Alton Brown's Meatball Sandwich

I belong to a Supper Club and we meet every other month. We met in August and our theme was Alton Brown.

I chose to make Alton Brown's Meatball Sandwich.

Making the meatballs in muffin tins.  I placed the tin over a baking sheet just in case the oil spilled from the sides of the tin.

Parmesan Parsley Biscuits

The finished product

Alton Brown Meatball Sandwich

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 lb ground veal

1 egg

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, veal, egg, onion, parsley, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper and mix until well combined. Scoop the mixture into mini muffin tins. Bake until browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve on split biscuits with sauce and cheese.

Parmesan Parsley Biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or chives

1 cup whole milk, chilled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup Parmesan, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk until well blended. Add butter and combine with fingertips until a coarse meal forms. Mix in parsley. Gradually add milk, tossing with a fork until moist clumps form. Add extra milk if mixture is dry. Put dough on a floured work surface, folding 8 to 10 times until it becomes firm. Let rest for 10 minutes under a damp towel. Roll out on lightly floured work surface. Using a 2-inch-diameter biscuit ring, cut out biscuits and put on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake until biscuits are puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs olive oil

2 (14-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

20 fresh basil leaves, chopped

In a medium pan over high heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until softened, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and allow to simmer until slightly reduced and thickened, about 25 minutes. Stir in fresh basil just before serving.

My Notes: In the end, I did not like this recipe. The meatballs were like hamburgers. I think to call them meatballs, you would need to add breadcrumbs. 

The meatballs were supposed to be formed in mini muffin tins. Mini tins would have made the meatballs too small so I opted to make them in regular muffin tins. After shrinking from the cooking, the meatballs were just the right size for the biscuits.

The recipe for the biscuits did not specify how thick to roll the dough. I rolled them to 1/2 inch thick and barely made 16 biscuits. There were 18 meatballs so there were not enough biscuits.  

The sauce was quite bland and I'm glad there was basil added at the end. It made the dish more palatable.





2016 08 13