Tried a new kind of meatball, with rousing success! (The story of where I’ve been for so long, and this particular recipe can be found after the recipe!)
Beef Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy
Equipment
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 large bowl
- 1 baking sheet
- parchment paper or foil
- 1 large skillet
- 1 large plate
Ingredients
- ½ c Panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ c 2% milk
- 1 lb ground chuck
- 1½ tsp minced garlic
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce divided
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1½ tsp Kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 tsp ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil divided
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3½ Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 c beef broth
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the Panko breadcrumbs and milk, allowing to soak for a minute. Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- In a large bowl, combine the Panko mixture, beef, garlic, eggs, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix to combine (the best way is to use your hands!).
- Form beef mixture into 18 2-Tbsp portions, and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- In a large skillet, hit 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat until oil is shimmering. Arrange the meatballs in one layer, and brown on all sides (about 3 minutes each). Place on a plate.
- Pour remaining oil into the skillet, and heat to shimmering. Add mushrooms and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and have released their liquid. Remove with a slotted spoon to the meatball plate.
- Melt butter in the skillet, and sprinkle in flour. Cook the mixture for at least 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add the broth and remaining Worcestershire sauce, and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Allow to simmer 3-5 minutes, or until it begins to thicken.
- Add browned meatballs and mushrooms, and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes. (If the gravy gets too thick, add a little more broth to thin it out.)
- Salt and pepper to tasted. Serve hot over mashed potatoes, cooked egg noodles, or on their own.
Notes
Yes, it’s been a while. The last post I made was around the same time that three things happened: 1) a large corporate event, 2) catching an illness (that which shall not be named, because it’s named all the time), and 3) vacationing with MM. With the exception of the illness, the past two months have been pretty good! Just a lot going on, and not a lot of remaining time to spend on my lovely website.
Or trying new recipes, if I’m honest. There’s been a lot of Veggie Chowder and Pork Tenderloin in our lives lately. (Thank goodness MM is okay with repetition!)
But recently, I’ve shot through a couple pretty bad books, a couple really good books, and found this recipe that I want to share with you! To be honest, I’m not entirely sure how I stumbled across this website and recipe – it’s been a really long time since I found it, and I stumbled past it again due to my Pinterest board. But it seemed pretty straightforward in terms of ingredients and method, so why not try it out?
Ultimately, this recipe really works best if you get your hands dirty – mixing the ingredients in the large bowl with a spoon is just not going to ensure that it all comes together. You can use a cookie scoop to form them into meatballs, but it’s just as easy to, again, do it by hand.
Because they are so small, they don’t take too long to brown – maybe 2 to 3 minutes on two sides (top and bottom). They will end up browning a bit on the sides as well if they are left on the skillet for the full 3 minutes.
Because MM is not the biggest fan of mushrooms, I decided to slice the mushrooms as thinly as I possibly could. That meant cooking them for about 3 minutes was enough for them to brown nicely and release their liquid. Yum!
Have you ever made a roux before? Does the fact that it’s a French word scare you? Don’t worry – it’s super simple. Typically, it’s the same amount of butter to flour, but I upped the flour from the original recipe just a touch. Make sure that you cook the mixture for at least a few minutes to cook the flour!
What you end up with, ultimately, are very, very flavorful meatballs, with a gravy that is incredible. The first time we tried these, we didn’t actually put them with anything, and it really didn’t matter. They were that good.
We now have a new beef recipe in our rotation! Mmmmmm….
The recipe looks great. I’ll have to try it. As for the mysterious illness, I had it too! Sheesh. (I heard the corporate event was a super-spreader.) As for books, what were the two good ones? I read two of your previous recommendations, “Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” and “Instructions for Dancing” and enjoyed them both. Hope you’re feeling better. Diane