Chelsea's Birthday Party

We had Chelsea’s birthday party yesterday. Just family. Dad, Martha, Donley, Leah, Oliver, Lily, and Jessica were all there. I made spaghetti and meatballs. It was a hit!

I was worried about the meatballs. I thought I had left them in the oven too long ( yes, I do them in the oven ). Turns out they were still really juicy and tender. I just hate it when meatballs are big dense dry lumps of meat. The sauce was good too. I made it quick from canned tomatoes. The recipe follows.

Chelsea got some nice presents, of course, the trip to Disney World was the biggest present she got. I picked up her new bike last night. It’s a pink Diamondback with tassels and a little bag that attaches to the handle bars. I will post a picture.

Here is the recipe, as best I can remember it:

Meatballs

• 1 lbs. Ground Chuck
• 1 lbs. Ground Lamb
• 1 lbs. Ground Pork
• 4 peices of good quality sandwich bread
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup freshly grated parmegiano reggiano cheese
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 3 tbls fresh herb ( I used Basil but I think Parsley or Thyme would work well too )
• Salt & Pepper
• 3 large eggs

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut the crusts from the bread slices, and rip it into small pieces. Put in a bowl and poor buttermilk over. Let stand for 10 minutes mashing with a fork occasionally, until the mixture forms a loose paste
3. Mix all ingredients except bread crumbs in a large bowl. The best tool for this is your hands but, If you prefer you could use a large rubber spatula to cut the ingredients together. The key here is not to mash the ingredients. Keep the mixture loose.
4. Cover mixture and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
5. Form balls by scoping a consistent amount into your hands. I used a #50 spring loaded scooper to scoop out heaping scooperfuls. Form the balls by rolling in your hands. The trick here is to make sure not to press the mixture together. Also a small amount of water on your hands can help prevent the balls from sticking.
6. Place the bread crumbs in a bowl and dredge the balls in it. I like to use a handled soup bowl. Then I can put the ball in the cup, holding the cup by the handle, I then rotate the cup so that the ball rolls around in the crumbs.
7. As you bread the balls, place them on the backing sheets. I got 41 balls out of this mixture.
8. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sauce

• 8 oz. Mushrooms ( baby bellas are good here ), diced.
• 6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 3 Tbls. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Tbls. Tomato Paste
• 2 28 oz. Cans Whole Peeled Tomatoes ( Roma if you can find them )
• 1 28 oz. Can Crushed Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup Fresh Basil, chopped
• Salt & Pepper

Steps

1. drain whole tomatoes through a fine sieve and reserver liquid.
2. chop tomatoes cutting off the stem end ( not good eats ).
3. Add enough of the reserved liquid to the tomatoes to equal 6 cups.
4. Heat oil in a large non-reactive pot ( I love my enamel coated cast iron ) over med-high heat.
5. put in the diced mushrooms. They will release some water as they cook, keep the heat up so that this water will dissipate. Saute' until soft and browned.
6. add garlic and tomato paste. Cook for about 2 minutes.
7. Add tomatoes and liquid, and crushed tomatoes.
8. add basil
9. simmer for about 30 minutes or longer if you like.