Submitted by: René McCracken
The fall and winter time of the year have us slowing down on the farm a bit and beginning to celebrate the holidays. Plants are moved indoors and gardens have finally quit producing and its traditionally a good time to process meats on the farm.
This year we have both farm-raised beef and pork and both could be used for this crowd-pleasing recipe. The Stove Top Meatballs were a hit at our Christmas party as I’m sure they will be at any gathering you take them to.
Stove Top Meatballs
Ingredients:
5 lbs ground beef 90/10 is best
1 box Stove Top stuffing herb mix
1 can diced stewed tomatoes
3 eggs slightly beaten
1/3 cup liquid smoke
1/4 brown sugar
1 tablespoon of salt,
1 tablespoon pepper
Mix all ingredient in large bowl till completely mixed evenly. Fashion each meatball into your preferred size (mine are always Texas-sized) place on a metal tray and roast in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes or until juices run clear. Pour off grease as needed to prevent burning and smoking up your kitchen. I like to broil them for 5 minutes to put the perfect amount of char on them which is always the piece worth fighting for! Allow them to cool and then decide on your sauce. Perhaps a beer based BBQ sauce or a nice marinara for the Italian dishes. How about something completely different like sour cream Beef stroganoff sauce would be good as well. I encourage you to double or triple the batch as once frozen this meatball freezes well and can be pulled out and warmed up for last minute meals or when that unexpected guest shows up. If you would like this and other Farm Fresh Recipes go to www.ntcc.edu/ag.
