Mama's Meat Balls

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chicken stock
1/4 yellow onion
1 clove garlic
¼ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground veal
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
3-6 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

 Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic and parsley in a blender of food processor and puree.
 In a large bowl, combine the pureed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, parsley and salt. Combine with both hands until mixture is uniform. Do not over mix.
 Put a little olive oil on your hands and form mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls. They should be about ¼ cup each, though if you prefer bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.
 Pour about 1/2-inch of extra virgin olive oil into a straight-sided, 10-inch-wide sauté pan and heat over medium-high flame. Add the meatballs to the pan (working in batches if necessary) and brown meatballs, turning once. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
 While the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over medium heat. Lift the meatballs out of the sauté pan with a slotted spoon and put them in the marinara sauce. Stir gently. Simmer for one hour.
Serve with a little extra parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Serve alone or over spaghetti (in which case, you will need 6 cups of marinara).

Wolfgang Puck's Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1/2 pound mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped

3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground veal

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 pounds smoked bacon (sliced-about 13 slices)

Method:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook over medium-high heat until they just begin to color, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the cream, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 FA. Add to the bowl the beef, and veal. Stir in the egg and continue mixing just until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

On a work surface, position a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with the bacon slices, placing them parallel tot the short end and slightly overlapping, with their ends hanging over the edges. Add the meat mixture to the pan patting it down to make it smooth and even. Fold the ends of the bacon strips up and over the meat mixture to enclose it completely. Cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil.

To prepare the water bath, place a roasting pan inside the oven on the middle shelf. Bring a kettle of water to boil. Using an oven glove, slide out part way from the oven the shelf with the roasting pan. Place the loaf pan in the center of the roasting pan. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the side of the loaf pan. Cove the roasting pan with aluminum foil.

Carefully slide the shelf back into the oven and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue to bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat loaf registers 165 Fahrenheit, about 30 minutes more.

Remove the pan of meat loaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, carefully empty the boiling water from the roasting pan. Holding the loaf pan with oven gloves or pot holder, carefully pour the juices from the pan into a sauce boat or heatproof cup. Cut the loaf crosswise into 8 slices, taking care to cut completely through the bacon with each slice. Serve each slice drizzled with pan juices.