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.

Buttermilk Baked Chicken

Adapted from http://www.carnationmilk.ca/recipe-details.aspx?rid=1457

This recipe is super yummy. I tried this yesterday and it is a winner. I found this recipe as i had a can of evaporated milk left in the pantry and what a brilliant way to make buttermilk out of it. 

My variation is i used the chicken thighs with skin on and it has that nice golden brown crunch after baking in the oven.

I followed the rest of the steps to the dot.

Ingredients:

1 can (370ml) of evaporated milk 

1/4 cup (50ml) of white vinegar or lemon juice

1 kg of chicken breast, thigh

2 cups of all purpose flour - I did not follow any measurement, just add as the batter thins out.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Combine evaporated milk and vinegar in a large bowl. It will thicken up. Add chicken pieces and make sure the pieces are covered in the milk mixture. Cover well and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place flour in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from milk mixture. Dip chicken pieces into flour, shaking off any excess. Place on prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Turn chicken over after 30 minutes and continue baking

Left this to sit overnight.

Coating it with flour

After baking in the oven for an hour. It is so yummy. Please try it :)

Beef Stew (by Paula Deen)

Beef Stew (by Paula Deen)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine
1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.
Per serving: Calories: 349; Total Fat: 20 grams; Saturated Fat: 6 grams; Protein: 31 grams; Total carbohydrates: 10 grams; Sugar: 4 grams; Fiber: 2 grams; Cholesterol: 96 milligrams; Sodium: 574 milligrams

Spinach Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Spinach and Carrot Pork balls with tomato sauce

This is just a simply whack it in dinner. No recipe to follow. I just tried to mince as much vegies into the smallest possible size in the Thermomix. Mixed it with the minced pork. Added seasoning and my vegie stock. Yes my kids are deprived of vegetables. It is just so hard to get any form of vegetables in their diet. if they see it, they won't consume it.



i patiently rolled all the balls and place them on a baking tray before getting it ready to fry in batches. Another wonder invention is the Phillips Air Fryer. With only a drop of oil, i manage to fry this whole tray of meat balls

The first batch was obviously in for too long. i cut it down to 15 mins after that instead of 20 and they were all fine after that.






 While the meatballs were frying, i worked on the sauce. This is just tomato can soup and adding bits of tomato paste, bits of sweet mustard pickles (oh my!! this thing is soooo good), bits of sugar, vinegar. Just simmer and keep tasting to get the desired taste. My sauce was abit too tart due to the amount of tomato paste used but still OK once the meatballs goes in.

Also juggling cooking the macaronis in between frying the meatballs. It would have been nicer if spaghetti were used instead of the elbows.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Garlic

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/chicken-with-tomatoes-and-garlic/

 Take 2
Ingredients (adapted for my own taste)

    8 pieces Chicken Legs Or Thighs
    Salt And Pepper, to taste
    3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
    1 Tablespoon Butter
    1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
    4 large fresh tomatoes
    2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
    Fresh Herbs: Basil,  Rosemary - one big bunch of them
    10 cloves Garlic
    16 ounces, weight Macaroni or Steamed white rice
    3/4 cup White Wine (or Red Wine)
    1/4 cup of water just to get more sauce out of it. I find the previous recipe lack of sauce when mixed with the macaroni


Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper chicken legs.

Heat ovenproof skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and butter. When oil/butter is hot, add chicken legs to the pan. Using tongs, brown on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour in wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes with their juice and add tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, then turn off heat. Add plenty of fresh herbs, 8 cloves of peeled (but whole) garlic, and the chicken legs. Put lid on pot and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Remove pot from oven and allow it to sit on the counter with the lid on while you boil the pasta.

Cook the pasta to al dente, Drain and add to a large serving bowl.

Remove lid and check sauce. If it's overly thin, remove the chicken from the pot and boil the sauce on the stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes. Check seasonings and adjust as needed.

To serve, pour sauce over cooked pasta, then arrange chicken pieces over the top. Sprinkle generously with fresh Parmesan and serve with crusty French bread.

Chicken Nuggets

 Adapted from:
http://www.cookcleancraft.com/2012/02/oven-baked-chicken-nuggets.html

Ingredients	Equipment
400-500g Chicken Breast 1 small onion 1/2 cup + 1/3  cup breadcrumbs 2 eggs 1/2 cup plain (all purpose) flour 2/3 cup cornflakes Cooking oil spray (e.g. olive oil, vegetable etc) salt and pepper to taste	Oven Oven tray 3 small bowls 1 plate/platter Food processor Knife Snap-Lock Bag Rolling Pin

Servings: Approximately 24 nuggets

Time to go	Procedure
55 mins _ _:_ _	Preparation 1.  Roughly chop onion 2.  Dice chicken into approximately 1” cubes 3.  Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)
50 mins _ _:_ _	4.  Place chicken, onion, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, salt and pepper into a food processor. Process until onion and chicken forms a fine mince and starts to clump into a ball.
45 mins _ _:_ _	5. Form into approximately 24 nugget sized pieces by hand.
37 mins _ _:_ _	6.  Place flour in one bowl and egg in a second bowl (lightly whisked with a fork). 7. Place cornflakes in a Snap-Lock Bag, squeeze the air out and seal the bag. Crush by rolling a rolling pin over the bag. 8. Mix the crushed cornflakes with 1/3 breadcrumbs in a third bowl.
32 mins _ _:_ _	9.  Roll each nugget in flour until it is lightly coated , shaking off any excess. Then dip in the egg, ensuring it is completely coated. Finally, roll in the breadcrumb/cornflake mixture, pressing the mixture on to coat the nuggets and place on an oven tray.
19 mins _ _:_ _	10.  Spray nuggets with cooking oil. Turn nuggets over and spray again.
15 mins _ _:_ _	11. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden and cooked through