Meatball Madness

New York City has amazing restaurants. Everyone knows it. It can be quite overwhelming at times...so many places to venture to, so many dishes to try. It's intimidating. Tasting menus with gastriques and foams, uptight maitre d's, jackets required...I stay away from them all more out of necessity but really, given the choice between a super fancy meal and a low key restaurant with awesome food...I will always choose the latter. The closest I get to any sort of New York fanciness is reading Frank Bruni or Ruth Reichl, which I find a perfect substitute.

Most who know me know I'm become a complete homebody since I began teaching. I whip out the lipgloss ohhh, maybe twice a month. (Don't you wear lipgloss to work, Meghan? No.) Let's just say recently I've been deviating from my norm and showing off my shiny lips around Brooklyn. Because there is this restaurant. And it is none of those things I described above. It is homey. Down-to-earth (with a healthy dose of hipster mixed in--I break out the shiny red lip gloss for this reason). Cheap. And unfreaking believably delicious.

It is The Meatball Shop. It began on the Lower East Side and now has locations in Williamsburg and the West Village. My friend Jodie lives one block away from the Brooklyn locale, so it is often always on the itinerary of any of my voyages to see her beautiful face.

Anywho, my mom and sister graced me with their presence before Christmas, and I raced them to the west village location as soon as their car was parked. Dinner was amazing, as always, but the real reason I brought my mom was for the ice-cream cookie sandwiches. And to give her a tangible in-her-face reminder that I want their COOKBOOK wrapped for me under the tree this year :).

Lucky for me she/Santa remembered and we prepared a feast Meatball-Shop style a few days after Christmas. Here are the deets.

A Meatball Feast

I took the meatballs in two directions... I did chicken meatballs, one
on each plate as a slider and one over roasted fingerling potatoes and
brussel sprouts. Both variations swam in Parmesan Cream Sauce. On the side
was an Arugula-Apple salad.

To ensure juicy meatballs, chicken thighs MUST be used. Ground chicken
breasts will not get you the results you are looking for...

This was my first experience grinding meat. So fun. 

These meatballs are SO EASY. I think I threw them together in maybe 10 minutes....

Parmesan cream sauce. So good. So sinful. Took awhile but worth it.

I went to soften butter or something and opened up the microwave to find our Christmas dessert (which was
unbelievable). These are the measures we must take to keep it away from this guy...

who consumed 12 chocolate cupcakes last Christmas.

So freaking good.

Sorry kids. None for you.

Chicken Meatballs

Preheat oven to 450 (Who would've thought to cook them at such a high temp? This makes them). Olive oil up a roasting pan (evenly coat the entire surface). Combine 2 lbs. ground chicken, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1/4 cup dry white wine, 1 teaspoon ground fennel, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Roll into golf-ball size meatballs. Line the meatballs up in a grid like pattern, making sure they are close together. Roast for 10 minutes.
***Seems like a lot of salt, but it isn't.***

Roasted Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts

Preheat oven to 400. Toss chopped brussels and potatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until golden brown.

Parmesan Cream Sauce

Place 2 cups whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 1/4 cup dry white wine, half a head of garlic, 1/2 a bunch of fresh thyme, and 2 teaspoons salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so as not to scald the milk. Watch the mixture closely so that it does not boil over. Once the cream has come to a boil, immediately reduce to the heat to its lowest setting and let the mixture simmer slowly for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine 2 tablespoons softened butter with 2 tablespoons flour in a small bowl and mix together with the back of a wooden spoon until a smooth paste forms. Add the paste to the cream sauce and whisk continuously until the paste has completely dissolved and the sauce has thickened.

Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and serve.

Arugula Salad

Toss arugula and sliced apples (I used Honeycrisp) with a mixture of 3 parts olive oil, 1 part red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and 1 part honey.