Meatballs! Stroganoff and a Sub!

Stroganoff pictured here

 This recipe makes enough meatballs to set some aside in the freezer for spaghetti, meatball subs (scroll to the bottom of this post for my meatball sub), or any other recipe you'd like to have a batch of meatballs ready to go. I forgot to write down exactly how many it made, but I baked two baking sheets of about one-inch meatballs. So 40-50 meatballs. I strongly suggest chilling the meatballs, as it helps them hold their shape and it's easier to form them. They can be prepped the night before, so all you have to do is throw them into the oven.

As always, much of this recipe is personal preference. For example, the mushrooms. I would have preferred large slices of mushrooms, but I live with mushroom-haters (haha), so I chopped them up pretty small. Same with the onions.  The meatballs were a big hit with them, by the way.  Score one for me. I won't tell if you don't. :)
Oh, also, a mixture of ground meats, such as pork, lamb and beef is preferable for ultimate meatballs, but I used just ground beef for the sake of my wallet.  They were still moist and wonderful!
But enough of that! Let's get to the recipe..

Meatballs:

• 3 lbs ground beef
• roughly 2 cups torn bread chunks from a thick bread like a sub bun
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup minced white onion
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry as possible
• 1/4 cup fresh fine chopped mushrooms
• 2 lightly beaten eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire 
• few good pinches of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage

Stroganoff gravy:

•  5 Tablespoons margarine, plus 1 Tablespoon
• 1 cup minced onion 
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped small
• 1 small dried bay leaf
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups beef broth
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire 
• salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind the meatballs will add salt taste)
• 1/2 cup sour cream, plus more to top with, if desired

To make meatballs:
 
Soak bread chunks in 3/4 cup of milk in small bowl for about 10-20 minutes, until all the milk is soaked up. 

Combine all meatball ingredients in a bowl. Mix with your hands to combine, but try not to over mix or squish too harsh. Cover bowl and chill for at least an hour; up to overnight.  

Line a cookie sheet (one with a small edge so the meatball drippings don't get all over your oven, that's always joyful) with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Using a small ice cream scoop, gently make about 1 inch meatballs. They don't have to be exact, but try to make them even sized as possible for even cooking.  When baking sheet is full, put leftover mix into fridge until the first batch is done.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your meatballs. I usually find when they are firm, but not hard, to the touch, they are done.

Let meatballs stand for about 3-5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet.

Remove and make the last batch of meatballs.

You should have 40-60 meatballs. Save some for this recipe and in labeled freezer bags, freeze the others for quick meals or snacks.

Stroganoff Gravy:
In large pan, use 5 Tablespoons of margarine, with bay leaf, to soften onions about 3-4 minutes over medium heat and then add mushrooms and dash of salt and pepper. Stir and cook a couple more minutes, but not so long as to soak up all the moisture in the pan.

Add 1 Tablespoon margarine and using a wooden spoon, slowly stir in flour.

Cook and stir until all flour is moistened and you have a thick mixture, or roux. Keep stirring for about 2-3 minutes, lowering the heat just a touch, if needed, so as not to burn the flour.

In a slow, but steady stream, add beef broth while stirring vigorously to avoid lumping. Keep stirring and adding broth slowly, until all the broth is added.  Add milk and keep stirring until thickening slows.

Add nutmeg, Worcestershire and then salt and pepper to taste, if needed. 

When gravy is thick, remove from heat and add sour cream. Stir, then add meatballs.

Serve over medium egg noodles, rice, or alone, and with extra sour cream, if desired.

 Mmmm.. I love extra sour cream!

What I did with some extra meatballs I saved out:
Add about 2 Tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan to a small can (15 oz) of spaghetti sauce to about 15 meatballs or so, depending out saucy you like them. Put on a buttered and toasted sub bun sprinkled with garlic powder. Arrange meatballs, spoon sauce over, top with a bit more grated parmesan, some thin sliced mozzarella, teeeny pinch of Italian seasoning, stick under broiler to melt and tada! LUNCH! yum!

Ahhh...nothing like a hot meatball sub for a Saturday lunch!

Honey-Kissed Corndogs

I just love these soft, slightly sweet corndogs.
Be warned, if you have a high frustration level, this recipe works better for half-dogs than it does for a full corndog. ha! True!  On my second full-sized corndog, I was beginning to wonder if I really wanted a corndog THAT bad, and maybe I should just give the half-sized to the g-kidlets and be done with it. LOL But I persevered and they turned out great.

 SO, when I make these again, I'll just stick to the half-sized.  And eat double. haha :)
Also, I was going to add about 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard, but I forgot and I didn't even notice until I was going over my notes I jot down while cooking, and noticed I'd forgotten. They tasted awesome, so I don't know if I'll ever add it.  So that one is up to you.

Be sure to work quickly, because the longer the batter sits, the harder it is to get to stay on the long dogs.
Enough chit-chat! On with the recipe!

• 6 hot dogs, preferably cut in half (lol), poked with something thin like a thin meat thermometer, and a popsicle stick inserted halfway into the dog
• 1 1/4 cups flour, plus 1/2 cup for rolling the dogs in.
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 or 12 wooden popsicle sticks 

 Sift together all the dry ingredients like this:

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the beaten eggs, milk and honey and mix together well, until there are no lumps.
When dogs have sticks inserted in them, and oil is about 300 degrees, roll dogs in a light coating of flour, dunk in batter, using a spoon to help cover the dog quickly and to help pull it out of the batter without the batter falling off. When it's covered with batter, quickly transfer it into the hot oil.

Fry until the underside is a deep golden brown and flip over to fry the other side. When it's done, take out gently with a spider spatula or tongs and place on paper towels to drain.

oooooooooooo so yummy!
NOW the tart-sweet honey mustard. Are you ready ?  Equal amounts of French's mustard  and a good honey! That's it!! FANTASTIC! I'm not kidding. So simple, SO good.

Those are my Pepperjack Cheese Bites alongside the corndog. :)

Easy, Tasty Pizza Crust

After going through dozens of recipes for pizza dough, and having nothing but pizza problems, I finally came up with a good recipe that works and it's easy with little kneading!

To further ease the pizza problems, sprinkle your baking pan liberally with cornmeal so it doesn't stick.  And for a tastier crust, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on the crust after you brush it with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
I'll also be showing you my recipe for my awesome pizza sauce! Don't waste money on the stuff in the store! It's so easy to make at home and really not much more trouble than opening a can and your herb bottles!

I piled mine high with ham, pineapple, cheddar and mozzarella! YUM

In this recipe, I DO use the parmesan in the plastic tubular containers. (crowd gasps) I know! But really! The stuff DOES seem to add a certain tang and flavor to the crust that I can't seem to get with real parm.

This makes 2-12-inch pizzas, I made three personal size and two child size pizzas

On to the recipe!

• 1 pkg or 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
• 1 cup hot tap water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
• parmesan cheese in a tub
• cornmeal for dusting your baking sheet
• my easy, yummy pizza sauce 

Run tap water in a large glass bowl until water is hot. Dump out and put 1 cup of hot water into the bowl. I find warming the bowl helps.
Dissolve yeast in the water and let sit a minute.

Add sugar, salt, oil and whisk well.

Add half of the flour and beat well (use a wooden spoon or your mixer with dough hooks), until there are no lumps.

Gradually add the remaining flour.

Mix with dough hooks or kneed 5 minutes, or until dough starts climbing up the hooks, pulling away from the bowl, and isn't sticky.

 Dust your hands a bit with flour and your board. Separate dough into balls according to how many and what size pizzas you're making.

Sprinkle your baking sheet liberally with cornmeal and press the dough into rounds:

 Put onto baking sheets and press down a little.

Let rise about 20-30 minutes or so. Press down if you want a thinner crust and brush your pizza crusts with olive oil and sprinkle with real parmesan cheese, if you wish.

Then slip into a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  I like to precook my crusts to ensure they'll be done in the middle.

You can cook them until done and freeze for later use, or start topping your pizzas! 

ohhhhhhhhhhhh mama! I made mine a Hawaiian! I was just missing some olives!
I baked this about 15 minutes or so, until it was hot and bubbly!