I thought this way once. I’m not a big meatball guy or meatloaf guy. My coworker told me about this place in upstate ny, Syracuse. He said “these are the beat meatballs in the world”…ascioti’s.
I laughed. He then brought me a package of about 2.5lbs. He buys it by the cooler load and calls in an order of 50lbs, minimum, before he goes up there. I was skeptical but knew they would be good, I just didn’t know how good. Holy shit! These things are off the charts! I’m not a meatball guy at all but these are outstanding. They need nothing but maybe a little salt. You can fry them with a little garlic, bake them, put them in sauce, and they come out great either way…even swedish.
I think they are closed now (hopefully temporarily)
due to a death in the family, but I give my buddy a 100 to get me some and it is out of this world.
It is probably one of those things in life that doesn’t last long. My grandmother is still alive and at 86 she told me these were the best meatballs she has ever had. It’s a pork and beef blend that is seasoned.
I have a few packages. If you want to cook some up at casa Joon, let me know. I can swing over after work and we can get it done. I have a few packages in my freezer. I’ll turn you into a believer lol
Spicy meatballs with spaghetti (from an old Craig Claiborne cookbook I own) are a favorite of ours. QMade with ground veal, the meatballs and the sauce contain lots of chopped garlic, chili powder, and red pepper flakes.
I LOVED my grandmother’s meatballs and she showed me once when I was about 12ish how to make them. I then realized why they are so damn tasty. The fattiest beef you can buy and deep fried. She also would eat a bite of the raw ground beef to check the seasoning which I found highly gross.
Well, let me save myself somewhat here: the only meatballs I enjoy (though not ravenously enough) are the ones my mom makes that are stuffed with a small ball of mozzarella. The cheese oozes out when you cut into it. They are cooked in a pan, finished in the oven, and then added to sauce. But I don’t really like tomato sauce much either, unless I am making my own spicy garlic-laden marinara.
It was tough growing up with pasta at least twice a week. My mom was/is an outstanding cook but I just developed a hatred for pasta, no matter how many ways we had it, and there were a ton. Then there was her health nut phase where teenage Greg was subjected to WHOLE WHEAT PASTA IN VARIOUS SHAPES. I could gag just thinking about it.
I love penne/rigatoni ala vodka, fra diavolo, and carbonara, but not much else stands out. Speaking only of pasta dishes not dinners such as marsala, francaise, etc where pasta is merely the side.
At least brown rice can be doctored with various ingredients, or made into a fried rice dish. There is no hope for whole wheat pasta. I’ve never once had a dish with it that I enjoyed.
My wife, who is the baker, recently made me whole wheat sheets for my manicotti, she was trying to save the regular flour for her holiday cookies. I was pretty pissed off because we’re married and that’s what we do, but surprisingly it wasn’t bad.
I’m going off on a tangent here, but why is brown rice more expensive? It takes less less labor to produce. On that topic…
Here is my weird fact of the day: bottled water is cheaper in hawaii. I think Hawaiians are too smart to pay for it. Seriously. They have to boat it in and it is still cheaper than around here. Just about everything else is more money but not water. My useless post of the day
I made some meatballs the other day. Tried cooking them in chicken stock, they came out OK. I like trying different methods. Made this sandwich tonight. Meatball, sausage, prosciutto, mortadella, asiago, roasted anaheim, jalapeno, red onion, mayo, semolina bread.
nice looking sangweech…where’s the bread from? Since Alfonsos closed, locally I’ve been struggling to find good eye-talian bread. Had few good loaves from Livotis Middletown the other day, but its a bit far, and for 3.5 a loaf for a regular one, its a bit $$.
