the constant hunger

Polpettine a.k.a Meatballs

After a stressful work week, I needed to eat something comforting. Not only did I need comfort food, but I also wanted something that I could make a large batch of and be able to re-heat during my even more stressful week ahead. The plan: meatballs. The chef: my husband.

It's almost an unspoken rule in our house that I never attempt to make Italian food, not that I don't think I could, but my husband makes it so much better. We each have our specialties in the kitchen and Italian is definitely his. The things he could do with a few simple ingredients is amazing. 

I was really in the mood to eat meatballs. The last time we made some at home was over a year ago. We also had some tasty ones at Osteria Morini for my husband's birthday in January. It was about time to take our our huge stock pot and make a big batch or meaty deliciousness. 

We did a little research and came across this recipe. It was a good start, but my husband definitely tweaked it. The result...light, fluffy meatballs. Awesome!

 

Polpettine

Ingredients:

1 small loaf of crusty white bread

1 cup milk

1 1/2 lbs. ground pork

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 hot Italian sausage, casings removed

1/2 mortadella, ground up in a food processor

2 eggs

3/4 pecorino

7-8 leaves of basil, finely chopped

small bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tbs. garlic powder

1 tsp. cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

For sauce:

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

4-5 cans of whole plum tomatoes

1 small onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, halved

7 basil leaves

salt and pepper to taste

 

Method

Heat olive oil in a very large stock pot. If you don't have a large stock pot, you can make this recipe in two pots. Add a couple halves of garlic and let saute till golden. Remove from oil and discard.

Add onions and saute till soft. Carefully add the canned tomatoes. Using a hand blender, blend till desired consistency.  

Add rest of the sauce ingredients and let simmer while you prepare the meatballs.

Carefully tear away the soft interior of the bread and place in a medium bowl. Add milk and let soak for about five minutes. With your hands, make sure there are no large pieces of bread left. 

In a large bowl add all the meatball ingredients and bread mixture. Using your hands mix all the ingredients together. 

Here is the fun part. Start forming meatballs and set aside on a plate. 

Tomato sauce must be gently boiling before adding the meatballs, otherwise they will fall apart. 

One by one add the meatballs to the tomato sauce. Let simmer on low for several minutes before attempting to mix for the first time.  

Let simmer for about 3 hours, stirring about every 20 minutes.

Serve with pasta or with a side of greens.

Happy cooking!

Comfort in a Bowl: Beef, Barley and Mushroom Stew

A little announcement... This is my 100th blog post!!! I honestly can't believe that I made it this far. And to top it off, this post is featured on Chef Dennis' More Than A Mount Full blog. It's gonna be a good Friday.

 

Steak Dinner Time

After a long day off fighting the intense crowds and commotion at Ikea (all in the name of finding better lighting for our apartment), my husband decided to take over kitchen duties and prepare a quick steak dinner. Now we had eaten some Swedish meatballs at Ikea for lunch and I was quite full when dinner time came around and the meatballs were causing some disagreement in the tummy. As my husband began preparing the ingredients for this quick meal, I had to force myself to get hungry. 

A couple of steaks thrown on our grill and seasoned with Montreal steak spice was just what we needed. If you don't know about Montreal steak spice, get on it. It adds a powerful flavor to meats and should ALWAYS be used when grilling steak. You can read about it here.

The steak was topped with sauteed mushrooms and was placed on a bed of arugula and shaved Parmesan. I had some grape tomatoes in the fridge and asked husband to throw those on the grill, too. He was not a fan, but hey, it's part of my culture. Instead of a traditional recipe, here is a little photo essay on last night's steak dinner.  

Grilling those babies!

Letting them rest. Very important.

Butter, making everything better.

Close up of the final product.

My husband, king of plating. 

Happy cooking!

French Bistro Classic: Steak au Poivre

There is something soul-satisfying about throwing a steak in a hot saute pan and frying it up for a few minutes on each side. Just keeping it on enough to form a golden brown crust, yet maintaining a pink interior. It's quick, easy and satisfies my carnivore desires. The only way to improve upon the simple pan-fry method of steak cooking is by creating a pan sauce with all the lovely bits of flavor left behind by the meat. Here is how the French do it.

Steak au Poivre adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

1 tbs. coarsely ground pepper

2 New York steaks, about 10 to 12 oz. each

Salt, to taste

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs. minced shallot

1/4 cup cognac

1 cup low-sodium beef stock

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

 

Method:

Let steaks reach room temperature. 

Season the steaks on both sides with a generous amount of salt. Season with pepper and press the pepper into the steaks, coating both sides. 

In a deep sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Arrange the steaks in the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side for medium-rare, a little longer for well done. Transfer the steaks to a platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. 

Pour off the excess fat from the pan and set the pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until translucent. Add the cognac and cook, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the pan, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Add the beef stock and cook until reduced by half. Reduce the heat to low and add the butter one piece at a time, whisking constantly. 

Spoon the sauce over the steaks and serve immediately. 

I enjoyed these steaks au poivre with an onion and garlic rice and made sure to spoon some sauce over the rice.

Well, this wraps up this week's classic French recipes. Next week I'll be attempting to tackle a Mexican dish. Hopefully, the results will be better than the last time. 

Happy cooking!

Improving on a Classic: Meatloaf

Meatloaf isn't exactly gourmet. It's not the main course on your menu when receiving dinner guests and you usually don't say things like, "Oh, I had the best meatloaf last night." My experience with meatloaf has always been mediocre at best. About a year ago I tried a meatloaf recipe that changed my mind. I realized not too long ago that I had not posted this recipe on the constant hunger. Today is that day.

The secret, or improvement, on the classic recipe is simple and maybe most of you are already making your meatloaf like this. It's the addition of ground pork. I can't emphasize this enough, perhaps because I am having a secret love affair with pork, but adding it to any recipe that calls for ground beef... It will vastly improve the taste. So here is my simple recipe, adapted from Williams-Sonoma.

Classic Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 tbs. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped (optional)

1 garlic clove, minced

3 or 4 slices white bread or 1 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 lb. ground beef chuck

1 lb. ground pork*

16-oz. can tomato sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

*Variation: 1 lb. beef, 1/2 pork, 1/2 veal. 

Method: 

Preheat to 375º F.

In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, celery, carrot (if using) and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tender and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside.

Tear the bread slices into small pieces, and pulverize into crumbs in a food processor. In a large mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk, stir until well blended and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes.

In a large bowl, add the onion-celery mixture to the bread mixture and stir until blended. Add the beef, pork, half the tomato sauce, egg, salt and pepper and mix together. I use my hands.

Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2-lb. loaf pan or just a roasting pan and, using your hands, shape the meat into a loaf shape. Spread the rest of the tomato sauce evenly over the top. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat loaf registers 165ºF, usually about an hour and a bit.

I served the meatloaf with roasted acorn squash. As for the meatloaf, it was absolutely delicious. It makes great sandwiches the next day. 

Happy cooking!