Gingery Pork Meatballs with Swiss Chard

 

Gingery Pork Meatballs with Swiss Chard

The question is…  Do I write this up as I made it or do I write it up as the recipe was written?  Since we LOVED this dish I’m going with how I made it.  This recipe came from Comfort in an Instant by Melissa Clark.  We’ve pretty much been cooking our way through the cookbook.  The one no-go was the Lebanese Chicken Soup.  I found it sounded a lot better than it was.  And, Connie’s not a fan of soup so he certainly didn’t help the process.  Now, back to the pork meatballs!

I put the Swiss Chard stems in ice water to revitalize the droopy leaves.  Then, I pulled out the instant pot.  And the new steamer basket I’d never used.  UGH!  The steamer basket was too big.  So much for following the recipe!  I’d done a taste test in a small skillet so I rolled four meatballs and popped them in the skillet while I thought about how to do the Swiss Chard.  We’ve really enjoyed it sauteed so that ought to work…  After 8 of the meatballs were done I put the chopped stems into the skillet with the last four meatballs.  Then, once those were done I took them out and added in the chopped chard leaves.  On the other side of the stove was a saucepan of fine egg noodles. 

What did we think?  We both LOVED the meatballs and the chard.  For a vegetable that neither of us had tried until a handful of years ago it certainly has moved right up the hit list!  During the summer when we’ve got a garden it’s a weekly favorite.  I added a bit of seasoning to the meatballs.  More garlic, more soy sauce, more fish sauce, more chili garlic sauce.  Oh, wait the chili garlic sauce was a total addition!  LOL. 

Good news there are six meatballs left.  And, there’s also a serving of chicken green bean casserole.  Means that whoever snags whatever has some good eating on the way!

Ingredients:

2 T toasted sesame oil

2 shallots or 1 sm red onion, finely diced

3 oz shitake or cremini mushroom caps, finely diced

1 serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and finely diced

1 T finely grated fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced

Finely grated zest of one lime

2 t soy sauce

2 t Asian fish sauce

Salt

1 lb ground pork or turkey

1/3 c panko bread crumbs

1 egg

1 bunch Swiss Chard, stems and leaves chopped but separate

 

Directions:

Saute the onion and mushrooms and jalapenos in the oil.  NB:  I used olive oil here since the sesame oil’s flavor is a bit fragile.  Add in the garlic, ginger, lime, soy sauce and fish sauce.  Once the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are softened, remove the skillet from the heat.  In a medium bowl combine the pork, egg, panko and mushroom/onion mixture.  Put about a teaspoon of the mixture into a skillet and cook it through to test it for seasoning.  Add more as desired.  I added more of several of the ingredients.  Once you’ve adjusted the seasoning to your liking, roll the meatballs. 

 

Saute the meatballs in a skillet.  For 2” diameter meatballs they’ll take about 3 minutes per side – assuming there are three sides.  Remove the meatballs to a plate.  Once you’re ready for the last batch, toss the chard stems into the middle of the skillet.  Then, when you remove those meatballs, add in the chard leaves.  Again, add seasoning as you desire.  I used a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce.  Let the leaves wilt but don’t let them become soggy. 

 

Serve with rice or noodles. 

adapted from Comfort in an Instant

Emeril's Big Boy Meatballs and Mascarpone, Honey, Pistachio and Orange Tart

Let's start with the two new recipes from the party.  Emeril's Big Boy Meatballs and Spaghetti is up first.  My new favorite meatballs.  I doubled the recipe hoping that there would be leftovers.  There were.  They are in the freezer for some evening that I can't escape the office at a reasonable hour.  I just love it when I find THE recipe for something.  Not only were the meatballs fabulous, so was the red sauce.  As with almost any red sauce, this was better after allowing it to sit in the fridge overnight. 

Next up is an amazing tart.  I'm already looking for another excuse to make this awesome recipe.  There's a get-together or two brewing for the crew from Chef Joseph's so it'll make an appearance at one of them.  My original intent was to make an olive oil shortcake with an orange mascarpone filling.  Then, I made the kiwi, mango, coconut tart for Weekend in a French Kitchen.  The crust recipe had one egg in it and made two crusts.  I needed to use up that second crust on company so that we didn't eat the whole whatever.  On to Epicurious I went.  There I found a Bon Appetit recipe that was exactly what I was looking for - using mascarpone and oranges.  The crust kind of looked like one of those ransom notes created by cutting out letters and pasting the mishmash together.  But, since nobody was going to see it, not a problem.  Once the tart was done, it looked amazing.  Then, we ate it.  Oh, la, la.  And, that's from someone who doesn't have a big sweet tooth. 

Emeril's Big Boy Meatballs and Spaghetti

Ingredients:

4 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces (I used Pepperidge Farms)
3/4 c buttermilk
1 1/2 lbs 85% lean ground beef
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage removed from its casings
2 oz  Parmagiano Reggiano cheese finely grated (about 1/2 c)
2 T minced fresh parsley
1/4 c minced garlic (about 12 cloves) (this is supposed to be split between the sauce and meatballs, I missed that and think maybe that's why these meatballs were so incredible!)
3/4 t salt
3/4 t freshly ground black pepper
3 T olive oil
2 c chopped yellow onion
1 t crushed red pepper
3/4 c dry red wine
28 oz can tomato puree
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 bay laves
1 1/2 c water
1/3 c chopped fresh basil leaves
1 t chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 T evaporated milk
1 pound dried spaghetti, cooked til al dente

Directions:

Put the white bread and buttermilk in a bowl and allow it to soak for 10 minutes.  Mash them together to form a paste (panade.)  Mix the panade, beef, sausage, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. 

Mix them well but don't over mix. Form into 1/2 c meatballs.  Put them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to allow the meatballs to firm up. 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Brown the meatballs in two batches so they're not crowded.  Remove them to a paper towel lined plate.  Add the onions and crushed red pepper to the oil and sauté until the onions are softened.  If you're splitting the garlic or adding more, add it for a few minutes here to allow the flavors to bloom.  Add the wine and allow it to reduce by half before you add anything else.  Add the tomato puree, crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, water, basil and oregano. Add the meatballs back in and simmer for 45-60 minutes or until the meatballs are floating in the sauce.  If you feel the sauce is too acidic, you can add the evaporated milk. 

Mascarpone Tart with Honey, Oranges and Pistachios

Ingredients:

1 pie crust or pate sable
2 large navel oranges (or 4 mandarin oranges, like I used)
1 8 to 8.8 oz container chilled mascarpone cheese
1/2 c chilled heavy whipping cream
1/4 c sugar
2 T honey, divided
1/4 t (generous) ground cardamom
2 T chopped pistachios

Directions:

The actual recipe calls for using a tart pan with a removable bottom.  I did not do so and had no problems removing the pieces.  Preheat your oven to 400F.  Press the dough into the tart pan.  Prick it all over with a fork.  Bake it for about 20 minutes or until it's golden brown. 

While the crust is baking, you can prep the oranges.  Start by zesting them to get at least 1 1/4 t of zest.  The navel oranges can be peeled and cut into circles.

Remove the tart crust from the oven and set it aside to cool.  Once it's cool, you can start prepping the filling.  If you mix the filling for too long, it will curdle.  You're aiming for smooth here.  Using an electric mixer, mix the mascarpone, whipping cream, 1 T of the honey, the orange zest and the cardamom.  Evenly spread the filling into the cooled crust.  Top the filling with either concentric circles of orange or as I did, with orange pieces...  Then, drizzle with the other 1 T of honey.  Sprinkle the pistachios over the top.  Serve that day. 

Grandkid Weekend!!

 

 

I love cooking for our eldest son, David, his wife, Kara and our grandkids, Bradley and Rosie.  It is, however, a bit like camping because Kara really doesn’t like to cook and consequently is missing some critical tools.  Like a food processor.  And, more than a couple of bowls.  And, a good selection of pots and pans.  I have to plan carefully so that I don’t run out of bowls etc.  Like Saturday’s breakfast.  I had the big bowl and the little bowl to use.  The medium bowl was full of fresh fruit.  The menu was asparagus frittata, homemade sausage and pumpkin scones.  The eggs needed to be mixed with the sour cream, cheese and seasonings.  The scones required one bowl for the dry ingredients and one for the wet, then another for the glaze.  Mix the scones, put them in the oven.  Wash the bowls.  Mix the eggs, put them in the skillet with the chopped asparagus.  Wash the bowl.  Mix the glaze.  Wash the bowl.  Make the three bean salad for lunch.  Put the bowl in the fridge to chill until lunch.  The small bowl’s the only one available.  So, making cookies for that evening’s dinner would have to wait until after lunch…  I’m sure they think I’m a pain in the tookus because not only do I require that the cooking utensils be hand washed so I can reuse them (yes, they put EVERYTHING in the dishwaher) I also require that glasses not go in the sink while I’m cooking so I can toss things that direction and not worry about breakage.  LOL, at least they get to eat well while we’re here!

We got here on Friday evening after playing tourist in Indy.  Of course we had to start with breakfast.  At a new restaurant called The Grub House.  We both ordered breakfast sandwiches.  Look what was delivered to our table first...  

Yup, biscuits.  Perfect biscuits.  With just a bit of sugar.  And, apple butter.  My mouth is watering as I'm typing.  The sandwiches were equally good. 

At the Indiana State Museum there’s an exhibition on Prohibition.  It’s very well done.  I’d known a lot about how Prohibition really spawned a lot of the organized crime we have.  And, I’d known about the exceptions to the law.  But, I didn’t realize how truly ignored the law was until this show.  Across the hall was a gallery of Forsyth paintings.  My maternal grandmother studied under him.  That was fun to see.  Then, we went to the Indiana History Center.  They have a series of exhibits called You Were There.  They take a photo and make it come to life.  One was a relief station during the flood of 1913.  Five thousand families out of a population of about 233,000 were displaced.  We were able to trace the flooding on a map and see that our neighborhood wasn’t impacted but neighborhoods right down the street were.  Of course, back then what is now neighborhoods was farm fields and woods.   The second photo was a photography studio circa 1904.   From there we were going to go see the Georgia O’Keeffe show at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  But, we had a choice of getting to Columbus early enough for dinner with our grandkids or seeing an exhibition that just opened and is going to be there for several months… 

Dinner was apricot bourbon meatballs, buttered noodles and asparagus bundles.  I found the apricot bourbon meatball recipe on Authentic Suburban Gourmet when I was hunting for the recipe I’d chosen for the first Blogger C.L.U.E. Society reveal.  I had to make them.  They sounded divine.  They were.  Totally.  Great for party food.  Great for dinner.  Just fabulous.  The noodles were Mom’s recipe.  Thin noodles tossed with butter, parsley, garlic and finely shredded parmesan.  And, the asparagus bundles were a recipe from Ina Garten’s new cookbook.   Make it Ahead.  It looks to me like I’ll be making most of the recipes from that cookbook!  They’re typical Ina style.  Great flavor but easy.  And, now she’s thrown in the twist of a whole cookbook of recipes that can be made ahead. 

Saturday’s lunch was another new recipe.  Drip Beef Sandwiches from The Pioneer Woman.  The recipe called for a jar of pepperoncini.  Since I was cooking for kids too I decided to use a jar of pepper rings.  They're a bit milder.  About halfway through the process, Connie and I looked at this and asked why I'd  not used the pressure cooker.  Duh!  So, I cooled the beef and finished it in the pressure cooker at David and Kara's.  To serve the beef, I toasted Kaiser rolls and smeared them with a cheese mixture of shredded gruyere and cheddar, minced shallot and pepper rings and mayo.  That was broiled til it melted and the beef was piled on top.  Then, I used Kansas City style BBQ sauce on mine.  This was good but not worthy of posting the recipe.

 

Saturday’s dinner was a reprise of shrimp cakes with corn and avocado salsa along with roasted sweet potatoes.  I got the idea for the sweet potatoes from one of my fellow Blogger CLUE Society bloggers.  Then, I changed it up a bit to be more kid friendly…  Last but not least, we had pears to use up.  And, a jar of goat’s milk caramel that we got at a fabulous shop at Pike Place Market.  So, how about if I made a shortbread crust, topped it with pear liqueur sautéed pears and drizzled it with caramel?  Well, then in Make it Ahead I found a crystallized ginger shortbread cookie recipe.  Kids love to cut out cookies so we’d just make cookies and have them topped with the pears and caramel. 

The food was wonderful but I've got to say that the highlight of the weekend was watching Bradley score a goal during his hockey game!  I was amazed at how many layers it took to get Bradley ready to play! 

 

Grampy, Daddy and Mama were watching intently.  Rosie, not so much :-)

 

Happy boy for a job well done!

 

Apricot Bourbon Meatballs

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

½ lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

4 small cloves garlic

1 small onion, finely minced

2 T olive oil

2/3 c Panko bread crumbs

2 T Milk

¼ c Parsley, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

1/3 c finely grated parmesan cheese 

For the sauce:

2 T butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 small cloves garlic, minced

1 c apricot preserves

1 c chili sauce

1/2 c + 1 T bourbon

1/3 c cider vinegar

¼ c packed dark brown sugar

2 T spicy brown mustard

2 T Worcestershire sauce

1 small jalapeno, halved, seeds and ribs removed, finely minced 

Directions: 

For the meatballs: 

Lisa’s recipe called for using two slices of white bread for the panade.  That’s the bread/milk mixture that you use to bind the meatball mixture together.  We don’t keep white bread in the house and I didn’t want to buy a whole loaf.  In fact, if I’m going to use white bread, I’ll usually make my step-uncle Bernard Clayton’s white bread recipe.  And, I didn’t want to do that…  So, I chose to use panko.   At any rate, if you’ve got white bread, you can use two slices with the crusts removed and tear them up.  Or, you can use the panko.  Soak it with the milk while you prep the rest of the meatball recipe.  Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they’re translucent.  In a medium bowl, mix the ground beef and pork, parsley, salt and pepper, cheese, sautéed vegetables and panade.  Make meatballs with about one tablespoon of meat mixture each.  Once you’ve got the meatballs made, it’s time to cook them.  Lisa’s recipe called for browning them on the stove then finishing them in the oven.  Since I knew I was going to be reheating them, I chose to almost totally cook them on the stove then finish them in the sauce at David and Kara’s.  I think I’d recommend that method going forward.  I just sautéed them in a bit of olive oil, turning them a couple of times until they were nicely browned.  

For the sauce: 

While the meatballs are browning, you can make the sauce.  Start by sauteeing the onion, jalapeno and garlic in the butter.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer.  You’re going to want the sauce to reduce to about three cups, so be sure to allow it to simmer for 20-30 minutes.   Stir in the last tablespoon of bourbon after reducing the sauce

Serve the meatballs in the sauce.   You can sprinkle them with fresh parsley if you’d like. 

Adapted from Authentic Suburban Gourmet

 

 

Truffled Asparagus Bundles 

 

Ingredients: 

2 lbs asparagus, ends trimmed

Prosciutto slices, cut in half

2 T truffle butter

1 ½ T olive oil

Grated gruyere cheese 

Directions:
 

Blanch the asparagus spears.   You don’t want to fully cook them, just get them started.  I use a couple of tablespoons of water in a big skillet.  Get the water boiling, toss in the asparagus, allow it to cook for about a minute, remove it from the heat and put it in an ice bath.  Then, take 3-6 spears of asparagus per bundle.  Three if the spears are big, six if they’re small.  Wrap them tightly in a prosciutto slice and lay them in a baking dish seam-side down.  In a small skillet melt the truffle butter.  Mix in the olive oil.  Drizzle the butter/oil mixture over the asparagus bundles.   Top with the grated gruyere.  Bake at    for 12-15 minutes. 

Adapted from Make it Ahead by Ina Garten



Spicy Shrimp Cakes with Corn Avocado Salsa and Remoulade Sauce

Ingredients:

For the shrimp cakes:
1 lb medium raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 t olive oil
1 small red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 c thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts)
3 T mayonnaise
1 T fresh lime juice
1 1/2 t hot pepper sauce (I used Chipotle Tabasco)
1/2 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1 large egg
1/4 c finely chopped cilantro
1/4 c panko
1/2 - 1 c panko, mixed with Creole seasoning if you'd like

for the salsa:
1 c frozen white corn kernels, thawed
3/4 c diced, peeled avocado
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped
3 T finely chopped red onion
1 T fresh lime juice
1/4 t salt

for the remoulade sauce:
mayonnaise
ketchup or chili sauce
Dijon or yellow mustard
dill pickle relish
Chipotle Tabasco
garlic powder

Directions:

Mix the salsa ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside to allow the flavors to blend while you make the shrimp cakes.  Do the same with the remoulade sauce but pop that bowl into the fridge.  This is one of those recipes that I make by tossing things together so I'm not sure of the measurements.  I'd guess that I start with about a cup of mayo then add a couple of tablespoons of ketchup, a tablespoon of mustard, a couple of tablespoons of relish and a good dash of the Tabasco and the garlic powder.  Once the salsa and sauce are done, it's time to start the shrimp cakes.  Process the shrimp in a food processor.  You don't want it a complete paste but neither do you want it lumpy.  I quit processing when there are still a few quarter inch pieces left.  Mix the shrimp with all of the ingredients through the 1/4 c of panko.  Heat olive oil to shimmering in a large skillet.  Pick up a handful of the shrimp mixture (I'd call it goo, but that's probably not a great cooking term!) and pat both sides with panko.  Carefully put it in the skillet, making sure to not splatter the oil.  When the first side is brown and crispy. flip the shrimp cakes.  I usually use two spatulas to keep from breaking them up.  Serve hot with both the salsa and the sauce on the side.

adapted from Great Food Great Beer



Crystallized Ginger Shortbread Cookies with Sautéed Pears, Whipped Cream and Caramel

Ingredients:

3/4 lb (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 c sugar plus extra for sprinkling (I skipped the sprinkling)
1 t pure vanilla extract
3 1/2  c all-purpose flour
1 t kosher salt
3/4 c minced crystalized ginger (not in syrup - I get mine at Penzeys)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the butter and sugar just until combined.  Add the vanilla and two teaspoons of water and mix that in.  Slowly add the flour and salt.  Once those ingredients are combined, stir in the ginger.  Now, you have a choice.  Either wrap the dough and put in the fridge for 30 minutes or roll it into a log then refrigerate it.  I chose the easy way - rolling it into a log.  If you've done that, you'll not have pretty round cookies because you'll be able to cut the log.  If you've done the lump, then you'll need to roll the cookie dough out to 3/8" thickness and cut out circles of 2 3/4" .  Whatever you choose, you can next either sprinkle the cookies with sugar or not then bake them until the edges start to brown.  That takes about 20-25 minutes. 

We served ours topped with pears, whipped cream and caramel.  To make the pears, I peeled, seeded and diced them then sautéed them in butter, ginger and nutmeg.  When they were about done, I added in some Domain de Cantone ginger liqueur.  Once that evaporated, we were good to go. 

The whipped cream had a bit of sugar and vanilla added.  And, the caramel was goats milk from a wonderful little shop in Pike Place Market.