Maestro Meatballs
- Ingredients:
- 21
- Yields:
-
18 meatballs
ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2 lbs lean beef, ground
- 1 egg
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika
- 1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup fine dry breadcrumb
- 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 strips bacon
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup strong coffee
- 1⁄2 1/2 cup Burgundy wine or 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1⁄4 cup water
- 1 cup sour cream
- to taste flour (for dredging)
directions
- In a large bowl, combine beef, egg, garlic, onion, oregano, paprika, salt, breadcrumbs, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix very well and shape into balls about 1.5" (4mm) in diameter and dredge in flour.
- Cook bacon in a large frying pan until crisp.
- Remove, chop, and set aside. To the fat in the pan, add sufficient butter to be able to brown all the meatballs.
- Brown and turn meatballs until all are seared and golden.
- Now add coffee, wine or apple juice, water, salt, and sugar.
- Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
- Return bacon to the pan.
- Mix flour and 1/4 cup water into a smooth paste and carefully stir in until thickened.
- Reduce heat as low as possible for another five minutes.
- Serve immediately with hot rice. Hope you enjoy them!
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
The meatballs were great (I added a flavored oil instead of plain vegetable oil) but I was a little disappointed in the sauce. I wasn't sure when to add the sour cream because the recipe doesn't say. I beat the sour cream in with the liquids, I think I should have taken another reviewer's suggestion and added right before serving. As someone else pointed out there is no measurement for onion in the ingredient list. I added 1/4 cup minced onion to the meatball mixture and was pleased with the amount if that helps anyone else.
-
These meatballs were very good, but I too had some challenges with the ingredients listed. I used about a 1/4 cup minced onion in the meatballs, and used a 1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon.The recipe did not say whether the coffee was to be brewed or instant so I used instant. I cut back on the Worcestershire sauce and only used 1 tsp. as my family and I are not bigs fans of it. I also used half ground round/half ground pork because it was what I had on hand. I think the pork might have made the contribution to the greasy gravy. I did add the sour cream to the gravy at the end, even though the recipe did not give an indication as to when to add this. I thought the meatballs wear a bit tough, but it might have been due to the meat mixture I had. The gravy was a bit salty so I will cut back on the salt next time as well. My family loved them. I served them over noodles. Nice recipe, but needs a bit of tweeking for next time.
-
Smelled divine when I was making them. Encountered a few challenges en route: doesn't list in ing. any onion, though it is listed in step 1. (Never one to pass up an onion, I chopped one finely, and even my onion-hating boy didn't notice.) Also, it doesn't state in the directions when to add the sour cream, so I played it safe, and served it dolloped on top. Didn't seem to taste quite right; maybe it was supposed to be added to the sauce at the end? Finally, 4 slices of bacon isn't nearly enough when they are sitting and staring at you, all cooked and chopped, daring you to nibble a little piece here and there. Now I managed to resist temptation (wasn't my fave bacon; that's why it's in a recipe), but my 2yo girl and dh both reduced the pile of bacon pcs to about 1/4 cup. Maybe instructions should include
see 1 more reviews
Tweaks
-
The meatballs were great (I added a flavored oil instead of plain vegetable oil) but I was a little disappointed in the sauce. I wasn't sure when to add the sour cream because the recipe doesn't say. I beat the sour cream in with the liquids, I think I should have taken another reviewer's suggestion and added right before serving. As someone else pointed out there is no measurement for onion in the ingredient list. I added 1/4 cup minced onion to the meatball mixture and was pleased with the amount if that helps anyone else.