Tag: meatballs

Quick and beautiful

Did I find that camera again?

Some photos!! Finally!  Some photos means something to put on the blog.  There is plenty cooking going on but often no photos being taken. The reason is not always not finding the camera. It ranges from making time to not having anything to photograph any more because somebody ate it!

Some quick dishes

Sometimes I decide to bake something at the last minute, or I push the boundary of getting a dish done while doing many other things or having to leave the house soon. At other times, I am just coming home and need to cook something for dinner. Inspiration is not forthcoming until some ideas just pop up. Today, I am sharing some of these ideas with you.

Comfort food for an easy lunch or dinner

boulettes viande sauce tomate

Last weekend, I did not feel like sausages for dinner. I am not fan of sausages I must say. We had some mince and while the sausages were cooking (for the children who normally are sausages bug fans!) I just went on making meat balls.  The thing with meat balls is you can really put a variety of ingredients in them.  Some corn on the cob I was boiling because it had to be used ended up in the meat balls, so did some parsley, onion, garlic and more good things.

I simply served it with a green salad (as in lettuce dressed with olive oil&balsamic vinaigar).

Recipe HERE.

Chocolate fondant for a neighbourhood party

We got that invitation for a party which we weren’t sure what to bring or if to bring anything. I decided the children – there were bound to be quite a few – would always appreciate a little chocolate cake.

That recipe was found online a few days before I did it, I just gave it a try. Making:  5-10 minutes.  Cooking time: 8 minutes. It is a bit like a brownies but not so heavy.  The fun bit was for the children to decorate it using tagliatelle and icing sugar.

The recipe can be found where I found it, on ELLE website.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A recent encounter with Alain Ducasse chocolate cream

I am on this home cooking facebook page where one day I saw and wrote down this recipe from a french chef for some “petits pots de creme au chocolat”.  These are little ramequins of chocolate cream.  This dessert does not contain any cream nor flour or cornflour. It is a creme anglaise with chocolate, good chocolate, and a fair bit of it!

I have now done them quite a few times in the last three month, they are easy to make and so pleasing.  This is the first time I manage to snap a photo of them. Recipe HERE.

petits pots au chocolat petits pots au chocolat

And I had not made these for a while….

These is my tke on the protuguese custard tartlets. All you need is a good puff pastry, a vanilla custard and a little extra butter and sugar!  The recipe is already on the blog HERE. The photos here are the last batch. They smelled so good when we were taking the photos, it was hard to resist!

potuguese style tartlets potuguese style tartlets potuguese style tartlets

Meatballs in tomato sauce

Use this recipe of meatballs in tomato sauce as a base for meatballs recipes.  What is important is to bring up the flavours with the meat. This recipe is easy and can be done with children.

Serve it with pasta or rice or a green salad.

Serves 4.

Ingredients
  • 500 g mince meat (beef, you can use a combination or other meats)
  • 3 large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/2 onion passed through the food processor (alternatively dice very thinly)
  • 1/2 cup of mozzarella
  • 1 teaspoon of chermoula mix spices (or other meat seasoning spice mix)
  • corn from 2 corns on the cob, boiled and separated.
  • 1 egg (this is to help making it stick together, if you have small eggs, 2 may be better)
  • salt & pepper, oil
  • Passata – about 2 cups
  • 1/2 cup of parmesan or similar
  • about 2/3 cup of plain flour (use corn flour is gluten is an issue)
  • garden herbs: thyme, rosemary or parsley
Method:
  1. In a big bowl, mix together the mince, garlic, spices, onion, mozzarella, corn, egg, and if using some thyme or rosemary.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Place the flour in a deep plate.
  3. Make balls with the meat the size of a lime then roll in the flour. Set aside until all are prepared.
  4. Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frypan, once hot, place the meat balls and slightly flatten them.  Allow to grill on each side (turning once only as they are fragile). Reduce the heat to medium.  Once grilled, add the passata and cover for 10-15 minutes while the meat finishes to cook. If you find the sauce is too thick or too little you can add 1/2 cup of water.
  5. Uncover, add the parmesan and fresh parsley. Serve.