Meat: 2 pounds lean ground beef, 1 pound of sausage
Filler: 3 eggs
1 1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Misc: Salt to taste (1 1/2 teaspoons suggested)
Pepper to taste (1/2 teaspoon suggested)
1 minced onion
1/4 tsp dry mustard
By hand or on medium speed with an electric mixture, thoroughly blend the ground meat, filler, salt and pepper, and other flavorings. Beat until very well mixed. Form into balls about 3/4"-1 1/2" in diameter: do this by hand, or use a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, or a melon baller. Makes 50-150 meatballs depending on how large they are. Serves 6-8.
Cooking methods:
Pan-fried: Heat a skillet with 2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil to medium-high heat. Fill the skillet about half full with the meatballs, and fry them for about 10 minutes. Shake the skillet gently during cooking to keep the meatballs turning and to cook them evenly, about 10-15 minutes depending on size. You may need a spatula to encourage some of the more stubborn meatballs to turn over properly. As soon as meatballs are browned, take them out of the pan, let them cool and drain a bit, and keep them warm (try using an oven-proof dish in a barely-warm oven) until ready to add sauce and serve.
Oven-fried: Use ungreased baking sheets -- the kind with rims on all four sides. Separate the meatballs slightly, bake at 450F for 10-15 minutes. Remove carefully from the baking sheets..
For most sauces, you'll stir the meatballs into the sauce then transfer them to the serving dish. Meatballs can be prepared ahead, and refrigerated in a covered container for 2-3 days or frozen in airtight containers for several months. You can freeze cooled meatballs spread out on a clean, cool baking sheet, then transfer them to airtight containers, if you want to be able to make a large quantity of meatballs and remove just enough at one time. Thawed or refrigerated meatballs should be heated in a single layer on an ungreased rimmed baking sheet for 10-15 minutes at 375F.
White sauce:
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cup half and half or cream
1 1/2 cup water or chicken broth (may be made from bouillon)
Fresh dill leaves or parsley leaves (optional)
Add the flour to the butter in a saucepan, mix thoroughly, turn on heat to low heat. Discard the fat from the cooking pan, then rinse the pan in the water or broth to loosen the bits of meat from the pan. Add the water or broth to the butter/flour base in the saucepan and mix thoroughly. (Tip: at this point, mixing the flour/fat mixture and the broth mixture in the blender removes all lumps thoroughly.) Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, and add the half and half or cream slowly. Simmer until a good consistency. Add dill or parsley if desired. Stir the meatballs into the sauce until heated through. Transfer to the serving dish and serve immediately.