Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The Winner with a Side of Egg-Free Meatballs


Let's get to it! Marisa...Ohhhhhhh SNAP! YOU ARE THE WINNER, of the Foodie House "Name My Camera" Contest! Yay! I loved the name "Snaps". It's spunky and fun, just like my girl...well, Snaps! Marisa, email me and let me know when you would like to post your guest post. Can't wait to hear what it is! Check Marisa out at her blog, Cook's Book.

Thank you everyone for your ideas. Honestly, it was really hard picking the name. I liked so many of them! I had a lot of fun. I hope you had a good time too. I'll be having another contest soon...and it will have a tangible prize next time.

So...


I love meatballs. I love them with all different types of meat or poultry. I loved them before they were trendy and before they had resturants dedicated to their meaty meatballness. They are a perfect platform, nay, a canvas for the culinary paintbrush! (I'm pretty sure Shakespeare loved meatballs.)

Well, I've mentioned before, my youngest son has an egg allergy, so that has forced me to take some of my favorite recipes and transform them into egg-free delights. So far it's been working out pretty well, thanks to a nifty little idea I found online: flax seed. I talked about this in the Blueberry Pancake post, where it worked out beautifully. It was my first run with it and I had very low expectations. I was happily surprised by the outcome! No one seemed to miss the eggs and my Tiny could eat all he wanted. So why not apply the same idea to meatballs?


Meatballs need egg, or some sort of binder. So I put the flax seed concoction into effect. I made my traditional meatballs and swapped the egg for the gooey flax seed. Let me tell you, they turned out fabulous!

There's cute lil' Bob again.

The Goo

Not only is the flax seed so healthy, it's a great binder. The sticky consistency of it made the meatballs hold together perfectly. If you are looking to find a lower fat/cholesterol meatball recipe, you could use this and substitute the beef and pork for turkey. And if your looking to pay for some singing lessons, these could also come in handy.




If you have a hankerin' for some meatballs and want to see me teach you how, you can watch my "Mama's Meatballs" video (click here) and use your imagination that I am putting in flax seed substitute instead of egg.



Egg-Free Mama's Meatballs

prep time:20 min
cook time:45 min
serves:9

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. gr. beef (85/15)

1 c. breadcrumbs

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

1 tbls. fresh basil, minced

1 tbls. fresh parsley, minced

2 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced

2 tbls. ground flax seed combined with 1/2 cup hot water

1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tbls. olive oil

3 24 oz. jars of your favorite marinara (I use Bertolli Organic Tomato Basil) and yes, I cheat.

Combine all ingredients using your hands. It's truly the best way to incorporate all the flavors.

Roll out the meatballs into golf ball-sized portions. It makes approx. 28. I freeze half if I am cooking just for my family. I count 3 meatballs as one serving. When I use only half of the meatballs, I use only 2 jars of sauce.

Pour your marinara sauce into a pot and start warming it over medium heat.

Get a heavy saute pan nice and hot over med-high heat. Add your olive oil and start searing your meatballs. Set them in, leave them alone! Don't touch! The goal is to get caramelization on the outside of the meatballs so they are flavorful and juicy. Also, do not over-crowd your pan. This will cause the meatballs to steam and become dry.

Sear on each side then take the meatballs directly from the saute pan to the marinara sauce. They meatballs do not need to be cooked through. We are only searing them then cooking the rest of the way in the marinara. This makes for a very moist meatball.

A totally optional step is to pour the grease from your meatball pan into the sauce. If you are concerned about the fat, by all means, skip this part. I do it for the flavor. It's fantastic!

Put a lid on it, slightly ajar and let them simmer for a good 30 minutes.

And just because it's so good to dip in the sauce, like any good Italian girl would...some garlic bread. Takes 10 minutes, is all fresh and so tasty.


Garlic Bread

6 slices Italian or French bread
2 tbls. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced and smashed into a paste with a pinch of salt
2 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced
salt and pepper

Get your broiler on. Mix up all the ingredients, except for the bread, of course. Brush it onto the bread, toast under the broiler and mangia!



Love ya, Food-sters!

16 comments:

  1. I love flax eggs for baking. Never thought to put them in meatballs as a binder. Great idea!

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  2. Looks delish and the video clip from The Wedding Singer made me giggle haha ;-)

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  3. Looks great! I love the idea of flax in the meatballs for some extra health kick!

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  4. How lucky your son is to have a mom who is a creative cook! Your meatballs look delish!

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  5. Snaps. Me likes. Me also likes the meatballs. Very creative and awesome mom.

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  6. Yay! Thanks Lauren! I am so excited that you chose the name Snaps. I emailed you but I'm not sure if it worked. Let me know if you got it. If not, just contact me at marisa.musto17@gmail.com and I'll get right back to you.

    I really appreciate a good meatball. I never knew that flax seed could work as a binder. I think it's great that you find ways to substitute eggs in all these yummy dishes for your son. No one should be deprived of a good meatball! or chocolate cupcakes, or blueberry pancakes... :)

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  7. Your meatball recipe reminded me of some quinoa meatballs I made, no eggs either!

    http://biz319.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/exercise-tv-on-demand/

    When I made them my husband asked "what's for dinner?" I said "quinoa meatballs with spaghetti squash!"

    He just laughed!

    So when I brought him his dish, he went straight to twitter and tweeted "my wife said she was making quinoa meatballs. I thought she was kidding. She wasn't!"

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  8. I haven't worked much with flaxseed. Good to know it works well for binding. Oh, and I'm so glad you shared the video. I think I've referenced this a time or two when talking about making money as a blogger :)

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  9. Great idea with the flax seeds! I have a whole bag in my fridge and I always love to find new ways to use them. These look great! And I love that they are egg free. Thanks for sharing love!
    http://anecdotesandapples.weebly.com

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  10. Mmm these meatballs look good! Oh, and congrats on the name! Snaps fits perfectly!

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  11. garlic bread... that`s something for me :)

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  12. This definitely sounds like something I would like, I don't know exactly why, but I have been craving meatballs lately! :) Delicious recipe, and congrats on the FG and TS acceptance!

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  13. What a great idea - one of those things I love about food bloggers is finding these delicious and nutritious ideas I'd never have thought of.

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  14. I was googling for egg-free meatball recipes and came across your site! My daughter (14 months) has an egg allergy and I'm trying to find recipes we can all eat and include her as well! Am I able to leave out the ground pork and just half the rest of the ingredients? I don't have ground pork and I was hoping to make meatballs tonight! What are your thoughts?

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  15. Thanks for the idea, trying it tomorrow as my little son has an egg allergy as well.

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