I didn't see a cook-along thread and I've been dying to post my latest creation in one so here we are

I didn't see a cook-along thread and I've been dying to post my latest creation in one so here we are

ITT: cook alongs (or: what user had for dinner)
I will start

In picture you see:
>2 lb ground lamb
>1/2 diced yellow onion
>6 large dried Kadota figs, chopped
>1 egg
>1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
>1 tsp salt
>1/2 tsp black pepper
>1 tsp ground coriander
>1/2 tsp ground thyme (accidentally bought instead of whole leaf thyme, you could use either)
>1/4 tsp allspice
>one splash of sherry vinegar
>two splashes of balsamic vinegar

I smash it with my hands

For me, this amount made 40 kind of small meatballs, but you can make them however large or small you like them.

I begin to sear. I turned them over twice, so I was searing on 3 sides of the meatballs. In this picture you can see them once they were turned over one time. I did not cook them for longer than a few minutes on each side because I wanted them to be red inside still because I will cook them more later.

This is them at their last turn. I've been using tongs to pick them up and turn them over to prevent chasing rolling meatballs all over the skillet. Heat is set to medium btw.

After I finished cooking each batch, I poured out the grease from the meat into a cup so I could save it to use later.

As I removed each batch of finished meatballs I put them in my slow cooker set on medium, but I left the lid off so that too much heat wouldn't accumulate and dry them out.

After all the meatballs were done, I added the grease back to the pan and added 3 cloves of minced garlic, stirred about 1 minute till golden, then added 1 lb finely sliced mushrooms.

I just realized this picture is quite potato, probably from steam on my phone camera, my apologies.

After the mushrooms were cooked through I removed them from the skillet using a slotted spoon so I could leave the extra fat and mushroom juice in the pan. Here you see them in a bowl but I poured them into the crock pot over the meatballs shortly after.

mmm meatballs look good

Accidentally not pictured: me making gravy
I added 3 Tbsp butter to the fat already in the pan, melted, and then added about 1/4 cup of flour, stirred together, and cooked until browned.

I added 3 cups of beef broth (store bought don't judge) and 1/4 cup of heavy cream, as well as the seasonings I used in the lamb (salt, pepper, coriander, allspice, thyme) and brought to boil, let reduce, and then I poured the gravy over my meatballs and mushrooms in my slow cooker and let that cook on medium for about half an hour more.

Accidentally pictured: all of my kale which I sauteed in 1/2 Tbsp butter 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, until softer but still crunchy.

thank you user, they are really really good.

I wanted to serve my meatballs and gravy over noodles, so I bought 2 lbs of pic related. You can use whatever you like, mashed potatoes or regular pasta or whatever. I found that one pound bag makes enough noodles for four servings, so I would have had 8 servings of noodles, so I divided my 40 meatballs by 8 and have served 5 meatballs with gravy for each meal. If you want more meat you will need less pasta.

Watch out when boiling egg noodles though, these particular kind frothed up almost instantly and made a huge mess in my kitchen, I've never had that happen before with egg noodles.