Two crockpots full of Kosher Meatballs and a Pot of Leafy Vegetable Stew

Beef Meatballs

4 lbs ground beef (15 percent fat)
2 small onions, chopped
4 eggs
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp pepper

In two batches, because this is too much stuff for even a large household bowl, combine the ingredients and mix well. On a large cutting board, pat meat mixture into a slab one inch thick, and cut slab into one inch squares. Cutting the ground meat slab into squares helps you make evenly sized meatballs. Roll meat cubes into balls, and brown the meatballs on at least two sides. Put meatballs into an aluminum pan in fridge to cool quickly, then you put cooled meatballs into a Ziploc bag to reheat on party day.

Sauce for Beef Meatballs (haul out the food processor for this)

1/4 large red onion, sliced thinly
1/3 cup water
1/2 lb white and/or brown mushrooms, sliced thinly
Two pinches pepper
Safflower oil for saute

2 cups water
2 TB worchestershire sauce

In a large dutch oven, lightly brown onion, then add water and cover, and cook the onions for 20 minutes more over medium low heat.
Turn up heat, add mushrooms, cover and let them cook for another 20 minutes or more, until the moisture in the mushrooms comes out. Add pepper.
Add 2 cups water, deglaze pan, (don’t take mushrooms out) and add meatballs and worchestershire sauce. Reheat gently, and when meatballs are warmed through, put into crockpot set on high.

Turkey Meatballs
Get your crockpot plugged in and positioned close to the stove. Turn to
high setting.
Add 3 cups water 4 large bay leaves,and 2 TB vegetable boullion mix to crock pot. Cover and let water heat.

3 lbs ground white meat turkey
2 large white onion, grated or chopped fine, depending on the state of your shredder blade.
1 cup corn flake crumbs, divided 80/20
Splash of water
6 egg whites
1-2 TB Herbes de Provence

Put turkey meat and grated onion in bowl. Make a well in the meat and add the first part of the cornflake crumbs to the meat, and add a splash of water to the cornflake crumbs. Let the crumbs absorb the water for a few seconds, and then add egg whites and herbes de Provence and mix thoroughly. You should use your hands for this. Add reserved corn flake crumbs if meatball mixture is too loose to form meatballs

Fill a cup or bowl with cold water. Wet your hands, and make meatballs about 1 inch across. Fill up a plate with those.

Then, heat safflower oil in a very large nonstick skillet, and brown the turkey meatballs on at least 3 sides. Do not crowd meatballs. Use a spatula to turn the turkey meatballs over, or start them rolling as soon as they hit the pan by shaking the pan. This might cause the oil to slop out and flame up. which we see on the food channel a lot. When meatballs are browned, add the meatballs to liquid in crock pot to poach. After all the meatballs are formed, browned, and added to crock pot, deglaze pan with:

1/2 cup Pumpkin Ale, and water if needed.
Add that to crock pot. Turn down heat to low and let cook for 1-4 hours.

Leafy veggie stew

4 large leeks
Safflower oil
2 cans Trader Joe’s artichoke hearts, packed in water
2 packages frozen spinach
1 package frozen peas
1 TB Manishewitz Brisket seasoning (onion powder, salt, sugar, caramel color, garlic powder chili flakes)
Salt
Pepper
3 TB cornstarch in one cup of water.

Clean and cut white and light green part of leeks into 3 inch sections. Slice thinly with slicing disk in food processor. Add leeks to large pot and Saute in oil 3 minutes, then cover and sweat the leeks for 5 minutes. Slice artichokes thinly and add to leeks. Add seasoning. Put in 2 packages frozen spinach and cover and cook until spinach is thawed and cooked through. Add peas and heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Thicken with 3 TB cornstarch mixed with one cup water. Heat and stir until thickened.