My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
Northern Illinois had its first frost advisory last night and, even though we’re on a hill and don’t usually get affected too badly the first frost or two, there was definitely a light sprinkle of frost on our lawn this morning. I cleaned out our …
Want an easy, healthy, delicious meal to throw together? Put vegetarian black bean burgers on your menu this week. They’re quick to come together, full of vitamins and fiber and trust me, they’re delicious. This time I put them on onion rolls, but choose whatever …
The first week of August here in Northern Illinois felt more like late September: cool and cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
So, needless to say, I made meatballs twice in two weeks. These came out so great the first time that I made them again, though this time with one adjustment: I used plain ground pork and ground sirloin this time. The first round I made them with plain ground pork and Italian sausage, which was all I had on hand at the time (use what you have!). The first round had more of a spicy kick which, if you like spicy meatballs (don’t get me started), is the recommended version. Take your pick.
Add pork and beef to bowl and, using your hands, squish it all together about 10 times, to incorporate the two. Throw everything else in and mix well, but don’t over-mix. You want all the ingredients to be well-distributed but don’t overwork your mixture. Place bowl in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to let flavors meld.
Remove from fridge and preheat oven to 350°
Spray a large baking sheet (lined with foil or parchment, if you want to make clean up easy) with a bit of olive oil. (I have a Misto sprayer that I love, love, love) Form meatball mixture into balls – I like mine big, so this made 14 meatballs for me. If you want smaller ones, decrease the cooking time. Roll the meatballs a bit in the olive oil you sprayed on the pan and then arrange evenly to cook.
Bake meatballs for 20 minutes then, using a pair of tongs, turn them over and cook another 10. Turn over again after 5-10 minutes, and then turn once more after 5-10 minutes. Your total cooking time should be 30-40 minutes. (less if you made smaller meatballs, plus you’ll have to turn them sooner)
That’s it! I know a lot of recipes call for pan-browning them but I find baking them to be less messy, less greasy and more evenly cooked.
Today, it’s finally sunny and warm…well, still not August warm but at least it’s in the high 70’s. Eat well my friends!
When the thermometer is rising to a triple-digit heat index and then barely dropping to 75 in the coolest hours of the morning like it is in my area at the moment, heating up the stove or oven is not on my list of things …
This recipe is proof that food doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated to be delicious. One of my favorite ways to do Cornish Hens is to rub them down with minced garlic, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper and fresh lime juice; the hens end up …
La Quercia is a socially-conscious company I discovered a few years ago and one I’ve become a huge fan of. They came onto my radar back then as a group of people who were making a prosciutto here in the U.S. that was actually comparable to the Italian stuff.
I told my husband about La Quercia and he ordered a full, bone-in slab of prosciutto that we ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. Eventually, we were kind enough to share some with family and friends. (You’re welcome)
Recently, I ordered some of their Speck and Lomo from Zingerman’s, who was running a pretty good sale on some of their La Quercia products. (If you’ve not checked out the online store to world-famous Zingerman’s, please take a minute and do so!) Not surprisingly, these were just as delicious as their prosciutto. Not the greatest photo but here’s a shot of what I ordered:
So, after enjoying some of my purchase as part of a charcuterie and cheese plate, I was on to a better way to highlight these.
As luck would have it, I made a small batch of my homemade ricotta cheese last weekend, so I also had some of that looking to be used.
Not so unusual is that I also had some baby arugula on hand. If you’ve read my About Me page or just happened to realize the play on words, my blog name is an ode to my love for spicy little rocket leaves. So with these ingredients in mind, I threw together some quick French Bread last night and sliced it and assembled this for our dinner:
This was very simple but absolutely delicious – I made this to serve just the two of us. I’ve listed the ingredients in the order I assembled these.
How to make a poached egg? Here’s how I do mine:
Bring a deep skillet of water with 1/2 cup of white vinegar added to it to a slow boil. Gently add eggs to water. After 2 minutes of cooking, using a large spoon, gently turn each egg over in the water. Let simmer another minute to minute and a half and, using a slotted spoon, remove them from the water. I like to gently place spoon and egg on top of a paper towel to absorb some of the water before placing on plate or bread. You may have to play with this a bit – everyone’s idea of a slow boil/high simmer is different and everyone likes their eggs just a little different than the next person.
Pretty simple right? But packed with flavor and, if you love poached eggs like we do, a fantastic Friday night dinner.
Enjoy!
Pork is not only a healthier alternative to beef, it’s also just as versatile. I do pulled pork 2 ways – one braised and simmered in beer or broth and the other oven roasted. Both are incredibly easy and both result in tender, delicious pork. …