(no subject)

[alexseanchai]

omg the upstairs smells so good right now. Mom is making her mom's family recipe of Italian spaghetti and meatballs* and ooooh tastynoms but we don't get to have any till tomorrow night because you don't eat this stuff the day you make it, what sort of heathen are you, it tastes so much better on day two.

I helped roll the meatballs. Mom keeps saying we all ought to learn this recipe, and...connections to family, connections to family history. I really do need to learn how to make this. (And my gluten-free sisters need to figure out how to adapt it for GFness—the toasted crumbled bread is easily enough replaced with toasted crumbled GF bread, but the recipe includes however many shakes of Accent. Accent is straight-up monosodium glutamate, and it doesn't taste right without the MSG, we tried that once.) I don't even know what I want to put next to the "but" when I say I would learn to make this but, or next to the "because" when I say I don't want to learn to make this because.

* The recipe card in Grandma D's handwriting just says "Italian Spaghetti". But Mom says she had to amend the recipe name at some point when I was tiny because she got tired of Dad asking if there would be meatballs when Mom said dinner would be Italian spaghetti. And Dad says I take things too literally!

Comments

[madgastronomer]

Quick oats (like Quaker brand) can also be good GF breadcrumb replacements. Try Bragg's Amino Acids for the Accent, MSG is the sodium salt of the essential amino acid glutamase, and a number of amino acids contribute to the umami flavor that's what MSG provides. Bragg's is GF.

[alexseanchai]

I shall investigate this, thank you!

CAREFUL

[dialecticdreamer]

With the oats-- MOST oats are, either during growing or processing, potentially contaminated with wheat. Since you're dealing with an allergy, the general recommendation is to avoid all oats. See: http://www.gfcf.com/articles/gluten-in-oats.html

A specific article in the New England Journal of Medicine includes results of testing specific brands. See: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200411043511924

If you're using breadcrumbs to keep the ground meat moist and act as a binder, plain, prepped mashed potato flakes (no salt or butter) will work one-to-one (if it's 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, use 1/4 cup of prepped mashed potatoes). ALSO, if you're feeling daring, use a banana, mashed with a fork, if you're using more than a pound of ground meat, and if you're using less, use half a banana. Even without tomato sauce involved, I haven't tasted any extra sweetness in the finished product.

Bragg's amino acids isn't something I regularly keep in the kitchen, but the flavor is amazing. I love it on steamed brown rice instead of soy sauce, for example.

Re: CAREFUL

[alexseanchai]

GF oats are a thing, but yes.

Banana? *intrigued*

Re: CAREFUL

[dialecticdreamer]

Yeah, hand to Heaven, it works.

It's suggested for people trying to cut fat, especially in baking. You can also use pureed plums (baby food, or the horribly expensive "fat free baking alternative," which is, you guessed it, the same ingredients at the same texture) but the kids /really/ objected to the color of the plums while I was mixing up the ingredients.

Oh, if you're cooking for yourself, also try spraying oil lightly in a metal muffin pan, then making "meatloaf muffins" with your usual meatball recipe. The individual servings retain moisture better than a standard loaf-style meatloaf and I quit "needing" the American layer-of-castsup sealer on top the first time I tried it. When baked, the outer crust is more crisp than in meatballs, so pull them when they just begin to brown but are cooked through. That way, you can pop individual meatloaves into a gallon zip and freeze them. They're easy to slice cold for meatloaf sandwiches, too, which is HUGELY important to hubby and the kids.

Re: CAREFUL

[alexseanchai]

*nod* Shall try!

Meatball creation

[dialecticdreamer]

If you've got a good quality one ounce scoop (We bought ours at a restaurant supply house, it's a #30) it's dead easy to make consistent meatballs. Prep the mixture with your hands and mix lightly- you want to still have bits of un-blended ground meat- and wash your hands frequently with cold water. When you start dishing up, spray oil in the scoop, and scoop out half-moon shapes into a plate or bowl, then give a final, light shaping with oiled hands. Brown the meatballs in a skillet (don't pack them tightly, and turn them frequently to sear the outside, then add the meatballs to the sauce to finish cooking and melding flavors.

Of course, they're better the next day!!!

Re: Meatball creation

[alexseanchai]

Yeah, that's pretty much how Mom said to do it, except no scoop, just hands.

Re: Meatball creation

[dialecticdreamer]

The scoop is a good compromise solution for us, but yeah, it's not needed if you have an eye for volume. I don't, and the kids were pretty insistent that "a meatball" was the size of a baseball for ONE serving. And they wanted four of those, of course. Hence, the scoop.

Which, btw, is a /perfect/ size for cookies, too.

[shipwreck_light]

Hee on the literal meatball business XD.

Have you considered upping the red wine and adding some beef broth to compensate for the Accent?

[alexseanchai]

No wine in this recipe! But adding wine and beef broth is a thought for later when I wish to experiment. Thanks.