Wrap Your Frozen Meatballs in Canned Biscuits

[theologygeek]

You have to try the homemade version!

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/reci ... =M**ASCA00

Don't take my once a year joy away from me. lol

[Ariel]

This thread reminds me of one of my mom's favorite stories about my kidhood:

I went through food phases where I would only eat one thing for weeks (I was a picky eater and my mom didn't fight it (only child)). One month, I chose meatballs. In order to ensure that I didn't die from eating kinda badly she used to stick shredded baby carrots, green peppers, and onions into the meatball mixture she made. They were 50% vegetable and I couldn't tell the difference.

side note: I was maybe a terror as a kid :whistle:

[jenny_islander]

OK, because I'm weird like that, I went back to the original recipe and took a stab at fixing it. I picked two ways: one where, for whatever reason, you have to use the packaged stuff and one where you can cook from scratch.

1. Food Bank Dinner with Whomp Biscuits, Frozen Meatballs, and Alfredo-inna-Jar

This assumes that I have a kitchen and basic kitchen tools from when times weren't so tough. I used Ragu Alfredo, Pillsbury biscuits, and Wal-Mart's homestyle meatballs. Ragu Alfredo is basically a cream sauce with Parmesan and Romano cheese. The meatballs consist of beef, pork, the usual fillers and preservatives, garlic, and onion.

Assuming that I have a few dribs and drabs of this and that, I'm first going to try to take away the slimy texture and bland flavor of the Ragu Alfredo sauce. Let's say I have some food bank pancake mix. I can use a couple of tablespoons to make a white roux with a little oil (olive if I have any) or some margarine. If I actually have flour and butter to make a classic roux, so much the better. If I have an onion, I can chop it finely and saute it until soft in the oil, margarine, or butter before making the roux right on top of it. Now I take the pan off the heat and stir in the Ragu Alfredo. I return it to the heat, heat gently, and taste; the roux should have improved the texture somewhat. The original recipe suggests Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan, so if I have any garlic powder, I'll add that; sauteed fresh garlic would be awesome if I could get any. Black or white pepper, mustard powder or a half-teaspoons of yellow mustard, paprika, and minced fresh parsley or carrot greens would be nice, if I have some or all of them, but I probably don't want to add any salt. However, if I have any store-brand block Cheddar or jack cheese from WIC or some Velveeta from the food bank, I can cube it very finely or grate it, heat and stir the sauce until it simmers, and stir in the cheese to melt it, although I won't want to use a lot because it could be the main protein ingredient in some other meal. Meanwhile, I bake the biscuits and split them. I can serve the dressed-up Alfredo sauce over the biscuits with the meatballs on the side. If I reheat the meatballs with a little water in the container, they will be moister and make a bit of gravy.

For vegetables, if I'm going to the food bank, I probably have canned green beans; with all of the salt in the rest of the meal, I'll probably want to rinse them gently under the tap before heating. Frozen chopped broccoli is cheap, so I could cook 2 cups of it and stir it into the cheese sauce. Frozen or canned mixed vegetables would also make a decent side dish or I could pick them apart and serve some in the cheese sauce and some on the side. Or peas might work. If I got canned spinach in the box, I could leave the extra cheese out of the sauce, rinse the canned spinach in a fine sieve, and put a LOT of garlic powder in the sauce with the spinach.

2. From Scratch

Make sausage gravy, for crying out loud.

[DarkAnts]

OK, because I'm weird like that, I went back to the original recipe and took a stab at fixing it. I picked two ways: one where, for whatever reason, you have to use the packaged stuff and one where you can cook from scratch.

1. Food Bank Dinner with Whomp Biscuits, Frozen Meatballs, and Alfredo-inna-Jar

This assumes that I have a kitchen and basic kitchen tools from when times weren't so tough. I used Ragu Alfredo, Pillsbury biscuits, and Wal-Mart's homestyle meatballs. Ragu Alfredo is basically a cream sauce with Parmesan and Romano cheese. The meatballs consist of beef, pork, the usual fillers and preservatives, garlic, and onion.

Assuming that I have a few dribs and drabs of this and that, I'm first going to try to take away the slimy texture and bland flavor of the Ragu Alfredo sauce. Let's say I have some food bank pancake mix. I can use a couple of tablespoons to make a white roux with a little oil (olive if I have any) or some margarine. If I actually have flour and butter to make a classic roux, so much the better. If I have an onion, I can chop it finely and saute it until soft in the oil, margarine, or butter before making the roux right on top of it. Now I take the pan off the heat and stir in the Ragu Alfredo. I return it to the heat, heat gently, and taste; the roux should have improved the texture somewhat. The original recipe suggests Ragu Roasted Garlic Parmesan, so if I have any garlic powder, I'll add that; sauteed fresh garlic would be awesome if I could get any. Black or white pepper, mustard powder or a half-teaspoons of yellow mustard, paprika, and minced fresh parsley or carrot greens would be nice, if I have some or all of them, but I probably don't want to add any salt. However, if I have any store-brand block Cheddar or jack cheese from WIC or some Velveeta from the food bank, I can cube it very finely or grate it, heat and stir the sauce until it simmers, and stir in the cheese to melt it, although I won't want to use a lot because it could be the main protein ingredient in some other meal. Meanwhile, I bake the biscuits and split them. I can serve the dressed-up Alfredo sauce over the biscuits with the meatballs on the side. If I reheat the meatballs with a little water in the container, they will be moister and make a bit of gravy.

For vegetables, if I'm going to the food bank, I probably have canned green beans; with all of the salt in the rest of the meal, I'll probably want to rinse them gently under the tap before heating. Frozen chopped broccoli is cheap, so I could cook 2 cups of it and stir it into the cheese sauce. Frozen or canned mixed vegetables would also make a decent side dish or I could pick them apart and serve some in the cheese sauce and some on the side. Or peas might work. If I got canned spinach in the box, I could leave the extra cheese out of the sauce, rinse the canned spinach in a fine sieve, and put a LOT of garlic powder in the sauce with the spinach.

2. From Scratch

Make sausage gravy, for crying out loud.

I dont see the need to make fun of someone who gets their food from a food bank. It seems like poor shaming to me.

[jenny_islander]

I'm not. This was the kind of planning I found myself doing when my family was thisclose to poverty.

[salex]

Best Part: She suggests this as a dinner for company.

If you don't have the time to cook a meal that has at least 1 fresh item, maybe you shouldn't have company over.

I would die if I went to someone's for dinner and got this.

OK, I will admit buying Étouffée (and other items) from Dean and Deluca deli/catering area and feeding it to company in the past--and keeping my mouth shut. Just saying.

[ladyamylynn]

I'm not. This was the kind of planning I found myself doing when my family was thisclose to poverty.

Yeah, this didn't seem like making fun of poor people to me. It seemed like literally trying to make this food taste a bit better without much additional cost.

[Evilbad]

That sounds like the crap people bring to work potlucks because nobody has time to cook fancy from scratch stuff in the middle of the week when they've got kids and meets and practices and dogs and are also going to school themselves and stuff.

Which is why I order a big platter of takeout from my local korean place and just arrange it prettily when we have a potluck :rofl

[OkToBeTakei]

I dont see the need to make fun of someone who gets their food from a food bank. It seems like poor shaming to me.

Huh?

She said one way if packages are all you have and one from scratch. Not everybody who uses packaged tinned or frozen food is poor and not everybody who uses fresh unpackaged, unfrozen is rich. Most people at one time or another 'make do' with what they have wether that be unfortunately circumstance or because they know no different, food is not their thing and convenience works for them...many reasons. No idea why this woman made that though :shock:

I'll give it a shot although not being familiar with the staples

I'd start by throwing the alfredo stuff out or trying to swap it for a bog standard tin of tomatoes which I imagine are cheaper? (although after finding out the price the 14ct gold onions, I could be wrong.

Using Jenny's staples I'd brown off the meatballs to give them some caramelisation and texture maybe improving their taste, a wee bit of pepper if available. Make a tomato sauce adding any staples you may have to improve the flavour garlic (product) onion, even spinach through the sauce would be good. Pasta? Surely a staple? Place pasta on plate seasoned meatballs on top, then sauce. I'd suggest your Velveeta but it's orange right? But if it would not bother you, you could.

The biscuit things seem to be savoury dough basically? Mold into crostini or flat tostada and bake then put on your Velveeta and grill.

I have no idea about tinned green beans, could you drain them and bake them in the oven? Would be a more acceptable (to me) side than mushy greens. With a teeny sprinkle of parmesan they might be really good or even finely finely grated cheddar?

Anyway I'm making brisket tonight and need to go look for an unusual recipe :)

[Sumeri]

Well I'll tell ya. Nothing beats that green bean/cream of mushroom/french fried onion shit that's made on Thanksgiving. It's orgasmic.

Agree. Food was pretty scarce when I was a kid, and we never had vegetables in any form. The idea that someone could make a casserole! with green beans! and soup! and crispy onions! absolutely astounded me. The first time I had that green bean casserole I was in my twenties and I nearly ate the entire dish.

Why yes, I do struggle with my weight, why do you ask?

[August]

You're such a dumbass, Takei

Huh?

She said one way if packages are all you have and one from scratch. Not everybody who uses packaged tinned or frozen food is poor and not everybody who uses fresh unpackaged, unfrozen is rich. Most people at one time or another 'make do' with what they have wether that be unfortunately circumstance or because they know no different, food is not their thing and convenience works for them...many reasons. No idea why this woman made that though :shock:

I'll give it a shot although not being familiar with the staples

I'd start by throwing the alfredo stuff out or trying to swap it for a bog standard tin of tomatoes which I imagine are cheaper? (although after finding out the price the 14ct gold onions, I could be wrong.

Using Jenny's staples I'd brown off the meatballs to give them some caramelisation and texture maybe improving their taste, a wee bit of pepper if available. Make a tomato sauce adding any staples you may have to improve the flavour garlic (product) onion, even spinach through the sauce would be good. Pasta? Surely a staple? Place pasta on plate seasoned meatballs on top, then sauce. I'd suggest your Velveeta but it's orange right? But if it would not bother you, you could.

The biscuit things seem to be savoury dough basically? Mold into crostini or flat tostada and bake then put on your Velveeta and grill.

I have no idea about tinned green beans, could you drain them and bake them in the oven? Would be a more acceptable (to me) side than mushy greens. With a teeny sprinkle of parmesan they might be really good or even finely finely grated cheddar?

Anyway I'm making brisket tonight and need to go look for an unusual recipe :)

Rule of thimb, in the US a processed product is cheaper than the unprocessed version. Tomato sauce from an onion and a tin is going to be $2. It's cheaper ($1 or so, on sale for the same volume) to get a basic tomato+onion+herbs jarred sauce, which would be called (cue foreign gobsmackometer)...

...

marinara

(aaaand, go!)

[niagarahauls]

I've made the Cooks Illustrated version of green bean casserole with real white sauce and mushrooms and fresh green beans and I agree it is a million times better than the original version.

But, having grown up with the original canned soup, artificial crap version I will always love that. What can I say? My palate responds to MSG.

[twin2]

I grew up with a little Italian Grandma and a little Swedish Grandma, so I have had the best of both worlds of meatballs. Thus I can speak with the utmost authority when I say that be it from a jar off the shelf or homemade from the finest ingredients, Alfredo sauce belongs no where near a meatball. :penguin-no:

[OkToBeTakei]

You're such a dumbass, Takei

Rule of thimb, in the US a processed product is cheaper than the unprocessed version. Tomato sauce from an onion and a tin is going to be $2. It's cheaper ($1 or so, on sale for the same volume) to get a basic tomato+onion+herbs jarred sauce, which would be called (cue foreign gobsmackometer)...

...

marinara

(aaaand, go!)

HA!

Well for a start marinara tends to say fish to me, but hey somantics.

Napoli or neapolitan would maybe say tomato. But you know just tomato sauce suffices. I am beyond being gobsmacked that a plain old tin of tomatoes that costs me pennies is not available to all and instead a ready made processed sauce is cheaper. Good ones don't even need the gold plated onions.

It is indeed a fucked up world.

I just bought 25 garlic bulbs for 70p at the fish market and we do not even grow it in my country.