Meatballs and Rice Noodles-3/03

[Terrytx]

I don't think this has been reviewed yet. This was fairly easy to make-the most time consumming part was making all those little meatballs (I had to double the recipe for extra guests). The sauce was rather unusual-warm water, a whole bunch of sugar and lime juice (plus other stuff). I was thinking "I don't know about this", but since we all love the noodles so much I went ahead with it. They sucked this stuff down like you wouldn't believe. I thought it was a bit too sweet, but I got booed out of the room. I served it on plates, but I think it would have worked better in bowls. It was very "saucy". I served it with Radish and Carrot Salad which was also good. It wasn't anything to jump up and down about, but good and easy. We had Bourbon Fudge Brownies for dessert-they are all gone-need I say more.

[emily]

Thanks for the review on this one Terry. This is one I'd marked to try. And I'm making the carrot/radish salad tonight as well so good to know it's decent :)

Emily

[Peggy]

Thanks for review, Terry. I had skipped right past that one. Will have to take another look!

Peggy

[GeckoGirl]

Is this the recipe that calls for ground beef, pork, and a slice of bacon?? If so, I made it last night and we LOVED it. Does anyone have the recipe they could post from Mastercook or something? I have an online fitness log where I refer to recipes I have tried...

Anyway, I used about 1.25 lbs of extra lean ground beef, one slice of bacon, doubled all the spices in the meatballs. For the sauce, I thought 6T of sugar HAD to be a misprint so I used 2 and was fine. I kept all the other measurements on the sauce the same. I served it in big flat bowls and once we had the rice noodles, herbs, meatballs and sauce mixed in, I wanted to take a picture, it looked just like something we would order at our favorite Vienamese restaurant!

Oh, made the cukes just as was suggested but maybe with a tad less sugar. Very good as well!

Lynda

[Terrytx]

* Exported from MasterCook *

Meatballs and Rice Noodles

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Beef Pork


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 slice bacon
6 ounces ground sirloin
6 ounces lean ground pork
cooking spray
10 ounces rice vermicelli or thin rice stick noodles
1/2 cup warm water
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons chile garlic sauce (such as Lee Kum Kee)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Add beef and pork; pulse to combine.

Divide meat mixture into 12 equal portions, shaping each into a 1-inch ball. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add meatballs; cook 10 minutes or until meatballs are done, browning on all sides.

Cook noodles in boiling water 6 minutes; drain. Combine warm water and next 5 ingredients (water through 4 cloves garlic), stirring with a whisk until sugar dissolves. Combine basil, cilantro, and mint. Divide noodles evenly among 4 plates; top each serving with 3 meatballs. Drizzle each serving with about 1/3 cup sauce; sprinkle with about 2 teaspoons herb mixture.

487 cal, 15.1g fat, 19.1g pro, 66.7g carb, 2.1g fiber, 59mg chol, 1.9mg iron, 905mg sod, 36mg calc.

Source:
"Cooking Light-3/03"



Serving Ideas : Sweet and Spicy Cucumbers and fresh mango with toasted coconut


N

[GeckoGirl]

WHAT SERVICE!!

Thank you Terry! I am eating my leftovers now, I added some shredded lettuce and it is all good!

[Kuvy]

I made these last night for our dinner meeting with our new Financial Advisor. He and DH gobbled them down in typical boy fashion and both had seconds.
ok, so maybe i did too!!!!!

I reduced the sugar from 6 TBs to 5 TBs and they were still a bit sweet for me, I wish I'd known you could go down to 2 TBs without spoiling the contrasting sweet & sour - ness.

I also used Rosina Homestyle Meatballs from my gocery store's freezer section instead of making them from scratch. They were SOOO good! I drizzled them in freshly squeezed lime juice and a little Thai fish sauce mid-way through baking them to add the flavors that were supposed to be incorporated in the "from-scratch" versions. Took just a few minutes and dinner was ready, easy, exotic and delicious! The Rosina meatballs are 270 calories (200 from fat!!) PER 6. I wonder how much better the ones in the CL recipe are for calories and fat?!?