Meatball Stew

Meatballs aren't just for spaghetti! Come in from the cold to this healthy, vegetable-packed meatball stew!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground meat (I used 1/3 each beef, pork and veal)
1 cup cubed stale bread (I had an old hamburger bun)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 carrots, thick sliced
2 celery stalks, thick sliced
1 cup chopped kale
bay leaf
4 cups beef broth
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

First soak the cubed bread in the milk then add the meat and combine well. Mix in the egg, salt and pepper, balsamic and basil. Roll into 2" balls or about the size of a large plum and place on a lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

While those bake prepare the stew. In a large skillet heat the olive oil and lightly brown the onion, then add the garlic for 1 minute. Add the flour and tomato paste to coat, then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until the carrots are tender crisp.

Now the meatballs should be cooked so add them to the stew and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Have this stew with a nice crusty bread to sop up all the gravy!

Serves 4

Roasted Cabbage Wedges with Garlic Butter

Admittedly cabbage isn't for everyone. But you might change some people's minds once they taste these caramelized cabbage wedges drizzled with garlic butter.

Ingredients:
3 cabbage wedges
olive oil
salt, pepper and celery seed to taste

1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsps butter
1 tsp lemon juice

I just made 3 wedges for supper but of course you can increase the amounts needed to serve more. It is best to leave the stem end intact when cutting the wedges. I learned that the hard way when two of the three wedges started falling apart. The stem keeps it all together!

Brush each wedge all over with olive oil, then sprinkle on the salt, pepper and celery seed. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Roast in a 400 F oven for 20 minutes.

Then carefully flip over and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. Increase the roasting time if you want them more caramelized than this.

While the cabbage roasts melt the butter in a small sauce pan and add the garlic. Cook on medium low heat until garlic just starts to turn golden. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice.

Drizzle this garlic butter over the warm cabbage wedges to serve.

Chicken Cacciatore

This fall off the bone chicken is best served with pasta or rice. And a nice crusty bread for sopping up all that rustic sauce!

Ingredients:
4 chicken legs, divided
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 cup thick sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped kale
5 oz tomato paste
2 tsps minced garlic
1 tsp dry oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbsp cornstarch
28 oz canned tomatoes
parsley and parmesan to serve

Cut chicken legs in half at the joint and salt and pepper to taste. Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet and lightly brown the chicken on all side. Remove to a plate.

Pour the excess grease out of the pan leaving about 1 tbsp.
On medium heat add the onion, red pepper, celery, mushrooms and kale and cook about 5 minutes or until soft.

Add the tomato paste, minced garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, white wine and canned tomatoes. Stir to combine.

Return the chicken to the pan nestling the pieces into the sauce and spooning some on top. Simmer covered for 1 hour.

Mix a heaping tbsp of cornstarch with a couple tbsps of cold water. Add some of the warm sauce to the cornstarch/water then add it all to the pot stirring well.

With lid removed raise heat to medium high for 10-20 minutes to slightly thicken.

Serve sprinkled with parsley and parmesan cheese. And get a slice of bread for that sauce!

Serves 4-6

Mixed Seafood Dinner

When we got to the seafood counter we couldn't decide what we wanted...so a little of everything! First meal of 2020 was awesome! Safe to say it's all downhill from here ; )

Oven Broiled Lobster Tails:

3 lobster tails

butter

pinch herbed sea salt

sprinkle of minced garlic

sprinkle of powdered garlic

sprinkle of smoked paprika

pinch black pepper

fresh lemon

Turn the tails to lie on the shells then, with sharp kitchen scissors, snip off the legs and cut through the ribs of the shell down the middle to expose the meat. With your fingers loosen the meat from the shell and place a wedge of lemon underneath between the shell and the meat. With the palm of your hand press down so they lie flat and open up the snipped ribs. Place on a foil lined baking pan, add all the seasonings to taste and top with pats of butter.

Broil on high using upper/middle rack 8-10 minutes or until meat is opaque white and the shell is bright red. Serve with clarified butter. Cook the butter over medium heat and when the solids sink to the bottom remove the clear butter.

Simple Pan Fried Black Tiger Shrimp:
3 large black tiger shrimp
pink Himalayan salt
lemon pepper
butter

Again with sharp kitchen scissors cut the back shell down the middle then with a sharp knife cut down the middle of the meat. Remove any dark matter. Lay shrimp on counter and press to flatten and you have your butterflied shrimp! Add salt and pepper to taste and top with pats of butter.

Heat skillet to medium/high. Place shrimp shell side up and cook 2 minutes or until the shell just starts to change colour. Turn the shrimp over, cover skillet with foil, and cook another 2 minutes.

Lemon Butter Scallops:
5 scallops
herbed sea salt
lemon pepper
avocado oil

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp fresh minced garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat avocado oil in a skillet. Pat dry the scallops and season with salt and pepper. Sear 2 minutes per side then remove from pan. Add the sauce ingredients to the pan, heat through. Then add back the scallops for 1 minute and serve.

Timing is everything they say, especially with seafood! You don't want anything over or under cooked. Start with the lobster, then move on to the shrimp then scallops. Serve all with more lemon and enjoy!

Vanilla Raspberry Baked Alaska

While Baked Alaska looks pretty fancy it's really quite easy to make. Other recipes list it as intermediate level but I'm saying don't be intimidated! Go for it! There are several steps to follow but also alot of down time for freezing. Best part is it can be made days in advance.

Also, variations are endless.... you could change up the ice cream flavour, use 2 or 3 flavours in one Alaska or even use some sorbet scooped in with the ice cream. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup frozen raspberries, defrosted
1/2 cup lemon sorbet
8 ladyfinger biscuits
1  1/2 litres raspberry swirl vanilla ice cream
8 large egg whites, room temperature, divided in half
1 cup icing sugar, divided in half
1 tsp cream of tartar, divided in half

Taking a few raspberries at a time, press them with the back of a spoon through a sieve to remove the seeds leaving you with 1/4 cup raspberry purée. Set aside.

Line a 9 X 5" loaf pan with plastic wrap leaving plenty of overhang to be used to cover the ice cream later.

Melt the sorbet in the microwave for 20 seconds.

Line the bottom of the pan with the ladyfingers and pour the melted sorbet over them. I used lemoncello flavour sorbet. I wonder if I could have used actual limoncello liqueur?!? 
Set aside for about 10 minutes so the biscuits absorb the liquid.

Bring the ice cream out of the freezer for about 10 minutes, then start scooping about half of it onto the ladyfingers. Don't mix. 

Drizzle the raspberry purée.

Flatten and press down firmly with a spatula,

then add the remainder of the ice cream and press flat again.
Pull up the sides of the plastic wrap to cover the ice cream and place back in the freezer for at least 2 hours or even for a few days.

Now for the meringue. It is of the utmost importance that the meringue covers the ice cream completely as a seal from the heat it will be exposed to. That is why I chose to make my meringue in 2 steps.

First take 4 room temperature egg whites and beat them until soft peaks form. Then add 1/2 cup icing sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add 1/2 tsp cream of tartar.

Take the ice cream out of the pan, unwrap it and place it biscuit side down on a parchment lined baking pan (one that will fit in your freezer when this masterpiece is complete!)
Start spreading the meringue on top and down the sides. No need to get fancy yet.

I used a long flat ice pack underneath because I was worried that I wouldn't work fast enough and the ice cream would start to melt. But it's not necessary as this step went quickly. So this was like an undercoat or a crumb coat if you were icing a cake...just smooth but making sure the entire ice cream loaf is sealed.

Pop the pan back into the freezer while preparing the rest of the meringue.  Same as before... 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup icing sugar and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar. Once whipped up take the pan out again and start dolloping on the meringue.

Here's where you can get fancy! Swirl that stuff on! 
When you're done place the whole thing in the freezer. It can stay there a few days no problem. Or if you want it right away go right to the next step.

Keep frozen while pre-heating the oven to 425 F then take the pan from the freezer right to the oven. Just 5 minutes until golden peaks form, and you're saying "oh wow, it's working!" (or maybe that's just me!) 
Remove from oven and let sit 4 or 5 minutes before slicing.

And it slices so easily and neatly through the crispy meringue.

Serves 10-12 
Any leftovers should be kept in the freezer with a piece of foil on the cut end.

Nutty Cranberry Cheese Ball Bites

Need a quick nibbly to take along to an informal cocktail party? You can whip these up in almost no time.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1  1/4 cups cream cheese
2 tbsps maple syrup
1/2 cup finely shredded mozzarella
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cumin

About 1/3 cup each chopped chives, dried cranberries and more chopped nuts or nutty seedy granola

Combine the 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, cream cheese, maple syrup, mozzarella, cinnamon and cumin. Using a small ice cream scoop, 1" size, scoop into balls and chill.

Once chilled roll each ball in the chives, dried cranberries and nuts.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Makes 33 - 1" bite-size cheese balls.

Pinwheel Cookies

You can make these pinwheel cookies in festive colours ...

or swirl them in any psychedelic colours that suit your mood!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter (cut in chunks)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp of food coloring of your choice(and/or 1/2 tsp of any desired extra extracts)
1 1/2 cup holiday sprinkles

In a stand mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugars with paddle on medium until well blended.

Add butter in, gradually, and continue mixing. Add in vanilla extract. At this point, your dough will form a ball on your paddle.

Remove all your dough and divide into two equal parts. (For the psychedelic ones we reserved a little dough to make a rope of yellow colour in the center) Return one portion back to the mixer and add the food coloring and any extra extracts. I used Wilton gel food coloring in leaf green and vanilla extract for the festive batch. You could coordinate your colors and flavors, for example green food coloring matched with a mint extract or yellow with a lemon extract, etc. Also, if you are using liquid food coloring, you will need to add a bit more flour to keep the dough from becoming too wet. Mix until the color is spread out evenly.

Roll out each portion of your dough, between two sheets a wax paper until it reaches about 11 x 9 inches and is 1/4 inch thick. Slide both onto a cookie sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When firm, remove the top sheets of wax paper from both.

Brush the first layer lightly with water using a pastry brush. Then flip the second dough onto the first so they are stacked atop each other and even. I thought his might be a problem, but chilling the dough made it stiff enough to just pick up, easy peasy! Press the edges lightly with your fingertips to seal them together. Using a small pairing knife, trim the edges of the dough to make straight, even lines. If using a rope of a third colour place it at one long edge.

Be sure your dough is still cold, but flexible. Once it's ready, begin rolling the long side of dough into a swirl, jelly-roll style. Now, don't get nervous if the outer layer of dough tears a bit. It's no problem, just pinch and pat those tears and voila, then just keep rolling.

Pour out sprinkles onto a working surface. Now lift the dough log onto the sprinkles and gently roll to coat.

ow gently lift your dough log onto the sprinkles and roll away. Cover the log completely with your sprinkles.

Wrap the colorfully decorated log in plastic wrap twice. Depending on when you want to bake the cookies, either place the wrapped dough into refrigerator for a couple of hours or you can put it in the freezer and keep it there for up to 2 months. (If freezing, give yourself time for the dough to defrost in the fridge overnight before cutting.)

Slice your dough into 1/4-1/8 inch slices and bake on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly golden. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a rack.

Pretty cool eh?