Turkey Meatballs

Turkey Meatballs

Meatballs are one of the few meals that everyone in my house eats. There’s no complaints, no whining and generally very little encouragement (i.e. EAT your dinner!) needed when I make them. I need more meals like this is my arsenal! Even though the general recipe is the same (or close at least), I love meatballs but despise meatloaf. Seriously…even saying the word in my head is enough to make me gag. Brett LOVES
meatloaf – although unfortunately for him, I rarely make it. Come on…a loaf of meat that’s all congealed and oily?(here comes the gagging again…) So meatballs are as close as our family usually gets to “baked meat”. Sorry Brett…maybe for your birthday dinner?

Where this recipe came fromI received an Italian cookbook from my boss’s wife at my very first post-college job. If you know me (and my “fair” complexion), you know that there isn’t a drop of Italian blood in my body. So I was so excited when she handed down this authentic cookbook. The meatball recipe had a “really good” in pencil next to the title, so I decided to give it a try. They were amazing…and have been my base recipe ever since. Over the years, I’ve developed my own recipe (healthier) based off of this original (that doesn’t involve a piece of hot milk soaked bread? or frying the meatballs), but these are still amazing!

Making the recipeAfter I baked the meatballs, I tossed them into the crockpot with my sauce. I think meatballs are one of these things that totally benefit from a day in a sauce bath. Plus, it’s so nice on a Saturday to have dinner done by 11 am!

The resultsDid I mention everyone in my house eats meatballs? Enough said!

The recipe1 pkg ground turkey
1 pkg sweet turkey sausage
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten
½ cup breadcrumbs, plus more for rolling
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Pinch of ground nutmeg
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Mix all ingredients

and shape into balls (whatever size you like). Roll into a shallow dish of breadcrumbs

and bake for 20 minutes.

Marinara sauceOK, so this recipe I’m slightly more ashamed of. I have no idea how to make “real” sauce. This is my attempt, and while I think it’s pretty good, I certainly realize there is room for improvement.
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. sugar
½ cup red wine (I left it out this time because I didn’t have any…yikes!)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tsp. Dried oregano
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 bunch fresh basil chopped
Crushed red pepper, if desired

Put everything but the fresh parsley and basil in the crockpot on low, add cooked meatballs and cook for 6-8 hours, adding parsley and basil about 30 minutes before serving. We enjoyed ours on toasty multigrain rolls with melted mozzarella…yum!

Oven Grilling

Sugar and spice rubbed steak with garlic bread

So Spring is definitely on it's way...the snow in my yard is almost gone (hello winter season of dog poop) and Deli is two days in with no winter hat (my daughter has been OBSESSED with a pink winter hat this year, that has barely come off of her head in the past three months. Thank you Meme!) The change of the season has me ready to welcome our grill back into my life. This past Sunday, however, I wasn't quite ready to fire up the old gal, so I pointed my grill itch to my oven.

Where this recipe came from
Back in the day when I had let's say a little more time on my hands for TV (cough, pre-kids, cough), I watched a lot of Rachael Ray. There was one particular episode I remember where she used a sugar rub on steak.I'm a huge fan of the sugar/spice thing, so when I make it - I always add some crush red pepper.

Making the recipe
When I cook steak, I follow the rules and let it sit out for an hour before cooking. So you have to think enough in advance of cooking to take the steak out of the refrigerator. I also put my broiler rack on the second position down from the top...I think it's slightly too hot on the first.

The results
My kids won't touch steak, and to be honest (for Deli anyway, I think it's still too chewy). But the garlic bread, they LOVED! They ate it like a watermelon! :) Brett and I loved the steak, and the leftovers made some great steak burritos the next day!

The recipe
1.5 lb sirloin steak
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
generous amount of salt and pepper

Let the steak sit out for an hour. Preheat the broiler. Mix the olive oil, brown sugar, coriander, crushed red pepper, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Rub half of the mixture over one side of the steak, flip it over and repeat with the rest. Line the bottom of the broiler pan with foil. Place the steak on the broiler pan.

Cook for 4-5 minutes, flip the steak and return to the oven and cook for 4-5 more minutes. (I cooked 4 minutes on the first side and 5 minutes on the second. It was a perfect medium rare). Put the steak on a cutting board and let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Garlic bread
1 loaf of multigrain bread
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp shredded parmesean cheese
salt and pepper

Slice the bread in half horizontally. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, basil and oregano. Mix and brush equally onto both sides of the bread. Divide the parmesean cheese and top each half.

Put the bread back together and wrap in foil. Put on the bottom rack of the oven while you cook the steak to heat through. (I put it in a few minutes before I put in the steak and it came out great. remove from the oven, let cook for a few minutes and slice.

Ahhhh…so I was getting ready to post this blog last night and was too tired to do photos, etc. Thanks God I waited…I almost forgot the STAR of the meal (at least for me). The mojito, my favorite warm-weather cocktail. I love the tart mint combo, to the point where I can’t smell mint leaves without thinking about a mojito. This was the perfecto accompaniment to my oven grilled meal.

Mojito (Jen version...I'm sure this is not authentic, but it works for me!)
6-8 fresh mint leaves
1-2 tsp sugar. I don’t like my mojitos too sweet, so I go on the “scanter” side. Feel free to increase to your taste.
Juice of ½ to a whole lime (again I like it tart, so I use the whole thing. It also depends on the juiciness of your lime)
1 ½ shot of rum (I used Bacardi. This is also a spot to increase to your taste…or depending on the kind of day you had!)
Ice cubes
Seltzer (flavored or plain works fine – I probably use about a half a cup?)

Put your mint and sugar in a muddle and muddle to crush up the mint leaves and incorporate the sugar. If you don’t have a muddler (basically a glass with a wooden cylinder), you could use the back of a spoon. Stir in the lime juice and rum. Pour into a glass with ice, top your glass with seltzer.

ENJOY!

Sauteed tilapia with walnut feta couscous

Sauteed tilapia with walnut feta couscous

So I was raving to Brett the other day about feta cheese. I think it actually went something like "feta cheese is so good!!" So of course, he's been picking on me ever since because I've rediscovered feta cheese. "Jen have you heard about this new thing called feta cheese? It's AMAZING!"

Ha ha...really I did not just "discover" feta cheese. I buy it occasionally when I need it for a recipe (I always put in in quiche), but I think I have decided it needs to be a part of my weekly grocery routine. Not quite sure what that will do with the "get my fanny in bathing suit shape for vacation in two months" mission (since I don't seem to be substituting it for other ingredients, just adding in), but whatever.

Where the recipe came from
Tilapia (in my opinion), is one of the easiest fish to work with. It's super flaky, cooks quickly, has a nice light flavor and you don't need to do much to it. This is usually the way I cook it...sauteed with garlic and lemon. I thought the walnut and feta would be the perfect accompaniment with the couscous and it worked perfectly.

Making the recipe
This is a perfect weeknight recipe. The whole thing could be cooked in twenty minutes or less.

The results
For the most part, Bodie won't touch fish. I've breaded and baked small "fish sticks" before, which were actually a hit - but other than that, no go. He was also not a fan of the couscous, which was a bummer since I think he would have liked it. Adela had a few bites of fish (woohoo!) and ate all of her couscous - she actually picked the walnuts out of Bodie's too! Brett and I loved it!

The recipe
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb tilapia fillet
juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper
fish seasoning blend (I added a sprinkle of this on top of the fish, but you could use dried oregano, or skip it altogether)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over med heat. Meanwhile sprinkle the fish with salt, pepper and fish seasoning blend or oregano. Put the fish, seasoned side down in the pan and sprinkle the opposite side.

Add the minced garlic to the top of the fish and the juice or half the lemon. Cook for 3-5 minutes and flip. Continue cooking until the fish is cooked through (will flake easily). Serve topped with the remaining lemon juice.

Walnut feta couscous
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup couscous
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup feta cheese (I used garlic and herb)
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat chicken stock in a small saucepan oven high heat. Meanwhile, toast the walnuts in a toaster oven or in a dry pan on the stove. Once the chicken stock is boiling, add the couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork. Add the toasted walnuts and feta, salt and pepper.

I served the tilapia and couscous with sauteed brocolini.