Spaghetti and meatballs

So I haven't progressed to making my own pasta (yet) so this should be titled "Meatballs (to have with your spaghetti) with optional sauce (you can just use stuff from a jar if you choose)" but that's a REALLY long title.

We were so eager to eat I forgot to take a picture. This was Brian's lunch the next day.

A few years back I set out on a mission to make The Best Meatballs EVER. I had some ideas at the beginning: I wanted to make them small not giant and something more then just meat in ball form. But that was it. So I pulled up a bunch of meatball recipes and started testing. A bit from this one. A bit from that one. And after a while I got the hang of it. And I've settled on a recipe that gets raves from my friends. It feels good to hear: "I love your meatballs!" or "You're making meatballs? can I come over for dinner??" So I think I've done it. And here it is in all it's glory: Amy's Meatballs (with optional sauce instructions).

Meatballs:

Combine the following in a large bowl. Get your hands in there (wash them first) and work that egg and dry stuff into that beef.

1-2 lbs of extra lean ground beef
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
~2/3 cup bread crumbs per pound of beef
1 cup of fresh grated parmasen or romano cheese (must be fresh... none of that dry stuff from a shaker)
1 egg per pound of beef
1-2 cloves of garlic
generous teaspoon of each oregano and basil
a few twists of the pepper and salt mills

If the mixture seems too dry (sometimes the bread crumbs can dry it out) add a splash of milk.

Form the beef mixture into balls, rolling them between your hands to make them firm. I make them just less than an inch in diameter. Bite size. This makes lots! Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (so they don't stick after). They don't spread like cookies but keep them seperated. This stages is referred to as the Meat Cookie stage. Bake for 10 - 15 min at 350F.

Add the balls to finished sauce and let simmer for 20 minutes (at least).

Optional Sauce Hints

So you can take the easy road and get your favorite basic tomato and basil tomato sauce. But I find jarred sauces just not right so I usually start with a good quality basic tomato sauce from an Italian delicatessen or bakery (the kind that comes in a skinny jar) and fine tune it.

Start by sauting 1-2 cloves of garlic in olive oil add a few tablespoons of finely chopped onion (you can set some aside when you make the meatballs for this).

Add a large can of crushed tomatos or a jar or two of that basic tomato sauce.

Season with basil (and oregano if you so choose).

Allow to simmer stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

If it's too runny you can add some tomato paste.

Give it a few twists of the pepper and salt mills.

Taste it. Aciddy? yeah... add a pinch of brown sugar. Stir well. Taste again. Repeat adding a small amount of sugar. Shouldn't need more then two pinches depending of the volume of sauce and the type of tomatoes and your own taste buds.

And here's my last hint: Make the sauce the day before and allow to cool and sit in the fridge over night and then reheat when you make the meatballs.

This ain't no boxed Kraft Dinner

One of my husband's current apres run favourite things to get is the macaroni and cheese from Burgoo. He gets it with a side of garlic potatoes while I usually opt for the Pain Francias (which is to die for and will be addressed in a future post). This started a craving of my own to make macaroni and cheese at home and so I am on a mission to find the best blend of cheeses to make this dish really sing. The measures for the sauce are a bit hazy as I just eyeball it everytime and never really get it the same.


Here is the basic recipe I use. This whole thing takes about 20-30 minutes to make and is super easy. I use a 8X13" baking pan when I broil it at the end to get lots of crispy topping. 'Cause who doesn't like the crispy, melty, cheesy topping???

Not from a box Mac and Cheese

1 package of macaroni (454g) - really you can use any shape like rotini or bunnies or wheels
2-3 cups of shredded cheese - you pick. Mix it up. Use old chedder for traditional M&C or asharper cheese for a sassier dish - the amount depends how cheesy you want it.
1/3-1/2 c of butter
1/4 - 1/3 c of flour
~2 cups of milk
Pinch nutmeg
Fresh ground pepper

Cook the pasta. While you're waiting for the water to boil shred that cheese.

Once the pasta is in start on the cheese sauce:

- Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
- Sift in the flour a tablespoon or so at a time whisking after each addition
- Add the milk slowly while whisking to make sure it's not lumpy - less for a thicker sauce, more if you like your mac and cheese a little more saucy
- Add the nutmeg and some ground pepper (4 cranks of the mill should do it)
- Allow to come to a simmer on medium
- Add the cheese gradually to the warmed mixture, continuing to whisk
- Stop adding cheese when it's starting to thicken - not as thick as stadium nacho cheese; a little more runny will be perfect.

When the pasta is done to your liking drain it and transfer it to a baking pan or a cassorole.

Toss it with about 1/2 cup of cheese if you want.

Pour cheese sauce over top.

Sprinkle cheese on top as desired.

Broil at a distance (i.e. not on the highest rack position) until the cheese on top is bubbly and starting to go a bit golden and crispy in places.

The Surprise Inside Chocolate Cupcakes

It was a special occasion on April 1st - it was a certain someone's birthday (not just April Fool's day). And a special occasion calls for special treats. So I put my thinking cap on and dreamed up something that would suit Miss Alison on her birthday. I would be providing for a crowd of about 30 so I thought mini cupcakes were called for. But how to make them special enough for such an awesome person such as Alison??? Inject them with extra flavour!!! Because that is Alison to a T: looks like a regular person on the outside but is full of extra flavour (in a good way! in a good way!).



For these "Surprise Inside Chocolate Cupcakes" you can really use any filling that you think would be tasty. I made two types: caramel and raspberry jam.

Chocolate Cupcakes

3 oz of dark dark chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup of warm water

This will make about 12 large but not over sized cupcakes. I increased this by 50% and made 36 "large" mini cupcakes

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and set aside to cool a it (but not resolidify - just enough so that it doesn't "cook" the eggs when you add it later)

In a seperate bowl beat the butter until airy then add the sugar and keep beating.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix til combined.

Add the chocolate and mix a little more.

In another bowl mix toget the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients in two batches adding the water in between.

Mix until combined and smooth.

Pour into cupcake tins (with liners) and bake 15 - 25 minutes depending on the size (15 for mini cup cakes, 25 for the big ones in a poor oven). A toothpick will come out clean but moist when cooked.

Set aside to cool.

Filling

This is where you can have some fun. I used a high quality caramel sauce and some organic raspberry jam. In the case of the caramel sauce I heated it in a warm water bath to make it a bit runnier so it was easy to inject. And I added a few teaspoons of warm water to the jam to make it runnier too.

To inject your filling of choice you have a few choices. I used a baster. Mostly because I couldn't find a pastry bag with an appropriate tip. The baster worked like a charm. I sucked up some of the filling, inserted the tip to about 1/3 the depth of the cooled cup cake, squeezed some in while withdrawing the tip. The caramel or jam kind of oozed out the top but it tends to settle so when you've gone through once you can go back and top up as you see fit.

I made mini cup cakes in this case so the tip was thin enough for long enough. If you are making a bigger cupcake you might want to find a pastry bag tip that is longer and use a bag.

Icing

Now that you have a cupcake with a bit of an oozing "sore" on top (especially if you used jam!) you'll want to patch it up. OK unless it's Halloween and you want something icky looking then I suggest vanilla cupcakes with jam! So I made a sour cream based icing. Feel free to substitute in your favourite icing. This one is pretty chocolaty.

3 oz of dark chocolate
1/2 c of sour cream
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 c of icing sugar
Some cocoa powder - optional

Melt the chocolate, allow to cool a bit

Wisk in sour cream and vanilla

Add the icing sugar in 1/4 c batches sifting the sugar in each time. After about 1 1/2 c start taste testing to get the sweetness and the thickness just right.

If it's not chocolaty enough for you (it wasn't for me) add some cocoa powder too. You might need to add more sugar too. Taste it with each addition until it's just right. If it gets too thick add a touch of milk. If it's still not thick enough more sugar in your answer! Have fun with it.

Ice your cupcakes with a spoon and serve them up!