I never knew they brewed beer in France...

and they shouldn't!  It tastes terrible.  I have been craving meatballs all day.  I don't know why.  its hot here and not exactly meatball weather, but I gave into my urges and stopped by the grocery store to pick up some necessary ingredients.  Whole Foods has fabulous quality ingredients, but the best part of the grocery store are the free samples.  If you time it right, you can actually eat your way through the store.  I made my way from the produce section, to meat, to dry goods, to dairy, to the wine and beer section.  To my delight, they had beer samples.  "Mademoiselle, can I offer you a sample?" Yes, please! 

I'm not one to turn down free beer, but if you ever get offered French beer do yourself a favor and just say no.  The first brew, was ok--brewed in the Alps near the Swiss border, it was a fairly standard unfiltered beer.  It didn't taste bad, but it was unremarkable.  The second, brewed in the Loire Valley, was not good.  I should have stopped there, but I'm an optimist and it's been a long day, so I held out my plastic 1 oz beer tumbler for one final shot.  UGH.  It was brewed with wine (which should have been a clue) and tasted like a white zinfandel.  It was so bad that I had to walk back over to the cheese counter and beg for a piece of cheese to get the offensive taste out of my mouth.  They must have tasted the beer too and took pity on me and my palate.

Braised Meatballs with PenneAnyway, back to the meatballs.  I like my meatballs full of flavor, so I add lots of spice (parsley, oregano, garlic, and onion); an egg and a milk-soaked piece of bread to bind the meatballs together and make them juicy; parmesan cheese, mustard, and tomato paste for flavor; wine just because; and a combination of pork, veal, and buffalo.  I braise them in tomato sauce and finish them off with a bit of cheese and fresh shredded basil.