Meat Balls and Pasta

Another one of my experiments with minced and pasta.

The last time i made spinach meat balls, it tasted quite dry. This time i tried with different ingredients and cooking method. The outcome is moist meatballs but need to cut down on the amount of bread crumbs next time.

Ingredients (meatballs):
- 500gms on minced. I used pork this time
- Half a zuchinni
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
- 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs soaked in milk
- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Ingredients (pasta sauce)
- 4 large ripen fresh tomatoes
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 bottle of Domios Pasta sauce (optional, i only added this cause i cooked in large batches and needed more sauce)
- 1 carrot
- half zucchini ( leftover from meatballs ingredient)
- 1 Onion
- 4-5 cloves of garlic
- handful of fresh herbs ( i used basil)
- handful of dried herbs( i used oregano)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- Olive oil to cook

Pasta
- 700gms of elbows
- pot of water (add olive oil and salt)

Method:
1. Prepare the meatballs first
2. I used the Thermomix to blend the vegetables and mix all the ingredients. Speed 5 and check for desired consistency. A food processor will work just fine for this.
3. Minced the zucchinni, onion and garlic. Add the minced meat, egg, soaked breadcrumbs and seasoning
4. Roll the balls and placed them on a lined baking tray
5. Baked them on 175C for 20 minutes. You don't need them cooked as they will cook again in the pasta sauce

6. While the meatballs are baking, continue with the pasta sauce.
7. Heat a large saucepan with olive oil
8. Placed all minced ingredients and cook till they are tender
9. Pour in diced tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, herbs seasoning, sugar and just cook till sauce thickens
10. I cooked this for a good 20-30 minutes and kept on adding seasoning till the right taste is achieved.

11. While the sauce is cooking, start with cooking the pasta. I used elbows. Follow packet instructions to cook.

The final dish. Meatballs had way too much breadcrumbs cause i accidentally pour more than a cupful of them. A reminder to not repeat that.

There a more steps in preparing this dish but it provides a good balance for the family and it is also an enjoyable meal. I have freeze some meatballs and plenty of leftovers for everyone the next day.

Stir Fry Chicken and Kale

Ingredients:
500gms of chicken strips
8 ounces kale (peeled only the leaves and leave the branch)
Handful of Shitake Mushrooms (soaked till soften)

Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame oil
pinch black pepper
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
 
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil for stir-frying

Method:
1. Combine the sauce ingredients

2. marinade the chicken pieces in the sauce for around 15-20 minutes
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok over high heat with a tablespoon of the canola or vegetable oil. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry until they are no longer pink, 2 - 3 minutes. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.

4.Add the kale, mushrooms and the remaining sauce. Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through and the kale and mushrooms are softened, 4 - 5 minutes. Serve hot on top of rice or with a separate bowl of rice. I added a few tablespoon of the water used to soak the mushroom as i wanted more sauce in my dish.

Apple Crumble

I love tart desserts and love anything with apples and nuts.

We had some friends over on Melbourne Cup Day and i wanted to make something refreshing. I put together this recipe from the internet and just modified it to suit my taste. It was abit too tart but i love it that way. Not such a hit with the kids but the adults like it. Healthy, refreshing and in my opinion yummy. Please do try it.

Ingredients (crumble):

- 75gms walnuts

-100gms almonds (with skin on)

- 100gms flour

- 85gms butter

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 40gms raw sugar (adjust to suit taste)

Ingredients (fillings):

- 3 large green apples (skin peeled and cored)

- 2 large pears (skin peeled and cored)

- 1 bunch of Rhubarb (pick the nice red parts and chopped to 2 cm sizes)

- grated ginger (just a small piece)

- good squeeze of lemon juice (half a lemon)

- 35gms honey

- 10 gms of brown sugar

Method:

- I cooked the filling first. Chopped and core all the fruits. I squeeze a whole lemon in which is why it is so tart. I think half a lemon will be good enough for this recipe.

- All the fruits total to 1kg in the Thermomix and place all ingredients in the bowl

- Cooked it for 8 mins/100degress/Speed 1

- Place the cooked filling in the baking dish. I let it set for a while and baked it only when it is ready to be serve.

- while the filling is cooling down, i proceed with the crumble. 

- I pre toasted (7 mins at 175C) the walnuts and almonds to give it an extra crunch. I also saved some chopped walnuts to sprinkle on top of the crumble before the baking process.

- Place all the crumble ingredients in the bowl. I used the turbo button to slowly get the consistency i like. I prefer by crumble with a slight texture, if you like it really fine, then you can get it to mix longer in the processor.

- As my filling was too tart i had to add more sugar for the crumble. Feel free to adjust as you go.

- I set the crumble aside and just spread it on top of the filling when ready to bake. Remember to sprinkle with more nuts.

- Bake for 20 minutes or golden brown on a 180C oven.

- You can substitute with any nuts.

 The filling getting ready to be cooked in the Thermomix

Pre toasted nuts.

The beautiful colour of Rhubarb. I have never used them in any cooking but they taste delightful. Nice tart taste which combines nicely with the apples and pears. I serve the apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and yet it was still tasting way too tart. :) cool it on the lemon next time ..

I did not have a chance to take a picture of the final product as everyone was digging into it way too fast. But definitely a keeper for hot summer dessert.

Vegemite/ Ham & Cheese Scrolls

 

 Ingredients (Vegemite):

250 g white baker's flour
250 g wholemeal baker's flour
50 g chia
2 tsp dried yeast
40 g extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch sea salt
300 g lukewarm/tepid water
20 g butter, melted
2 tbsp Vegemite
200 g mixed cheeses grated

Ingredients (Ham and Cheese):

250 g white baker's flour
250 g wholemeal baker's flour
50 g chia
2 tsp dried yeast
40 g extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch sea salt
300 g lukewarm/tepid water
Pizza base sauce (2 sachets)
150gm shredded ham
200 g mixed cheeses grated

Method (same for both, just switch ingredients at Step 5):

1. Make dough by placing flours, seeds, yeast, olive oil, salt and water into TM bowl and mix for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed position , knead dough for 2 minutes on interval speed .

2. Place dough in an oiled bowl and allow to prove in a warm place for 15-20 minutes. (You could cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel and place in oven set at 40 degrees C).
3. Meanwhile, place the cheeses into the TM bowl and grate for 8-10 seconds on speed 8.
4. When dough has risen, pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C. Use a little of the melted butter to grease a rectangular ovenproof dish.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangular shape. Brush with a little of the melted butter and all of the Vegemite. Next, sprinkle almost all of the cheese on the dough taking care to cover all the edges.
6. Carefully roll into a large sausage shape and use a serrated knife to cut into 10 x 5cm rounds. Turn filling side up and arrange in the baking dish next to each other so there are no gaps.
7. Brush the scrolls with a little butter, sprinkle with extra cheese and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. The Cheesy-mite scrolls are best eaten straight from the oven but can frozen and defrosted later for the school lunchbox

My dough ready to rise. It took me an hour to double its size. i made double the recipe as i want to make two different types of scrolls.

Flour the surface and get ready for rolling the dough. I cut it to a nicely shaped rectangle. It makes it easier to roll when the shape is consistent

Spreading the vegemite over the butter.

Roll them tight into a huge long sausage :)

 

 All done, getting ready to be bake in the oven. Just waiting for the ham n cheese counterpart.

 

 

Spread pizza sauce all over the dough for the ham and cheese

Sprinkle and go crazy with the ham and cheese. Ham then later cheese

Nicely rolled and waiting for the final touches.

I used up the remaining butter to spread on the scrolls and then sprinkle with a bit more cheese.

Ready to be baked. It took me 20 minutes to complete them
i rotate them between the shelves in the oven just to get an even bake.

 

Both look the same but the top is the vegemite and i the bottom is the hamd and cheese scrolls