Meat Balls with Tomato and Basil Sauce

This is really easy and very tasty (AND there is a cheat option!)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1lb beef mince
Fresh breadcrumbs (2 slices of white bread whizzed in a food processor)
One very large egg (or two small ones)
tomato puree
Beef Oxo cube
Dried chives
mixed ground peppercorns
Jar of Tomato and Basil Sauce

Method:

Mix everything together in a large bowl, using a wooden spoon. When the mixture starts sticking together, it's ready to form into balls. (You should aim at 8 small meatballs per person).

Lightly coat each meatball in plain flour and shallow fry in a little hot Olive oil. When the juices run clear (as opposed to pink) transfer the meat balls to a saucepan and empty the jar of Tomato and Basil Sauce over the meatballs. Stir well until meatballs are covered in sauce and the sauce is cooked.

Serve with :

Chips
Baked potato
Spaghetti
green salad
Glass (or two) of vin rouge!

Have been meaning to make meatballs for ages and not had a recipe, thanks <bow> :D

Beer, serves 1 to any number.

1. Perambulate to the nearest licenced establishment.
2. Request a pint of your preferred tipple.
3. If you have company, it is usually considered polite to request same for their consumption.
4. Reach into pocket for local currency and pass to the bar keeper.
5. When the glass is two thirds empty, it is often good practice for another of the party to start again from step 2 so that the supply can be refreshed before it has run out.
6. Repeat this process until either time has been called, or you cannot read the time, in which case reversing step 1 may be challenging, but often quite jolly.

The only good use for that stuff is taking paper off walls and oil off the driveway!!!!

I really must educate you into the delights of sampling decent wine dear boy! <wine>

I discovered a great recipe.

Take a 20 oz class (or cup) fill half with ice, pour in various rums until the ice is covered by half to a full inch, add 7up, and a little Grenadine, enjoy. Repeat until gravity increases to the point of immobility. Wake up next morning and inquire as to who hit you in the head with a hammer.

it was me Rob, I hit you with a hammer....you deserved it.....

The FLorida things is looking more likely Rob, we will be neighbors!

Might prove difficult, I find red wine revolting to the point of it causing me to almost throw up if I merely take a sip, and white wine just doesn't do anything for me....

Congratz. What part of the Sunshine state will you be calling home?

Today is Shrove Tuesday in the UK.

Did you have pancakes? If so, what did you put on them?

I had runny honey on mine - yummy!

Forgot all about it <doh>
Still, another 364 days of pancake making available <whistle>

Haha, my mum forgot as well so we are having some later in the week. My favourite topping is either a thick layer of raspberry jam, or sugar and lemon juice.

pancakes are ok

i made some, but didnt eat any

my other half ate them with some honey

too unheathley for me

That's interesting Stradlin - why do you think they are unhealthy?

i've never been keen on them

and all that honey and sweet stuff makes them all sickly

Oh good Lord, it's not compulsory to put sweet stuff on pancakes! You can fill them with anything you like! They are really nice with cheese or minced beef.

Having said that, the nicest pancakes I ever had were proper "crepes" in a wonderful little creperie in La Roche Bernard in the Morbihan Region of Brittany. Stuffed with oranges and flambeed in Orange liqueur! *drools*

urgh!

Lots of things are unhealthy! But they are nice :D

Sounds, er, delightful <no>

Maple syrup for me!

<think> So who are the expert tossers then ? <blink> :D

Very quick and easy lemon cheesecake - took me just under ten mins!

9" pie / cake tin greased
10 digestive biscuits
1oz butter
Small can of condensed milk
125g cream cheese (eg Philadelphia)
Juice of one lemon

Make the biscuits into crumbs (put in sandwich bag or similar and hit with rolling pin / wooden spoon) and then mix in the butter. Press into bottom of your tin.

Whisk the condensed milk and cream cheese together for a minute, then add in the lemon juice, pour into tin and put in fridge. Nice and easy!


I've made it once now, and added a little more lemon juice in as like it, and if I made it again would make it with more biscuits as a reasonably thin base (and the base is one of my favourite bits!). I also used a little more butter as didn't find 1oz bound it together enough.

Made WW's meatball recipe last week...was lurvely! Also adepted recipe to make burgers with mozarella in the middle - basic recipe for the meat base (no tomato puree, tomato sauce etc) and just put some big bits of mozarella in the middle and cooked. Went down well! :D

You have all got this wrong. To be a success a classic dish has to harmonize.
An example of a fixed menu.
Everything begins with CH so it must go together.

Chicken in a sauce with chocolate, chilli and cherries served with chips.
Cheesecake for afters.
Washed down with Chianti.

Before anybody points out the choice of a red wine with chicken, some of the greatest dishes of the world have been invented by breaking conventional rules.

P.S. Don't forget to enjoy the cheese and champagne after the meal.

I agree! Coq au Vin for one - see HERE for recipe

Coke and Wine? <cool>

i think the phrase pot, kettle, black comes to mind

Some Hungarian friends of mind drink that. I forget the nickname, but you mix coke 50/50 with red wine. It's better than it sounds by all accounts....

What a dreadful thing to do to red wine! <wine>

Personally, I think it's a dreadful thing to do to coke!!

roflmao

Best thing to do with red wine is pour it down the drain. Or better, don't buy it in the first place :D

Philistine! <wine>

Anyway, an update on the recipe front.

I have "issues" with Tescos meat, in that it is usually horrible and inedible. Which is why we tend to drive 15 miles down the road to a decent butcher.

However, today, we couldn't be bothered going any further then Tescos.

I bought two reasonable looking pork steaks, which I put in a casserole dish with some chopped apple, a shallot, bouquet garni and about half a pint of decent (White lightning simply WILL NOT DO) cider. I shoved the whole lot in the oven on gas mark 4 for about an hour.

Serve with mustard mashed potatoes ("normal" mashed potatoes with a couple of teaspoons of DECENT French wholegrain mustard) and seasonal veg.

I have "issues" with mustard, in that it's revolting! Also, in the case of French mustard, well, you know, quite apart from the fact that it's got 'bits' in....

<roflmao>

Well, here's a nice simple one if you don't mind a few calories, and like 'fiddling' with ingredients. Something nice, warming and filling for a cold evening. Or you can have it cold if preferred..... Bread and butter pudding, my way....

First, select a dish that will hold the required quantity of pudding, preferably reasonably deep, although not too deep - a couple of inches will probably suffice - and 'grease' it with a little butter (just in case). Take some of that plastic sliced white bread (about the only thing it's good for!!) and cut off the crusts, then butter both sides. Cover the bottom of the dish with the bread, and them sprinkle on some spices such as nutmeg or other similarly 'desserty' spices like cinnamon and the like. You may also wish to sprinkle on some dried fruit like sultanas or raisins, or even some apple. Add some sugar too if you're that way inclined. Don't go overboard because this process will be repeated until the bread reaches the top of the dish. Next you need a beaten egg and some milk. The exact amount of this mixture depends on how large the pudding is, and how thick you wish the custard to end up. Usually one egg and half a pint of milk is more than sufficient. Ideally, the milk will be slightly warmed as it will help it to soak into the bread, and if you want to add some real vanilla to the mixture, it's probably best to heat the milk on the hob, add the vanilla pod, then let it cool until it's tepid. If the milk is too hot, it will cook the egg before the mixture has soaked into the bread and you'll end up with scrambled egg instead! After you have combined the egg and milk, you may wish to add a tot of Whisky to the mixture for extra flavour, although as yet I haven't done this so can't really comment! Pour the mixure over the bread and let it soak in for a while. Then pour in some more, and repeat until the bread won't soak up any more. Top the pudding with some more spices and sugar, and then whack it in the oven at about 180c. Cooking time depends on your oven, the size of the pudding and how well cooked you like it, but around half an hour ought to be enough unless you're cooking for Stradlin or Coffee, in which case you needed a bucket rather than dish....

<peek>

It's fairly obvious when the pudding is cooked - the egg/milk will have set, and the top will be goldon brown and crispy, and you can use a knife to check in any case. Those with deeper dishes, or who are arty-farty in the kitchen may wish to place the pudding dish inside a deeper tray when in the over, surrounded by frshly boiled water in order to help the pudding cook more evenly and more slowly (I forget the name of this process, but bain-marie comes to mind), this will increase cooking time but potentially increase the quality of the end product.

Serve hot with cream, or ice-cream for the best effect.

Warning - not for those on a diet or with cholesterol problems!!

No measures quoted because to be honest, they're always a 'make it up as you go along' thing.....

Do you know, I've never tried making bread and butter pudding, but that sounds absolutely gorgeous Norbert <dinner>

Try it! You never end up with quite the same thing twice, and that's half the appeal... :)

Things to do with fish. <dinner>

Tonight, I did smoked cod loin in a lime and coriander sauce. Yummy.

Recipe.

Smoked cod loin (size will depend on number of people you want to feed)

Place equal sized pieces of fish into an oven proof dish.

Prepare sauce
Starting from scratch:
Melt 25g of unsalted butter in a saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon of plain flour and stir well with a wooden spoon for THREE minutes.
Add 1/2 litre of fish stock (yes you can use a fish stock cube)
Keep stirring until sauce thickens slightly
Add the juice of one lime, some chopped fresh coriander and the grated zest of the lime
keep stirring
when all ingredients are combined, add fresh double cream but do not allow to boil
add freshly ground black pepper and pour over fish
bake in a moderate oven for around 25 minutes

Serve with Sauteed potatoes and green vegetables

More things to do with fish.

Pan fried rainbow trout with orange and dill sauce. If you are not keen on trout you could use salmon instead.

For 4 people you will need:

4 Rainbow trout fillets (check carefully for any remaining bones and remove with tweezers - this may take some time, especially if you have bought the fish at a supermarket)

1 Orange
Fresh dill
Double cream
White wine (Chardonnay is particularly good for this)
Black pepper
Onion powder

Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice from both halves. Grate the rind. Wash and chop the dill.

Make a roux using unsalted butter and plain flour. Add white wine and simmer gently until thickened. Add orange juice, grated orange rind, chopped dill, black pepper and onion powder. Add more white wine and leave to reduce.

Pan fry trout fillets skin side down in unsalted butter with a touch of olive oil (to prevent the butter burning) for about 3-4 minutes or until fish is tender but NOT overcooked.

Place fish on serving plates, add cream to sauce.

Drizzle sauce over fish.

Serve with potatoes and veg of your choice.

<dinner>

Fish tank, or fish pond.

Sorted.

I have both, twice over in the case of the former.