Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes

Another happy day downtown fighting off beggars and trying not to catch whatever it is that is making that man cough up what looks like an inside out puppy. When suddenly my personal space is invaded by a gentleman with a crazed look in his eyes: 

“Dude, is there blood on my face?” he said, frothing slightly at the corners the mouth.

“No, no there is not…” I said trying to stand as far back as possible as little flecks of foam fell on my jacket. With that he lurched away into the cold night.    

As I brushed rabid goo from my coat I thought “What a strange thing to ask someone on the street.” What was the reason for him to believe that there was blood on his face? He most certainly did not look like he had been in a fight. Perhaps he had been hiding behind the chicken. 

I had a friend who hid behind the Cheetoes in Safeway once; perhaps he was just naturally paranoid. It could happen; if you watch and read the news as much as I do you most certainly have reason to freak out. You also have reason to invest in thirty two fire extinguishers and an arsenal of weaponry to protect yourself from the marauding malodorous hordes of psychotic looters that travel on the Metropolitan Area Express. 

I actually did see on the news just the other day that a certain city (Ha, they call themselves a city, it’s more like a hamlet) in the area is doing all they can to stop public transportation entering their mini city. This is because (they say) most people ride transportation just so that they can commit horrifically senseless and violent crimes on small town America. Really? I have news for you Ed Gein lived in a small town. Remember Eddie Gein? Google him. Just make sure to do a web search and not an image search, unless you have a really strong stomach, or are a bulimic actress/model with aspirations of landing a role on “Two Bush Loop” or “Banana County” or whatever it is the kids are watching these days. I find those shows incomprehensible these days. 

Just like the weather forecast. Is it just me or did the weather predictions go downhill in the past year or so? I can’t believe the number of times in the past year that I have cursed the local meteorologists for failing in their duty.  Getting drenched by torrential rains or burned to a crisp by the sun on days when the opposite was supposed to happen. 

I wonder though if this is because it is really just a guessing game. Today I wrote down the results from five local weather services and two national ones.  My results showed 6 different temperatures. One of the local sources and one of the national sources matched the high temperature of 34F however they differed on precipitation. The National source said that it would be freezing rain; the local one said it would be mostly cloudy. Others ranged from Wintery Mix to partly cloudy.

Do meteorologists get some sort of sick twisted pleasure out of this? They must know that this sort of wishy-washy unpredictable behavior will have me sitting in the corner of my flat rocking back and forth hoping that the Clowns won’t crawl out of a mini cooper and eat me? 

Now I need comfort food, Meat balls and Mashed Potatoes to be precise….two comfort foods in one? Hmmm?

Actually these meatballs and the sauce are great with the garlic and chive mashed potatoes as here or served over rice, pasta or just on their own in a bowl smothered in parmesan cheese.  I like cheese…

Ingredients for meatballs:  

1 Onion minced fine

1 Pound of ground pork

¼ Cup of parmesan cheese

1 Egg

1 pound of ground beef (not too lean)

½ Cup of bread crumbs or gluten free bread crumbs (The best use of gluten free bread I can tell you!)

Fo’ de sauce:
 

2 Cloves of garlic (Or more to keep away fans of Twilight)

2 Onions roughly chopped

1 Carrot peeled and chopped

1 Small can of tomato paste

1 Cup of red wine

1 Cup of vegetable or beef stock

1 large can of chopped tomatoes

1-2 Teaspoons of dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh to taste

1 Cup of frozen peas

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

2 Tablespoons of chopped parsley 

To make the meatballs: 

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, use your fingers to really get it all mixed up. I mean really get in there and smoosh it all together. Form into little balls about an inch in diameter (you can make them bigger if you like bigger balls, but I find the one inch size is better for a wider range of applications including soups, meatball lasagnas etc.) Two methods of cooking: fry up in a little vegetable oil in a large skillet till browned all over, or bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for about 30 minutes give or take a few minutes. 

For the sauce: 

Sauté the onions and carrots over medium heat until onions transparent but not browned, add the garlic and continue cooking till aromatic about one to two minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for three or four minutes. Add the wine and scrape up any bits that have adhered to the bottom of the pan, add the tomatoes, the stock and the seasoning cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove lid add meat balls and peas, cover again and continue cooking for 10 minutes. 

Serve over garlic chive mashed potatoes. Garnish with parsley and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese