This recipe comes from Chef Patrick who has travelled the world using his culinary arts and learning new skills. There is more about Patrick on his Biography page (click here) and of course a lot more of his adventures on his own website, and I do mean adventures.To visit his website click here.

Chef Patrick had this comment about the recipe:

"Depending on the size of the meatball you should have quite of few of these from this recipe. I make these ahead, brown them and freeze them. When needed I cook them frozen at 350º until done (about 30 minutes). Adjust the amount of Jalapeno Chili to suit your own taste. This recipe is a little on the 'hot' side".

Ingredients

3/4 cup small diced Onion
1 2/3 cup small diced Green Chile (Anaheim peppers)
1/2 cup minced (or to taste) Jalapeno Chile
3 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon minced Garlic
6 cups (about 1 1/2 lbs) Ground Beef
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Thyme, dried
1 teaspoon Oregano, dried
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet
1 teaspoon Cumin, ground
2 each Eggs
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 1/2 cups Italian Style Bread Crumbs
3/4 cup Celery

• Heat Olive Oil in heavy skillet and sauté onion, green chili, jalapeno chili, garlic and celery until onion is translucent. Set aside to cool.

• In a large mixing bowl combine remaining ingredients and add the cooled vegetable mixture. Mix thoroughly with your hands until well combined.

• Remove a baseball size portion of mixture from the bowl and throw it down on a cutting board about 4 or 5 times, reshaping after each throw. This allows the air to be removed from the mixture and helps it form a firm meatball.

• Next, remove a portion of meat from the compressed ball and shape into a small ball. Set aside on wax paper and continue the process until all the mixture is used.

• Heat a heavy skillet (I prefer cast iron) over medium high heat and quickly brown 5 or 6 meatballs. Turn very frequently and do not crowd the meatballs in the pan. This process is to just lightly brown the meat balls and to help them retain a ball shape. You are not trying to completely cook the meatballs at this time, you are just browning and forming them.

• Set the pre-browned meatballs on a tray covered with wax paper. Leave a space between each meatball, not letting them touch each other. Continue the process until all the meatballs have been browned. Cover the trays of meatballs with plastic wrap and put in freezer overnight. Remove the next day and bag the frozen meatballs in plastic freezer bags.

• When needed, lay meatballs in a single layer on a lightly oiled sheet pan and bake at 340º until done. Stick with Cocktail toothpicks and serve with your favorite sauce.

Chef Patrick