The Pioneer Woman Cooks (56 page)

COMFORT MEATBALLS

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Once upon a time I had a baby. Then I had another baby. Then I had a third baby, a boy. After my third baby, a boy, was born, I found myself back on the ranch with two young daughters and yet another suckling infant, and I was starving all the time. If I wasn’t eating sugar cereal by the truckload, I was gnawing on a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts my father-in-law picked up in the big city.

It all helped my milk production. But still, I was starving.

And then, one dark and stormy night, my good friend Beth (a ranching neighbor of ours) and her mother, Diane (also a longtime rancher), knocked on my door and brought me…dinner.

They brought me these meatballs.

These delicious meatballs are not in the same category of regular Italian meatballs that would go in spaghetti and meatballs—those have more of a breadcrumb/parsley/Parmesan flair. These are more in the comfort food/meatloaf category. If you’d like to serve them with pasta, regular egg noodles tossed in a tiny bit of melted butter would be divine.

MEATBALLS1½ pounds ground beef¾ cup quick oats1 cup milk3 tablespoons very finely minced onion1½ teaspoons saltPlenty of ground black pepper4 tablespoons canola oil½ cup flourSAUCE1 cup ketchup2 tablespoons sugar3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce4 to 6 tablespoons minced onionDash of Tabasco

1. In a bowl, combine the ground beef and oats.

2. Pour in the milk, then add the diced onion and salt.

3. Add the black pepper, then stir to combine.

4. Roll the mixture into tablespoon-size balls and refrigerate them for 30 to 45 minutes to firm.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

6. Dredge the meatballs in the flour.

7. Brown the meatballs in batches until light brown.

8. As they brown, place them into a rectangular baking dish.

9. Stir together the sauce ingredients and drizzle the sauce evenly on the meatballs.

10. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until bubbly and hot.

11. Serve to ravenous nursing mothers…or any other hungry human in your life. Delicious!

SHIPPING CATTLE IN THE MUD

When you’re shipping cattle, sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate. Unfortunately, when you have twenty cattle trucks lined up down the road, the show must go on.