Salisbury Meatballs

This recipe makes 6 main dishes. What I like about it is that it doesn't use condensed soup as the base for the sauce. The sauce is made from scratch and is well worth the effort.

6 lbs. lean ground beef
3 cups dry bread crumbs
2/3 cup milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup minced onion
2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 18 cloves)
1 Tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

SAUCE:
1 cup butter
1-1/2 lbs fresh white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups water
4 cups half and half or light cream
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp beef bouillon granules
1-1/2 tsp black pepper

6 one-gallon freezer bags, labeled

Preheat the oven to 500*. Using your hands, thoroughly combine beef, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Shape into 1- to 1-1/2-inch meatballs, placing them close together on lightly greased broiler pans or rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball reads 160*F. Cool meatballs.

While the meatballs are baking and cooling, melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until soft, about 7 minutes. Stir in flour. Mixture will be lumpy. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in water and cream; cook, stirring, until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Whisk to make a smooth sauce. Add Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, and pepper; stir. Cool sauce. (If the sauce seems thin before freezing it, resist the temptation to thicken it with more flour. When the entree comes out of the freezer and is reheated, the sauce will be considerably thicker than it was before freezing.)

Divide cooled meatballs and sauce evenly among the freezer bags. Seal and freeze.

To Cook One Entree:
Completely thaw one entree in the fridge. Prepare on the stove or in the oven.

Stove Top:
Bring meatballs and sauce to a simmer in a large skillet over medium heat until meatballs are heated through. Do not boil.

Oven:
Preheat the oven to 350*. Pour meatballs and sauce into an ungreased baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until meatballs are heated through.

Serve over rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles.