I cannot recommend this recipe highly enough! This is the main dish I served last night, with baked potatoes and tossed salad, for our daughter Sarah and her fiance Justin’s rehearsal dinner. It was so simple (with Gramma Taron’s excellent meatball mixing and rolling assistance) and DELICIOUS! To serve our crowd, I doubled the recipe, and used two 7-quart crock pots. To do this in the crockpot, however, use half as much gravy as called for.
Salisbury Meatballs (from The Warehouse Gourmet by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik, available at www.warehousegourmet.com)
Meatballs:
1 tray (about 6 pounds) lean ground beef
3 cups dry bread crumbs (I use some that are Italian seasoned.)
2/3 cup milk
4 eggs
¼ cup dried minced onion
2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Sauce:
1 cup (two sticks) butter
1 ½ pounds fresh white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup flour
8 cups water
4 cups half-and-half (light cream)
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon black pepper
6 one-gallon freezer bags
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mi ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, eggs, minced onion, minced garlic, salt and pepper until completely combined. Roll meatballs; place close together on broiler pans or rimmed cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 160 degrees F. Cool.
While the meatballs are cooking and cooling, melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook mushrooms in the butter until they are soft. Add flour and stir. Mixture will be lumpy. Cook and stir for two minutes. Gradually add water and half and half; cook and stir until sauce thickens. Whisk to make a smooth sauce. Add Worcestershire sauce, beef bouillon granules and pepper; stir. Cool.
Divide cooled meatballs and sauce evenly among the freezer bags. Seal and freeze.
Makes 6 entrees, 20 meatballs each (10 dozen meatballs total)
To Cook One Entrée:
Completely thaw one bag in the refrigerator. You may use the stove top or oven to prepare this dish.
Stove Top: In a skillet over medium heat, simmer meatballs and sauce until meatballs are thoroughly cooked. Do not boil.
Oven: Pour meatballs and sauce into an ungreased baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked.
Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or noodles.
