BISON MEATBALL SUB SALE

Pastured raised bison turned into meatballs with almond flour, onions, olive oil, garlic a ton of herbs and a lot of hands on word. Delicious homemade sourdough bread rolls made by my roommate Nichole. A very slow tomato sauce with garlic and basil and fresh plum tomatoes and viola! Plate after plate after plate of the subs above quite honestly made with our blood, sweat and tears....we made approximately 100.
Nichole and I made a few rookie mistakes preparing for our Bison Meatball Stoop Sub Sale such as not starting the prep until 10:00 pm the evening prior! Our sub sale was on a Sunday starting at 11:00 am as folks started heading to the Giant's game. On Saturday we had decided to go strawberry picking, then out for dinner in Petaluma - so we came home late and amped up. However we were up making meatballs, sauce, rolls, and paper baskets until 4:00 AM! It felt a little like we were on an episode of 'Restaurant Impossible' except with much less of a pay out...That said, the experience was fun and definitely interesting!  At about 7:00 am the day of, I went out to put up some gorilla marketing signs on the posts around the Giant's stadium:

 To no one's surprise, Nichole's bread rolls were delicious and each one perfect looking. At first we had left the bread out too long to rise and so it was too soft to form into rolls. Nichole came in for emergency repair and combined the overly soft dough with some new dough. Here is a pic of the ever-expanding dough taking over our kitchen

After some worry and even talk about running to Safeway to buy bread rolls (gasp!) we had a tray ready to go into the over around 1:00am and as we're putting them in the oven - we drop the tray and the rolls get stuck on the bottom of the oven! Nichole comes to the rescue again. Dough rolls are brought back to life and go in the oven looking like this...

 and come out looking gorgeous like this!

For the meatballs, I purchased 12 pounds of bison striploin cut from Rocky Mountain Natural Meats which is located in Denver, CO. Pre-grinder...

post-grinder...

Raw rolled meatballs...

...fried with a little olive oil

This is how our set up looked...we had an old bedside table with a picnic table cover, a couple plates of the bison meatball sub, a tip jar that said 'Tips for Chicks', a plate of homemade mini strawberry mint pies, and our super cool chalkboard with our menu/ingredients. 

Our first customer! A Giant's fan / U.S. Marine named Tay...

In summary, we made enough to sell about 100. We sold about 50, broke even on costs, had 50 meatball subs leftover but were too exhausted to stay awake and try to sell the remainder. The subs were delicious, we ate them for a solid few weeks after, they freeze remarkably - but I had enough bison for 2012. We were a little unsure of selling from our stoop, I think our location could have been better but we didn't want to piss of any of the nearby restaurants/food trucks, since this was under the radar. Would I do it again? Yes, but only if the whole day before I did everything so I could get to sleep before 4:00am. When I look at the pictures now, I think I'm ready to eat some bison once again :)

 Looks like a hurricane went through our kitchen huh? I'd say that's an accurate metaphor.

There is always that one  lingering customer....

'Spaghetti' Squash & Bison Meatballs (Paleo)

Bison is by far my favorite meat. I debuted by love for bison on GLHC with my bison stuffed squash. I've never been a huge meatball fan - mostly because I never felt that great after eating meatballs however with bison, it's completely different. As with all meatballs, you can experiment and make them slightly different every time. For a recent paleo feast, I made these meatballs as the main course with a homemade tomato sauce. Instead of spaghetti, I used 'Spaghetti' Squash. It's the end of the season so I literally bought the only ones available! I'd never cooked this type of squash but was delighted on it's much healthier and equally tasty substitution for spaghetti. I was certain I would cut off my hand as I was trying to cut open this squash. I had to put all my weight on the knife to open the squash so be careful when doing this at home. Disclosure: I'm also accident prone - this may not be an issue for most folks :)
This meal can be made in advance and heated up. The meatballs are addicting and taste DELICIOUS the next day on sandwich bread or even cold. The longer and slower you cook the tomato sauce, the more enhanced the flavor will be and the thicker the texture. So, in true Italian style - cook this meal slowly with love, music and glass of wine.

                                  

'Spaghetti' Squash & Bison Meatballs 
Makes enough for 10-12
A meal planning tip: Start with baking the squash. While squash is in the oven start the sauce then the meatballs.

Ingredients:
2-3 large 'Spaghetti' Squash

For Meatballs:
4 lbs ground bison
2 small onions, finely chopped
4 eggs
1 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons fresh herbs
1 head of garlic
Olive oil
4 tablespoons ghee

For Sauce:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 28 ounce cans plum tomatoes
1 16 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 small cans of tomato paste
2 bunches of Italian parsley, chopped
2 chili peppers, chopped

Directions:
For Spaghetti:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the squash in half. Place cut size down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until it is easily pierced with a knife.
2. Scrape the spaghetti out of the squash shell and set aside into a bowl.

For Meatballs:
1. Saute the onion, garlic with 3-4 tablespoons of ghee until the onions are translucent. Allow the onions to cool.
2. In a bowl, vigorously whisk the eggs. Whisk in the almond meal and herbs. Add in the bison and mix until everything is incorporated. The best tools for this are your hands.
3. Roll the bison meat into small balls. Saute on a pan (LOW & SLOW) with a bit of olive oil. The bison meatballs don't take much time and you want them to maintain their moisture so be sure the heat is set to low. They should be golden brown.  They will produce their own natural oils which make for a fantastic base for sauteing vegetables. Set aside on a platter while you finish the meatballs.


For the sauce:
1. Heat live oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic until soft.
2. Add in the pureed tomatoes with juices, crushed tomatoes, parsley, and peppers. Bring the mixture to a boil. Season with salt and pepper
3. Reduce the heat and cook until it is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and cook for 20 minutes.

                             

Enjoy with a nice big salad and a glass of wine :)