‘Twas the night before a trip
And all through the house
Was the sound of muffled screaming
Yes that was me. I had my crankypants on.
Do you know how they say that food made with love and care tastes the best and that the feelings of the cook transpires into the food? Well that was sort of true for me today except I wasn’t feeling much love at all. I was feeling hellishly busy and frustrated.
I had about a million things to do on my to do list. There were three recipes that needed making and photographing. There was a restaurant review that needed writing as well as a giveaway post. And couriers were ringing my doorbell and people were ringing my phone while I had butter and flour on my hands. And I had just sliced through some of my finger trying to cut an onion, a task I loathe at the best of times. I just wanted to crawl into bed and watch tv or read a book and turn off my phone.
This was one of those three recipes I made that day. And because I was fiery, swearing and cranky I decided to upp the flavours on this as I had tried a little and it just tasted a bit too bland to me. I added three times as much Tabasco as they had recommended, four times as much Worcestershire sauce and for good measure pounded the buggery out of some fennel seeds. I then decided to make the meatballs double the recommended size and then not so gently shoved some cheese and bacon inside them.
These technically are man sized meat balls but I quite liked the idea of calling them meaty man balls. Only because there’s a part of me that loves childish humour and I’ll take it any chance that I can get. The meatballs have a soft, moist outer and a melty, flavoursome surprise inner. I served them to my own man with some tomato sauce and a fried egg as suggested by Adrian Richardson whose new book The Good Life I pilfered and adapted these from. I was sent a copy to review and I quickly bookmarked this dish as well as another sausage recipe. And sometimes, just sometimes rage pays off and the result is a spicy, flavoursome meatball or rissole.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you adapt recipes a lot or do you stick to the instructions?
Meaty Man Balls
Adapted from The Good Life by Adrian Richardson published by Pan Macmillan RRP $59.99
Makes 6 meatballs
For meatballs
- 1 kilo pork and veal mince or beef mince
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, diced
- 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2-3 teaspoons Tabasco sauce for spicy (use 1 if you don’t like spice much)
- 3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
For filling
- 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
- 3 slices of ham or 2 rashers bacon, chopped into small pieces and fried-ham is easier as you don’t need to cook it first
- plus 1-2 tablespoons of oil for frying
1. Combine all meatballs ingredients in a large bowl. I don washing up gloves or latex gloves to mix everything together.
2. Using wet hands divide the mixture into six portions and flatten out each portion and fill with the ham and cheese. Seal them up and shape them into nice big round balls. They should be the size of a softball.
3. Heat a frying pan or pot onto medium heat and add oil. Fry the meatballs three to four at a time turning them so that they brown all over. They will take about 10-12 minutes to cook through. Serve while hot or keep them warm in an oven on low heat.
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now? 
NQN on Facebook
RSS
90 Comments | Add your own
Terrific! those are meaty, indeed.
Cheers,
Rosa
Yum. These would be good for my usual sad lunch box:)
Not sure what to say so that my comment is not moderated/rejected:) You have provided a ton of opportunities, even the choice of the two recipes you bookmarked out of the maybe hundreds of recipes in the book.
A fitting meal for a former vegan!
I’m sorry you injured yourself in the process though!
Quite a surprising title! I do both…stick to the recipe and adapt if I don’t have the exact ingredients or think something else added will taste better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t!
I very rarely stick exactly to the recipe! Where’s the fun in that! Looks like a Man’s Meal!
oh good grief. my husband would be all over this.
Gidday NGN.
Adrians “Balls” are great. I advocate the debate that a recipe should be done as the author intended first….then if you liked it. Dont change it but if you think it can be better or different (in your opinion) go for it.
Hate cranky days. I want to say I love your meaty man balls, but feel slightly awkward. So personal.
And I had to have a giggle at the strategically placed baguette. Sacre Bleau!
Lorraine said ‘balls’. He he he!
These look yummy! I regularly adapt recipes. I usually merge 4 or 5 different recipes to make the ‘best’ version – to my tastes!
I’m a hard core ‘adapter’! Laughed at ‘pounded the buggery out of some fennel seeds’!
What an eye-catching title, but truly, they look delicious, particularly in the centre.
I find with recipes I’m always doubling or tripling quantities of spices, usually it doesn’t hurt!
yes as you probably read in my blog I alter recipes all the time. I think it comes with experience you can read a recipe and tell straight away if it is going to work or whether you need to alter it.
haha the title of this post is too funny!
I rarely if ever follow the recipe exactly. Love the idea of the ham and cheese insides.
Ha! If you only knew how meaty man balls, would be taken by the men in my little part of the world!
The recipe looks great, but I’ll tell DH, they’re mega meat balls!
I hope those pink bits in there are bacon, not parts of your finger! You poor thing, I’m impressed you managed such a yummy looking dish with all the background nonsense going on.
I always like to play with my food and adapt recipes, and these cahanges to your man-balls sound delicious, Yumm…
These look fantastic NQN I can’t wait to try them, please let me know too if I can blog about my efforts of course with suitable credit where due
omg.. why did i never think about this.. genuis!!
mmhhh meatballs with cheeese and bacon
Hehe ‘man balls’
Love the surprise inside, what isn’t made better with cheese?
I find it really hard to follow a recipe correctly unless it’s totally unfamiliar.
Oh my god! they look amazing… I’m heading off to USA in two and a half weeks and can’t wait for some nice hearty tobasco-y food! my mouth is watering just looking at these
Thanks for sharing!
Those look so good. I was just wondering what to make for dinner tonight and now I’m sorted!
My boys will love these, thanks NQN! I adapt recipes quite often or make my own version because like you said some of the basic cookbooks are too bland and I want flavour, flavour, flavour!
Ha! I’m not sure if I’ve ever followed a recipe in my life!
But those meaty man balls look great! Makes you want to eat them with your hands and just make a mess of them
I’m definitely big on the adapting! I usually can’t leave well enough alone
And yes, tabasco and worcestershire are always increased when I’m using them! 
So sorry you were having an icky-rotten day though, my dear! I hope it’s not all like this for you in the lead-up to Christmas. I’m always here if you need a rant or brief escape
xo
I giggled at the title I have to admit! LOL
Some of the manliest meatballs I have ever seen. They look great, and I love that you served them simply with a fried egg and a roll.
Thanks for this great recipe. Love the name too! We enjoy meatballs/hamburger patties/rissoles etc and the idea of putting cheese and ham inside is a great one, like the sound of fennel too. Should be yummy! Will make soon.
Ahhhahaha! This post really put a smile on my face! I can just picture you pounding the ingredients into shape… and the name is perfect! My husband will love these, because he’s a man. xxx
These look grand–and comforting to me. Yum.
No, I rarely follow a recipe unless I am teaching it in class. If in English, I often just use my own interpretations, but if I have to translate two sets of recipe packets (one in English and one in Spanish), then I try to at least find one in English ready to go. Saves me the time of wondering how much of what I use when I make it. I am notorious, when left to my own devices, for never really following a recipe at all!
I am never a recipe follower. Or should I say rarely. Only when things are very obscure do I follow the recipe.
I’d like to see a companion recipe for Lady Balls.
Love that there’s a stuffing. Adaptation all the way!
They look yummy! I like the addition inside, although I think I’d not eat them so big! I’d be worried they were not cooked through. When I cook a new recipe, I try to stick to it and then adapt it (usually completely) the next time around! I’d love to read when Adrian Richardson’s sausage recipe, how are they done and what accompanies them?
I often feel like that! Glad you got something good out of it though – these are serious meatballs! Love the stuffing and I think they are a good size. I often modify recipes, sometimes because I’ve mis-read or made a mistake so I just carry on and other times on purpose. Fortunately not all end in disaster
I love adapting recipes. Especially with dishes that dont require exact measurements. It is so much nicer when you make it your own. Love the look of these, especially the bacon and cheese in the middle.YUMMO
ohhh, i love silly childish humour too
and love the toolbox styling – nice man balls touch.
hmm, if only i ate meat…
ps – i never stick to the instructions!!!
Well done Lorraine. I like to be able to taste the flavours of what I’m cooking, too, and often up the dosages of the additions. I’m a bugger for tweaking recipes most of the time.
I am chortling here, because I am definitely one of those people who never follow ingredient quantities, but rather follow my instincts (or emotions!) at the time. I SHALL, however, follow YOUR recipe to the milligram, dear Lorraine. You have ALREADY done all the hard work and I may as well bask in your glory. Here’s to meaty man balls!
This sure looks like a meal for the boys! I know my other half would devour this. Look at the filling :O
I have a tendency to play around a little with recipes. I don’t diverge away from them too much though
Lorraine: you may not realize it, but a Finnish influence is coming thru’ here
! These are not ‘man-balls’, but typical Finnish/Estonian etc ‘kotletid’ we would have at least once a week – complete with always using the three meats! Well, perhaps some do not make them as spicy or stuff them! The size and height and look are exactly what I remember from age one! Lovely and appetizing, thanks 
! In my younger years I did stick to recipes exactly – now I read a new one and promptly think ‘methinks, I’ll do it my way’ . . .
Yum, yum Yum!..They look simple and scrumptious!Sometimes I add semolina instead of breadcrumbs.learned that from the original Nigella! Looks like we’ll be having Meaty Man balls for dinner tonight…By the way, I read your spread in our local paper. Felt proud that I ‘knew’ you. hahaha..take care Lorraine!
I’ll admit it… I giggled at the title. I’m such a child
I’m always adapting recipes – usually due to not having the exact ingredients on hand.
i was laughing just reading the title of this post! then i continued laughing seeing the first photo and continued laughing as I read through the rest of the post – it has definitely made my day!
LOL I cracked up when I got my email about meaty man balls. Love a bit of cheek(y)
haha. Nice work on adapting. I love to add a bit of myself in to a recipe if I feel its not to my taste
Man, my husband would go crazy for these! (I make him, “man food” aka something meaty and fatty, about once a week — the rest of the time we kind of eat like rabbits.)
NQN…. You had me the second I saw the name ‘Meaty Man Balls’ in my inbox. Couldn’t open it up fast enough and will make this recipe as a priority! Can’t wait to serve them up to my man…
for the carnivores, this is bliss. for us vegivores, this is a little uh….
They do look soooo good … good enough to lure one off the “no red meat” liver cleansing diet. I’ll see what’s in the freezer now.
My brain actually stepped on the brakes when I read the title of this entry! Forgive my rather salacious mind…
But these look incredibly good and would be perfect for stuffing into lunchboxes. As for recipes, I tend to tweak as I go; it makes things more exciting.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has days like that. It takes a lot of discipline not to curl up with a book instead when there’s no one to watch you!
I change up recipes all the time but not as much when I’m baking. I hate buying extra ingredients so often substitute things and guesstimate measurements. If you don’t experiment you’ll never discover anything new. Well that’s my excuse.
WOW they’re huge!
But it looks delicious!!
Hope you’re feeling better now Lorraine! I know how it feels when you’re being pulled all directions.
Try to take it easy!
Those are real meat balls…thanks God I’m not vegetarian.
Depends on the recipe I can alter it, but most of the times I followed it as is. I just made some mulberry muffins, but the real recipe was for raspberry, so that change plus some adjustments on sugar quantity are the kind of changes I used to make, that’s it.
Meaty Man Balls?!? Should this be an NC-17 post? LOL
Aw you did well even though you were stressed out! I hate days like that when everything is so damn busy and chaotic. I love your idea of stuffing extra inside the meat balls. Very nice!
~~~~Now that’s what I call Meata Balls
)) WOWIE.
Lorraine, you really know how to seduce your man. Xx
Kiss.
I try to make recipes as per the instructions at least the first time.
Sometimes this depends on how carefully I read the recipe in the first place or what I forgot to buy…
NQN I like to follow the recipe as I am a bit of a perfectionist but if I am not happy with the results I play around with the ingredients and see how it goes.
I have already printed up these yummy looking ‘Meaty Man Balls’ and will be trying them out for our Summer family get togethers.
Cheers
teehee I was wondering what “man balls” could be when I saw the title. love the stuffing and everything together looks absolutely delicious!
Love the sound of these. Will be trying them for my man. I also have that part of me that loves childish humour too. On the subject of recipes I am very bad at following any recipe as it is written. I seem to find half way through that there is something I don’t have or don’t like and so have to change it. Problem is someone will ask for the recipe and I have forgotten what I did. I have been trying to pencil the alterations in lately though.
I was overjoyed when I saw you updated with this post this morning. I was struggling to come up with something for tonight’s dinner that didn’t involve me making spag bog. My meaty man balls (tee hee!) are currently chilling in the fridge, ready to pop in the pan for when my man gets home, and I’m going to serve them with some oven baked taters.
BAHA I’m already laughing and I haven’t even read it yet
You cracked me up when I saw your email… of course I had to click and check. =P You’re too funny. I almost forget to talk about the food. I love the cheese and meat inside. I once cooked with quail egg in it. I should make it with cheese next time!
BEST. POST. TITLE. EVER! You win at blogging!
I like to play around with recipes. I decided I’d make these for dinner tonight, no fennel in the house to substite with Tuscan seasoning, cooked the bacon, put it aside while I make the breadcrumbs. My husband came home from work and ATE THE BACON!!!so just cheese inside lol
I thought of something rather naughty when I saw the title of your post. Great looking meatballs, BTW. I usually adapt a recipe when I don’t have what they call for on hand – then I get creative.
you should chillax =)
Tea should be quite soothing in times of stress!
zomg i must make these!!!
There is nothing worse than wanting to relax and enjoy cooking than when the world just demands too much of you – glad you took it out on your cooking in the right sort of way – rather than flinging the meatballs at the courier
Meatballs with cheese and bacon? HEAVEN!
I adapt in saovry cooking more than in baking for obvious reasons. Pretty hilarious name for these!
They look delish! Think I’d have to leave the fennel out though.
Those are some serious meatballs! Love that you made them so big!
what a happy surprise to find inside a set of meaty man balls!
So nice to hear you feel the pressure sometimes too! To an outsider peering in it sometimes seems like your life is too good to be true
These meatballs sound great, J would love them!
How rude Lorraine!
They look delish though!
Meaty man balls sound….. SWEATY lol ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. hahahaha but giant meatballs? That I can deal with. Sounds delicious and I’d eat a few of those right now!!!
Too much for this little black duck… on the question of recipes. If I am road testing for a review, then I stick to the recipe and note in my review if the recipe doesn’t gel (such as Adrian’s taste tatin base, for example!). If I am simply cooking or trying a recipe for the first time, I may adapt, depending on the recipe. More often than not, I come up with my own variation.
Wow those meatballs sure are huge… nice package too, with the bacon and cheese. Looks yum!
Haha love the title. These look absolutely delicious! Love how you kicked them up with fire (and a bit of anger). I almost always adapt recipes too!
Oh my, I know those days too well, lol! I know it’s bad when I get angry at the phone just for ringing, and livid at the poor soul on the other end, lol. The meatballs look wonderful though!
There are certain cookbooks, often ones from the States, who always downplay the spices, so I know to throw their measurements out the window.
That being said, I love enormous meatballs.
These are some giant meatballs! They sure sound tasty!
I usually stick to the recipe…boring, I know.
LOL these look awesome, and I love your story (although the stress doesn’t sound too nice). Yum to the fennel seeds, and nice tip on using latex gloves to mix!
Generally if it’s a baking recipe I stick to it, but if it’s a savoury dish that I’m making for a weeknight dinner then I’ll change things if I feel like it
My they are big. Well done for getting the finished
Lorraine – made these last night, much to the delight of the BF, with steamed garlic broccoli and roasted baby vine tomatoes. However, could you please clear up a difference of views that arose in the eating? He insists these are actually burgers, given their size, while I insisted they are meat balls. Manly ones. I promised him I’d settle this with you once and for all – could you please advise? Ta xx
I love your meaty man balls! the filling is rich & well flavoured too!
MMMMMMM,…I sometimes just make the recipe & than I adapt it to my needs!
I made these meaty man balls the night before an early morning flight. Quick, easy, satisfying and tasty!! Yummo
Post a Comment