Something about this year got me to buy a smallish chest freezer (9 cu. ft.) and step up my support of local food producers—people like Matt and Sarah Skoglund of North Bridger Bison. The only thing is that when you commit to 80 pounds of ground bison, you need to know how to turn it into dinner…regularly.
For these meatballs, I use equal parts of three meats from our local Montana producers: North Bridger bison, Amaltheia pork, and Wickens Ranch beef. If you don’t have access to bison, substitute additional beef (or elk if you’re lucky)—the key to proportions is 2 parts leaner meat to 1 part fattier. One batch yields about 70 meatballs, enough for dinner tonight and a couple more dinners to share or stash in the freezer. Thanks to the Canal House duo of Melissa Hamilton and Christopher HIrsheimer for the original recipe (this one is from their book Cook Something).
Meatballs with Three Montana Meats
makes 70 meatballs; adapted from Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton’s “Classic Meatballs” in Cook Something: Recipes to Rely On.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion large (or 2 smalls)
- 1 garlic clove, minced and mashed with ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound ground bison North Bridger Bison (let me know if you'd like to try some!)
- 1 pound ground beef I like Yellowstone GFB, Bar77, B-Bar Ranch, Barney Creek Livestock
- 1 pound ground pork Amaltheia, John Smith Ranch
- 1½ cups fresh breadcrumbs the finer, the better—get out the food processor or dry blade Vitamix container for best results
- 2 large eggs large
- ½ cup half and half
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
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Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook a couple minutes longer.
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Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, gently mix the ground meats, cooked onions and garlic, breadcrumbs, half and half, eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until just combined. Portion meatballs into tablespoon-sized balls using a scoop or damp hands.
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Space out 20 meatballs on a sheet pan (load up 2 pans if you have them) and bake for 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining meatballs. If you are freezing some, let them cool before packaging.
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Alternatively, you can pan fry the meatballs in olive oil, about ½ - inch deep, about 8 minutes per batch say the chefs. I have never done this because—what a mess! And it would take forever to cook 70 meatballs. However, they would be super crispy and delicious, so maybe I'll try it sometime. Until then, I can say that sheet pans in the oven is the way to go.
