Meatballs and Spaetzle

Meatballs and Spaetzle

Ok. So the next four dishes (including this one) were all done at pretty much the same time. The main camera was lost so I had to use a back up, which can't white balance to save its life. So first up. Something I have never tried before... twofold. Meatballs and Spaetzle. (You've never made meatballs??) No I haven't.. and it shows. Alright. Here we go...


Ingredients

-Ground Beef
-Ground Pork
-Onion
-Mushrooms
-Cream
-Flour
-Milk
-Egg
-Nutmeg

Creation
So I love pasta/noodles/whatever they are called where you live. Really. I could make and eat it every day. So then I got this pasta book... which explains the first post of the year... but it mentions spaetzle. So time to do it. Then I saw the meatballs go with spaetzle...

Yes that is 80/20 Angus and yes it is going in a meatball.

Yeah I had a single 1/4lb of beef just sitting in fridge. What better use right? I mixed in 1/4lb ground pork some chopped onions and a salt and pepper. Then attempted to cook them.

This is what happens when you don't use a binder.

Yeah, they kinda rendered a bunch of fat and juices so why not make a mushroom sauce. Never cooked mushrooms before... so this has to work out. Right?

Sliced mushrooms and onions

Turns out mushrooms actually taste ok. A lot of wasted meals back in the day. 

Yeah this was smelling great.

So while that is reducing time to make spaetzle. 

 1 cup flour. 1/4 milk. 1 egg. Some nutmeg.

I think that is what I put in the bowl. Then I mixed it with a single chopstick. I think I have to do that every time I cook now.

Thought I was kidding? No single chopstick

Yes that is about the consistency I was looking for. There will be no rolling of dough here. Now there was  supposed to be many pictures of how to actually make spaetzle, but I was failing so bad I was unable to grab a camera. However I ended up using a spatula to push it through a half-moon pot drainer.

And this is what I came up with after all the struggling.

Yeah Looking pretty good. So I tossed it in a colander type device, with hope of crisping it up later. 

There are actually tiny holes on the bottom of this.

It can be eaten just like this or crisped up. I opted to go crispy. Now thing become very simple. Now it time to get the meatballs back in the sauce and get ready to put this thing together.

Spaetzle attempting to crisp up in the back... it won't

Now its ready to serve. At this point I realize I had no idea how to plate it. I can hear it now. 'Why is plating such a big deal?' Cause we eat with our eyes first... I mean we don't put spoons and forks in our eyes but... you get the point.

That doesn't look half great?

Even meals done for the first time can be...