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What are you having for dinner? (wanna share your recipe?)

Not for dinner but...This is an awesome recipe that is easy to make, easy to store, and has more use than just this recipe. It is a classic taste that has gotten more compliments than you would believe, and its so simple.

Big note - The milk and bread make a Panade. You can substitute yogourt, buttermilk, stock or water. Why panade? Keeps the meat juicy. I have a hamburger recipe that uses it and at a barbecue I forgot the grill on at cooking temp and figured they would be hockey pucks by the time I was ready for a second but - no still tasty and juicy. So don't worry about overcooking the meatballs - nobody will know but you.

Make Ahead Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Meatballs
4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces.
1/2 cup Milk or other panade liquid.
2 Large Egg Yolks
1/2 pound ground Pork
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Cloves garlic - minced
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Teaspoons pepper
2 1/2 pounds 85% lean ground beef

Sauce
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion minced
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups apricot preserves (jam will do in a pinch)
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Meatballs
Set up your oven with racks in the upper and lower middle position. Preheat to 450 F. Set up a cooling area for your meatballs. There will be about 80.
Take the bread and liquid for the panade and egg yolks and use a fork to mash until smooth. Put the panade and the rest of the meatball ingredients into a big bowl and mix thoroughly.
Form into 1 1/4" meatballs, a melon baller or a tablespoon should give you the correct size. Put the meatballs on a couple baking sheets and cook for 12-15 minutes. Once cooked put the meatballs in the fridge for about 30 min. to firm up and then put them in a ziplock and you should be able to store them for about a month.

Sauce
In a Dutch Oven heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened - about 15 min. Let cool. Transfer to an airtight container (I use plastic as it's easy to get the sauce out without thawing.) and store for up to a month.

To serve, reheat the sauce in a dutch oven (I use a slow cooker on high) once its simmering, add the meatballs. Once everything is warm - serve.

As I said before, the meatballs? Can be used for anything. You can also scale this recipe fairly easily and you can portion and freeze it as well.
 
Spring has sprung (in the northern hemisphere at least and Barbecue time is here so:

Death Row Bourbon Sauce

2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 Clove Garlic minced
2 Cups Ketchup
1/2 cup Whisky divided
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons Mustard
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Hot sauce (1 tablespoon Tobasco)
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke

In a medium size sauce pan add the oil and heat to shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened - about 5 min. Add everything but the last 1/4 cup of whisky. Stir thoroughly and cook for 20 min. over low heat. Stir in the last 1/4 cup whisky.

Use as a baste, finishing or table sauce. Also works well for baked bean sauce. You can store it in the fridge for several weeks.
 
I made some elbow macaroni, put in some mixed frozen veggies, some broccoli florets (cut smaller once soft), some frozen chicken I marinated with balsamic vinegar dressing and then shredded and froze in small portions to add to meals, used the last two baggies of this frozen shredded, cooked chicken. And then used the rest of the frozen (because it was opened and didn't realize I would finish it off within maybe 4 days after opening it) Alfredo sauce and even though I accidently made too much elbow macaroni and thus had to increase the veggies in it, the Alfredo sauce was the perfect amount for it. Oh, and added just a tad bit of milk to get the rest of the Alfredo sauce out of the baggie. And it was freaking amazing! It's so good! And I've been eating on it for a few days and still have at least a few days more. Probably about a weeks worth of for me, a single person. I have pictures of what I was using before I made it and then what it looked like right after making it. It's so good! One of those "clean the fridge/freezer" meals and was making it up as I went and damn, it isn't good!

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Its a lot of elbow macaroni lol! If you make it, use less of that.
 
Mini Chicken Satays

24 Skewers
4 Large boneless Chicken breasts
4 tsp White wine or rice vinegar
4 tsp Super fine sugar
2 tbsp sunflower or sesame oil
a little olive oil to fry (I just do mine on the grill)

Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Large onion finely chopped
1 Large Red Chili, seeded and finely chopped
3 Cloves Garlic Crushed
1 tbsp medium Curry powder
6 heaping tbsp Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cups water
1 heaping tsp superfine Sugar
juice of 1/2 lime
salt and pepper
Cilantro for garnish

1. Slice Chicken breast thin. I usually partially freeze the chicken breast as it makes it easier to cut thin. Put vinegar sugar and sunflower oil and chicken in a bowl and marinate in the fridge for about an hour.
2. To make sauce heat a frying pan over high heat. Add the oil, onion, and garlic. Saute for one minute then cover and reduce heat and cook until the onion is softened.
3. Stir in the curry powder and cook for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients except salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until the sauce is thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a bowl and cool completely.
4. Thread chicken on the skewers. Try to leave them flat as possible if pan cooking.
5. In a frying pan, warm olive oil and cook skewers 1-2 minutes a side or until cooked through. On the grill, cover the ends of the skewers with aluminum foil so they don't burn.
Serve together.

Alternately, if cooking on the grill, to save time, you can use store bought peanut sauce and marinate the chicken skewers for 1/2 hour, then cook on the grill. Be careful, the thinner the chicken the faster it cooks....
 
Played with my new toy, a kitchen aid food processor. Found out it is very satisfying indeed to drop vegetables into it and warch them spurt out diced.

This is a very plain vegetable soup but I seem to like it very much.

1 onion, 3 thin yellow carrots and 2 sticks of celery diced by the lovely machine and gently fried on a low heat for 10 minutes or so.

1 medium leek, a courgette and 2 v small potatoes also machined to death and added to the pot and gently fried a while

Add some sweetcorn kernals, a chicken stock cube, a low salt veg bouillon cube, some black pepper and some boiling water.

Simmer quite hard for 15 minutes more or less.
 
Made my kid a spicy crispy chicken sandwich & fries

- Deep Fried Chicken breast (cut in half lengthwise & pounded thin, seasoned, dredged in hot sauce & panko + tempura powder)
- Grilled Hamburger Bun (extra thick/sweet …nearly brioche, pub-style)
- Mayonaise, Lettuce, Pickles, Tomato
 
Salsa has five ingredients to me: tomatoes chopped (in whatever form you like), onion minced, chili peppers how you like, garlic minced, cilantro chopped, salt (how you like).

Yes that’s six, because salt is a personal preference. Lime if you have it.

I had that salsa with blue tortilla chips for lunch and dinner: it was yum: I used canned diced fire roasted tomatoes and canned diced green chilies.
 
Cream of Shitake
😮 wow! I’ve been cooking a lot of mushrooms lately and discovered that shiitake mushrooms do a thing to your pee aroma, like asparagus but it’s own brand.

Anyway! Tonight I had a smoothie that was luscious.

Banana Coconut Smoothie
1-2 frozen bananas, broken up
Half a can of coconut cream, or milk
1/4 c. Shredded coconut
Dash of nutmeg
Splash of vanilla

Blend until smooth.

It became like a pudding!

I wasn’t going to eat, but I remembered Friday and T saying soft foods or liquids when the desire to eat is absent: so victory ✌️ 🏆
 
Obscene Mac and Cheese (You’re not supposed to make it this way)

Make a white sauce except use bacon grease instead of butter. Congratulate yourself for blending in whole wheat flour (or other enrichment) to your all purpose flour. Substitute half and half for half the milk 🤓. Thin with half and half. Make it a cheese sauce. Substitute Parmesan for half the cheddar.

Add already cooked macaroni but add less than you think you need, make it heavy on sauce, like fondue with pasta in it.

Vinegar hot sauce is a welcome addition.
 
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