Meatball Sliders

I think I may have mentioned this before, but Hubby’s a bit picky particular about his food.  Especially when I’m cooking for him — and on a special day.

For Father’s Day this year, I told him I’d make him whatever he wanted for dinner.  He finally decided, the day before, that he wanted Meatball Sliders.

Normally, this would’ve thrown me for a loop, but fortunately I had recently seen a recipe here, so I knew I could do it.  Though, of course, Hubs already had a meatball recipe I needed to try.

So I did.  (It was his day, you know.)

The Recipes:

Meatballs, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, Nov/Dec 2010

Makes about 15 2-inch meatballs

1 c bread crumbs

3/4 c buttermilk

1 large egg

3/4 lb ground pork

1 lb lean ground beef

1 1/2 oz grated Parmesan cheese

1 T dried parsley

1 T red pepper flakes

1 T oregano

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

table salt and ground black pepper

1.  Place wire rack in foil-lined cookie sheet.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine bread crumbs and buttermilk in large bowl and let sit, mashing occasionally with fork until smooth paste forms.

2.  Add egg, beef, pork, Parmesan, spices, and garlic.  Using hands, gently mix until thoroughly combined.  Spray wire racks with non-stick cooking spray.

3.  Lightly form into 2-inch round meatballs (I used a 2-inch ice-cream scoop).  Place meatballs, evenly spaced, on racks.  Roast until browned, about 30 minutes, rotating tray halfway through.

The Results:

Another winning meal for me.  Seriously, I am on a role!  (Knock on wood.)

First off, making the meat balls wasn’t bad at all – except for having to stick my hands in the raw meat mixture.  This actually freaked me out a bit (and Hubs offered to do it for me – but I was having none of that).

So he decided to take action shots instead.

This felt awful, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies (that’s a technical term).  But it was over quick and then I was off to scoop some meatballs.

This is the point in the meal where Hubs and I started cracking dirty meatball jokes.  I think I’ll refrain from sharing them here. 

(And you are welcome.)

Now here’s when the meal got really fun.  I realized that we didn’t really have all the ingredients suggested for the home-made marinara sauce I was going to make… so, I made it up.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Seriously, no recipe.  Just from my head and with ingredients we had on hand. 

And guess what?  It turned out so good!

(Just in case you’re curious, it involved olive oil, onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, red wine, fresh oregano, and fresh basil.  I really, really wish I’d written down what I used – because I want to make it again sometime.  Oops.)

Another Hubs action shot. (He wanted to document this amazing feat for me. And/or maybe make sure I didn't mess up too bad.)

Finally, we placed the meatballs and sauce on King’s Hawaiian Roles (yum) and were ready to eat.

Another wonderful (and unexpected) dinner success.

Hubs was completely proud of me.  (Though I think he’s starting to get a bit jealous.)

I even impressed myself.

(Which isn’t too hard, but I’ll take it.)