A different sort of meatball

I usually associate meatballs with spaghetti. I know - you do too. It's a classic dish. There's a song about it! No one sings "On top of a pile of rice."

But I know there are some of you who are more apt to think "grape jelly" when it comes to meatballs. And of course there are the Swedish variety, and the kind that come on foot long subs. In short - meatballs are far more dynamic than we give them credit for.

It's easy to see why so many dishes make good use of meatballs - little balls of meat cook quickly and can take on a variety of flavors depending on what you cook them with. Similar to hamburgers, you can add all sorts of your favorite toppings.

I love my meatballs cooked with onions. No matter what I'm going to do with them. Cooked and caramelized. They add a sweetness to the meat. This Hungarian style meatball uses my favorite Bohemian spice - paprika. Add in some sour cream and you get a nice thick sauce to coat those babies in. I was going to serve it over some regular brown rice, but a special request from Thatboy had me using his favorite wild rice mix instead.

Hungarian Meatballs
2 slices bread
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp onion, sliced
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/2 Tbsp parsley, minced
1/2 Tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup sour cream
paprika

1. Soak the bread in the milk. While soaking, saute the onions in the butter until they're translucent.
2. Break the bread and pour off the excess milk. Mix with the beef, salt, pepper, parsley, and mustard.
3. Form the meat into little balls. Put the balls in with the onions, cover, and cook gently, turning after 10 minutes. Cook on the other side another 5 minutes.
4. Add the sour cream and heat, stirring it around the meatballs. Dust with paprika and serve.