BBQ Meatballs and Gravy

Well, I haven't been recovering for this long, but I haven't been feeling much like blogging. I guess for a bit there I was thinking "Why am I even blogging, who even reads it and how many of the people who do check it actually try to cook any of the dishes?" But I didn't start the blog for other people, I started it for me. So I really should stop being lazy and post my pictures, I'm starting to get a backlog.

In other news, I'm all healed up, I haven't really had to adjust my diet, though I really should anyway. We have a new neighbor above us, and he has a dog that likes to run around like crazy. It is very loud and annoying. Ah apartment life.

So I made this recipe quite awhile ago. The meatballs aren't really BBQ. And the sauce isn't so much a gravy as it is a sauce full of lots of stuff. The first night we ate it, I didn't really think it was very BBQish, but the next day the chipotle peppers really shone through.

This is one of those dishes that I didn't wind up taking a finished product picture because Matt and Garret showed up and I got distracted. The meatballs are really good though, I made them all by themselves last week and turned them into meatball sliders. Sooo good.

First, let's make the sauce. The "BBQ Gravy", as it were.

You'll need bacon, olive oil, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, rosemary, brown sugar, chianti (I just used the random bottle of red wine I had laying around), cider vinegar, tomato paste, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, 3 cans of diced tomatoes (I used one of crushed because I like smoother tomato based anything) and of course, salt and pepper.

Seems like an awful lot of stuff, huh. Well it was.

If you've never seen a chipotle pepper and don't know what it is, it's a smoked dried jalapeno. Adobo sauce is, well.. I don't know, go look it up yourself. You're on the internet, aren't you? It's yummy and smokey and good.

Now dice that sucker up and put it aside. Honestly, the recipe calls for 2, but I wound up putting almost the entire can into the sauce by the end because it didn't taste smokey or spicy enough.

Dice up your bacon, and all your veggies.

Render the bacon until crispy in the olive oil.

Add the veggies and saute until soft and golden brown.

Add the rosemary and brown sugar. Stir.

Then add the red wine and vinegar, bring to a boil.

Then add the tomato paste, tomatoes, and chipotles in adobo sauce.

Realize your pot is smaller than you thought it was and transfer your sauce to your bigger one so you don't paint the walls when simmering.

Stir and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming the top for bubbly scummy stuff.

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And now for the meatballs.

You'll need ground beef, an egg, worcestershire, basil, oregano, parsley, parmesan, onion powder, bread crumbs, garlic, salt, pepper, and water. 

 Mix all the ingredients but the water in a bowl. You'll notice it's pretty dry. Add a half a cup of water and mix. Form into 1 1/2 to 2 inch meatballs.

Place them into a skillet, and cover with the other half cup of water. Cover, turn the heat to medium and steam them for 35 minutes.

You might need to add a little water near the end, mine always started to evaporate too much and I panicked a little when I smelled that telltale "Hey I'm getting close to burning" smell. Steaming the meatballs makes them so soft and pillowy. Everyone liked them.

I don't have any pictures of the finished meatballs and sauce and noodles. But it was yummy.

I don't think I would make the sauce again. It was good but it was too much effort and the ingredients were kind of expensive for the end product. The meatballs are good though and I have all of the ingredients on hand most of the time.

Meatballs in BBQ Gravy (original recipe found here)

• 1 pound bacon, sliced into lardons
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, minced (I used dried)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 glasses Chianti
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo
• 3 (28-ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan, freshly grated (used Kraft the second time, tasted fine)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parley (I used dried)
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped basil leaves (used dried)
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped (used onion powder)
• 1 cup fine dried bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup water

Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and heat for 1 minute. When the oil is hot, add the bacon and render. When golden brown and beginning to crisp, add minced carrot, celery, onion, and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and saute vegetables to a light brown. Add rosemary and brown sugar and stir. Add chianti and vinegar to pot, stir and bring to boil. Add the tomato paste, chipotles in adobo, and the chopped tomatoes. Stir and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, skimming the top occasionally to remove any scum that forms. 

While the BBQ Gravy is simmering, make the meatballs:

In a large bowl, mix together the meat, egg, Worcestershire, cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, onion, bread crumbs, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of water. Knead the water into the meat mixture with your hands. Knead and roll meatballs into about 1 1/2-inch balls. Place them in shallow saucepan on stove, add another 1/2 cup of water over them, and cover. Turn heat to medium, and steam for 35 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the meatballs from the pan. Drain the juice out of the bottom of the pan, return the meatballs to it and cover them with warm BBQ gravy. Serve on top of spaghetti.
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It's good to be back. :)