Umptious Spaghetti and Meatballs

I’m going to put on my sparkly pink cape and become Captain Obvious for forthcoming confession.  Are you ready?


I love food.  (See why I needed the cape?) I love all kinds of food, from the healthy and leafy to the junk varieties.

But as much as I love it, sometimes it’s hard to wax poetic about artichokes or barbecue sauce. Lately, I have been struggling with not only writer’s block, but (Saturday) chef’s block. I haven’t made anything that I would deem blog-worthy or even been inspired by too many recipes.

Thankfully, I got the October issue of Bon Appetit in the mail, and as I flipped through its glossy pages, I found a recipe for spaghetti and meatballs, complete with a tantalizing picture. Instantly, my chef’s block was gone!

I worship spaghetti and meatballs. When made right, it’s everything one could one in a meal—meaty and tender with a delicious sauce. When made wrong, it’s as Chef Ramsay would seethe, “a dog’s dinner!”

I had the most fabulous plate of spaghetti and meatballs at a little Italian place in my small town with a girlfriend nearly a decade ago. I’ve been trying to re-create that salty, beefy, tomato-y umptiousness since that night as that little Italian place is now a big sports bar. Since then, I’ve tried every variation I could think of and literally dozens of recipes. I’ve used all turkey, all veal, even threw some bacon in the mix. I’ve pan-fried them and finished in the oven. I’ve simmered for hours in tomato sauce. I’ve had pleasing results and some meatballs that resembled beefy ping-pong balls.

This recipe is Why-Didn’t-I-Think-Of-That simple, and delivers ridiculous flavor. The sauce with San Marzano tomatoes (or Magic Tomatoes as I call them, because I’ll eat them plain and I HATE the texture of tomatoes) is vivid and bright.

If you’re on a quest for the perfect spaghetti and meatballs, it just ended here!

 

 
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Adapted from recipe in Bon Appetit, October 2010
 
Sauce

2 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes and juice, preferable San Marzano
1 stick butter
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth as needed

Directions
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. When butter foams, add onions and sauté until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add entire can of tomatoes and juice. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to break up the larger chunks of sauce, but leave fairly chunky. If too much liquid has evaporated, stir in vegetable broth to thin out. Season with salt and pepper to taste.



Meatballs
1 cup of plain breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk (2% or whole)
8 ounces lean or extra lean ground beef
8 ounces pork or veal
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/3 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
Salt, pepper
2 large eggs, whisked
2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 pound spaghetti, cooked al dente

Directions
While sauce is simmering, mix breadcrumbs and milk. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow the breadcrumbs absorb the milk.

Place beef and veal in a large bowl. Add cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, whisked eggs and milky breadcrumbs. Gently mix meat mixture with hands until evenly combined. Meatball mix should be moist, but hold together.

Roll meat between hands to form meatballs that are a little smaller than a golf ball. Place rolled meatballs on in a pan or cookie sheet lined with foil. Chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

After sauce has been simmered, blended and seasoned, gently drop meatballs into sauce. Simmer covered until cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes, occasionally swirling pot by the handles to stir meatballs without breaking them apart.

Spoon sauce over cooked spaghetti, garnish with parsley and grated parmesan.

NOTE: The recipe in magazine calls for whole tomatoes and juice.  I made it once with whole tomatoes and the sauce came out watery.  The diced tomatoes work better in my opinion.

Saturday Chef's Slow-Cooked Brisket with Rustic Vegetables and Jus

I am like an athlete when I cook. I want to be in the paint. In the zone. In the action. While I understand it's all apart of the game, I don’t like idle time. I don’t want to be benched while the cake cools or the dough rises or the chicken marinates. For this reason, my crockpot has been collecting dust.


When I found the plastic had been punctured on a frozen piece of brisket, I had no choice but to cook it. Only problem? It’s August in Wisconsin, and it’s 90 degrees with suffocating humidity. The solution came in the form of a twenty-year-old silver and black Rival Crockpot.  It could cook the meat wihtout turning the house into a sauna.

Like any braise, I seared the meat to lock in the juices, created a flavorful braising mixture with rough chopped vegetables and herbs and poured it in the crockpot. The little machine more than did its job; it also convinced me that crockpots can be a very value player.






Ingredients
4 to 5 lb brisket, trimmed if necessary

Kosher salt, pepper

Flour

3 to 5 carrots, peeled, halved

1 large leek, rinsed, rough chopped

½ yellow onion, rough chopped

2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 fresh sage leaves

4 to 5 sprigs fresh thyme

3 to 4 dried bay leaves

1 16oz can diced tomatoes and juice

1 ½ cups red wine

3 cups low-sodium beef broth

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted per directions and broth (optional)

Directions
Cut brisket into sizeable pieces to ensure that it will fit into your crockpot. Season liberally with kosher salt and black pepper. Let rest for about 10 to 20 minutes.

Turn on crockpot to low and cover.

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Lightly coat brisket pieces in flour, tapping to remove excess. Place brisket in pan and brown to form a golden crust all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes per side.

Remove from pan and set aside. Add vegetables, fresh herbs and bay leaves to hot oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir for a few minutes or until fragrant. You do not want to cook vegetables as they will be braising for a very long time. Add wine and stir to combine. Pour in tomatoes and juice, balsamic vinegar, and beef broth (and mushrooms and broth if using). Season liberally with salt and pepper again. Let cook until mixture begins to boil slight around the edges. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

Using a ladle or slotted spoon, scoop vegetables and spices into crock pot. Add the brisket pieces, then carefully pour the broth mixture over the top until full. Cover.

Let cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until meat is lusciously tender. Remove bay leaves and stems of herbs. Enjoy!

Chef’s Note: Although I didn’t bother chopping herbs, you may want to run your knife through the rosemary as the leaves are a bigger.

Saturday Chef Does Beef: Decadent Braised Short Ribs

Cooking is about time and timing.  Judging by the lines at the drive-thrus on any given weeknight, Americans want food quickly.  Sometimes, that's a good thing--a pre-packaged salad, a bagel from Panera.  But other times good food needs time for flavors to marry, for fat to render and taste to blossom. 


When I started cooking, I swore I wouldn't be one of those cooks who marinated meats overnight or spent seven hours making ONE cake (that recipe coming soon, LMAO).  Then I went on the search for a beautiful, exquisite, fancy recipe for this blog, and I found one for Braised Short Ribs in the February issue "Bon Appetit."  I'd had a recipe before, but it didn't have that taste that justified the time invested. 


Then I tried the magazine's version with cheaper wines and my own touches. The result was nothing short of amazing.  I'd never thought I'd be able to make anything like this in my life.  This recipe had me seriously contemplating culinary school as I was so proud of the result. 


So, yes, this recipe is a lot of work and requires a lot of time.  But it is amazing and more importantly, it's do-able.  Make it for your man or your mother or your friends, and take the time to soak in their praises. 



Serves: 4


Ingredients

4 pounds or 8 to 10 short ribs
Olive oil
Salt (both kosher and table)
Pepper
Dried Thyme
6 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
½ to 1 medium onion, chopped
3 to 4 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally in half-inch coins
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 ½ cup of red wine (Chianti is best)
½ cup port
3 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
1 ½ to 3 cups of low sodium beef broth

Season all sides of short ribs with generously with kosher salt, pepper and dried thyme. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When oil is hot, add ribs, fat side down and brown on all meaty sides, about 5 to 7 minutes per side. NOTE: This process can take awhile, so I usually chop my vegetables while the meat is browning as not to rush it. You should probably work in batches of 4 to 5 ribs each.

When ribs are browned, set aside on a plate. Drain off all of all of the oil and drippings from pan except for about 2 to 3 tablespoons. Toss onions into pot over medium heat and sweat until fragrant and they beginning to soften, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add carrots, fresh thyme sprigs, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes. I use the edge of my spoon and bruise the thyme sprigs to release more flavor.

Add wine and port to pot. Stir to combine, and cook until it begins to boil lightly for about 3 to 5 minutes before adding the balsamic vinegar and 1 ½ cups of broth. Let mixture come to a boil again and cook for 5 to 7 minutes to concentrate flavor. Taste mixture. It should be flavorful and well-balanced. If anything it is not to your liking, add more wine, port or broth. Adjust seasonings as you like.

Place ribs back into pan, bone side up. Nestling them together can be tricky, but try to get them into one layer. Broth should just cover the meat. If it doesn’t, add more chicken broth. Cover and simmer on low for one hour.

Check ribs. Bones may have loosened or fallen off completely. This is good! Keep them in the pot. If you can turn or flip the ribs, go ahead, just make sure bone side is still up. If the liquid has reduced a lot, add more broth. You also may want to check and adjust seasonings, sparingly. Cover and simmer for another 90 minutes.

NOTE: We’ve now entered what I call the Beef Stealer phase of this long process. This is when the house smells of delectable simmering meat, and people, like parents or even neighbors, come out of the woodwork to hover around the pot. They tell that they thought you left the pot on and IT’S GOING TO BURN! So they’ll check it and taste it for you. You know, to save it. You must guard the pot. Use your chef’s knife if you have to. The finished product will be worth it. But you, The Chef, can steal all the beef you want.

After the longest 90 minutes of your culinary life, ribs are done and braised. Taste them. They should be tremor-worthy good…so buttery soft, you can cut them with a fork. If they are still a little chewy, braise for 30 more minutes.

This is generally when you can stop for the day and put them away once the ribs have cooled—ribs in one container and the liquid and a few bones in another. I know it’s hard, but do this and your heart will thank you (If you do not want to wait until the next day, pour cooled braising liquid into a plastic container and freeze until fat solidifies. Scrape off, discard and continue).

The next day.

Remove ribs from the fridge. Pre-heat oven to 400.

Open gravy container. Here you will find an alarming layer of fat on top of the gravy. Skim off with a spoon and discard. Add the rest of the gravy to a pan over medium low-heat. Thin out with a bit of beef broth and reduce for about 10 to 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Place ribs onto a cookie sheet and pop into the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, turning over midway through cooking. This not only will reheat them, but it will add a light crust to the outside while leaving them succulent and juicy on the inside.

Finally, finally, serve with roasted potatoes. Drizzle with gravy.

*I've made this recipe five times and sadly, 9 short ribs serves about 3 people.  It's THAT good.

Saturday Chef Original: Quick Breakfast Hash

When I was a child, I was a meat-and-potatoes-girl. While my friends and cousins clamored for Happy Meals and fish sticks, my favorite meal was Mary's Kitchen Corned Beef Hash, green beans and toast with grape jelly. Obviously, it was a rare treat as canned corned beef hash is an eventual heart attack in a can, but it was worth it. The foodie in me hates to admit that it still is.

Unfortunately, now it is harder to eat my beloved hash without bouts of panicked guilt and chest pains that are probably more hypochondria than physiology; thus I created a recipe that is a scrumptious substitute and thankfully anxiety-free.

This recipes is extremely versatile. I have made it with both ground turkey and ground veal. Although, since I’m sure most of you still have twelve pounds of turkey in the fridge, you probably want to try the veal.


Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey or veal
1/3 to 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
Olive Oil
1 to 1 ½ pounds baby red potatoes, cubed
Parsley (optional)
Seasoning Salt, Pepper

Cube red potatoes in small, uniform pieces rinse thoroughly in cold water. Place in pot cover slightly with water. Add pot to heat and boil.

Chop onions. In a separate skillet over medium high heat, sauté onions in a drizzle of olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add ground meat, and use wooden spoon to stir and break apart. Season as you wish. Add a handful of fresh parsley or parsley flakes for color. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Remove from heat.

Boil potatoes until slightly soft, about 4-6 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Pour potatoes in the largest skillet you have, and add a bit more oil. Season with seasoning salt and pepper. Cook for two minutes.

Add meat mixture and a bit more oil, pressing down with the back of wooden spoon to brown. After 2 minutes, stir. Repeat process 2 or 3 more times or until meat is done and a slight crust develops. Season to taste.

Serve with over-easy egg and toast.

*Note: It is always better to have more potatoes than hash. The potatoes will degrade when they are soft. It also tastes even better the next day.

Coming Soon: A Very Foodie Christmas; Edible Gift Ideas for Your Foodie Friends!