I made this about a month ago, and skipped the milk. I didn’t have any in the house, and didn’t see the need for it. But, I’m making meatballs again tonight, for a few people besides myself. Will the milk make them tastier, or add some kind of substance to them?
Since the recipe calls for very lean beef (which makes sense since you don’t want the meatballs to be swimming in grease when you open the pot) the milk adds some liquid to help the meatballs stay together better and a little bit of fat as well, but not as much as a less lean quality of meat would. I’m sure it’s not really all THAT necessary, it’s only a couple tablespoons that probably get all mopped up by the breadcrumbs.
The milk helps to make the meatballs juicier and more tender. It’s a pretty common ingredient in Italian-style meatballs and ragus.
This. I was just going to post, using the word spongy. I’ve heard that meatballs will harden when overcooked, so I guess it helps in that sense, too.
A classic method is to start with day-old white bread (French and similar). Trim the crust off a few slices, soak thoroughly in milk and drain/squeeze out excess.
Milk is a little bit sweeter than water. It’s not a big effect when only a small amount is used, but it’s always there, and I think often a noticeable effect when you look for it.
I have a few dishes that call for milk for the reasons listed above - fat, moisture, sweetness, etc. Most often I use it in baked goods though, and it’s sometimes a pain because I don’t normally have milk in the house. I do have half & half around for coffee, and will often just sub some out cut with a bit of water to get to a faux whole milk level.
A friend of mine recently suggested the following options (whole or low fat depending on need)
So you can have shelf stable, no refrigeration needed milk in smaller amounts at need. Although they did suggest to buy in person rather than online so you can make sure you aren’t looking at a near-term expiration date. In general should be safe in a pantry for a few months, by which I’ll have needed it for something.
While I don’t make many dishes that require milk, (well, other than about once a month when I do slow cooker overnight steel cut oats mmmMmmMm) I do find that I notice the difference if I sub in another liquid. About the best sub I’ve used if we’re talking amounts of half a cup or less is homemade chicken stock, so something with a bit of body and mouthfeel. When I’ve used water or just plain broth in various milk-based dishes it was definitely lacking.