Swedish Meatballs

Randal loves Swedish meatballs, but until recently it wasn't a meal I made very often, not until I found this recipe over at  damn delicious anyway!

This recipe made a lot of meatballs so I froze half of them, which is perfect for us right now, as in a few weeks I am about to be even more busy during the day as Sophie and her baby sister will be coming back to daycare, the twins are very excited to get Sophie back but I have already warned Randal that he will be eating a lot of simple meals, at least until I get the three 2 year olds and the three month old on a schedule.

Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup panko
1 onion, diced
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 cups beef broth
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

In a large pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the onion until softened, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and pork, along with the egg yolks, panko, allspice, nutmeg, salt, pepper and the cooled onion.  Roll into 1 1/2 inch sized balls.

Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan the onion was cooked in and brown the meatballs in batches and set aside on a paper towel lined plate.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in the pan, add in the flour and let cook for a few minutes.  Gradually whisk in the beef broth and bring to a simmer.  Add in the sour cream, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.  Add the meatballs back to the pan and cook for 10 minutes.  Top with fresh parsley and serve.

Irish Apple Cake

Being English I don't celebrate St. Patrick's day, our day is St. George's day, which is in April.  However I rarely pass up the opportunity to bake something, so I figured I would join in with the rest of America this year and celebrate St. Patrick's day just a little bit!

This cake is packed full of apples with a crunchy sugary top.  I made my usual custard to serve this with this rather than the one that was with the cake recipe over at  the kitchen mccabe.

Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
6 oz butter
3/4 cup sugar
4 large granny smith apples, peeled and diced
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar, to sprinkle on top of cake

Preheat oven to 375 and grease an 8 inch springform pan.

 Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cloves into a large bowl.

Using your fingertips rub the cold, diced butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles crumbs.

Add the sugar and apples to the mixture and stir together.

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and milk.  Add to the flour mixture and stir together.

Pour cake batter into the cake pan and sprinkle the top with the 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Creme Anglaise
1.5 cups heavy cream
1.5 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Seeds from 1 plumped Vanilla Bean (vanilla beans plumped in rum for at least 2 weeks)
8 large egg yolks

Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, and add the sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla beans and add to the milk, then split the vanilla beans in half and add that to the milk also. Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl and leave near the stove. Place a sieve over a second large bowl.

Heat the cream mixture over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, until the mixture is very hot but not boiling. Slowly whisk half of the cream mixture into the yolks. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the crème anglaise is thick enough to coat the spatula. Pour through the sieve to remove the vanilla beans and any cooked egg pieces, leave to cool for 15 minutes.

Greek Lemon Potatoes

One of my favourite restaurants in Houston is Niko Niko's.  Their lemon potatoes are so addictive that I usually buy an extra order to reheat the next day.  Now these lemon potatoes are not really the same as Niko Niko's because theirs doesn't have an oven roasted feel to them at all, but the flavour of these potatoes wedges are as equally addictive as the ones at Niko Niko's, so lemony and delicious!

4 large potatoes
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/3  cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Peel potatoes and slice into wedges.

In a large ziploc bag, combine the olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and chicken broth.  Add the potatoes to the bag and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400.

Pour the potatoes and marinade into a baking pan.  Bake for 1 hour, turning half way.

Greek Yogurt Chicken

I found this chicken recipe on pinterest, but I think I read that it is originally a weight watchers recipe.  I was already planning on making some greek lemon potatoes but I wasn't sure what to make with them, but as soon as I saw the picture for this recipe I knew I had to try it.

This is a really simple meal to make, but very flavourful.  You simple marinate the chicken in yogurt and herbs and then bake.

 

2 lbs chicken thighs

1 cup plain greek yogurt

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp oregano

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, garlic, parsley, oregano and lemon juice and zest.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the yogurt mixture.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 375.

Place the chicken in a large baking pan and cook for 45 minutes,, or until chicken is cooked through.

 

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Coconut chicken curry, jasmine rice and naan bread

Tuesday:  Swedish meatballs

Wednesday: Cabbage rolls

Thursday: Herb roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Lebanese Meatballs

The original recipe for these meatballs from The Spice Kit were made with turkey, I decided to make these with beef as I wanted Randal to enjoy these and he really isn't a fan of ground turkey, and he loves the Armenian beef kebabs I make so I was hoping he would like these as well.

These meatballs are simmered in a lightly spiced tomato sauce and we served them with rice and a salad.  We both really loved this dinner, and now I wish I had made more meatballs to freeze for another day!

 

Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef
⅔ cup bread crumbs
1 onion, diced
⅓ cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 eggs
6 cloves garlic
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin

Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
28 oz crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
8 oz tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a large bowl mix together all the meatball ingredients.  Form into golf ball size meatballs.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan.  Brown the meatballs, then remove from pan.

To make the sauce, add the diced onion to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, add in the garlic and cook for another minute before adding in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, sugar, allspice, oregano, salt and pepper.

Bring the sauce to a boil, add in meatballs, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Cabbage Dolma

I bought a couple of cabbages back when they were on a great sale for St. Patrick's day, I knew that I would make my mother-in-law's cabbage rolls with one of them, but I wasn't sure what I would make with the other.  Then I thought about what other meals I was planning such as Greek chicken and Lebanese meatballs and I thought I would try making some cabbage dolmas.

The filling for these rolls is really good, you can really taste the mint and the meat is totally optional, I just added it to make these more appealing to my husband.

1 cabbage
1 lb ground beef
1 cup rice
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh mint
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
juice of 2 lemons

Cut the core out of the cabbage and place into a large pan of boiling water.  Cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes to soften the cabbage.  Remove and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the beef, rice, onion, mint, parsley, garlic, allspice, half the lemon juice, salt and pepper. 

Separate the cabbage leaves, and fill each one with around 1/4 cup of filling and roll up.

Place a couple of extra cabbage leaves in the bottom of a large pan, and place the cabbage rolls in the pan.  Season with salt and pepper and the remaining lemon juice.  Pour enough water to cove the cabbage rolls, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes.

Once mine were cooked I decided to pan fry for a couple of minutes to get them a little browned.