
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion finely diced.
• 2/3 cups of ketchup
• 3 table spoons of brown sugar
• 1 table-spoon of Dijon mustard

Directions:

Saute your onions in a frying pan with a bit of butter till browned. Then take off heat.

In a large bowl combine the ground beef with the bread crumbs, milk, eggs, sautéed onions,  Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix together and place in a loaf pan.

Note: I like to make a sling for the loaf out of tinfoil so that once cooked it is easy to remove the loaf for cutting into slices. Just hit the tinfoil with some Pam spray first.

For the ketchup sauce combined the ketchup with brown sugar and Dijon mustard. Whisk together and slather on top of the meatloaf.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.