Generally, I try to keep things fairly simple and limit the amount of dishes I create or steps I take when I'm cooking (if you haven't noticed lol). I'm all about easy, one pot meals, that can be whipped up in a jiffy, but I decided to play around in the kitchen a bit longer than usual yesterday. Not that I couldn't have made a similar dish with less effort, it was really just a hankering for meatballs. Honestly, I don't believe I've ever had an all pork meatball, so I wanted to give that a whirl! Plus, my fiance is quite a meatball. The more meat the better in his carnivorous world, a where's the beef (?) type of person even if the recipe contains 2lbs of meat in it lol! I try to remind him that humans are suppose to be omnivores, but he's not buying it and often I have to find tricky ways to sneak the veggies I love into meals he won't hate. Just seeing a head of cabbage in the fridge freaks him out (I'm starting to think he has a veggie phobia) I asked him many moon's ago, if he liked strawberry, because as previously stated, I LOVE ALMOST ANYTHING STRAWBERRY RELATED! He clearly said yes.... so I got some Beyer's Strawberry Ice cream with the big chunks of fruit in it, and I SHAT YOU NOT, he asked me why I can't just get the artificially flavored stuff, ya know, the kind without fruit in it (that tastes nothing like a REAL friggin' strawberry)!!?! He likes strawberry flavored soda, ice cream, or milk, but not real strawberries, that's pink sugar homey! I don't think he knows what a real strawberry even tastes like, but he don't like it LOL! SMH, seriously, he can be quite the pain in the biscuits to cook for! I savor those chunks of real strawberries, they are my favorite part, but he is a boxed food, plain Jane, carnivore with a mound of carbs down to the core kinda dude! (Can you tell, it drives me batty a bit lol?) N>E ways :) I mentioned, possibly, making meatballs and he lit up like a kid on Christmas. So, if I didn't make meatballs, I'd have heard.... "I thought you were gonna make meatballs for dinner!" YUP, so instead of taking the easier route, I decided to indulge him and make meatballs, but I wasn't just going to make a stack of meatballs for my carnivore pal, I was gonna get me some veggies too ;) Though he doesn't like onions (OMG), (he just likes onion flavors)... he does somehow (?) love french onion chip dip and can eat A WHOLE CONTAINER in one sitting, so I tossed some onion soup mix into the equation as well. YUP, omnivore homey don't play that ;) Now that I've got that off my chest... let's dish!
Whatcha' Need:
For the Apple Pork Meatballs
- 1.5-2 lbs. ground pork sausage
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2/3 cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs (I used Italian Herb Panko)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon each or red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, and lemon pepper (pinch of salt)
- 2 large eggs
Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine (seriously, get your clean hands in there and get down and dirty! That is TRULY thee best, old-fashioned way to combine ingredients for meatballs or a meatloaf) Once everything is well combined, (wash yo' hands ;) place a little bit of oil, bacon grease, or butter into a skillet and preheat it over medium heat. Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup or an ice cream scooper, place the desired amount of meat in the palm of your hand and roll in opposite directions with both hands to form a ball. (Old Italian Meatball Tip~Don't over handle or "bologna ball," as they say, the meatballs; it will take away from the airiness of the meatballs resulting in a denser, less fluffy product).
Drop them in the skillet and repeat until all the meat mix is used. I cooked mine for about 5-10 minutes on each side before removing them with a slotted spoon and placing them in a slightly greased muffin pan. (My fella and I, like things a lil crispier, so if you don't, only brown them for a few minutes (3-5) on each side) My meatballs were massive and it made exactly 12 muffin sized meatballs! This will serve six people with ease! While you are finishing up browning the meatballs, preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Once all the meatballs have been browned, place them in the oven for 25 minutes.
Whatcha' Need:
For the Cabbage and Onion Rice
- A small head of cabbage
- large onion (I used yellow)
- 1 packet dry onion soup mix
- 2 TBS Butter or Bacon Grease
- 2 TBS Lemon Juice
- 2 TBS Soy Sauce
- 3 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup bulk white rice
While the meatballs are cooking, shred or thinly slice your onion and cabbage. This isn't necessary if everyone likes meaty chunks of cabbage in your family, but as previously stated, I have to sneak things like that in subtly, (like a Kitchen Ninja of sorts hehehe) and this is much easier if the veggies are smaller or incognito like ;) Next, place the veggies in a medium/large pot with a fitted lid, along with everything except the onion soup mix, water and rice.
Cook on med. heat stirring regularly for about 15 minutes or until the cabbage has wilted down to about half the size and is tender, but not soggy. By this time, you should have removed the meatballs from the oven and they should have been chilling for a few memento's.
Next... You are going to take those yummy meatballs & squiggle them into the cabbage mixture, lower the heat just slightly, and allow all those yummy flavors to mesh together for about 15 minutes or so with a lid on. Stir gently just to avoid burning, but otherwise let'm chill.
Next add the water and stir in the dry onion soup mix. Allow the mixture to come to a slight boil, just bubbling a bit. Then add the rice, stir, reduce the heat to low, and put the lid back on it. Cook for about 25 more minutes over low heat disturbing as minimally as possible. I stirred mine twice, just very briefly in that amount of time. When that 25 minutes is up, most of the liquid should be absorbed. Stir well, and test a few pieces of the rice just to ensure ideal doneness (if need be, cook a few extra minutes stirring frequently).
Turn that glorious masterpiece off and allow it to cool a few minutes before hitting it with a sprinkle of cheese. Parmesan, Cheddar, or Swiss would all taste great on this dish, but it's completely optional and tastes magically delish without it! The Swed in me, however, thinks everything tastes better with a sprinkle of cheese, dash of dairy, or dollop of cream, just sayin'. Hope you enjoy and Big Hugs <3
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| Comfort Food at its finest |
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