More Meatballs... Different country

OK  Remember those meatballs you made and froze during my last post?  Try them in Stroganoff....


Meatball Stroganoff

• Meatballs (either a bag of frozen Rosina meatballs, or homemade)  Generally you will need enough to cover the bottom of your large skillet... It depends on who is home.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil    1+ Tablespoon..  just enough to brown the meatballs

• 2 c. Beef Broth  (Use more for more meatballs..  just go with it.  Don't over think it.)

• Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to taste.  I use Sea Salt and grind some Multi-colored Peppercorns.
• Dried Herbs....about 1 T. each  parsley, oregano, basil

• 2/3 to 1 cup Sour Cream

• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

• Wide Egg Noodles ....enough for whoever is eating

Thaw meatballs if you are using frozen.

Start water for the noodles in a big pot.

Brown the meatballs in a large skillet with the olive oil.  This is best done in a black cast iron skillet.  That is where you get all the good flavors-- especially a skillet with plenty of fond.  You can do it in any skillet, though.

After they are browned nicely, deglaze the pan with about 2 cups beef broth.  Bring to a boil.  Season generously with salt and pepper and your dried herbs.  When it has reduced (about 10 minutes or so) and the meatballs are hot clear through  (Don't let them boil dry.  You can add more broth if it looks like it is getting too dry), add the sour cream and whipping cream.  These will make the sauce creamy and act as a thickener.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions  (or make your own noodles... that will be a different post later...  It is EASY peasy, I promise)  You want the noodles just a bit al dente.  Drain the noodles and mix together with the sauce and meatballs.  The noodles will finish cooking in the sauce and soak up a lot of all that goodness.

Serve with fresh steamed broccoli.  Yum

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This can be homemade or almost homemade if you are in a hurry.  If you want to make it totally homemade, the best way is to make the meatballs ahead of time and freeze them.  If making semi-homemade, you can buy a 12 oz. bag of pre-made fully cooked (I suggest Rosina brand Homestyle) frozen meatballs.

Homemade Meatballs:
    *  1 lb. ground meat --your choice
    *  1 egg
    *  1/2 cup milk
    *  1 cup breadcrumbs or finely crushed cracker crumbs
    *  1 t. salt
    *  ground pepper to taste

Beat egg and milk.  Add rest of ingredients and mix thoroughly  (I use my hands)  Form about 1 inch balls.  Brown all sides in a HOT skillet with a little oil.

 Arrange in a single layer in a cake pan and cover.  Bake at 350 degrees until cooked clear through.  20 to 30 minutes depending on how long you had them in the skillet.

Alternately, you can  leave them in the skillet, pour in about a cup of water,  lower the heat and cover.  Cook until cooked clear through.  This works well in a cast iron skillet.  OR leave them in the cast iron skillet and put them in the oven.  Just cook them all the way through without browning them more.

To freeze, place cooled balls on cookie sheet so they don't touch each other.  Cover and place in freezer over night or until frozen solid.  Move to zip lock bag and store in freezer.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs:

    *  Bag of meatballs  THAWED
    *  Large green pepper cut into about 1 inch pieces.  (I also use colored pepper sometimes... they are a bit sweeter)
    *  20 oz. can pineapple tidbits
    *  3 Tablespoons cornstarch
    *  1 cup cold water
    *  3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
    *  1 Tablespoon soy sauce
    *  1/2 cup brown sugar

Drain Pineapple reserving juice.  Set chunks aside.  Add enough water to juice (if needed) to make 1 1/2 cup.  In a large skillet, combine meatballs, peppers, and juice.  Cook on medium until heated through and peppers are the crispness you like.

In the meantime, cook some rice to serve with the meatballs.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, cold water, vinegar and soy sauce.  Whisk until smooth.  Add brown sugar and mix.  Add mixture and reserved pineapple chinks to the pan of meatballs.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes until sauce is thickened.  If it gets too thick, add some water.  (It seems I always have to do that.)

Serve with rice.

I have made this several times, and I always say that "next time" I will double the amount of sauce.   We seem to want more...... I always forget.  I think I would use 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup vinegar, 2 T. soy sauce and 2 cups cold water.  I would also double the brown sugar.  Maybe next time I will try this.  Remind me, OK?




    

Holy Buckets, the clan is starving.......

Someone needs to post a recipe.   It has been almost a 6 month famine......

OK, Mom's on a Roll

I made another new recipe tonight.  Kids-- you will get all of these posts in pages for your Suggestion books later, but if you want to go ahead and make them now, here is your chance......

Crockpot Italian Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts cooked and cubed
• 1 to 1 1/2 cup cooked cut broccoli
• 1 packet Zesty Italian Dressing (dry)
• 1  8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

• Pasta  (I used Rotelli, but any shape will work.)

About cooking the chicken:  I use flash frozen chicken breasts.  I bake them in the oven, but after I cube them, I like to throw them into a screaming hot skillet with a little olive oil just long enough to give them some color.

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT pasta in crock pot.  Cook on low 4 hours.  ( I actually only cooked it 3 hours because I was late getting started, but it worked fine)  If it seems too thick, add some milk.  I did not have to do that.  Maybe after 4 hours it might be different.

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Serve Chicken mixture over pasta.  (or I just mix it all together.  I like it better that way, but it is not as "fancy schmancy.")

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Oh yeah... you can see mushrooms in the above picture, huh?  Wow.  You are observant.  I had some fresh mushrooms I needed to use before they went bad.  I just sauteed them in butter and stirred them in when I stirred in the pasta.  You can add whatever you want... that is the reason this is just a suggestion.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

OK.  Here I go messing with the mighty Philly Cheese Steak again.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:
l lb. ground beef
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 medium green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1 cup beef broth
salt and pepper to taste

4 hamburger buns

1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup Provolone cheese (shredded)  (We had to chop up slices.  They don't sell shredded here)

Cooking Instructions:

1.  Brown hamburger, breaking up into small pieces while cooking.
     Add chopped onion and bell pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onion starts to become tender.  Drain excess liquid. 
     Stir in steak sauce and beef broth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is thick and bubbly. 

2.  Melt butter in small saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute whisking constantly.  Whisk in milk and cook until mixture is thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese until it is melted and incorporated in the the sauce.

3.  Butter buns and toast on hot griddle or in heavy skillet.

4.  Fill bottom bun with meat, top with cheese sauce and top sandwich.  Enjoy

Simple Mini Monkey Bread

Christopher loves Monkey Bread.  I have never made Monkey Bread until today.  The only time I ever ate Monkey Bread, the pieces I got were not done.  Unless you are Amanda, raw bread dough is disgusting, gaggy, gross, ewwwwww and all the other awful things I could say.  So when I saw this recipe for making it in muffin tins, I thought, "Hey... this way it would get done in the middle," and decided to try it.  I made an AWFUL mess, but I am getting ahead of myself.........

Simple Mini Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

12 Rhodes Dinner rolls, thawed but still cold.  (You could make your own roll dough and use that, but then it would not be as "simple" now would it?)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted  (go ahead make your own butter... but do it the day before so these are still simple.)
2 Tablespoons Karo Syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Icing (I did not do this .. they are sweet enough without it)

 1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1-2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Spray 12 cup  muffin tin really well with cooking spray.

Cut each dinner roll into 6 pieces.  I used my kitchen shears for this step.

In a bowl, combine melted butter and Karo.  Mix well.

In another bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.  Mix well.

Dip dough pieces 6 at a time first into the butter mixture, then the sugar mixture.  Place 6 pieces in each cup of the muffin tin. Repeat until they are full.

Cover with sprayed plastic wrap (oops, I did not read this part.  I did not spray the saran wrap, and it worked fine).  Set in a warm place and let rise until double in size.

Now some advice:  Don't get busy doing other stuff and let them rise too high.  I ended up with two pieces in the bottom of the oven because they rise higher when they bake, and it got claustrophobic in the cups, so the others threw them overboard.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  I baked mine about 17.  I wanted to be sure they were done!!  Cool 3 to 4 minutes before removing from pan.  Mine did not stay together all nice like a muffin as shown on the original recipe, but we took them all out of the muffin tins (we did 36 at once because that is a package of Rhodes Roll Dough) and dumped them into a cake pan.  Now they are just like the original stuff Christopher likes, but DONE in the middle.  *I have to say, they are pretty NUMMY.






<==ours





                    The picture from the recipe.

I think next time, we will just put 3 or 4 in a cup, and not coat as thick with the sugar mixture.  Maybe then they will be "pretty" instead of just pretty tasty.  Oh, and I have to say, The muffin tins were a sticky gooey mess, plus it dripped sticky sugar all over the bottom the oven.  (Thank goodness all I have to do is set the oven to "clean" huh?)  Maybe that and the suicidal jumpers would not happen if there were fewer pieces in the muffin cups.  *BTW... the jumpers were not burned to the bottom of the oven.  They were just as good as the rest.

Note to clcphd... I know, I know..... too sweet, but that is why I left the icing off.  They are no worse than a cinnamon roll.

Banana Frittata - photos by request

Banana Frittata Part 2


So, in August, I posted a couple sentences about a use for one ripe banana. I had not thought it would be blog-worthy when I started, so there were no pictures. Dennis requested pictures. This morning, I had one ripe banana. I actually had to go to the blog to read how I had made this before, so thanks goes to Georgi for giving me a place to put all my crazy cooking logs.

Anyway, I made one substitution this morning that made this frittata non-blog-worthy, but Dennis wanted pictures.....


Ingredients:

Smash the banana and add one egg, a quarter cup of flour, a tablespoon of sugar, and a splash of milk. I substituted almond flour for the flour. This was a tasty mistake - as you will see later, the frittata batter lacked the cohesion needed to hold together for cooking. Nonetheless, I think the almond flour added to the appeal. One might try cooking a few smaller ones or using less milk when using almond flour.

I sprayed the griddle and preheated it.

Just pour it on the preheated griddle and cook on Med High for a little bit.....

It got too brown while I was trying to figure out how to turn it without breaking it. 

As you can see, all the thinking in the world did not help. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!