Porcupines!

Autumn reminds me of a lot of things,
none the least of these are porcupines
simmering in the slow cooker.

I don't associate Porcupines with my mother, as she didn't make them, but Bobby Witenhafer's mother next door to us made them with gusto.  Bobby was the neighborhood nerd -- every neighborhood has to have one, you know, and by today's standards for the popularity of nerdism, Bobby would have been the most popular kid in school.  He was really a sweetheart, but back then "yahoo!" meant "Yahoo! we're going to Diary Queen for ice cream sundaes."  Intellectual guys like Bobby just weren't in fashion.  Here's Bobby's photo, next to Judy Wishneff who was in my close circle of friends:

Anyway, Bobby's mother, Mrs. Witenhafer (all the moms in my neighborhood oddly had the same first name: Mrs.) made the best Porcupines in the world, and maybe even in the Milky Way Galaxy, and they're so simple to make, I'm almost embarrassed to include them in Blairsvillager.com, but I 


made them for an office lunch I'm catering today in Dahlonega, and I thought you might like to know how I did it.  So step aside, Mrs. Witenhafer.  Coming through.

Makes enough for 5 or 6

The ingredients are simple: 

3 lbs. ground chuck
1/2 to 3/4 cup parboiled or quick rice, uncooked
1 medium onion, grated
2 eggs 
1 cup milk

Seasonings:
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 or more teaspoons dried thyme
1 or more teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon salt
black pepper to taste


Mix all together & gently roll into medium-large porcupines, about palm size, they will look like this:

Nestle in the crock pot (do NOT brown porcupine balls first -- that will toughen them) 
in a sauce made of:
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 10.75 ounce cans tomato soup + 2 cans water
2 6-ounce cans tomato paste
1 envelope dry beefy onion soup (available at Bi-Lo)
1 small grated onion
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
pinch white and/or brown sugar to taste (use sugar sparingly)
(for German flavor, add a pinch EACH of fennel seed, ginger, and allspice)

Cook on high about an hour or until you see simmer-bubbles (my own techno-terminology), then on low until fork tender and you can see the puffed rice kernels, about another 2 hours.  These times are approximate. Cook them until they're done, but not so dry they'll roll off the table.

Adjust any ingredients for quantity and taste. Because I'm famous for not measuring things in my kitchen, I have to guesstimate the amounts of everything when passing on a recipe. I cook to taste and you should, too.  This is one of those recipes you should tweak to your own liking.  Here's another photo of the finished product in case your scroll button isn't working.  Bon Apetit!