Okay here's that recipe for you. I'm kind of drunk and it's 1:43am here, so if you have any questions just ask.

These meatballs are very rich in flavor and you cannot taste the liver at all. In fact, the liver brings out the wonderful taste of the buffalo even more! They are also VERY light and healthy. Meaning, you won’t feel weighed down if you’re gonna get it on later ;) I created this recipe because I am anemic and I need the extra iron/energy boost and I had a lot more work to do that week.

You will need to make the meatballs and place them in your sauce at least a day or two in advance. We all know Italian food tastes better when it sits! YA!

Buffalo and Chicken Liver Meatballs in tomato sauce

EQUIPMENT: Food processor Cast Iron Skillet (large) Large saucepan (NOT nonstick) Large wooden spoon Spice grinder (or a dedicated coffee grinder) Deep, medium sized pyrex baking dish that comes with lid for storage so it can sit in the fridge without being squished

FOR THE MEATBALLS: Everything must be COLD! 1lb ground buffalo (you can have your butcher grind up a sirloin with a shoulder, if you have access to that) 2-3 chicken livers (depending on size, membranes removed and soaked in water for two hours, changing the water two times)

3-4 T Cubed, frozen organic salted butter 2 1/2 large chicken egg yolks (or 2 large duck egg yolks)… get good eggs. If using chicken use the other half yolk and the white to glaze your garlic bread braid if you are making some from scratch. 3-4 organic garlic cloves (peeled; remember to remove the root end) ¼ c yellow organic onion, roughly chopped 1 ½ t black peppercorns 1 t dried marjoram ½ t mustard seeds ½ t fennel seeds 1 ½ t red pepper flakes 1 ½ t sea salt 3oz (90g) stale bread crumbs. Italian. Get a baguette of non-processed bread and make your own. 3 leaves fresh organic basil, roughly chopped 60 ml cream 2-3T fresh grated parmesan cheese All-purpose flour for coating your balls.

METHOD: Put your ground bison in a large bowl that you can cover with plastic wrap. Break it up slightly. Grind all of your spices in the spice grinder. If you don’t have a grinder just get the powdered form from the grocery store…although it won’t turn out nearly as well. Pat your chicken livers dry and place them in the food processor with your eggs, garlic, onion, and spices. Pulse until mixed. Add the frozen butter chunks. Pulse until evenly incorporated (you should be able to see small chunks still). Add cream, bread crumbs, basil, and parmesan cheese. Pulse lightly.) Gently fold your liver mixture into your buffalo mixture. GENTLY!!! Fold just until mixed.
Cover and place in coldest part of your fridge for a couple hours. Remove from fridge and form your meatballs. Make them all about 1 ½“ – 2” in diameter. They should all be the same size. Cover and place in fridge for another couple of hours.
Roll your balls in flour to make a light coating. This well help them brown. Get a cast iron skillet to medium heat and drizzle in some olive oil. Cook your meatballs in batches leaving enough room to put all your balls in a clock pattern on the outskirts of the pan. Do not overcrowd the pan. (You start them off browning in the middle of the skillet then roll them out to the outskirts so they can cook evenly and gently using the sides of your skillet as another heat source.) If you mess with them too much you’ll end up making a meat sauce. Be gentle. You already have balls you can fiddle with. For the love of god wash your hands. The middle of your pan should be empty. It’s too hot to cook everything in that spot as evenly as needed. Depending on the size of your balls and your stovetop, cooking time will vary from 6-10 minutes. Repeat. You need to cook these all the way through but don’t turn them into rocks. Let them cool, cover them (I suggest a container instead of a plate) and place them back in the fridge so you can start your tomato sauce.

TOMATO SAUCE: YOU WILL NEED A SPLATTER GUARD OF SOME SORT 5 cloves of organic garlic cloves, peeled and root removed 1 T butter, COLD 2 T olive oil 3/4 24 oz jar of Organic Tomato Sauce/Passata (it’s just pureed tomatoes) ½ diced organic yellow onion 1 ½ t fresh ground black pepper 1 T brown sugar 2 organic roma tomatoes, diced 1oz each mL dry red wine, white wine, vodka 1 cube of beef stock OR better yet, make your own beef demi glace. (recipe here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OEMP3BQ2zY) 1 T red wine vinegar 1 t each minced fresh basil, parsley, thyme Salt to taste. Check to see how much salt your stock has.

METHOD: In a small skillet, put heat to medium-low add butter and sautee garlic cloves until cooked. Keep basting with the butter. Set aside. Heat up your saucepan to about 7/10 (medium high) GET YOUR SPATTER GUARD READY. It can be a giant lid or one of those screens.
Add olive oil to pan. It will begin to smoke. IMMEDIATELY add HALF of the required tomato sauce. Use your spatter guard and stand back. It is going to bubble. This is how you’re going to get layers of flavor.
Do not stir. Let it bubble. DO NOT STIR. RESIST! You’re making a very rich tomato flavor this way.
After the tomato sauce starts looking dry (kind of like when you’re making pancakes and you see the bubbles….ADD your diced onion! The moisture from the onion will deglaze the pan. DO NOT STIR. Add your black pepper, sugar, tomatoes, booze, garlic mixture, and stock. NOW you can stir with your wooden spoon. The temp should drastically lower. Bring to a simmer and then lower the temp to low so it is just barely simmering. Keep it this way for about 2-3 hours, stir occasionally.
Taste for salt. Add just the thyme and red wine vinegar. If it's too chunky for you now is the time you use your stick blender or whatever.

You can keep this simmering as long as you like ...just be gentle and don’t burn it.

Add the rest of your herbs and the meatballs straight from the fridge and bring it to medium.

Heat until it barely starts simmering and keep that going for another hour or so. Transfer to fridge until and save for a day or two so the flavor penetrates into your meatballs.

When reheating, use a pyrex dish, a little more booze with stock (so it doesn't dry out) and the oven on 300F. Cover it with a lid or parchment paper with foil on top of the parchment. Do not directly use foil because the aluminum reacts with the tomato sauce and your balls will taste funky.

Serve with pasta. Remove the balls for a moment, add your pasta to finish in the sauce, add balls when you serve. More cheese!