Easy Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs

Finally, I have a semi-sensical reason to post this meatball recipe! I actually made these ridiculously easy, totally delicious sweet and sour cocktail meatballs when the Super Bowl was on. It would have been nice to post about them before the game, but since that did not happen, I was waiting for one of those occasions when people are looking for easy appetizers to serve—like Memorial Day.

I’m heading off to Key West (we’ve live in Fort Lauderdale for almost 4 years and never been!) this weekend for scuba diving, pie (!) and absolutely no work issues to worry about—and maybe a Margarita, you know if the spirit moves me. But, if you’re having a party or a cook out and want to add a little more meat to menu, this one’s for you. It took me forever to find a recipe for sweet and sour meatballs because I was searching for Swedish meatballs and wondering why all the recipes I found were not at all what I had in mind. For some reason, I thought Swedish and sweet and sour were the same thing, but alas, no.

When I finally located an easy one on Receipezaar.com, I didn’t really care that it did not sound to me like the ultimate meatball recipe—I just liked that it was easy. Well. Despite the fact that these take no weird ingredients and very little time and effort, they are totally delicious and addictive. It’s that secret—or not so secret—ingredient, Heinz chili sauce and a good hit of brown sugar. You don’t have to fuss around frying the meatballs first; just simmer them in the sauce where they become moist and wonderful. You can make this ahead and reheat it anyway you like. Put out a jar of toothpicks and they will disappear faster than Tom Brady’s dreams of a perfect season.

Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs
I adapted this recipe from one on Recipezaar.com. It called for garlic powder, which I don’t like and don’t have, so we seasoned our meatballs like we tend to season basic burgers. You can use just salt and pepper; adobo seasoning; chili powder or cayenne pepper; or a few pinches of dried herbs. We cooked a tiny bit of meat in a skillet to check our seasoning. I recommend this easy extra step, so you can go forward with the confidence that your big batch of meatballs is going to be perfectly seasoned. I haven't tried these with turkey, but I think it would work well, and the cooking method would keep the meat pleasantly moist.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp. onion powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned or unseasoned)
12 ounces chili sauce (such as Heinz)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Combine beef, seasonings, egg and breadcrumbs. Cook a small patty to check seasoning and adjust if needed. Form into small meatballs.

Pour the chili sauce into a large, heavy skillet or saucepan; fill the chili sauce bottle with water, shake well and add to skillet. Add the brown sugar and lemon juice; bring to a simmer.

Add the meatballs to the sauce; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until cooked through. If you leave them on longer, it’s okay. Transfer to a bowl and serve right away or cover and chill and reheat in the microwave.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé!

Bonjour, mes amis! It's the lovely third Thursday in November, which means two things:

1) Thanksgiving is only one week away!
2) Le nouveau est arrivé!--those young, ripe, happy wines from Beaujolais are here, so get them while you can!

Either way, it's cause to celebrate. Do you have your Thanksgiving meal planned yet? I have to admit that we don't. We had our at-home Thanksgiving dinner a couple weeks ago and made this fantastic Cranberry-Almond Crostata, but for the actual holiday we'll be joining a big group of family in Connecticut. Everyone makes a dish or some component of the Thanksgiving dinner, so we'll have many, many cooks in one kitchen--but isn't that the fun of it?

Anyway, most of the family have stated what their contributions will be, but Mike and I--usually early birds on this--still haven't decided. We like to do riffs on the traditional favorites and cut down on the carb loading, if we can, by contributing a veggie dish. This year we're thinking of doing a dessert too. Any ideas for us?

But back to Beaujolais Nouveau. This red wine is made by the process of carbonic maceration, also called whole berry fermentation. What this means to you is that the fresh, fruity flavors are preserved and the bitter tannins in the grape skins are left out. If the tannins were left out of the nice Cabernet Sauvignon you planned to drink with a steak dinner, you might be a bit peeved. But, in Beaujolais Nouveau, this treatment results in a light (but still boozy), uncomplicated wine that often has just a textural hint of fizz. It is aged for around 6 weeks and is good slightly chilled.

In early December last year, Mike and I were in Toronto for the weekend where getting anything that wasn't already chilled would have been difficult. We brought a bottle of Nouveau back to our hotel room, and it did wonders to brighten up the frigid day and get us in the mood to venture out into the icy evening air.

This year, we're enjoying our Nouveau at home in Fort Lauderdale with a perfect food pairing--burgers. But not just any old burgers. Buy the best ground sirloin you can (or grind your own); go to the bakery for the fresh, expensive buns; take the time to slowly caramelize some red onions; and finally, melt some great cheese on top--any kind you like as long as the flavor is good and strong.

In my experience, Beaujolais Nouveau is fairly easy to find in wine shops and even grocery stores. You'll find wine by Georges Duboeuf everywhere, but try other labels if you see them--at a wine tasting tonight, we liked Bouchard and especially Mommessin. It's inexpensive, so you have no excuse not to taste it for yourself. It's never around for long though (maybe a month at most), so get it tout de suite!

P.S.--For the oven fries, we used a recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It worked great! You generally have to subscribe to Cook's for access to their meticulously tested recipes, but this one is available online.

Technorati Tags: recipes, hamburger, beaujolais nouveau, wine

Guinness Beef Stew with Mushrooms & Carrots

Last Sunday was dark and stormy here in Fort Lauderdale. My favorite team, the New England Patriots, was playing the 4:00 game against also-undefeated Dallas. I felt like having something to putter over in the kitchen. What else could possibly be as good as Guinness Beef Stew?

I’ve made a version of this before, and I thought it was on this blog. A little research told me that there was not in fact a Guinness stew entry here, and I couldn’t find a recipe I might have used in any of my cookbooks. Did I dream it? It doesn’t matter because I started from scratch, using a recipe in Cooking Light as a model, and came up with a recipe I really like.

You’re going to need about two and a half hours, start to finish. But it's nothing very strenuous, and then you can just sit back and wait for your house to smell great. I wanted to serve this with my beloved Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread, so I kept the stew on the slightly lighter side by not adding potatoes. Instead, I used a lot of mushrooms and carrots--more nutrition with less starch. If you want to use potatoes, just decrease the quantity of these two and go right ahead. You want to give the soda bread at least two hours to cool completely, so either make it before you start the stew, or do it the night before or in the morning. It’s a super-simple quick bread, and it makes your Irish-themed meal complete--especially with a sweet, unsalted Irish butter like Kerrygold.

My team won, and my stew was delicious. And knowing I’d have even more delicious leftovers during the week made it a perfect Sunday. If beef stew doesn't float your boat right now, take a look at my Curried Lamb and Lentil Stew or my Provencal Lamb Stew with White Wine.


Guinness Beef Stew with Mushrooms and Carrots
Of course Guinness is not the only kind of stout, but it’s the best and most readily available. I’ve been trying a lot of different brands of beef and chicken broth, and I think Swanson’s tastes the best. They make an organic version if you prefer. Fresh thyme is really nice here (for both stew and garnish), so don’t skip it if at all possible. Like all stews, this tastes great gently reheated in the next day or two.

Serves 6

2 to 3 tbs. canola oil, divided use
2 lb. button or cremini mushrooms, halved if large
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. dried thyme, divided
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary, divided
2 cups chopped white or yellow onion
4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced
All-purpose flour, for dredging meat
cayenne pepper or paprika
2 to 2 1/2 lb. lean beef stew meat (or sirloin), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Guinness draft can (or one bottle)
32 oz. low-sodium beef broth (I like Swanson’s)
2 dried bay leaves
4 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
Fresh thyme sprigs for serving (optional)

Heat 1/2 tbs. oil in a Dutch oven or large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms, season with salt, pepper, half the thyme and rosemary, and cook until soft and browned. The mushrooms will release their water after a few minutes. Keep cooking, stirring often, until the water evaporates, even if they already look done to you. Remove mushrooms to a large bowl and repeat with remaining mushrooms.

Heat 1/2 tbs. oil in the pot and add the onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for two more minutes, stirring often. Add to the bowl with the mushrooms.

Add about 1/2 cup flour to a shallow bowl or plate and season with salt, pepper and cayenne or paprika. Coat the meat with flour, shaking off excess, and placing the pieces of meat on a baking sheet as you go. Heat 1/2 tbs. oil in the pot to medium-high heat. Add half the beef, season with more salt and pepper, and cook for about 6 minutes, using tongs to turn the meat and brown on all sides. Transfer meat and any juices to plate or bowl. Repeat with remaining meat.

Add Guinness to the pot, scraping up an brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add broth, bay leaves, and all the beef with its juices. Cover, and as soon as the stew begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Cook for 1 hour.

Add the carrots, thyme leaves, and the mushroom mixture to the stew. Simmer, uncovered for 45 minutes. Check the carrots; if they are not tender yet, continue cooking. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, garnish with thyme sprigs and serve.

There's a lot of tasty stuff stewing on my favorite food blogs:

Jumbo Empanada's Venison Stew a la Bri
Orangette's Chicken Stew
The Perfect Pantry's Root Vegetables with Beef Stew
Simply Recipes' Short Rib Beef Stew with Ale
Kalyn's Kitchen's Mediterranean Beef Stew with Rosemary
Chocolate and Zucchini's Beef Stew with Root Vegetables
The Wednesday Chef's Jennifer McLagan's Aromotic Chinese Oxtail Stew

Technorati Tags: recipes, stew, beef, guinness, Main Course

Mole Sauce for Steak or Chicken and Lime-Honey Vinaigrette

I know I have written about how much I think Gourmet magazine stands out among the mountain of food magazines that overtake my mailbox every month. Lately, however, more of the recipes I actually cook have come out of Food & Wine magazine. The finger-lickin’ tasty Fried Chicken and Biscuits came from the February issue, and I hit the jackpot again in the March issue with an Mole Sauce that used a simple poblano salsa as its base.

Like many complex and iconic dishes, mole sauce inspires feeling of fascination and reverence in me. Maybe even more so, since it is the kind of dish I may never duplicate authentically unless I move to Puebla and become friendly with the cooks there who carry the secrets of mole-making around in their DNA. Having said that, I think the mole I made with the Food & Wine recipe as a guide definitely does justice to the genuine article.

This sauce is smoky from poblanos, spicy from dried chipotle peppers, nutty from toasted sesame seeds, and rich from chocolate, raisins and cinnamon. Complex doesn’t even begin to describe it; all the sweet flavors are perfectly balanced by the chiles and vegetables. Pureeing makes the consistency creamy and opaque, but it is not at all thick or heavy. All of this means that you could feast on this mole sauce for hours because your taste buds will never get tired of sampling the subtle shades of flavor.

The same article also inspired one of the best salad dressings I’ve made in a while: a simple lime-honey vinaigrette that is refreshingly sweet and zingy. I poured it over a salad of sweet baby lettuces (not the spicy greens we usually prefer, like arugula) from a Dole salad mix, tossed it with chopped tomatoes, a few slivers of red onion and fresh orange sections along with the juices that accumulated when I cut up the orange.

By the way, we served the mole sauce over dry-aged sirloin steaks, seared in a skillet over high heat then transferred to the oven to finish cooking. Any good steak would be wonderful; just let the mole be the star of the show. Two nights later, we roasted whole chicken breasts and topped them with the leftover mole. This was also fantastic. This may be the closest I ever get to authentic mole sauce, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Mole Sauce for Steak or Chicken
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine

The original salsa recipe calls for ancho chiles which are dried poblanos. I could not find them, so I used fresh poblanos with amazing results. The recipe for the Poblano Salsa base yields 5 cups of salsa, but you only need one cup to make the mole. I prepared the whole salsa recipe and used some of the leftovers to make an enchilada sauce by mixing about 1 cup of salsa with a can of plain tomato sauce. I froze the rest in 1 cup portions for future use. You could also use the salsa as a dip or a topping for grilled fish or chicken. Two dried chipotle chiles with most seeds should yield a very hot salsa Adjust the amount of chiles and seeds to suit you, but don’t eliminate them completely; they add a unique sweet-smoky flavor.


Poblano Salsa:
8 poblano chiles, stemmed seeded and roughly chopped
1 to 2 dried chipotle chile peppers, stemmed and some seeds discarded, depending on your desired heat level (see recipe headnote)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbs. light brown sugar
1 tbs. canola oil
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. (approx.) freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs. cider vineger

In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand form 10 minutes. Working in batches, roughly puree the salsa in a blender. Transfer to a bowl, stir in the vinegar and set aside.

Mole Sauce (Makes about 1 ½ cups; 6 servings):
1 tbs. sesame seeds
1 c. poblano salsa
½ c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. chopped sweet chocolate (I used half milk and half semisweet)
2 tbs. dark raisins
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan over low heat, toast the sesame seeds until golden. Add the poblano salsa, chicken broth, chocolate, raisins, cinnamon and nutmegs. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Reheat in the microwave and serve over grilled or roasted steak or chicken. Keeps in the refrigerator for 4 days.

Lime-Honey Vinaigrette
Serves 4

2 tbs. honey
3 tbs. fresh lime juice
2 tbs. canola oil
2 to 3 drops red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well until emulsified.



Technorati Tags: recipes, beef, salad, chicken, Main Course

Big Italian Meatballs with Creamy Polenta

If you hear the word, "meatballs," and immediately think, "spaghetti with...," you need to keep reading.

Forget about fussy little meatballs that take ages to roll and fry. If you want spaghetti, try a Bolognese. The next time you want meatballs, try this recipe. You form them into roughly two-inch patties, so a serving is about 2 meatballs per person. A quick sear in a skillet creates a wonderfully crusty exterior. Then they are smothered in a simple mushroom-tomato sauce and baked so they stay moist within.

The polenta can come together at the last minute, as you take the meatballs out of the oven. Finely ground (not stone ground) cornmeal cooks instantly. You could also use one of the imported Italian products labeled "instant polenta." I like these products, but they are not as smooth as the finely ground cornmeal. It depends on your preference. Make sure you spoon some of the juice from the meatballs over the polenta before serving. Eat this once and you'll never think of meatballs any other way.

Big Italian Meatballs with Creamy Polenta
The idea behind this recipe comes from Tyler Florence, but I have adapted and simplified it down to its delicious fundamentals.
Serves 4-6

3 lb. ground beef sirloin (or a combination of ground beef and pork)
2 tbs. Worchestershire sauce
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 eggs
½ c. dried bread crumbs with Italian seasoning
handful of chopped parsley, divided
handful of chopped basil, divided
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1-28oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, Worchestershire sauce, garlic, eggs and bread crumbs. Reserve about 2 tablespoons each of the parsley and basil and add the remaining herbs to the bowl. Season the meat mixture with salt and pepper and blend everything together gently with your hands. Form the meat mixture into 10-12 large meatballs, about 2 inches in diameter. Shape them more like hockey pucks than tennis balls. Set the meatballs on a large platter.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tbs. of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cooking, stirring often until golden. Add the can of tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Coat a large skillet with a thin layer of olive oil and heat it to medium-high. Add about half the meatballs to the skillet, leaving about 1 inch of space between them. Cook until the bottoms are browned, then flip and brown the reverse side. Remove the meatballs to a large baking dish (I used 9 x 13) baking dish and repeat with the remaining meatballs. Pour the mushroom-tomato mixture over the meatballs and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cooked through. Garnish with reserved parsley and basil and serve immediately over creamy polenta.

Creamy Polenta
Adapted from Tyler Florence

4 c. low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ c. finely ground cornmeal
¼ c. half and half or milk
1 tbs. unsalted butter
salt to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a full boil. Turn the heat to low and start stirring the broth with a wire whisk. Gradually add the cornmeal as you constantly whisk. Keep whisking until the mixture is smooth and thickened, about 1 minute. Whisk in the half and half and butter. If your polenta thickens too quickly, whisk in hot water to thin it out. It can cook alarmingly fast, but it is forgiving and will still taste great if it is a little lumpy. Season to taste and serve immediately.

Technorati Tags: recipes, Italian, Main Course