Meatballs in Almond Sauce (And Giveaway Winner!)

 

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!!
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Note: I wasn't paid to promote Tiny Food Party. It's just a book that I bought and thought was cool. The opinions I've expressed previously are my own.

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Adapted from Meatballs by Food Love (can you believe I couldn't find a link to this book?!)

Meatballs:

55g crustless white bread (weight after removing crusts)

3 tbs water

500g pork mince

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped (or in my case, Microplaned)

1 egg, lightly beaten

freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper

Almond Sauce:

25g crustless white bread (weight after removing crusts)

110g blanched almonds

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

150ml dry white wine, like Sauvignon Blanc

425ml cold vegetable stock (if you use hot stock let the mixture cool before putting it in the blender)

salt and pepper

1. Add water to bread and leave to soak

2. To make almond sauce: heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add almonds and bread and fry until both are golden brown, stirring often to prevent burning. Add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds more. 

3.Add wine and boil for about 2 minutes, then season to taste with S&P. 

4. Pour mixture into a blender or bar mix canister. Add stock (see note in ingredients) and then blend until smooth. Set aside.

5. Back to the meatballs: squeeze the excess water out of the bread and place in a bowl with pork, onion, garlic and egg. Season to taste with nutmeg, S&P and mix well to combine.

6. Roll mixture into about 30 meatballs. Fry in a pan over high heat to brown on all sides. Add almond sauce to pan, bring to boil and then lower to simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

7. Taste sauce for seasoning and serve meatballs with rice and salad. A spritz of lemon juice over the meatballs is also tasty.

Parmesan & Walnut Waffles With Creamy Basil Sauce

Adapted from Waffles: From Morning To Midnight by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (pro tip: don't do what I did and grate the cheese over the cup measure at the last minute)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup EVOO
300ml sour cream
bunch of basil, leaves picked off the stalks
100g baby spinach
2 cloves garlic
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1. Preheat your waffle iron as per its instructions. Preheat oven to 100°C (200°F) if you want to serve all the waffles at once.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the milk and eggs and stir to combine. Fold in the Parmesan, walnuts and then, lastly, the oil.

3. Cook waffles according to the iron's instructions (mine yielded 8 square waffles), stashing them in the oven as the cook if that's how you're rolling.

4. MEANWHILE make the sauce. Finely chop (by hand or by food processor) the basil, spinach and garlic together. In a bowl, combine the basil stuff and the sour cream and season with S&P to taste.

5. Serve waffles with the sauce and an awesome salad. YUUUUUM!! (I also made a side of those beans from last week's blog to go with.) 

Super-Fast Beef Hash, Jacket Potatoes, Goddess Salad, Lovely ButterBeans & Bacon

Adapted from Jamie's 30-Minute Meals By Jamie Oliver.

I found the prospect of typing out the recipe for this meal almost as exhausting as cooking it. You can view it here.

Egg and Lemon Soup

 

Adapted from The Really Useful Ultimate Student Cookbook by Silvana Franco 

Serves 2

750ml vegetable stock (3 cups)

60g long grain rice

2 eggs, beaten until a litte fluffy

juice of a lemon

100g baby spinach, torn or chopped into large-ish pieces (optional)

1 cup frozen peas (honestly, I didn't measure), (optional)

1 tbs fresh parsley, chopped

S&P to taste

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1. Put stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add rice, cover and cook about 15-20 minutes until the rice is just about cooked.

2. Meanwhile, add the lemon juice to the eggs.

3. Once the rice is almost done cooking, add the peas (if using) to the saucepan, bring back to the boil and cook for a minute until the peas are no longer frozen.

4. Turn the heat to low and slowly add the egg mixture to the pot, stirring as you go so it thickens the soup. Add a litte boiling water if it's too thick.

5. Add the spinach, if using, and the parsley to the soup. Stir around for a minute until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Serve, topped with some grated (or powdery) Parmesan.

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Chicken Adobo

 

 Adapted from The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking From Asian American Kitchens by Patricia Tanumihardja

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 cup water

6 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 tsp peppercorns, crushed

8 chicken Marylands, cut into thigh and drumstick pieces

3/4 cup soy sauce

vegetable oil

chopped spring onions to garnish

1. Combine the first five ingredients in a Dutch oven. Place chicken pieces in the mixture in one layer and bring to a boil on the stove over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Add the soy sauce and stir to make sure it's evenly distributed though the sauce. Bring back to a boil, cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the chicken's cooked.

3. Remove the chicken from the sauce, shaking off as much liquid as possible. Pat dry with paper towels and place on a plate. Put the sauce on the back burner and bring back to the boil to reduce a little.

4. Heat about 3 tbs oil in a frying pan until very hot. Fry the chicken pieces all over until crispy and brown. Place all the chicken on a serving dish and pour the sauce over the top.

Serve with rice and sprinkled with spring onions.

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Saloomi Poosta

 

 adapted from Nigella Kitchen by Nigella Lawson

300g small pasta

400g tin chopped tomatoes

400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

250g salami, cut into 2cm pieces

2 sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme

1. Cook the pasta as per package instructions and meanwhile...

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add the salami (no oil needed!) and herbs, frying until the salami is a little coloured.

3. Add the tin of tomatoes and enough water to half fill the tomato tin to the salami. Stir, then add the cannellini beans and stir again. 

4. Simmer the sauce until the pasta is cooked. If the sauce needs it, season with S&P. 

5. Drain the pasta and pour it into the frying pan and toss everything together.

Serve topped with the cheese of your choice (powdered, real, there's no judgement here) and eat, perhaps with a spoon (hey, it's my comfort food).

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P.S. Thank you to all my new Facebook likers. I'm seriously a little giddy over all the love you've given me. Thank you thank you thank you!

Mom's Apple Cake

 

Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

Note: The recipe says to use a 10" ring pan and I would recommend you follow this suggestion or you might end up with the same situation as me: the outside edges getting a bit overcooked while the middle of the cake was finishing.

butter or nonstick spray for cake tin

6 apples (I used Granny Smith), peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 tbs cinnamon

2 cups plus 5 tbs white sugar

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup orange juice

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 cups walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Toss the cinnamon and 5 tbs sugar through the apples and set aside.

2. Grease a ring pan with your preferred greaser. Not this.

3. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder. 

4. In a separate bowl, combine oil, orange juice, vanilla, eggs and the remaining sugar. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine, then add the walnuts and stir.

5. Pour half the cake batter into the tin. Scatter half the apples all over the batter. Top off with the rest of the batter, then the rest of the apples. 

6. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until done when tested with a skewer.

7. Wait for the praise to start rolling in.

One-Pot Pasta

 

Adapted from She's Leaving Home by Monica Trapaga

500g spiral pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

220g tub bocconcini, drained and sliced

7 Roma tomatoes, diced (I cleaned out the seeds and gunk first coz the tomatoes don't get cooked)

3 cloves of garlic, finely grated (I SWEAR I'm not a plant from Microplane, I just love it)

large handful basil, torn or cut into chiffonade

salt and pepper to taste

splash of balsamic.

1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the pasta as per package instructions, drain and set aside

2. In a bowl large enough to hold everything, combine the tomatoes, bocconcini, garlic, basil, olive oil and season to taste.

3. Add the pasta to the tomatoes, add the glug of balsamic and toss. Sprinkle Parmesan over the pasta and toss again. 

4. Check seasoning and serve, sprinkled with a little more Parmesan.

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