Swedish Meatballs

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In the past, I haven’t been a huge fan of Swedish meatballs. The only rendition I’d had of them was from a frozen microwavable meal, and certainly left something to be desired. A couple of years ago, while we were on travel with my husband in DC, Andrew and I were looking for something to do. We’d been to the museums, the National Zoo, and all the upscale grocery stores in the “big city” to stock up on provisions to take home with us. I’d noticed that there was an Ikea about 5 minutes from the hotel, and thought that could be a fun activity to spend some time waiting for “Dad” to get out of work.

Andrew was confined to the stroller at the time, but was a trooper as I investigated ever nook and cranny of the store. I loved the bright colors and patterns of all the textiles, the organization options- a place for everything, the clean simple lines of the furniture. Oh yeah, and the Swedish Meatballs! Halfway through our journey Andrew and I stopped at the cafeteria for a bite to eat. We shared an order of the meatballs, with a side of mashed red potatoes and lingonberry jelly. A far, far cry from the dreaded microwave meals! I knew this dish had to be even better made at home as well. Their meatballs are okay, but they’re still frozen, mass-produced, and chock full of fillers.

I Googled recipes and bookmarked a few, but finally decided on Elise’s version after a recommendation from my best friend. They were absolutely delicious. The rich, beefy, creamy sauce en robes the tender bites of the beef/pork mixture. I was always of the school of the beef meatball, but I think this recipe has made me a convert. They literally melt in your mouth, a different texture completely from a beef meatball.  The recipe makes a lot of meatballs. I think they’d be delightful for a party as an appetizer instead of the traditional red sauce meatballs. The meatballs and sauce would be fine in a Crock-Pot on low for a few hours. I did change the spice combination in them, as I diddn’t have cardamom, and had no problems. I stock up on Lingonberry jelly (and the drink concentrate too!) when I’m at Ikea, but if you can’t find it then I think boysenberry jam or cranberry jelly would be a good alternative.

Swedish Meatballs

For the meatballs:
1 large yellow or white onion, peeled, grated (through a cheese grater)
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup milk
4-5 slices of bread, crusts removed, bread cut into pieces
2 eggs
1 pound ground pork
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (80/20)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons black pepper

For the sauce:
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup flour
1 quart beef stock
3/4 cup sour cream
Salt
2 to 4 Tbsp of Lingonberry, cranberry, or boysenberry jelly, more or less to taste (optional)

Sauté the grated onion in the butter over medium-high heat until the onions soften and turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a medium bowl, mix the bread pieces with the milk. Set aside for 15-20 minutes, or until the bread soaks up all the milk. When it does, pulverize the bread in a food processor and pour it into a large bowl.

Add the cooled onions to the bowl of milk and bread. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients—eggs, ground pork, ground beef, salt, nutmeg, allspice, pepper. Using your (clean) hands, mix well for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are well combined. Use a tablespoon to measure out the meat for the meatballs. As you form the meatballs, set each one aside on a sheet pan or plate. You should get 40 to 50 meatballs.

Heat 6 tablespoons of butter for the sauce in a large sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, reduce the heat to medium and add some of the meatballs. Do not crowd the pan. Work in batches, browning them slowly on all sides. Be gentle when you turn them so they don’t break apart. Do not cook the meatballs all the way through, only brown them at this stage. Once browned, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan, setting them aside so you can make the sauce with the remaining pan butter.

Start the sauce. (Check the pan butter to see if it has burned. If the butter tastes burnt, discard the butter and replace with new 6 tablespoons.) Heat the pan butter on medium until hot. Slowly whisk in the flour. Stirring often, let the flour cook until it is the color of coffee-with-cream; this is a classic roux.

As the roux is cooking, heat the beef stock in another pot until it simmers. When the roux has cooked until the color of coffee-with-cream, slowly add the hot beef stock a little at a time. Everything will sputter at first, and the sauce will seize up and solidify. Keep stirring and adding stock slowly, and it will loosen up and become silky.

To finish, remove the meatballs from the sauce. Add the sour cream and mix well. Either add the lingonberry jelly to the sauce or serve it on the side if you like.  Add the meatballs to the sauce and turn the heat down to low. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Remove to serving dish and serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Simply Recipes

Bacon Jam

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This great little BBQ joint opened on Chincoteague a couple of years ago. They have numerous  wonderful specialty sandwiches, but if I was hard pressed I would have to say my favorite was “The Clipper”. It’s pulled pork, with a fresh fried boneless chicken breast on top, smothered in (get this), bacon jam. It was love at first bite. The sandwich is so large, it feeds you for about 3 days. Sadly, the place is seasonal, so you aren’t able to get this wonderous sandwich in the fall and winter months. I’d been thinking about recreating the bacon jam at home for over a year now. Well last week I finally broke down and took a swing at it, and it turned out wonderfully!

Seemed like the general consensus of the internet pointed to Not Quite Nigella’s recipe. It seemed like a winner to me. I knew the version I had at Woody’s contained bacon, brown sugar, and lots of caramelized onions. The coffee seemed like an interesting addition. Coffee is one of the main ingredients in Red Eye Gravy, which I love. Just like with chocolate, adding coffee doesn’t make it taste like coffee. It just  melds with and intensifies the porkiness. I was a little skeptical of the addition of  maple syrup, but went ahead and went with it anyways.

It is kind of time consuming. It took around 2 hours to cook down to the consistency I wanted. But, once I tasted it, I knew it was well worth the effort. The finished product is not greasy at all. I had expected a ton of fat to settle at the top when I had refrigerated it, but in the morning I was pleasantly surprised to find there was none! Draining most of the bacon grease before cooking the onions takes care of that issue. Since it’s cooked down so much, then pulsed in the food processor, it spreads on toast like a dream. With an over easy or poached egg, and a glass of orange juice it’s an ideal breakfast for the bacon lover without all the mess of frying bacon. It’s also wonderful spread on a crostinis for a quick appetizer.

Bacon Jam

Yields 1 pint

1 pound smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon Sriracha or hot sauce
1 cup coffee
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
Black pepper to taste
extra water

In a dutch oven, fry the bacon in batches until lightly browned and beginning to crisp. Remove to paper towel lined plate and set aside. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease out of the pan.

Fry the onion and garlic in the rendered bacon fat on medium heat until translucent.

Add the bacon to the onions and garlic, and add the rest of the ingredients except for the water. Simmer for 2 hours adding 1/4 of a cup of water every 25-30 minutes or so, and stir regularly.

Jam is done when you can’t tell the onions from the bacon. Cool for about 15-20 minutes and then place in a food processor. Pulse for 2-3 seconds so that you leave some texture to the “jam”. Refrigerate up to two weeks.

Source: Adapted from Not Quite Nigella

Rustic Roasted Tomato Salsa

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Isn’t it amazing that salsa is the #1 condiment in the United States? We love salsa in our house. Whether it’s a chunky pico de gallo, or a smoky salsa verde – we have yet to meet one we diddn’t like. This recipe is no exception. When I came across it on my friend Josie’s site, I knew it was going to be a winner. First of all, it’s Rick Bayless. The man moved to Mexico for 6 years to better learn the cuisine. He knows his salsa, folks.

I also loved the addition of fire-roasted tomatoes as the base. I like using good quality canned tomatoes for the restaurant style salsas that I’ve made in the past, so I knew the flavor could only be amplified by using the fire-roasted variety. The store only had fire-roasted tomatoes with garlic on shopping day, so I adjusted my recipe by reducing the amount of fresh garlic in the recipe by a couple of cloves. My changes are reflected below. The tomatoes lended a smokey sweetness, and the cilantro and lime juice just made it so bright and fresh. Made a nice sized batch that stored in the refrigerator wonderfully for a few days!

Rustic Roasted Tomato Salsa

2 fresh jalapeno peppers
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes with garlic, in juice
1/2 cup (loosely packed) roughly chopped cilantro
1 lime, juiced
Salt and Pepper

Heat a small skillet over medium heat, and dry roast the peppers and garlic, until soft and blotchy in spots.  The peppers will take about 10 minutes, and the garlic will take about fifteen.

Meanwhile, rinse the onion in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water.  Shake to dry, and set aside.

Stem and peel the jalapenos, and scrape out the seeds and membranes (or leave them if you want the salsa extra spicy)!  Peel the garlic, and transfer it to a food processor, along with the jalapenos.  Pulse until they are finely chopped, then add the tomatoes (with their juice), and pulse a few more times to make the salsa as smooth or as coarse as you want.  Pour the mixture into a medium bowl, and add the onion, cilantro, and lime juice.  Stir to combine, and add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and refrigerate, or serve immediately.

Source: adapted from Pink Parsley, originally from Mexican Everyday

Potstickers

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potstickers

Who doesn’t love potstickers? I’ve always loved them. I’d always order them from the local chinese restaurant. But, they’re usually flabby and greasy. Neither of which I find to be an appealing trait. So, a few years ago I decided to try to make them at home. My first few attempts I found to be very frustrating, and more or less fruitless. I used the packaged round wontons, and they just wouldn’t cooperate for me. I ended up throwing them all away in disgust.

So, when this dish came up in cooking class last fall, I must admit that I was a bit nervous. Visions of balled up dough and bits of ground pork all over the kitchen came flooding back to me. Thankfully, these were a breeze to make. The homemade gyoza wrappers were so much easier to work with than the store-bought variety. ‘Round these parts we like pan-fried dumplings, but feel free to steam, or (Heaven forbid!) deep fry them as well.  If you think this batch will make too many for your needs, no worries. They freeze beautifully! Just quick-freeze them on a baking sheet, then place them in a Ziploc bag for storage. Good for up to 3 months. Cook as directed, but add about 7  minutes of cooking time when covered.

Pork Potstickers

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 lb ground pork

Stir together flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a bowl until a dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface until just smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes.

While dough stands, halve ginger, then finely chop 1 half and cut remaining half into very thin matchsticks (less than 1/8 inch thick).

Combine 5 tablespoons soy sauce with ginger matchsticks in a small bowl.

Reserve 2 tablespoons scallions to add to the ginger soy dipping sauce.  Then finely chop remainder and put in a bowl along with pork, finely chopped ginger, garlic, and remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce. Gently knead with your hands in bowl until just combined. Chill, covered, 10 minutes.

While pork mixture chills, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and dust lightly with flour, then lightly dust a work surface with flour. Halve dough and rewrap 1 half. Pat remaining half into a flat square. Roll out dough into a 13-inch square (less than 1/8 inch thick) with a lightly floured rolling pin, dusting work surface with additional flour as needed, then cut out 12 rounds (very close together) using round cookie cutter. (If dough is sticking to cutter, lightly dip cutter in flour and shake off excess before cutting out each round.) Reserve scraps.

Transfer rounds to lined baking sheet and cover loosely with another layer of paper towels lightly dusted (on top) with flour. Roll out remaining half of dough and cut out 12 more rounds in same manner, then transfer rounds to lined baking sheet. Combine scraps of dough and wrap in plastic wrap, then let stand at least 10 minutes.

While scraps are standing, begin forming dumplings. Line another large baking sheet with paper towels and dust lightly with flour. Put 1 dough round on fingers of 1 hand near palm and put 2 slightly rounded teaspoons pork mixture in center of round. Fold round in half, enclosing filling, and pinch edges together to seal. Put dumpling on lined baking sheet and form 23 more dumplings in same manner (you may have some filling left over). Cover dumplings loosely with more paper towels. Roll out scraps into a 10-inch square (less than 1/8 inch thick) and cut out 8 more rounds. Form 8 more dumplings for a total of 32. Discard remaining scrap

Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Place dumplings in pan and cover, cooking for 7 minutes. Remove lid and continue cooking for an additional 3-5 minutes, until bottom of dumplings are nice and golden brown on the bottom. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel lined plate. Serve with ginger dipping sauce.
Source:  adapted from Gourmet