Swedish Meatballs for the Guys

Hi all,

Thursday nights are R and mine cooking date night and I asked R what he would like. Out popped "Swedish Meatballs" which was an excellent idea. I had never made Swedish meatballs before and with Swedish meatballs you have to make mashed potatoes. I have a weakness for mashed potatoes, so I was all for the Swedish meatball suggestion. They don't call for many ingredients and with this recipe there's enough for leftovers, unless your guy wants to eat them all.

1/2 cup bread or cracker crumb
1/3 cup cream or half and half

Soak the bread crumbs in the cream, set aside.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 T butter

Saute the onion in the butter until just starting to brown. Set aside to cool.

1 pound ground turkey meat (I used TJ's dark meat ground turkey)
Salt and pepper
Pinch of ground cloves

Combine the above ingredients with the soaked bread crumbs/cream, onions, and ingredients listed above. Mix gently until just mixed. Make small meatballs. Mine were a little over an inch.

2 T butter

Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, not crowding them. (I cooked all of them at once, in my huge cast iron skillet.) Brown on all sides. Remove the meatballs from the pan to make the gravy.

2 T butter
2 T flour
3/4 cup beef broth
2/3 cup cream

I left the little bits of meatballs in the pan and just added the butter. Melt the butter then add the flour. Cook a few minutes, then add the stock and stir constantly until thickened. Add the cream, stir, and then add in the meatballs. Heat until the meatballs are heated through. If the gravy is too thick, you can add extra beef broth or cream.

Of course you'll have to make mashed potatoes to go with the meatballs.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Hugs,
Mameekosan

Basic Vinaigrette

Hi All,

I know it's been way too long. I have been trying lots of new recipes! I promise I will post some of them soon.

This is for J. Simple basic vinaigrette. We had a Chinese friend who was always interested to know what went into my "sauce." Well here's the recipe.

In a two cup measuring cup measure:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1-2 cloves fresh garlic
1 teaspoon salt
lots of freshly ground black pepper
generous squeeze of honey

I usually just give this a whirl with my immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender or a regular blender or food processor, chop the garlic fine and put the ingredients into a jar or bottle that you can give a healthy shake.

Hope this dresses your salads well.

Hugs,
Mameekosan!

Japanese Style Fish Stew (Buri Daikon)

Hi all,

Recently I was watching a YouTube video with J and the woman made a Japanese stewy dish that J informed me was called Buri Daikon. I was intrigued. I wasn't really familiar with cooked daikon, so I thought it would be fun to try. J sent me a few links with recipes. I also looked online and selected two different recipes. In the meantime I went to HMart and purchased a smallish daikon (later I found I could have bought a much bigger one) and two Hake filets. Okay, so I didn't realize that "Buri" is actually Yellowtail Head, so I would need to make my first substitution.

One large daikon, peeled

Cut the daikon into inch thick slices and then cut into halves or quarters depending on the size of the daikon. You don't want the daikon pieces to be too small which will make them cook too quickly. So, since I didn't buy a large daikon I needed to add some carrots to bulk up the veggie component of the recipe.

3 or 4 carrots cut into 1 inch long chunks
2 inch long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced.

Add the daikon, carrots (if used), and ginger to a deep pot.

As I said earlier the authentic recipe calls for yellowtail heads which I didn't have. I think the yellowtail would add a rich flavor, different from the Hake I used.

2.5 pounds Hake or if you can get them yellowtail or salmon heads, cut into large chunks.

Place the fish on top of the veggies.

1 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin (I used white wine, since I didn't have any mirin)
2 -3 tablespoons sugar (I used the larger amount since I didn't have any mirin)
3 tablespoons  shoyu
large pinch of soup base mix (Hondashi)

Mix the above ingredients together and pour over the veggies and fish. The liquid should cover all, if not, you can add a bit more shoyu or some water. Cover with a "otoshibuta" which is a wooden cover, I didn't have one so I used a piece of aluminum foil formed into a circle and weighted with a bowl.

Simmer gently for about 45 minutes. We were all waiting for dinner so we served it after 45 minutes. The original recipe calls for cooking it for another 15 minutes. R declared it delicious! Which was a pleasant surprise.

Hope you're surprised at how delicious the broth is and how warming and delicious this Japanese style stew is for these cold wintry nights.

Hugs,
Mameekosan  :  )

Curried Roast Cabbage

Hi all,

I admit it I haven't tried this recipe yet. But, how can you go wrong with roasting a vegetable? I've roasted, of course potatoes with onions and garlic, then Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips, broccoli, and now cabbage.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

1 medium head green cabbage, cored and cut into 16 wedges
1 yellow onion, sliced into thick wedges
2 Granny Smith apples, sliced into 8 wedges
2 T olive oil

Prepare above ingredients, place in large bowl. Sprinkle with olive oil and toss.

1 T curry powder
Salt and pepper

Sprinkle the curry powder over everything, coating all sides of the cabbage mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Dump everything into rimmed baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes, turning midway. Cabbage should be golden and tender.

1/4 cup currants or raisins
1/4 cup almonds or walnuts
lemon wedges (optional)

Sprinkle with currants and nuts. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired. This dish sounds like a perfect winter dish to go along baked chicken. As soon as I'm home I'm going o try it.

Hugs,
Mameekosan