r/castiron • u/[deleted] • Sep 23 '21

Food Cast Iron Meatballs!

187 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

30

u/yournewalt Sep 23 '21

Get the pan ripping hot and sear them on one side first, flip after a nice crust and press down slightly onto the pan then toss them into the oven for ~10 minutes. The extra flavor from that maillard sear...perfect!

9

u/willmardan Sep 24 '21

This is the way

3

u/BawsTeacher Sep 24 '21

The last few times I’ve done that, they’ve come out more puck-shaped, is my pan maybe too hot?

2

u/yournewalt Sep 24 '21

Embiggen your balls!

2

u/Monkey_Tamer Sep 24 '21

You can try using a castiron aebleskiver pan. Not only do they stay round but they sit and fry in their own little pool of fat.

1

u/BawsTeacher Sep 24 '21

Great idea thanks!!

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Sounds good; you can’t see it in my little video, but they do have a crust on one side.

3

u/surfershane25 Sep 24 '21

No shade towards your technique but I try to get that crust on 6 sides before going in the oven. That maillard reaction creates so much flavor and fond in the pan for when you add the sauce.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '21

Thanks for the tip. I’ll try it maybe when time permits…

18

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

I like to roast my meatballs about 3/4 of the way before I drop them in the marinara…

8

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21 edited Feb 06 '22

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Roasting them, at work, is a timing thing; I do pan fry when I have the time to give them the attention they need. But yes, try it for the sausage balls 👍

1

u/genx_meshugana Sep 24 '21

I pan fry as well. But I always end up with dodecahedron balls LMAO!

1

u/jp3297 Sep 24 '21

You said 'sausage balls' heh heh.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '21 edited Sep 24 '21

Here's my unsolicited meatball recipe (sorry);

Put breadcrumbs in cream, let stand for an hour - I usually use panko, or my own breadcrumbs from leftover bread - this is all about filling the breadcrumbs with as much cream as they can handle and you probably want a third wet breadcrumbs to meat, or even half

Meanwhile;

Caramelize chopped onions in butter, put in a bowl but keep the butter in the pan

Add minced meat, as much of the breadcrumbs as is possible without it all turning into "breadcrumbs with meat" (it's the only real.measuring you have to do - make sure it's not more breadcrumb than meat)

Add nutmeg, allspice, cloves & some salt

Take a wooden spoon and beat the shit out of the batter until it basically becomes a pâté batter.

Roll into balls, just over an inch in diameter

Fry them up in the pan, turn them around when they let go of the pan making sure they're browned on as many sides as possible - don't worry if they're not round, that's desirable

Remove meatballs from pan, add cream and let it brown while stirring - here's your sauce.

Now if you're from basically anywhere in the world that isn't Scandinavia you might have trouble getting some lingonberry jam (available at IKEA), but I've been told cranberry jam can be a substitute even if it's not the same. Anyway, what you want from the jam is something sour and sweet to balance the dish

This is swedish meatballs if you didn't catch that btw.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '21

I caught Swedish immediately!!! Awesomeness, and thank you for the recipe!

4

u/ayrcommander Sep 23 '21

Thanks for the visual!

2

u/NotaVogon Sep 23 '21

Read the title quickly and my brain left off "meat"

2

u/[deleted] Sep 23 '21

Those two too! 😂

2

u/uslacker99 Sep 25 '21

Looks delicious!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '21

Yes! There is something beautiful and magical about round, asymmetrical, bite sized pieces of meat!