Italian Meat Balls

This is a recipe from my friend Lora Capiciolto...and an awesome recipe it is.

My nieces ask for Lora's meatballs..and will no longer tolerate frozen/bought meatballs.

Sorry...no precise measuring.

Ingredients:

1lb lean ground beef

1lb ground pork

lots of garlic

lots of Parmesan Cheese

lots of fresh basil

salt and pepper

Italian bread crumbs

2 beaten eggs

oil for frying

Method:

Put the ground beef and ground pork in a large bowl, add lots of finely chopped garlic, lots of grated Parmesan cheese, and lots of finely chopped basil, salt and pepper...

Lots of Italian bread crumbs, and 2 beaten eggs..and mix together well.

Using your Tbsp measurer, roll meatballs.

Fry in hot oil, turning  until cooked through.

Drain on paper towels.

Good in sauce, or just on their own..or dipping in sauce as an app.

Delish.

Spicy Sausage in Pastry

Filling:

Pkg of Hot Italian Sausage
1 small onion (minced)
1 carrot (minced)
6 mushrooms (chopped fine)
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper

Pastry
2 cups flour
1 cup of butter
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg (beaten)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
water

Take the sausages out of the casing and fry in a little oil on medium heat until slightly browned.
Add the rest of the filling ingredients until cooked and is to your taste.
Set aside to cool while you make the pastry.



Combine dry ingredients and grate butter into bowl for easy cutting.
Cut with pastry cutter until it looks more or less like the above picture.



in a separate bowl, combine egg and dijon mustard and beat.



Preheat oven to 350F

Add the egg mixture with some water and mix until just combined and looks like this.
Keep adding water until it holds together.

Roll out the dough to 1/2 an inch, and use a large round cutter or coffee can to cut round pieces to fill with sausage mixture.

Roll rounds out a little and put a little more than a tablespoon (or as much as can comfortably fit), and seal with a fork. Cut clean edges with kitchen scissors.

Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and beat another egg.
Brush all pastries on sheet with beaten egg, and then slit tops.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until pastries are golden.

Bacon Sweet Potato Fritters

2 med sweet potatoes (boiled and mashed)
1 pkg of maple smoked bacon
2 egg whites
1 small chopped onion
1 small chopped burmuda onion
1/2 cup of water
1 tbsp pepper sauce
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp bacon fat
3 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for cooking



Cut bacon into 1 inch pieces and fry until crisp.
Drain on paper towels. Save 2 tsps of the bacon fat.


Boil and mash the sweet potatoes. Let cool.


Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir vigorously until the batter gets thick.
Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in the meantime.


Fry batter in 1/2 tablespoonfuls until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.

Serve with hot sauce.

Egg Rolls - Appetizer Size

2 cups Napa Cabbage
3 cloves of garlic (chopped fine)
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 small onion (chopped fine)
4 spring onions (chopped fine)
1 tbsp corn oil
1 can water chestnuts (chopped fine)
1 can of shitake mushrooms (chopped fine)
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
small wonton wrappers

Method:
Heat sesame oil in wok or dutch oven

In bowl, stir together garlic, ginger, onions, napa cabbage, water chestnuts, shitake mushrooms, oyster and soy & oyster sauces, and sesame and corn oil.

Fry until vegetables are soft...about 3 minutes

Let mixture cool in a bowl.

Working with 1 egg roll wrapper at a time, lay wrapper on work surface with 1 corner toward you. Place 1 tsp in centre.

Fold corner over filling. Brush remaining edges with water. Fold in both sides and roll up into cylinder. Set aside in single layer, on plate, uncovered. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.

In wok, Dutch oven or deep-fryer, heat oil to 375°F (190°C) or until 1-inch (2.5 cm) cube of white bread turns golden in 30 seconds. Deep-fry rolls, turning once, until golden, about 2 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon; drain well on paper towels.

Serve with Plum Sauce or Sweet Chili Sauce

Curry Crab Crustades

1 can of crab
2 tbsp of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon curry powder (more if you like it hot...)
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 tsp Burmuda onion chopped fine
1/2 small can of water chestnuts, chopped fine
2 tbsp of candied ginger, chopped.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
shot of Tabasco sauce

One box of crustades

Fill crustade cups and top with capers, roasted red peppers, and a sprig of dill.
Labour intensive, but it's lovely little starter with a pleasant burst of flavour.

Cod Fish Balls & Mango Sour

This is a great spicy starter.
People often ask for it, if we're coming over and asked to bring something.



You'll need:

One bag Salted Cod (Boned)
3 potatoes
2 or 3 scotch bonnet peppers (minced fine)
2 large onions (minced)
Fresh Thyme, chopped fine
Bread Crumbs
1 egg
sugar
Baking powder
a little marjoram
a pinch of salt



Mango Sour:
2 ripe Mangoes
1 onion
a little vinegar
a little salt
Olive oil

Make the Mango Sour first, because it's preferably cool when used as a dip.


Blend the mango and onion until smooth (separately).

Heat oil in small saucepan, and add onions. Cook until soft.
Add mango, and stir on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.
Add a little salt and vinegar, and taste.
Does it have a pleasant sweet and sour taste?

Remove from heat and let it cool.

Back to the Fish Balls...

Rinse and boil the cod fish, and peel and cut the potatoes and boil them with some salt.
Not the cod, the cod is salty enough.

Chop the onions and scotch bonnet together, chop the thyme until fine, and set aside in a bowl, that you will continue to add to.


Drain the cod, and mince using a hand mixer or fork.
For this recipe, my hand mixer gets a work out.


Drain and mash the potatoes.


Add it to the bowl you set aside.
Add the rest of the ingredients: baking powder, egg, marjoram, sugar (about a tablespoon)
Mix everything together with a spoon before you add the egg and bread crumbs.
Kneed it together, adding more bread crumbs until it holds together in a solid way, and feels "moldable" like clay.


Using a tablespoon for measurning, take a tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball.
If you don't get too much film on your hand/glove then it's probably ok. I learned the hard way that not enough bread crumbs will make it fall apart during frying.
Not just fall apart, disintegrate.


Roll all of the mixture into 1 tbsp balls, and fry in hot oil, until golden brown.

Serve with Mango Sour

Cevapcici (Chevaps)

Chevaps are a Serbian institution.
Next to lamb on a spit, this is will be on the grill.
I love them, my Stepson loves them, The Mister...not so much.
So, I don't make them that often. But, when I do...I make a right pig of myself.



You'll need:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb each of ground lamb and ground pork
1 egg white
lots of minced garlic (like 4 cloves or more)

In a small bowl mix together the spices for even distribution:
1 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 or two tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp baking soda


Mix all ingredients together well.
I use gloves because I can't stand the feeling, but it's also more sanitary.


Form the chevaps into finger sized pieces


Put them on the grill until done...NOT EVER in the oven.

It's traditionally served with pita bread and chopped onions, but I've served it more often with pita bread and Tzadziki sauce.

Cheese Straws

This is a spicy and savory cheddar pastry based cookie.
It's a staple when people come over and stays quite nicely in an airtight container.


Combine the dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups grated cheddar
1/2 tsp salt
1 or 2 ground up scotch bonnet peppers (optional...but certainly gives these the kick they need)
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

Cut butter into dry mixture, until it's the consistency of large peas.



In a separate bowl, combine the following:

3 egg yolks
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp of cold water

Add the wet to the dry mixture, and gently mix.
Don't handle the dough too much, and don't kneed it.
Mix just until combined sprinking more water until the dough holds together.



Form a ball, and wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.


Preheat oven to 375F.
Roll dough out into neat square, and cut into strips. I use a pizza cutter, but a knife works just as well. You can also cut into cookie shapes, but sometimes I just find that too tedious...and it requires handling the dough too much which makes it less flaky.


Place strips on ungreased cookie sheets or save yourself some washing and use parchment paper.
Bake at 375F for about 10 minutes or until the butter starts bubbing from the straws.
Turn the oven off, but leave the cheese straws in for another 10 minutes.
Cool on rack and store in airtight container.