California Dan wants big, tender balls.
Sometimes I make meatballs and they are the best things ever.
And sometimes they downright suck.
I'm getting much better at making them non-sucky and more flavorful.
Since I do a lot of cooking for fussy eaters, groups or babies, I tend to leave things less spiced than I'd like.
I'm also working on that.
Meatballs are a whim thing. For me. So this may not be helpful or coherent.
So here is roughly what you will need.
Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees (lower temp will cook slower, giving you a more 'well done' meatball over a jucier one)
1 lb. ground beef (I use 90% lean because then you won't have meatball grease all over your oven. Turkey works as well.)
Bread crumbs (Italian seasoned if you like, or plain if you want to add a lot of your own spices. I use Italian, and a brand name... it's in a blue thing.)
1 egg (per lb. of meat)
grated Parmesean cheese
grated Romano cheese (both cheeses can be found in shaker jars near the sauce)
The following can be added or left out, whatever you fancy.
basil
garlic (finely chopped and sauteed, or garlic powder if you don't like chunks)
salt
pepper
finely chopped sauteed onion (if you do this, reserve the juice from the onion in the pan for cooking the balls in later)
*BBQ Dinosaur FOREPLAY rub* (I swear, it comes out sooo much better)
cumin (I really like cumin)
whatever else on your spice rack smells good. No, seriously, just sniff and see.
Wash your hands. You will want paper towels near by.
Put the meat in a bowl. Good.
Now add about 1/2 c. of bread crumbs and the egg.
Add the cheeses. I like about 1/3c. each. Maybe more.
Smash it all together with your hands. Like with hamburger, you don't want to overwork it. Just mixing it up is great for now.
If you feel that it is too runny (from the egg), add a half a palm-full of bread crumbs. The meat should be looser than play-doh, but roll into balls and stay that way, more or less.
Now add your onions, garlic, spices, and all that good stuff. It may look like you are WAY overseasoning it, but don't worry about that. Just go easy on the salt, since the Parmesean is pretty salty on it's own. So is Foreplay.
Roll the meat into golfball sized balls.
you may want to wash your hands now if you haven't done so 1000 times already.
Now you have a choice.
You can
a) pan sear the meatballs over high heat before popping them in the oven - I find this reduces cook time and keeps in a lot of flavor.
or skip right to
b) arrange the meatballs on a cookie sheet (I line mine with tin foil - so much easier to clean up). They won't expand, so you can put them close. If you give them about 1/4 inch on all sides, this is usually sufficient to letting the air flow around them so they cook well.
If you've fried them first, you may want to crack one open after about 20 mintues. If not, try 30 minutes.
Or, if they seem pretty firm when you gently push them with a fork, crack one open then.
If you plan on freezing these (and meatballs freeze well) or adding them to a sauce, take them out while the centers are still pink. Let them sit in a simmering sauce for about 10-15 minutes to finish cooking, or if you are thawing them, stick them straight into the oven until they are heated and cooked through.
And that is all!
Now you just have to clean up the giant mess you made.