The Little Owl's Italian Meatballs: for Sandwiches, Spaghetti, Sliders, Whatever!

This is, quite possibly, the best meatball recipe ever. Ever. EVER! Um, see that all caps? I must really mean it. BEST EVER, EVER, EVER. EVER! Ok, ok, I don't know for certain if this is the best meatball recipe ever due to the simple fact that I haven't tried every meatball recipe in the whole wide world, but this one is pretty darn good. In fact, this recipe is now the recipe I measure all other meatballs by. It's tasty, folks.

In my experience, meatballs are usually a disappointment. Salty and tough, or mushy and bland, meatballs tend to be the ugly stepsister at the party. You can dress them up in fancy sauces all you want, but the awful is still there underneath. Most of the time, I just avoid meatballs altogether.

But this recipe is different. It's a revelation. It's a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. I think the secret to why this recipe tastes so amazing is the trio of meats. The first time, I only used two kinds, and I thought this recipe was ok. The second time, all I used was one, and they were a major dissapointment. But the third time, the third time being a charm, I followed the recipe to the letter, and behold, a choir of Angels appeared as I took my first bite, and a light shone from heaven, and I was rewarded with meatballs from the Italian section of the celestial city. I was, in short, in meatball paradise. Are you persuaded yet? Will you try them? Will you?




In case you are wondering, this recipe did not descend directly from heaven, written on a golden scroll. It came through a much more mundane source: my local library. Every week I've been trying to get the baby out of the house, and we go the the library every Tuesday. They have an ongoing book sale at the Huntington Beach library, and I've become somewhat, er, addicted, to cheap books and magazines. Can you believe I bought a first edition of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking for only 50 cents? The treasures that are buried there! It's hard to limit myself to only $5, and only once a week.

One of my favorite things to buy is back issues of home and cooking magazines, and I have amassed quite a collection of Martha Stewart Living and Bon Appetit. This particular recipe was the cover of the September 2007 issue of Bon Appetit, and it's pulled from a little restaurant in New York called "The Little Owl." If I ever make it to New York, and to the Little Owl (you know, if Little Lord Thunder Thighs ever lets me out of the house again), I'll do my best to kiss the cook on behalf of everyone in the whole wide world.




The Little Owl's Italian Meatballs: Just About the Best Meatball Recipe EVER

At The Little Owl, these are served as sliders, but you don't have to eat them that way. They are great with spaghetti, and they make a mean meatball sandwich as well (or so Nate tells me). And honestly? They are pretty darn good all by themselves.

This also includes a recipe for sauce to go along with the meatballs if you want to make sliders or a meatball sandwich. If you want to make the sauce, make it first, before the meatballs, because it needs a good 20 minutes or so of simmering, and it can cook away by itself while you are making the meatballs.



For the Meatballs
vegetable oil for frying
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, Pecorino, or Romano Cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 cup fresh, fine bread crumbs
(I just take a piece of gluten-free bread, rip it up into pieces, and them give the pieces a whirl in the blender. You can use Panko if you want, but you need the crumbs to be moist, so be sure to rehydrate them with 1/2 a cup of water when you mix them into the meat).

If you want to make a meatball sandwich: For the Sauce
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil, packed (use 2-3 tablespoons dried if fresh is not available. Maybe 1 tablespoon of Oregano too).
1 + 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds (so essential! Don't skip!)
3 cans fire-roasted, diced tomatoes (14.5oz each)



In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 lb ground beef, 1/2 lb ground pork, and 1/2 lb ground veal.




Add 1 large egg and the yolk of 1 large egg.




Then add 1/2 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (These are easy to make, just take a piece or two of bread, gluten free or not, tear it into pieces, and give it a whirl in the blender. So easy, by baby could do it. Blindfolded.) If you opt to use panko, be sure to also add about 1/4 cup of water to the mixture to moisten it, so your meatballs don't come out crunchy.




Now for 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan/Romano cheese...




... and 1/3 cup finely chopped italian parsley.




And FINALLY (home stretch!), 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper.




Now mix it all up together... until it is mixed. Do it with your hands. You know you want to.




Form the mixture into balls.



Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet (cast-iron is great!). Cook meatball in batches, turning every 4-5 minutes, until meatballs are brown all over. Serve in the manner of your choosing. Enjoy!



For the Sauce/ Meatball Sandwich

In a heavy bottomed pot or skillet (I like to use my enamel cast iron Stew pot) saute onions, garlic, and fennel seeds until onions are softened and beginning to brown, 5-10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and their liquid to the onions, as well as basil/oregano. Reduce heat and let simmer about 20 minutes, until sauce has thickened. Puree in a food processor until smooth, but not TOO smooth. We wouldn't want it to be a beverage :)

Return to pan, and simmer Meatballs in sauce 5-10 minutes.


Mm... tasty looking, yes?




Lay some arugula on a toasted bun.




Top with meatballs. But we're not done!




Add some more sauce. You'll be glad you did.




Oh, and don't forget the cheese. Never, ever forget the cheese. Forgetting the cheese makes baby Jesus cry.




This is my favorite part. Enjoy!

Summer Pulled Pork Sandwiches - A Recipe for Yum

Today was a No Good, Horrible, Rotten, Very Bad Day. For baby James, that is. If you are new here, baby James has Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), which is fancy-pants for very-bad-heartburn-that-makes-Baby-James-cry-all-day-long. He's on medication for it... but it doesn't work. I know, I know. We're going to get a different medication, but that doesn't mean that today was full of rainbows and ponies and fun. In fact, by 10am, I knew I was going to spend the rest of the day sitting on the couch, jiggling an unhappy baby who insisted in poking out his lower lip and looking irresistibly cute and sad (and periodically screaming) all day long.





I've learned that when it's one of THOSE days, the no-good, horrible, rotten, very bad days, it's best to just roll with it. It's no use trying to resist, and thinking about all the things I should get done is just frustrating. If I've got plans for a big fancy dinner recipe, they're canceled. Which is why pulled pork sandwiches are SO awesome.

Wait... pulled pork sandwiches? Aren't those difficult and time consuming? Not even! I've always been intimidated of making pulled pork because it looked hard... and like a lot of work. All day kind of work. Now I know they are easy-peasy. Slather a pork butt (hehe.... Oh, I'm sorry, was that childish?) with a spice rub, bake, and shred. That's it! The slathering and the shredding are honestly so easy my 3 month old kid could do it.

I like this recipe because I can throw this together in a pinch, I don't have to bother with it all day long, and when it's done we have something fantastic to eat. So if you're having a no-good, horrible, rotten, very bad day, or even if you are just having a busy day where you need to get stuff done, this recipe is fantastic. It packs a lot of punch in the taste department, it has a big "wow" factor, and... am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah! It tastes amazing.







Summer Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, June 2009

The only downside to this recipe (if that's even possible) is that the pork butt has to cook all day, and is places where it's hot... you might not want to turn your oven on in the middle of the day. No fear! This is a spectacular do ahead recipe. Do the baking the evening before when it's cool out. Then all you need to do on barbecue day is serve. Easy peasy.

Obviously, the buns in the pictures are onion wheat buns (gluten!) that Nate has been enjoying. I've been eating my pulled pork sandwiches on gluten-free bread, which, while tasty, is rather less photogenic.

By the way, a pork "butt" isn't what it sounds like (::snicker:: Oh, I'm so immature). It's actually a shoulder cut. It's quite flavorful and it is mega-cheap. I bought mine for $1 a lb, though I am sure prices vary by location. It's quite a fatty cut, but the fat renders out in the long cooking (yet another reason to bake this in the oven instead of stew it in the crock pot).


ingredients
5lb pork butt roast
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup coarse salt
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 garlic cloves
2 cups water
2 - 3 cups Classic Homemade Barbecue Sauce (Or some storebought sauce... pansy. Just kidding. Kinda.)
8 sandwich buns
2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage (for serving)


method


Finely mince 3 garlic cloves, and place in a medium bowl.



Add 1/2 cup dijon mustard to the bowl.



Add 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar...



... and 1/4 cup coarse salt...



...add in 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (wow! gorgeous!)...



... 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, my personal favorite...



... and finally, 2 tablespoons coarsely ground pepper.



Mix it all together...



... place your 5 lb pork butt on a roasting rack...



... and slather with the spice paste.



Add 2 cups water to the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover securely with tinfoil. Let sit for at least 1 hour to absorb spice paste, or up to over night (or longer!).



Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cook, basting hourly, for about 6 hours, until pork is tender and pulls apart easily. Remove from oven and let cool.



Shred pork (with your fingers or with two forks), and toss with 2-3 cups barbecue sauce.



Serve atop a toasted onion bun with sliced cabbage.

Enjoy!

Egg Salad Sandwich with Spinach

I've always liked sandwiches.

But I learned to LOVE them when I visited London during college.

We were studying abroad and Nate and I decided to get there a few days early and do the tourist thing. London wasn't ANYTHING like what we expected. I was thinking rain, fog, overcoats, cups of tea, boiled peas, suet. Instead we emerged from the "Tube," bleary-eyed with jet-lag, into blazing August sunshine. Obviously, it was time to shuck the overcoats. And take a nap. We hadn't slept in over 24 hours and even though it was the middle of the day in London, it was the middle of the night in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, our hostel wasn't ready for us. So we were left wandering around Southwark looking for something to do, but too tired to really do anything. We wandered into a sandwich shop and ordered two paninis, then ate them in a little park overlooking a kids' play yard. In the haze of that memory, sitting there in the sun eating those sandwiches, it was the BEST sandwich I had ever had. I can't even remember anymore what kind of sandwich it was, but I do remember that I didn't even know sandwiches could be that good.

In fact, British food was much better than its reputation makes out out to be. We loved British cheeses, back bacon, bangers and mash, tikka masala, kebab, bitter warm beer and the endless cups of tea. But we really loved the sandwiches. This is one sandwich we fell in love with while we were there (once we got over the jet lag and could remember flavors of food again). Some were not so great (like anything with Marmite or "brown sauce") but this one is delish.

Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich with Spinach

This recipe makes two sandwiches. Make one for a friend, or save the second one for later. It's a win-win situation, really.

Ok, first, you are going to need some eggs.



specifically, two. Go ahead and put them in a bowl.



Now take a fork and start to mash those babies up.



Keep going with that fork, breaking the white up into smaller and smaller bits.



When it's done, it should look like this:



Now we are going to need our good old friends, mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. And for pete's sake, use the real stuff people. Life it too short for fake mayonnaise. Really.



You're also going to need these old friends: vinegar (you don't need to use this one, but use a tasty one), cracked pepper, and kosher salt.



Now add 2 tbs mayonnaise, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, and a splash of vinegar. You should also add a pinch of salt and some pepper.



And mix all that good stuff up.



Now it's time for the really yummy stuff. Take a handful of spinach and chop it up.



And add it to that yummy egg mixture.



And mix it all up.



Now for the sandwich. When first stopped eating gluten, I thought my sandwich eating days were over. Mostly this was because I couldn't find any edible bread. But THEN I found this bread:



It's pretty good. That or I have forgotten what real bread tastes like and I just don't know any better these days. In any case, I get to eat sandwiches these days. Yay!

Now toast that bread and make yourself a sandwich!



I make Nate's sandwiches on "real" bread, like, you know, bread that is made out of wheat and costs less than $6 a loaf.

However, as you can see my sandwich is a little more petite than Nate's.



Now get yourself a tall glass of lemon-aid to go with that sandwich. Bon Appetit!