Italian Meatballs

I have been baking meatballs in a mini muffin tin after reading Alton Brown's Good Eats. My Sage meatballs came out with nice brown color on the top side only, and I wasn't satisfied with the result. This time, I flipped the meatballs half way through, and they were golden brown on all sides! A regular baking sheet works fine too, but I found a mini muffin tin useful as it keeps meatballs from rolling around.

They are perfect meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs. These types of meatball recipes often call for Parmigiano Reggiano, however you can certainly substitute with Grana Padano. Just like Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano is a hard granular cheese from northern Italy. Grana Padano has a slightly more delicate flavor, and it is less expensive than its counterpart. Also, you can use dried herbs instead of fresh and vice versa. I used fresh parsley since it was available at the grocery store. Generally, you can substitute one teaspoon of dried herbs with one tablespoon of fresh herbs (one to three ratio.)

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Sage Meatballs with Honey Mustard Sauce

A friend came over to our house a couple weeks ago, and brought a thoughtful gift, the second volume of Good Eats by Alton Brown.  The hefty book is filled with great tips, interesting food related facts, and recipes that look worth trying.  As I flipped through the pages, one picture caught my attention.  It was a muffin pan stuffed with meatballs.  According to the book, the mini muffin pan retain shape and cooks more evenly.  What a great idea!  Alton's recipe looked great, but I wanted to apply the method for my own meatball recipe.  The mini muffin pan worked well, however, I felt there was nothing wrong with the meatballs baked on a regular baking sheet.  Perhaps it will take several tries before I fully appreciate the effect of the mini muffin pan.  I'll work on it.

Sage is one of my favorite herbs for meatballs, and it goes well with a mustard flavor.  I prepared two kinds of meatballs along with several sauces to go with.  As I guessed, the honey mustard sauce was the best choice for the sage meatballs.

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Pork Saute with Herb Butter and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

This isn't really a recipe. This is totally a 30 minutes meal, but doesn't it look elegant? I simply sauteed a pork tenderloin with a bit of salt and pepper and served it with salted herb butter and traditional balsamic vinegar, which I paid a small fortune in Italy last winter. It is basically aged vinegar which lists grape juice as its only ingredient. A little bit of this balsamic vinegar goes a long way.

If you don't have aged balsamic vinegar, you can substitute with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Simply boil the vinegar over medium heat stirring constantly until it is reduced by half. I like it over sauteed meat and fruits, especially strawberries.

Miso Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Miso is one of the most important ingredients in Japanese households along with soy sauce. We do not eat sushi everyday as some non-Japanese people think, but many have miso soup daily.  The custom has been changing as Japan has become more and more westernized.  I used to have miso soup once a day when I lived with my grandparents.  Miso soup was part of every dinner.  My grandparents had to have it also for breakfast, as if they couldn't start the day without it.  Infinitely more westernized than my grandparents, I don't like miso that early in the day.  Instead, I prefer a cup of coffee and a slice of toast.  Having said that, miso soup is still essential for all Japanese.

Miso is not only for miso soup.  It can be used for many other dishes, and one of my favorite ways to use this traditional ingredient is for marinating.  A miso marinade adds depth to the meat.  Generally, sirloin is a good choice for this dish, but for health purposes, I used tenderloin. My husband and I were very satisfied with the results.  We ate the leftovers, cold, the next day, and it was still flavorful. If you are healthy enough to be careless about fat intake, go ahead and use fattier cuts. You know it's going to taste better!  If you are not a pork eater, try this marinade with salmon.  It's good, too!

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