Tag Archives: dinner

Tursgiving 2014: The Meatballs Recipe

25 Nov

Yesterday I wrote about the amazing feast that is Tursgiving and promised our host’s famous meatballs recipe.

Here ya go!

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Tursgiving 2014: The Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients

    • Sauce:
  • 3 cans of Crushed tomatoes ( I like pastene )
  • 1 carrots finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery finely chopped
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic chopped
  • 4 bay leafs
  • 2 tbsp each of basil and parsley chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 4 tbsp of olive oil to start (separated)
    • Meatballs:
  • 1/2 pound each of beef, veal, pork and lamb
  • 1 cup parm cheese
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 green onions finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 shallot finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley
  • 2 tbsp of finely chopped basil
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • Few dashes of worchestire sauce (optional)
  • Flour to dust meatballs

Instructions

    Sauce:
  1. In a large sauce pot... large enough for all your meatballs plus the sauce, add 2 tbsp oil over med/high heat and saute your onions, garlic carrot and celery until onions are translucent
  2. Add the rest of your sauce ingredients starting with the tomatoes and let simmer on a med low for 30 minutes
  3. Keep tasting to make sure its not missing anything
    4. Meatballs:
  4. While sauce cooks, add all meatball ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well making sure everything is uniform
  5. Form into inch and a half sized balls (mixture shouldn't be loose... nor too dry... if too loose add a little more breadcrumbs)
  6. Then coat with a light dusting of flour
    7. Meatballs in sauce:
  7. In order to cook the meatballs, add them to the sauce gently until they are all in the pot (no frying!!!)... and cover.
  8. Then after 5 minutes gently mix with a spoon to rearrange the orientation of the meatballs.
  9. After another five minutes rearrange again and remove from heat and keep covered until they are room temperature.
    10. Tips from the chef:
  10. Make the sauce first so its cooking while the balls are being prepared
  11. I suggest preparing them the day before you want to cook them and then reheat... meatballs are always best reheated!!!
https://nycnomnom.com/2014/11/25/tursgiving-2014-meatballs-recipe/

Thanks, again, Mike!

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RECIPE: Honey Roasted Root Vegetables Over Watercress

19 Nov

Have I mentioned how excited I am to have Brooklyn Fare Manhattan right next door?  On my way home from work one day, I stopped by and picked up every root vegetable I could find.

Turnips, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, golden beets (I find them very similar to regular beets, but without the pink fingers!) and some brussels sprouts (which are not a root vegetable, but are still delicious when roasted with root veggies).

It took me over an hour to peel and dice it all, but it was incredibly relaxing.

I then tossed all the pieces with honey, olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, salt, and pepper.  When tossing vegetables with honey, I find that stirring it beats them up a bit much and the honey is hard to distribute. So I take 2 big bowls and keep transferring the mixture from one to the other. Works like a charm!

photo 1

I roasted them (on a pan wrapped in foil) at 425 and expected it to take about 40 minutes. But at 20 minutes I started to smell some burning so I took off the foil and set the timer for 10 minutes, hoping to caramelize them without more burning.

But alas… there was a good amount of burning. I think this was because I poured the excess liquid on top of the vegetables, which pooled on the sides and burned… (tip: don’t do that)

photo 2

What’s amazing is that none of the vegetables actually burnt. It was just the extra honey around the edges.  The Silpats were a bit browner, but everything cleaned up super easily (tip: soak in water while still warm and immediately scrub. Stuff burned in the oven sticks really badly but cleans up instantly when you catch it quick).

photo 3

I then put watercress in a bowl and dressed it lightly with Persian Lime Oil and Coconut Vinegar (I love specialty oils and vinegars, but a simple splash of oil and vinegar with a twist of lime would do the trick!) and a dash of coarse salt (always a good compliment for a peppery green)

photo 4

It was absolutely frogging delcious.  The honey brought out the sweetness and deep flavors in all the root vegetables and the slight bitterness of the watercress added a peppery note to cut through the richness.  And it was a totally vegan, somewhat healthy meal!

photo 5

A great recipe that is very easy, but a bit time consuming due to the peeling and chopping!

 

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RECIPE: Honey Roasted Root Vegetables Over Watercress

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 big carrots
  • 3 small sweet potatoes
  • 1 turnip
  • 1 parsnip
  • 4 small beets
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp thyme
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 cup watercress
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 2 tsp vinegar
  • Pinch of course salt
  • Squirt of lime (or any citrus)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
  2. Peel and chop all vegetables into 1/2 inch pieces
  3. Toss with honey, olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper
  4. Spread vegetables onto baking sheets (with sides) but if there is extra liquid, try not to get it in the pan. (Use as many pans as needed to have vegetables in one layer.)
  5. Cover with foil
  6. Roast for 20-40 minutes until fork tender (but not mushy)
  7. Remove foil and roast for 5-10 additional minutes until honey has glazed and vegetables begin to brown
  8. Place washed watercress into bottom of a bowl and dress with oil and vinegar and toss on pinch of course salt
  9. Spoon roasted vegetables on top of watercress
  10. Can be eaten warm or cold (stores nicely for lunch)
https://nycnomnom.com/2013/11/19/recipe-honey-roasted-root-vegetables-watercress/

 

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