Italian Meatballs

Meatballs

1lb ground veal

1lb ground lamb

1lb ground beef 85/15

1/3c tomato paste

2 large eggs

1 heaping cup fresh bread crumbs

1T granulated garlic

1T granulated onion

1T black pepper

1 heaping T kosher salt

1 heaping T dried herbs de province

2T dried basil

Generous shake of cayenne pepper

1t ground fenugreek seed

Bring meat and eggs to room temp for half an hour before preparing, and preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until combined. Using a small ice cream scoop, shape into 1” balls and evenly space on a cookie sheet. You will most likely need to use two cookie sheets to fit all of the meatballs.

Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, then turn off the oven and let the meatballs rest for another 15 minutes inside the hot oven.

Can be cooked in a sauce at this point or frozen – let cool completely and then put into the freezer on a cookie sheet for one hour to firm up. Transfer to a gallon baggie and keep frozen until use.

Pot Roast

Pot roast falls into the category of “Traditional Sunday Dinners.” At least that was the case before the invention of the Crock Pot. Now you can have a pot roast any day of the week, one that practically cooks itself while you’re away at work (or shopping, depending on the day!)

This recipe lends itself well to variations – you can use beef or pork and any root vegetables you like. We’ve always used the classic potato/carrot/onion combination and go a little heavy on the carrots – that’s my favorite part.

Depending on where you buy groceries, it’s always a good idea to buy a couple roasts when they go on sale during the cool months and keep them frozen. That way, when you get a hankering for a Sunday dinner on Tuesday, it’s only a day away in the Crock Pot.

Pot Roast

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

2-3lb boneless roast

½ T. granulated garlic

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 T. Kosher salt

½ T. black pepper

5 large carrots, 1” chop

2 large russet baker potatoes, 1” cube

1 sweet yellow onion, 1” chop

½ cup beef stock

1 bay leaf

Directions:

Turn your Crock Pot to high heat and put the lid on it to heat while you chop your veggies.

Stir together your dry ingredients in a small bowl and then rub generously over the roast, reserving any unused seasonings. In a skillet over high heat, drizzle a bit of EVOO and sear your pot roast on all sides to seal in the juices. Remove from pan and put immediately into heated Crock Pot. Cover with your chopped veggies, sprinkle leftover seasonings and pour over your beef broth. Top with a bay leaf and cover.

Turn heat to low and cook for 6-8 hours, or until potatoes are tender.

If you like your pot roast to have a gravy, simply remove your veggies and roast from the Crock Pot and stir into the juices 1 T. flour dissolve in 2 T. cold water. Stir until thickened, and pour over the finished dish.

Enjoy! KC

Chili

It’s Fall now, right? At least that’s what the dramatically cooler temps outside are telling me! At the first sign of a chill I run to my cold weather recipes and anxiously await all of the evenings I can make soups and stews. My Mama is a chili master in my opinion and I was surprised to realize last night that I’ve never attempted to make it.

Now, my husband is from Kansas City and his “Yankee-ness” has a much different view of what a chili should look and taste like. As for me I’m not just a big fan of chili powder or beans in my chili for that matter – just gimme the meat! But, he made chili several times for me last year and I’ve started to like the addition of beans for texture. Still not a big fan of chili powder but I consent you do need it for flavor.

This recipe is totally winged. I eyeballed all of the seasonings and only knew my meat and veggie amounts because they were packaged. And GASP! I used garlic powder instead of fresh garlic because I was out, but I actually think I liked the taste a smidge better. It is so very versatile that you can change it how you please, but we found this to be spectacular. Even LB, who proclaimed to this bio-mom that he “Loved Chili!!” to which she responded, “But you don’t like it when I make it . . .” so obviously I did something right. ;-)

Chili
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:
2.5lbs ground beef (I used the 80/20 for flavor)
1 large yellow sweet onion, diced
3 cans of beans, drained & rinsed (I used black, pinto and red)
4 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, with juice
2 tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. chipotle chili powder
Chili powder (I estimate I used 5-6 tbsp. but you can change to your taste)
Handful of salt
Handful of pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl combine and mix all of your dry ingredients. In a large stock pot over medium high heat, combine your ground beef, diced onion and dry seasonings and cook stirring frequently until meat is well-browned, about 10-15 minutes. The more you brown, the more flavor you incorporate! Cooking the beef with the seasonings really helps them adhere to the meat as opposed to them just floating around the broth.

Once your meat is browned, stir in your tomatoes and beans and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

We serve over Frito’s with shredded cheese on top. Tonight, leftovers are being served over a baked potato.

Enjoy! KC

Beef Stroganoff

Everyone has that ONE food that just takes you back to the comforts of home growing up. My mom was such an amazing cook that I happen to have a lot of those ONE foods, but beef stroganoff may be my favorite. Surprisingly enough my very favorite came out of a packet, McCormick brand mix for stroganoff. Up until a few months ago it was still my go-to simply because of how easy and quick it is to throw together when you’re running short on time.

As tends to happen with me, I got a craving for stroganoff several months ago and had no sauce packets – GASP! Odd because I usually by about 5 at a time . . . (no lie) At any rate, I decided it couldn’t be that difficult to recreate so off I went. It took no more time to do this from scratch than it did a packet and my husband said he actually preferred it.

This makes a LOT of food, enough that all three of us had dinner with leftovers for lunch the next day and plenty for dinner the next night after t-ball practice. I really like the cold leftovers the next day!

Beef Stroganoff
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1lb top sirloin, cut into thin strips (you can buy these pre-packaged at Kroger, I learned yesterday)
1 heaping tbsp. flour
1 heaping tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. salt (plus extra)
½ tsp. pepper (plus extra)
Sprinkle of paprika
1 cup cold water
4 oz. plain Greek yogurt
4 oz. sour cream
1 large package egg noodles

Directions:
Heat a large stockpot to boil with salted water and cook your egg noodles. These generally cook 7-9 minutes, so get the water going first in order for everything to finish on time.

Heat a deep skillet to med-high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle your steak with salt and pepper and rub generously into the meat. Once your skillet is hot, drop in the steak and stir-fry until there is very little pink left, approximately 3-5 minutes. While the steak is cooking, combine all of your dry ingredients in a measuring cup, stir and add in the water, whisking well. When your steak is finished pour in your sauce mixture, stir, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once your sauce has thickened, add in the yogurt and sour cream and stir gently until mixed. Strain your cooked egg noodles and pour sauce over the top, stirring well.

Enjoy! KC