Italian Meatballs or Meat Loaf

By Febrina Malloy

Mom gave me the recipe for meatballs when Mike and I first got married. After they moved to Irving, I had the pleasure of eating her meatballs many times. I always wondered how she made hers come out so round and evenly browned, while mine were so uneven. It was years before I found out that, although the recipe she originally gave me said to cook them in a frying pan, she always baked them in the oven!–Dorothea

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef (could use part ground pork or turkey)
1/3-1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (use only about half as much if made with ground turkey)
1 or 2 cloves of minced garlic
1 TB chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 tsp pepper or to taste

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients well.
2. For Meatballs, form into small balls (about golf-ball size) or small patties and fry in pan which has been lightly coated with olive oil, until well browned.
3. If you are careful to keep temperature moderate and not over-brown, the pan can be de-glazed with a little hot water and the brown bits and liquid then add great flavor to spaghetti sauce. Can also be baked in the oven on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees.
4. For Italian Meat Loaf, form mixture into a loaf and place in a loaf pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. (If ground beef has a high fat content, remove some of the fat with a turkey baster half-way through baking time.)