Wiseguy Meatballs with Sunday Sauce

Sometimes the most simplistic thing to make can be the most rewarding. It's been heavy rain & grey skies all day here so a little comfort food was needed tonight. What better than slow cooked meatballs with spaghetti & sauce? 

So, I give you my mafia inspired home made meatballs with Sunday sauce. 

What you'll need:

500gr of minced beef

3 cans of chopped tomatoes

1 small can of tomato purée 

Olive oil

1 bulb of fresh garlic chopped

Rock Salt

Black Pepper

1 bunch fresh oregano chopped

1 bunch fresh parsley chopped

2 eggs

60gr breadcrumbs

150gr Spiced Italian sausage chopped

1/2 glass of red wine

100gr of sugar

100gr of Parmesan cheese grated

Spaghetti 

Method: 

Place your minced beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, pinch of rock salt & pepper into a mixing bowl. Get your hands in and mix everything well. Then add half of the oregano, half the parsley & half the parmesan cheese.Get your hands back in the bowl & continue to work the mixture together. 

Separate your meat mixture into 12 equal parts & roll each into balls. When done place them in a fridge for 10 minutes to chill. 

 

Take a large pot and place it on a medium heat. Add a good splash of olive oil, add the chopped garlic and cook for a few minutes while not letting the garlic burn. Then add all the canned tomatoes & tomato purée, stir everything well & lower the heat. Allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes, after which add the red wine, sugar, oregano & parsley,  stir well & reduce to the lowest heat. 

Time to fry the meatballs & sausage! 

Take a large frying pan on a medium heat and add a generous amount of olive oil. Take your meatballs out of the fridge and add half of them to the pan. We are only going to roll them around the pan until the meat is sealed, they will cook in the sauce. All the meatballs should take about 5mins to seal in total, when done add them directly to your sauce. Now lightly fry the chopped sausage and again, after a few minutes add them to the sauce pot. 

Gently stir everything around and put a lid on the pot. 

Now you're going to let everything cook as slowly as possible to allow all the flavors to come together, I suggest a minimum of 2 hours for best results. (Don't forget to give it a little stir every 30-40mins)

During this time maybe you can watch The Godfather or a couple of episodes of The Sopranos? Anything to get in the mood for your food.  

When you've finished watching whatever mafia inspired film or show of your choice get back into the kitchen and put a large pot of water on to boil for your spaghetti. Add a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt then your spaghetti. Cook as per packet instructions. 

When your spaghetti is cooked you're ready to get stuck in! 

Grab a plate, pile on some spaghetti, then add some of your sauce mix & a few meatballs. Top with parmesan & parsley, serve some bread on the side to mop up that tasty sauce. 

What are you waiting for goombah? 

Get in the kitchen. Capiche?!

Mason Jar Cookie Mix

I've been thinking of giving a more personal gift to people this year for Christmas, so today I tested out this mason jar cookie mix. 

So easy I think my kids could do it! 

Ingredients:

 

378gr of Flour

3/4 of a teaspoon of Baking Soda

114gr of White Suger 

114gr of Brown Suger

400gr of Chocolate Chips

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Suger

175gr of soft Butter

Method:

Take the flour, white suger, baking soda & chocolate chips and place them all in a large mixing bowl. 

Combine them until well mixed together, then place half of the dry mixture into a mason jar and press it down until it's tightly packed. 

Now take your brown suger and pour it into the mason jar and again press it down until it's tightly packed. 

Lastly empty the remaining dry mix into the jar and press down until you have tightly packed layers in the jar. Seal the jar & put to one side. 

(If you plan on giving this as a gift to someone then you can decorate the jar & write the next few steps on a card which you'd then attach to the jar)

Take the softened butter, vanilla suger & eggs and beat them into a creamy mixture. 

Empty the contents of the mason jar into a large bowl & add the creamy mixture. 

Mix well together until everything is combined and a little sticky. 

Preheat the oven to 190*c

Place baking paper onto trays and using a tablespoon drop the mixture onto the trays. 

Bake in the oven for 8-10mins until a light golden brown. 

Remove from over and let them cool for 15-20mins. 

Pour some cold milk into glasses and get stuck in! 

Warning: These cookies can be very addictive. 

Louisiana Style Mudbugs/Kräftor

Crayfish, Crawfish, Crawdads, Mudbugs or as they are called here in Sweden Kräftor. Whatever you call them they taste great & super easy to prepare. 

For keeping things as easy as possible I used pre-cooked crayfish which is avalible at most supermarkets, so here's what you'll need to feed 4 persons. 

Ingredients:

4 Lemons (2 cut in half & 2 cut into wedges for serving)

12 Garlic Cloves peeled

3 Yellow Onions quarted & peeled

1 tsp of Chilli Flakes

2 tsp of Allspice

1 tsp of Whole Cloves

3-4 Bay Leaves

1 tbsp of Rock Salt

Fresh Thyme

Fresh Parsley (chopped)

Fresh Dill (chopped)

2kg Fresh Potato (small)

6-8 Spiced Suasage of your choice (cut into 2 inch pieces) 

6 Cobs of Corn (cut in half)

2kg of pre-cooked Crayfish

Tabasco Sauce

Instructions:

You're going to need the biggest pot you can find with a lid. 

Add 5.5lts of water to your pot then squeeze in the half cut lemons, after squeezing add the lemons to the water also for extra flavor. Add have your chopped parsley, half your chopped dill & all of your thyme to the pot. Next add the garlic cloves, chilli flakes, allspice, bay leaves, cloves & rock salt. Stir well. Cover & bring to the boil over a high heat. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for a further 5 minutes. 

Now add your potatoes. Cover & cook until they're just tender but still a little firm (approx 9-10 minuets). Next add the sausage pieces & the corn to your pot. Cover & continue cooking for a further 5 minutes. 

Now take your pre-cooked (defrosted) crayfish & add them you your simmering pot, stir gently & cook for a further 2-3 minutes until heated through. 

You can use a slotted spoon to transfer your crayfish, sausage & vegetables onto a large plate, sprinkle with chopped parsley & dill. Serve with lemon wedges & Tabasco sauce for dipping. 

Now tuck in & get messy! 

El Cubano Sandwich by El Jefe

So I reciently got a chance to watch an indie film called "Chef". I hadn't heard much about it so I check out a few reviews & it seemed positive. I noticed that most of the reviewers were stressing how good the food was ( I guess that's the real star of the movie ). I decided to hunt down the details for the main dish in the film, a toasted Cuban sandwich called El Cubano (apparently very popular in the Miami area). I found a lot of different recipes but the main ingredients were always the same. 

Main Ingredients 

Large baguette or other nice bread

Thin sliced roast ham (6 slices)

Thin sliced dill pickles (12 slices)

Good quality roasted pork (12 slices)

Swiss cheese (6 slices) 

Mustard (whatever type is your favorite)

Melted butter (for brushing) 

(I marinated & roasted my own pork which obviously adds a lot of extra work to the sandwich, but I'm sure if you buy a good quality sliced pork from your deli counter it will taste just as good)

The Steps

Heat up your sandwich press to a medium heat, then add the ham & pork. Cook, turning once, until warmed & browned in spots. About 1 minute. When done transfer to a plate. 

Slice open your baguette and generously butter the insides with your melted butter. Toast them on your press until a light brown colour. When done transfer them to your work surface. 

Layer the bottom of the bread in the following order, pork, ham, cheese & pickles. Add your mustard of choice to the inside top of the bread then close the sandwich. 

Generously butter the outside of your sandwich (top & bottom). Place your sandwich on the hot press. Cook until the cheese is melted & the outsides are browned & crispy (about 3 minutes). 

Let your sandwich stand for 1 minute before cutting. Serve hot!

Makes 6 portions. 

I'd also recommend checking out the soundtrack from the film. It's avalible on Spotify. (Don't forget to have a little dance to the music while making this tasty sandwich)

;)

A Little Sunday Roast

It's been a long time since I've cooked lamb and I'll be honest, it's not my favorite meat, but today I decided that was what we were having. It's a meat that you either love or hate and today I would see if my taste buds have changed over the years. 

Roast rack of lamb with crushed potatoes

Here's what you'll need:

1kg of fresh potatoes

Fresh Rosemary

Sea Salt

Fresh ground Black Pepper

Olive Oil

Kalamata Olives with stone

Cherry Tomatoes

Fresh Garlic Cloves

Quality 6 bone rack of Lamb

Here's how you do it: 

Pre heat the oven at 190c

Wash the potatoes & boil in salted water until cooked. 

Get a large pan and put on a full heat, add a generous splash of olive oil. Now your going to place the whole rack of lamb (fat side down) into the hot pan & sear it on all both sides until it's sealed, this should only take a few minutes if you have the pan hot enough. 

Once the lamb is seared take it out the pan and let it rest on a plate while you finish the rest of the dish. 

Turn the heat under the pan to a medium/low setting and add a little more olive oil. When the potatoes are ready drain off the water & add the potatoes to the pan. Now crush the potatoes with the bottom of a jar, nice and rough chunks. Season with a little salt & pepper & fry for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally. Meanwhile cut the cherry tomatoes in half and strain the liquid off the Kalamata, then add them both to the frying potatoes, mix them up and fry for a further 3 minutes. 

Final touches now. 

Get a roasting pan and put your potatoe/Kalamata/tomatoe mix into it (do not push it down into the pan, let it sit loose). 

Now take your cloves of garlic (peeled) & rip off some sprigs of fresh rosemary (about a handful) and scatter them across the roasting pan. 

Take your seared rack of lamb and place it (fat side up!) on top of your beautiful smelling & colorful looking potatoe mix, add a good splash of olive oil & some more fresh rosemary. 

Place in your preheated oven and cook for approx 20-25mins (a few minuets more if you don't want your meat a little bit pink inside). 

Take a cold drink & wait....

Serve direct to the table & let everyone get stuck in. 

I have to admit that I did enjoy this, the flavors just went so well together & the whole thing took less than 45mins from start to finish. 

Recommended!! 

Big Kahuna Burger

Burgers come in a hundred & one different styles. The only limit is your own imagination, granted though that some things you just don't put together on a burger, for example: chocolate & strawberries. Most things are good though & can bring great flavour to that big juicy burger. 

So tonight Sandra only wanted the standard style juicy burger: 

Hamburger Dressing

Salad

Red Onion

Cheese

Ketchup

No problem, quick & easy yet still satisfying exactly what she wanted. 

I on the other hand wanted to try something new, so I opted for the following on my burger:

Hamburger Dressing

Salad

Tomato

Red Onion

Cheese

Strong Mustard 

Sautéed Mushrooms & Sauerkraut 

Ketchup 

( With a side order of fries & roasted parsnips )

The end result was an awesome combination of flavours & definitely one I'll be trying again in future. 

In the words of Samuel L Jackson

"That is a tasty burger"

Captain Caveman

So I've be longing for some sweet sticky ribs all week & today was the day. I done it the lazy way with everything store bought, so quick & simple. 

I'll admit that my plate was stacked high with ribs, but I knew that when Maya got a sniff of the sauce she would get stuck in and help me out. 

Apart from getting the meatiest ribs you can find the only other thing to get right is the sauce, I know I can make a better sauce than any store bought bottle, but for saving time I bought the best (in my opinion) that is avalible here. 

Smokey, sweet and a great aftertaste. "The Sauce is the Boss!"

Sandra joked that I reminded her of a caveman with my bones & meat, at least I think she was joking. Either way the only thing I had on my mind was enjoying my caveman style "bones & meat". Maya did indeed give me some help, the two of us licking our fingers when done while making little caveman jokes between ribs. 

Messy, but so very worth it. 

Caveman out ;) 

Great taste doesn't have to cost much

So, another day and another new dish to test. It's been a while since we've had fish so it's a tasty salmon on the menu. 

Cracked Salmon Tortilla Roll

What you need:

Salmon fillet

Grated cheese

Créme fraiche

Minced ginger

Flour tortillas

Sundried tomatoes

Chargrilled seasoning

Sea salt & Black pepper

Mixed salad

This is dead simple to make:

Mix the minced ginger & créme fraiche together & put it in the fridge to chill. 

Heat two medium sized pans. In one pan add the salmon, sundried tomatoes, salt, pepper & chargrilled seasoning with a little olive oil. Cook on a medium/high heat for 3-4mins each side. 

In the other pan place a tortilla and add some grated cheese on top. When the cheese starts to melt remove the tortilla. Add a spoon of dressing that's been chilling in the fridge, a little mixed salad, then your salmon & tomatoes. Roll up the tortilla & cut it in half. Job done, tuck in & enjoy! 

Super tasty & enough to make four portions. All the above cost under 200kr & took 5mins to prep then 10mins to cook. 

Or if you think that costs too much then you can shop a packet of this soup for just 7kr. It makes four portions, just add water & heat. Maya has declared it as "the best ever".

So you see great taste doesn't have to cost much. 

Streetdogs. A tasty lunch that's cheap.

So I came across this during the week & thought I'd give it a try today. A good change up from your regular hotdog with ketchup & mustard, also very easy to make with plenty of room to experiment with ingredients.  

Here's what I used today:

Thick spiced sausages (mine were filled with cheese)

Yellow onion sliced thin

Sauerkraut 

Hot mustard

Ketchup

Mini flour tortillas

Fresh parsley

Salt & pepper

Butter

Directions:

Grill your sausages in a pan. 

Heat a little butter in a small pan & fry the onion & sauerkraut until golden, season with salt & pepper. 

Warm the tortilla bread then load it up with the grilled sausage & fried toppings. 

Add your ketchup & mustard to taste. 

Tear off bits of fresh parsley & garnish your food. 

Tuck in & enjoy your "Streetdogs".