# Dinner tonight-- need answers fast! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855 "2018-03-01T22:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/1 "2018-03-01T22:15:40Z")
So I have a pound of ground beef I gotta make something with. For something a little different, I thunk up mashed potato stuffed meatballs. Looked it up and saw that, as always, I never have an original thought and there are a few methods for doing this. I think I’ve settled on the muffin tin method. My question is: Taco flavored meatballs with cheesy potatoes? Italian flavored meatballs with garlic potatoes? Swedish flavored meatballs with cranberry potatoes? Or any combination of those potatoes and balls. So many balls, so many flavors. Also, have any of you tried stuffing balls with potatoes? How did you go about doing it? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/2 "2018-03-11T16:49:36Z")
What did you decide? How’d it work out? I’ve never tried stuffing balls with potatoes. I find the associated imagery my mind conjures up to be frightening, yet compelling. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/3 "2018-03-11T17:07:36Z")
Yeah, interesting idea. I’ve never thought of it that way. Sometimes, my parents would use leftover mashed potatoes as the binder for a meatloaf or what they would call a “schznitzel” (which was basically like a Salisbury steak type of thing, not the pounded cutlet type. We just called it a “Polish hamburger” in English, although it was not served on a bun or anything.) Mashed potatoes actually work quite great in that application, creating a lighter end product than bread or bread alone does. That said, our mashed potatoes are very basic, just potatoes mashed with a little butter and salt. It’s pretty sturdy stuff, not the delicate, cream-loaded whipped potatoes you get at a restaurant. And potato dumplings stuffed with meat are great, but it’s never occured to me to try the idea inside-out. Sounds like something that should work out well. I’ll be curious to hear. I would have voted the Swedish meatballs with cranberry potatoes because it’s the wildest option of the three. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/4 "2018-03-11T18:13:30Z")
While we wait for the answer, I used to make something along a similar line that was a “pie”. The crust was a meatloaf, essentially (that’s a whole separate argument - keep your ketchup). Once it was cooked, I filled it with mashed potatoes, covered it with grated cheese and then browned it. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/5 "2018-03-12T02:15:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, interesting idea. I’ve never thought of it that way. Sometimes, my parents would use leftover mashed potatoes as the binder for a meatloaf or what they would call a “schznitzel” (which was basically like a Salisbury steak type of thing, not the pounded cutlet type. We just called it a “Polish hamburger” in English, although it was not served on a bun or anything.) … Kotlety mielone? My mom made something similar, like a pan fried personal-sized meatloaf, or a really fat burger patty. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/6 "2018-03-12T02:24:43Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Kotlety mielone? My mom made something similar, like a pan fried personal-sized meatloaf, or a really fat burger patty. Yeah, those, but my parents called them _sznycle_. The names appear to be interchangeable in at least in some parts of Poland. (I honestly have no idea whether it’s a regional or universal term; just not assuming anything here.)[Like here’s a Youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUZdw9X1Tg) of a typical recipe, but they also refer to them as _kotlety mielone_ in the audio. ETA: Actually, reading the comments, it does seem to be regional (the _sznycle_ term.) There is a bit of a discussion about the word. It appears that it’s a regional term from _Małopolska_, at least, part of the south of Poland where both my parents are from. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/7 "2018-03-12T03:04:58Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > So I have a pound of ground beef I gotta make something with. For something a little different, I thunk up mashed potato stuffed meatballs. Looked it up and saw that, as always, I never have an original thought and there are a few methods for doing this. I think I’ve settled on the muffin tin method. My question is: > > Taco flavored meatballs with cheesy potatoes? > Italian flavored meatballs with garlic potatoes? > Swedish flavored meatballs with cranberry potatoes? > > Or any combination of those potatoes and balls. So many balls, so many flavors. Also, have any of you tried stuffing balls with potatoes? How did you go about doing it? [The $100 meatball](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMtD8ieMRBw). ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dinner-tonight-need-answers-fast/809855/8 "2018-03-12T04:10:50Z")
I’d make upside-down, inside-out, deconstructed mashed-potato-stuffed-meatballs and call it Shepherd’s Pie