Sunday, February 5, 2012

My Weekend of Meatballs, Part 1

What better thing to do on Super Bowl weekend than experiment with some meatballs.  About a week ago, a friend posted on Facebook a link to a whole bunch of meatball recipes and a couple immediately jumped out at me.  First up, Lemongrass-Chicken Meatballs on Rice Vermicelli.  While there are a lot of components, there's nothing particularly difficult past a bunch of fine chopping.  The scallion oil and dipping sauce were both quite nice, but the grilled meatballs I found dry.

The next day I wanted to try and salvage the 9 leftover meatballs I had, so I took to slow braising them in a spicy Thai red curry sauce to impart some moisture.  We have a winner, folks!  With a slight char flavor from the grill still noticeable, the curry flavor paired perfectly with the mild lemongrass and garlic of the meatballs.  Then, saucing the whole plate with a bit of braising liquid and a dash of the dipping sauce made for a lovely juice I almost wanted to eat a whole bowl of on its own, like soup.

Today I'll be trying out Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls for the game.  Here's to hoping no re-invention is necessary...