Lebanese Meatballs

My big sister is a great cook.  I love hanging out at her house because my niece is there, but also because I know she'll feed me delicious things.  Oh yeah, I also enjoy her and her husband's company ;]  The last time I went home, she whipped these babies up, and I just had to make them again a few days later.

I love meatballs because you can really change up the flavor profile.  Classic Italian meatballs are lovely, but you could even do Asian inspired, or in this case, put a Middle Eastern spin on them.  This meatball recipe incorporates tons and tons of herbs, which I love.  I used half beef / half lamb, but these are also really nice with just beef (a bit cheaper, too!).  

Serving suggestions: naan, hummus, yogurt sauce, cucumber and tomato salad

Lebanese Beef and Lamb Meatballs 

adapted from The view from Great Island Lebanese Meatballs

(serves 8; make and freeze half if only serving 4)

:: 1 pound ground beef (I used 85/15)

:: 1 pound ground lamb

:: 2 eggs, beaten

:: 1/2 cup bread crumbs
:: 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
:: 1 cup finely chopped scallions

:: 1/2 cup chopped parsley
:: 1/2 cup chopped mint
:: 2 tsp ground cumin

:: 2 tsp ground cinnamon

:: 1 tsp ground cardamom, optional (if you use cardamom, just use 1 tsp cinnamon)

:: 2 tsp ground allspice
:: s & p 

:: olive oil, for browning meatballs

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients together with as little mixing as possible (a fork is a good utensil for this).  

Form meatballs, I made mine about 1-inch in diameter.  Heat a pan over medium-high heat.

Brown the meatballs in a few batches, rotating each meatball a few times.  Transfer meatballs to a baking dish and let bake for about 10-15 minutes to finish cooking.  

Asian Chicken

I used to make this all the time in college for a quick and easy dinner.  I love dark meat chicken, but you're welcome to use whatever kind you life.  You could even buy family-size packs, marinate the whole lot, and throw in just a few pieces into individual freezer bags.  Once you freeze it, you can defrost at your leisure throughout the month.

Asian Marinated Chicken

:: 2 pounds chicken (I used whole legs, whatever cut works)
:: 1/2 cup honey or sugar
:: 3/4 cup soy sauce
:: 3/4 cup water
:: 8 cloves garlic, smashed or minced
:: 3 scallions, cut into 1-in pieces
:: 1-inch chunk of ginger, cut into thin discs
:: 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
:: hot sauce to taste, or 1 jalapeno, sliced thinly
:: 1 tsp sesame oil

Mix everything together except for the chicken.  If you are using skinless chicken, marinate for about 6 hours.  If you are using skin-on chicken, marinate overnight.  In retrospect, I probably would have poked a few holes in the skin to let the marinade really penetrate.

When you're ready to eat, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lay the chicken skin-side down in a baking pan, pour marinade over chicken.  Bake for 25 minutes, turn heat up to 375, and flip chicken over.  Bake an additional 25 minutes.** 

Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.  If you'd like a thicker sauce at this point, pour excess marinade from roasting pan into a small saucepan over medium heat.  Meanwhile, combine 1 tbsp corn starch with 1 tbsp COLD water into a slurry.  Stream the corn starch slurry into the chicken marinade, stirring the whole time until sauce thickens.

I served this with white rice and broccoli!
** for crispier skin, bake at 350 for 25 minutes, 375 for 20 minutes, and broil on low for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.

Jerk Chicken

I'm so excited to make this recipe!  It's spicy!  And savory!  And involves citrus! 

"Jerk" is a traditional Jamaican blend of spices that is usually used as a dry rub or wet marinade on most commonly pork and chicken, but also other proteins.  It does involve a lot of ingredients, but most of them you probably have in a well-stocked pantry (and are all definitely available at your local grocery).  It's the unusual combination of these relatively plain-jane ingredients that really tingles the tastebuds.  I toned down the habaneros since it was the first time I made this recipe, but feel free to go crazy like these guys if you love spicy food.  As written, it was not nearly as spicy as the marinade originally led me to believe.  I hope you try this and love it as much as I do!

Good things happening in the blender...

Meatballs

............so probably, you being a normal person and all, you would eat these with "spaghetti" and "sauce", but I figure it's a little more approachable to do part of a recipe at a time than a whole meal.  Feel free to use your own sauce, sauce out of a jar, whatever you want!  It's all good.

I realize that this is one of the uglier photos I've taken, but come on, it's meatballs. 

The best thing about these meatballs is that they still have pork sausage, which makes it spicy, salty, and have that fatty mouth feel, but that the OTHER half is very very lean turkey.  Effectively, you have the best of both worlds, and can pretend in your head that it's diet food.  

In the sad and ignorant past, T and I used to pan fry the meatballs before adding to sauce for better looks and taste (throwing them directly into sauce ends up in them breaking all over the place and as well as a boiled, colorless exterior), but we eventually settled on broiling them for a few minutes instead.  This gives them a beautiful golden brown color, as well as the structural integrity to be finished off in the sauce!

Portobello Marsala

Does anyone know how to spell portobello? Portabella?! I don't know.

This recipe was actually supposed to be chicken marsala for dinner tonight, but I forgot to defrost the chicken and so now all we have are mushrooms. Which turned out to be just fine.

Marsala (not be confused with masala, a blend of spices commonly used in Indian and SE Asian cuisine) is a fortified wine, which I have never in my life had as a beverage. In fact, the only marsala I've ever purchased has been in the cooking section of the supermarket, which has salt and other things added to it, rendering it undrinkable. It has a distinctive taste and is not really substitutable with red or white wine. It goes great with mushrooms, and as you will see, I used whatever I had at home, but you can use whatever crazy combinations of mushrooms you have - button, cremini, portobello, you name it.

Ingredients:

:: 2 portobello caps, thinly sliced and cut into thirds or bite-sized pieces

:: 1/2 pound creminis, stems removed, thinly sliced
:: 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
:: 2 tbsp olive oil
:: 2 tbsp butter
:: 1/2 onion or 2 shallots, chopped
:: 2 tbsp flour
:: 1/2 cup marsala wine

:: 1 cup chicken stock

:: 1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half (optional)

:: handful parsley, chopped (optional)

:: 1/2 box pasta, I like linguine!

Boil a giant pot of water, salt it, and cook pasta according to the box directions.

Melt olive oil and butter over medium heat. And no, I am not crazy for using both. Butter tastes great, but the milk solids burn. Adding the oil allows you to cook at higher heat without that being a big issue. Let the garlic cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add onion or shallots, cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add in all the mushrooms and cook until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Usually, when making chicken or veal marsala, the cutlets are dredged in flour, seared, and then liquid is poured on top. The flour serves not only to give the meat a nice brown sear, but also helps to thicken the sauce. Since I am skipping this step (which you are more than welcome to do!), I added in 2 tbsp flour to the mushrooms and cooked it a little longer so that when the liquids are added in, they will thicken into a nice creamy sauce.

Looks like a lot of mushrooms, doesn't it? They cook down to virtually nothing!

I hope you're salting and pepper-ing along the way!

Pour in wine, deglaze the pan and scrape up any brown bits. Turn up to high heat and let boil for 30 seconds. Pour in chicken stock, let cook for another 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens. You can add in cream at this stage if you are using it, or a little more wine if the marsala flavor has been diluted. Parsley goes in at the very end, right before you serve this to the table.

Grated cheese? Yes, please!

I've also served this over simple garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!