Swedish Meatballs with Dill Sauce (the real deal, family recipe!)

It’s not Christmas if I don’t eat Swedish Meatballs.  Growing up, we always had a big Christmas Eve dinner with my grandparents, and Swedish Meatballs were always on the menu.  When I got married, my mom gave me a recipe binder with a ton of recipes in it, and one of the first things I did was check to make sure the Swedish Meatballs recipe was in there (it was, of course).  If you’re serving this as an appetizer, it could easily feed 8-10, but if you’re serving it as an entree, I can state from firsthand knowledge that four hungry people can polish them all off.  They probably won’t want to move anytime soon after eating all of them, but it can and has been done.

• 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 2 pounds lean ground beef (80/20 is fine – I wouldn’t use higher than 93/7 or they’ll be too dry)

Saute the onion in the butter until tender, remove from heat to cool.  Soak the bread crumbs in the milk for 5 minutes.  Add the eggs and spices to the breadcrumbs; mix well.  Add the ground beef and onions; mix well.  Shape into 1-inch balls.  Fry in a large skillet over moderate heat, turning frequently to brown on all sides.  Makes about 5 dozen.  Serve with dill sauce.

Dill Sauce

• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp dill weed or more, to taste (I always use more)

Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Blend in the flour, salt and dry mustard, whisking frequently, and cook for about a minute.  Add the milk.  Cook, stirring constantly, over moderate heat until thickened.  Stir in the sour cream and dill weed.  Serve immediately.

Whenever I make these, my meatballs always seem to turn out larger than 1-inch balls, which is fine, you just have to cook them longer to make sure they get cooked all the way through.  It has happened on occasion that they are not cooked through – if that’s the case, just pop them in the microwave for a minute or two, the world will not end.  The main thing is to get kind of a sear on the outside of the meatballs since it really adds to the flavor.  Pictured above with the meatballs is roasted cauliflower and sauteed asparagus with dill.  For the cauliflower, I just cut it into pieces, tossed it with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.  Roast it on high heat (450F) for about 30 minutes or until tender.  For the asparagus, I cut it into pieces, melted some butter in a pan and tossed the asparagus in there, sauteed it, then put on the lid so it would steam a bit.  Add salt, pepper and dill at the end and you’re done.  Enjoy!

 

The Foodie Housewife has been on a bit of a non-self imposed hiatus.   Computer issues are to blame, but fear not!  A new computer is in the works, and will be one more thing for me to give Thanks for on Thanksgiving.  So while I may not have been much use for Thanksgiving, I will be back in force for Christmas.  This is fine by me, since Thanksgiving has never really been my favorite.  My two most memorable Thanksgivings were the one I spent in LA with my Dad (we had hotdogs), and the one where all the stray people who didn’t have a Thanksgiving to go to came over and alien abduction was a topic of conversation.  Good times.

There are many places I don’t like silicone (on the overly enhanced, shall we say?), but one place I love it is the kitchen.  I do a lot of baking, and my silpat baking sheet comes in handy.  I also love my silicone beaks (aka pot grabbers) because I’m too impatient to put on a full oven mitt and would rather risk being burned, and if they get groddy, you can just throw them on the top rack of the dishwasher to clean them.  Somehow that’s better than one more thing in the laundry.  These are similar to mine (and cute to boot!), and these look promising too.  Speaking of promising, this rolling pin looks like just the thing to add to my kitchen tool arsenal.

What gadgets can you not live without?

I’ve become a big fan of a well stocked pantry.  If you have certain things on hand, you can kind of wing it and throw things together and voilà, there’s dinner.  I always have some pasta, chicken stock, lemons, parmesan cheese, and chicken in the freezer.  I’m a big fan of arugula, and thought pasta with all those things together, topped with some walnuts for good measure, would be a good dinner.  Bonus – it only took about 20 minutes to make!

Pasta with Chicken, Arugula and Parmesan

• 1 lb pasta (I used mini penne, but bowtie or fusilli would be fine as well)
• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 1″ chunks
• 2 tbsp olive or grapeseed oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder or 2-3 cloves of garlic finely minced
• about  2 tsp Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle (blend of basil, oregano, rosemary, and more garlic)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/3 c sour cream
• 1/2 bag of washed arugula (about 6 oz)
• 1/2 c Parmesan cheese plus extra for garnish
• chopped walnuts for garnish

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-medium/high heat until warm.  While the pan is warming, season the chicken with garlic, salt and pepper.   Add olive or grapeseed oil to pan, the add the chicken.  Cook about half way through then add the Pasta Sprinkle and all the chicken stock and lemon juice.  Continue to cook the chicken until cooked through, then remove chicken to a bowl or plate.  Lower the heat, then whisk the butter and sour cream into the chicken stock mixture.  Whisk constantly so the sour cream doesn’t break (it helps if the sour cream is close to room temperature), then simmer gently to reduce a little.

In a large bowl, place the drained pasta, cooked chicken, and arugula.  Pour the sauce over the top and add the Parmesan cheese.  Toss together.  As you toss everything, the arugula will wilt, which is what you want.  To serve, place in a bowl, top with more Parmesan (you can never have too much!) and a few walnuts.  Depending on how picky your kid is, this is a good one.  Mine was happy aside from the “green stuff” which elicited yucks, but once the offending veggie was removed, he was good to go.   Easily serves 4, with some sides, you could serve 6.

This is a magical recipe.  Who knew you could take such humble ingredients and make something so ridiculously delicious?  I used to be more of a chocoholic, but this recipe started my obsession with caramel.    This is delicious on nearly anything, including ice cream, as a cupcake filling, on panna cotta, and as a dip for sliced apples.  Throw some in your coffee and make your morning happier.

Caramel Sauce Cockaigne – by The All New Joy of Cooking

Place in a small, heavy saucepan:

1 cup of sugar

Pour evenly over the top:

1/4 cup water

Set over medium-high heat and swirl the saucepan gently by the handle until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear.  Avoid letting the syrup boil until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Increase the heat to high, cover the saucepan tightly, and boil the syrup for 2 minutes.  Uncover the saucepan and continue to boil the syrup until it begins to darken around the edges.  Gently swirl the pan by the handle until the syrup turns a deep amber and begins to smoke.  Remove from the heat and add:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Gently beat until the butter is incorporated.  Stir in:

1/2 cup heavy cream

If the sauce becomes lumpy, set the pan over low heat and stir until smooth.  Turn off the heat and stir in:

2 teaspoons vanilla

Pinch of salt

Serve warm or at room termperature.  The sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 month; it will become solid.  Reheat in a doublt boiler or in a heavy saucepan over very low heat, adding a bit of water if it is too thick.

Some notes – as soon as the syrup starts to smoke, you’re ready to pull it off the heat.  It can burn, and then you’re stuck starting over.  As for re-heating the sauce, the microwave is fine, you just want to check it about every 20-30 seconds to make sure you’re not burning it.

I have a confession to make: sometimes I have no idea what to make for dinner.  If you cook a lot, it gets to be relentless – day after day, you’re just supposed to come up with something, and (though this makes me sound big headed) once you get to be a decent cook, you aren’t really thrilled to just throw some chicken breast in the oven and eat them 30 minutes later.  I had a friend in college who took a case of Ramen with him on a roadtrip because, “Food is for fuel.”  That’s true at the most basic sense, but  it’s much more than that as well.  Cooking and eating uses all five of our senses.  If it was just about giving our bodies energy, there would be no such thing as comfort food.

That said, my point is that sometimes I just fly by the seat of my pants.  Ever since I polished off my last bag of Alexia Crunchy Snacks Seasoned Onion Strips (still waiting for that endorsement deal!), I’ve been on an onion kick.  The other night I didn’t have a car to go to the store and buy more, but I had some onions and flour in the pantry, and like my girl Paula Deen, I’m not afraid to fry things, so I decided to make a crispy fried onion.  Isn’t that an onion ring?  I hear you saying.  To me, no, an onion ring is battered, then fried.  It might just be semantics, but in my mind, they’re different things.  The thing that’s great about these is they are fast – easily ready in about 15 minutes.  I warn you, they’re highly addictive. Brian said they tasted like high class French’s Onions, which I think is a fair assessment.

Onion Crunchies

• Cooking oil (I used vegetable, but chose your preference)
• 1 small onion
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
• 2 tablespoons milk

Heat about an inch of oil over medium/medium high heat in a pan suitable for frying.  Slice the onion very thin – the thinner, the better.  Toss with the milk in a bowl.  In a  large Ziploc type bag, combine the flour, chili powder, cayenne, and seasoned salt.  Shake to combine, then add the onions and shake some more to coat them.  Feel free to prod them through the bag to make sure they’re all coated.  When the oil is hot (test by dropping a little of the flour mixture in there – if it bubbles right up, you’re good to go), drop the onions in batches, frying until crisp, about two minutes.  Drain on paper towels and serve.

I was watching Martha Stewart the other day (don’t judge), and they made a lentil soup for one.  It looked OK, and I had most of the ingredients on hand, but I knew I was going to be busy and didn’t want to be hovering over a stove, so I hopped on the internet and did some Googling.  I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Lentil and Ham Soup, but didn’t have any ham.  I’m sure you’re all shocked, but I did have some bacon, so I played around with the recipe and came up with a winner.

Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Black Pepper Bacon

• 1 cup dried lentils
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 7 strips thick cut black pepper bacon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 cup vegetable juice (V-8 or equivalent)
• kosher salt

Cook bacon half way (try the oven method), pat to remove excess fat and chop into pieces.  Place lentils, celery, carrots, onion, and bacon in slow cooker.  Add chicken broth and vegetable juice, the herbs and spices, and cook on low.  Discard bay leaf before serving, and check seasoning to see if it needs more salt or pepper.  This comes out really thick and more like a stew, and is a great meal for a cold day with a nice crusty bread.  If you want to add to your foodie street cred (dude, that totally exists), you could call it Slow Cooker Lentil Soup with Mirepoix and Black Pepper Bacon.

This is fast and delicious.  Perfect for a snack or a party, you can make it in less than 5 minutes in the microwave.  I basically use the delightful Alton Brown’s recipe, I just tweak the measurements a bit.

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

• 1 generous cup thawed chopped frozen spinach, drained
• 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonaise
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
• rounded 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Squeeze the excess water out of the spinach in a colander.  Heat cream cheese in microwave for about 1 minute.  Add all ingredients to cream cheese, stir well, and heat until hot (about another 2 minutes).  Great with those Archer Farms Organic Blue Tortilla Chips I keep going on about.

There’s always talk of comfort food this time of year, but I’m here to say that cookies are the original comfort food. These no bake cookies take me back to Girl Scout meetings long ago, and are ready in no time.

No Bake Cookies (recipe from my mother-in-law)

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar, milk, and cocoa. Stir, then let come to a boil for 30 seconds. Take off heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Once peanut butter is thoroughly combined, add oatmeal. Drop by tablespoon full on wax paper (or silicone baking mat).

Sure, they’ve got 2 cups of sugar in them, but they also have oatmeal and peanut butter! Plus chocolate is good for you. They’re practically a health food.

This was a spin off a recipe in Real Simple. They used the cheese ravioli with apples and walnuts, but I thought it needed kicked up a notch, to borrow a term from Emeril. It’s still super easy and fast, and perfect for this time of year when there are lots of delicious apples ripe for the picking.

Cheese Ravioli with Apples, Walnuts, and Bacon

• 1 lb cheese ravioli (I used the mini ones again)
• 1 medium size Honeycrisp apple, skin on, chopped into matchstick pieces
• 1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
• handful of button mushrooms, sliced (optional – I liked the texture, but not necessary)
• 4 strips of bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 c gorgonzola cheese crumbles
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper

Cook the pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, heat butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and mushrooms (if using) and sauté for a minute, then add walnuts to toast. When the walnuts are just about toasted, toss in the apples just long enough to heat them, not cook them.

Place a serving of pasta in a bowl, top with some of the gorgonzola, bacon crumbles, and apple walnut mixture. Season with salt and pepper, and voilà! This dish has a lot of flavor and the textures really play nicely off each other as well. Serves four.