Spencer Tracy and Meatballs

"Last time we jawed, you gave me the high hat...and I'm sick of this high hat."

Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow starred in a few movies together in the 1930's.  This quote is from the 1936 movie "Riffraff".  Tracy plays a dock worker and Jean Harlow works in a saloon.  The movie is about their relationship and a good view of life at the time.  

The quote is full of slang.  'Jawed' means talked, and high hat refers to being arrogant and thinking you are above someone.  It came from the fact that the higher a man's top hat, the higher his position was in society.  Kind of funny, because Tracy is accused of giving someone the high hat treatment, when in a review of the movie that I read he is described as a vain lunkhead.  There are all levels of arrogance, in all parts of society.

I do like this movie, Jean Harlow is adorable and can hold her own in the wisecrack department.  I might describe Spencer Tracy as a meatball, another word for lunkhead.  But it all works out in the end.


Let's think of meatballs in another way.  As delicious balls of meat and herbs poached in a sweet flavorful sauce.


Meatballs


makes about 60-1" meatballs, serves 4-6 people


1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
3 tbs. chopped parsley
1 tbs. fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup gluten-free oats, coarsely ground and soaked in 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup grated Parmagiano-Reggiano
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup rice flour for dredging


Mix all the ingredients(except the rice flour) together with your hands.  Form into 1" balls and roll in the rice flour.  Chill the balls for 1/2 hour in the fridge.  At this point they can be prepared a couple of ways.  Poached in a sauce or browned for Swedish style meatballs.


I love to poach them, they are melt in your mouth tender.  You can use any basic tomato sauce or since I can't eat tomato sauce, I make a red bell pepper sauce with anchovies.


Red Bell Pepper Sauce


4 red bell peppers
6 anchovy fillets
1 small fennel bulb, diced
1 tsp. fresh sweet marjoram leaves, chopped
1 tsp. fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup red wine
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Roast the bell peppers for 45-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  When they are cool enough to handle, peel, seed and puree.  Melt the anchovy fillets in a little oil in a saucepan with a lid, or a dutch oven big enough to hold 1 layer of meatballs.  Sauté the fennel with the anchovies until tender.  Add the herbs, red wine, sugar and salt.  Cook together for 3-4 minutes.  Add the bell pepper puree and heat to a simmer.  If the sauce is too thick, thin with a little water.  Gently lay the meatballs in the sauce in a single layer.  Use the end of a wooden spoon to move them around so they all fit.  Cover and gently simmer for 30 minutes until the meatballs feel firm.  


Serve over gluten-free pasta with a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmagiano-Reggiano.


Two kinds of meatballs, Spencer Tracy and poached...


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