Meatball Monday
Are you looking for some dinner inspiration this MLK Monday morning? Why not make it a Meatball Monday? Because, admittedly today is one of my least favorite type of Mondays – when our kids are out of school but neither Ryan or I have the day off work – but I think meatballs (and noodles) will make it all better!
For this Meatball Monday, I am recommending the meatball recipe from Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin. These meatballs are 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground pork with minced onion (that I highly recommend you sauté before adding to your meatball mixture a la Ina Garten) and panko bread crumbs (which are the secret to avoiding a dry meatball or burger for that matter). You can download the Kindle version today for just $4.99 and have delish meatballs in time for dinner. I served the meatballs with Tipton-Martin’s Cola Barbeque Sauce (delicious! even according to my daughter Emma) and egg noodles but the meatballs would also be great served with a simple marinara sauce.
Tipton-Martin’s introduction to Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking, is beautifully written and perfect to highlight on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day with or without a side of meatballs:
As I knelt on the cool hardwood floor in my home office, surrounded by books that span nearly two hundred years of black cooking, I realized my ancestors had left us a very special gift: a gift of freedom, culinary freedom. And like the Biblical Jubilee that marks restoration of a people through deliverance, rest, and land conservation, and like Jubilee Day celebrations marking the emancipation of enslaved Americans, our culinary Jubilee is also about liberation and resilience. Our cooking, our cooks, shall be free from caricature and stereotype. We have earned the freedom to cook with creativity and joy.
Not interested in cooking on this Meatball Monday? Try Metropolitan Market’s Braised Pecorino Meatballs. You will not regret it! Served on Mondays in the Sandpoint store location as part of the rotating selection in the Prepared Foods section’s carving station, these meatballs are cheesy, meaty and so good slathered in tomato sauce.
Are turkey meatballs more your style? First, in my opinion, Ina Garten’s Turkey Meat Loaf is the best meatloaf you will ever eat. Hands down! The recipe calls for FIVE pounds of ground turkey, but do not be intimidated. The recipe can easily be cut in half or you can use all five pounds, then freeze portions of the pre-cooked meatloaf for future easy dinners. The recipe reheats really well! The other option – convert a portion of the recipe into meatballs! Mallory came over to the house last Sunday while I was prepping dinner and thought this was genius. My kids will not eat meatloaf but they will happily eat meatballs. Go figure!
Another Lets Wine About It Sister recommendation: Buy local and serve your meatballs with fresh pasta noodles purchased from La Pasta. A storefront born out of Seattle’s farmer markets with Wedgood and Queen Anne locations, La Pasta sells all varieties of fresh pasta noodles and delicious pasta sauces as well as other local Seattle-made products. We love to pick up fresh pasta on the weekends as well as their mini cannoli’s filled while you shop. You can even purchase a cannoli kit to take and prepare at home!
Keep your eyes peeled for the “Fresh Pasta Sold Here” sandwich board sign on 35th Ave NE. It took me way too long to stop, but after several visits and cannoli’s later, I am so glad I did!
And just a sweet story to leave you with on this Martin Luther King Day. Last week, our eight-year-old son read out loud his new “Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.” book (thanks, Grandma Lolo!). When Sam read the following passage, “I have a dream that one day…we will…stand up for freedom together….All of God’s children…will be able to join hands and sing…”Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!“, he remarked “Wow, that just gave me goosebumps.” Out of the mouths of babes… #MLK
