Memorial Day is right around the corner, which means the premier of summer blockbusters. And as a mom of two young kids, I will be watching them over the winter months. On my couch. Once they've hit cable. Sigh. Anyway, this post is not about the movie-going habits of this poor sap, but my continued quest to find the perfect meatball recipe.

As I mentioned in the prequel post "In Search of the Perfect Meatball Recipe", we've tried almost every meat combination and cooking technique for making these orbs of ground meat goodness. But there was one recipe that I've been dying to try - Polpette alla Napoletana by Mario Batali. It has all the makings of a great meatball - simple ingredients and traditional preparation. What peaked my interest was his technique for adding toasted pine nuts.  The result - a lush, crunchy, buttery surprise in each bite.

According to umdaddy, this was the end to any movie franchise on this topic. He claimed it to be the best meatball ever. Both boys devoured them. And my favorite -- my oldest shouting with excitement that he never knew there were "seeds" in meatballs and wanted to plant a meatball tree in the yard. If only my boy. If only.


The Good: well-balanced flavors. Pine nuts add a crunch and rich component.

The Bad: these bad boys did not hold up too well. I'm guessing I did not wring out enough moisture from the bread.

Grade: A-. We would've given it an A+ (or if we're sticking to the movie analogy, two thumbs up) if it hadn't been the fact it did not keep its shape or hold up well.

Click here for the  Polpette alla Napoletana by Mario Batali. (You'll be glad you did)

Today's cooking assignment: Legumes

For those of you keeping score, this is my first test recipe in getting my family to try new flavors, ingredients and dishes. My kids do not do legumes. They'll only eat the rice when served Beans and Rice. Baked beans are pushed to the edge of the plate. They like saying "Edamame" more than they like eating them. Hummus? Forget it.

Perhaps I needed a killer recipe that would get my family to sing the praises of this vegetable (and no, it's not a magical fruit as we were led to believe as kids). Who better to turn to for inspiration than Mario Batali and Hugh Garvey and Matthew Yeomans, authors of The Gastrokid Cookbook. They write, "If a restaurant like Babbo is giving this away to each and every diner, that's the first sign that this is an incredibly cheap dish to make. The kids love this. The parents love this. The wallet love this." I had to make this! Get the recipe here - Roasted Chickpea Bruschetta from The Gastrokid Cookbook


The Good: The flavor profile (as they say on Bravo's Top Chef) was amazing. Briny olives, balsamic vinegar complemented the chickpeas very well.

The Bad: Roasting the chickpeas dried them out too much for my taste. Serving them on slices of baguette was somewhat cumbersome as everything kept on rolling right off.

Grade: B. The five year old popped a handful in his mouth and confessed he enjoyed it. I think using quality olives (from Russo's of course!) and roasting minced garlic with the chickpeas for the last few minutes helped enhance the flavors.