Food Blogging Saturday

The Original Chopped Salad last night was awesome. Friday night is CPK night at least once a month, and my wife was pleased and not at all surprised at seeing them in the fridge when she got home.

Just as a side note, I did call my sister in Salt Lake City to return her favor of "trying not to gloat" after Arizona beat Utah last night. (You may recall I moved here from Tucson.) I was no more successful than she had been last week when Utah beat San Diego State.

Anyway, I haven't posted a recipe in quite a while, and this one is original with me. I got the idea from the Frugal Gourmet some years ago, but he was doing something else and I created my own recipe. One needs to make the meatballs fairly large, and they are incredibly rich; one or two makes a meal. The recipe I have written down has no quantities on it at all, so I kind of estimated what I use. (I probably use more Oregano than that.)

For those unfamiliar with eggplant, salt treatment removes the bitter taste.

Meatballs with Eggplant
1 Eggplant, medium sized
1 lb lean hamburger
1 medium onion
2 eggs
½ cup bread crumbs
½ tsp Oregano
½ tsp Basil
2 tbsp shredded Romano cheese

Seasoned Tomato Sauce
2 cans Tomato sauce
½ tsp Oregano
½ tsp Basil
1 clove garlic, crushed

Peel the eggplant and slice it into slices about ¼” thick. Sprinkle with salt and let it sit for about twenty minutes, then pat it dry and chop it up into approximate cubes. Prepare seasoned tomato sauce and set aside.

Sauté eggplant with chopped onion until tender and put into a bowl with meat, eggs, bread crumbs, Romano and herbs. Mix that up well and make it into balls. Brown the balls nicely and place them into a baking pan.

Pour your seasoned tomato sauce over the meat balls and bake them for
1 hour at 350 degrees.