Snowballs and Meatballs

Happy New Year! One of my many vague resolutions was to become a better blogger...it's now day 11 of the new year and this is my first post, so I think we can safely say that has been broken! Good intentions and all that...

I have been meaning to post because I wanted to rave about my fabulous Christmas present from my lovely man...he got me Le Creuset stuff!!! I'm SO excited - I am now the (very) proud owner of a gorgeous medium sized turquoise blue cast-iron Le Creuset casserole dish, a similarly blue large pot and a matching ceramic utensil holder. It's all so beautiful and fancy - I get all enthused just talking about it! They look so stunning in the kitchen too...the kitchen being black, silver and wood - a splash of teal blue has brightened things up no end! I've never really had a lot of fancy kitchen stuff - I don't have bad things, but I've only ever lusted after cookware like Le Creuset. Best Christmas present ever!

Anyway, the combination of my gorgeous gift and the horrendous weather (seriously, it's now week 3 of snow. The novelty has well and truly worn off, let me tell you! Although it was our first ever White Christmas, so that was exciting. But again, that was week 1 of the snow...) has really meant that the food on our menu has been warming, stodgy stews, casseroles, soups and similar creations. Nothing I've made has been particularly revolutionary, but I have just finished writing up a couple of recipes for a friend who requested them, so I thought I'd share them with the wider web world too. So, on the menu this week - Jess's Meatballs and Beef Casserole.

Jess’s Meatballs
(as much as she can remember what she put into the last lot, that is!)

Ingredients:

Equal quantities pork and beef mince (I use about 250g of each – that will make enough for 4 generous servings. You need the pork - it makes them much more tender)
Handful of fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices of toast bread or equivalent amount…stale white bread really is best, but you can use grainy stuff if you like)
Squirt of tomato sauce and Worcester sauce if you have them (if not, tom puree/paste and soy would also work)
1 egg
Finely chopped onion or spring onion and a clove of garlic (if I’m feeling organised or energetic, I will sometimes sauté the onion and garlic and then add it. It is better this way because the onion isn’t as harsh, but it’s by no means essential)
Herbs to taste (fresh, finely chopped rosemary and thyme are my favourites, although basil is also nice…if I’m using basil I finely chop the stems and a few of the leaves and put that into the meatballs, and then use the leaves in the sauce at the end. Parsley is also good, and dried herbs are fine too)
Salt and pepper (don’t be cautious with the salt. I’d add a full teaspoon of salt or garlic salt – they seem to be able to take a fair bit of seasoning)
You can also add a couple of tablespoons of grated parmesan to the meatballs if you have it.

To make:
Put breadcrumbs in large bowl. Add enough of the sauces to soften/moisten, and mix. You want a sort of gloopy, bready paste (sounds delish, doesn’t it?!). Add the onion/garlic, herbs, seasonings, parmesan if using and meat, crack in the egg and then get your hands stuck in to mix it up. You need to really mix it well – you’re almost trying to change the consistency of the meat, so mix it and then almost start to knead it in the bowl. This should take about 3 mins of mixing.

With wet hands, roll into little balls. I like mine quite small – about teaspoon size, although you’ll find that as you go on, your meatballs get bigger because you get sick of rolling them!

For cooking there are two approaches. You can either brown them off in batches, and then add them to a tomato sauce, or you can just plop them straight into the simmering sauce as they are. I suppose browning them gives them an added dimension of flavour which is nice, but to be honest I like them both ways and the latter is certainly less work! :-P

For the sauce:
I usually finely chop an onion and 1-2 cloves of garlic (since you will most likely have used the food processor to make your breadcrumbs, I’d advise slinging the onion and garlic in the blitzer and chopping them that way. Saves you the effort and I prefer the finer texture in the sauce anyway). Very gently cook in olive oil in a big pot or pan at a medium temperature. Once they are soft but before they brown, add an entire jar of passata (if you're in the UK, the jars of passata are standard size - about 700g. That's tomato puree if you're in NZ...you want about 2 cans I'd guess), a good tsp of sugar (brown or white, whatever you have closest!), half a tsp of salt and a splash of red wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer, add the meatballs (browned or otherwise), put the lid on and let them simmer gently for about an hour. I find they are better if they are sort of slow cooked – sometimes they can toughen otherwise. Taste the sauce before serving – you might want to add a bit more sugar or salt. Stir in basil leaves if you have them, serve over pasta and top with loads of parmesan cheese.

NB: If you don’t have any eggs, you can successfully make these using milk to soften the breadcrumbs instead. Just add it to the bread when you add the sauces – about 2-3 tbsp milk? I’ve done this many times and it’s fine. I can never decide if I like the egg or milk version best – both are good so use what you have.

If you fancy an arrabiata-type sauce, add a finely chopped red chilli to the onion and garlic in the sauce before you add the passata. Gives a nice background warmth without being too hot.

You could throw chopped olives into the sauce at the end if you wanted, or a handful of rocket or baby-spinach leaves (I often do the latter if I’m feeling like I ought to have green vege as well as a giant bowl of carbs! Easier than a salad…). Actually you could go Greek with this by adding a bit of lemon zest to the meatballs, using parsley instead of basil and adding the olives at the end. Then I guess you could serve it with warmed pita breads, or over potatoes or rice – also very yummy!

The uncooked meatballs freeze well. I put them on a baking tray to freeze and then transfer to a bag so they are free-flow…that way one of you can have a quick meal without having to defrost a giant block of ‘balls. If you’re feeling very energetic and want to be uber-organised, you can double the mixture and make a whole extra batch to free-flow freeze. Handy to have on hand for a standby meal. The sauce and cooked meatballs also freeze well if you prefer ready-cooked meals in the freezer.

The Casserole

1 leek
2 cloves garlic
1 carrot
2 rashers of bacon
Handful of button mushrooms
However much casserole beef was in that packet (400g?)
2 tbsp flour
Salt/pepper
Herbs – dried or rosemary/thyme fresh
About a glass of red wine
2 tbsp (ish) tomato paste
Splash of red wine vinegar
Water to cover


Toss the meat in flour that you have seasoned with salt, pepper and some dried or finely chopped fresh herbs. Brown the floured meat in batches (when I say brown – I really just vaguely sealed each side, more than browned. This step just ensures the sauce goes nice and thick later on) in your fancy new Le Creuset casserole (or similar stove to oven cookware). Remove meat from dish as it is browned. Add a bit more oil to the casserole. Sweat the vege in oil in a casserole dish, adding the bacon and mushrooms as you chop them. Add the meat back in, and add the red wine to deglaze the casserole (scrape all the sticky bits from the bottom into the winey sauce). Add the rest of the ingredients, mixing to combine. Bring to a simmer then put the lid on and put in a 160-170degC oven for about 2 hours. Season with sugar and salt to taste.

The cobblerish topping of an earlier post goes wonderfully on the above casserole (I know this isn't a revolutionary casserole recipe, but it turned out sooo well last night that I felt it worth posting).

Oh, in other foodie 'news', I used one of my Christmas book vouchers to buy the Julia Child 'My Life in France' book, which is the other half of the story that Julie/Julia is based on. I'm loving it so far - Julia is just so charming and vivacious, even in print - but I've had to stop reading it in bed at night...it makes me much too hungry! All those wonderful descriptions of French cooking, pastry, fish, soups, breads...nothing worse than going to sleep with your stomach grumbling!

I shall post pics of my new kitchen acquirements (of which Julia would be proud, I'm sure!) when I'm home from London and I've tidied up the kitchen...