taste2taste

December 17, 2015

Great Balls of Meat, or Italian Meatballs to you and me!

I know the mid winter festivities are about to descend on us but I thought I’d slip in one final, unrelated post, before tinsel, conifer trees and that man with the white beard in the red suit, finally take over the Western World

This is my personal recipe for good old home made Italian style meatballs in a rich herb filled tomato sauce, which I cooked earlier this evening for my family. A great winter warmer, perfect after a day out in the cold but (given our recent unseasonable warmer weather here in NY) I should add that this dish works whatever the season

Ingredients for the Balls

Meatball Ingredients

1 lb ground beef chuck
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs or matzo meal (I used the latter)
A few dashes of Worcester sauce
1 tbsp of concentrated tomato puree
Half an onion and a large handful of Italian parsley – finely diced
1 large egg
Salt and pepper to season

Ingredients for the sauce

Ingredients for the tomato sauce

1 and 1/2 peeled carrots – sliced in vertically in half and diced
1 and 1/2 sticks of celery – diced in quarters
1/2 an onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic – chopped in quarters
1 tsp each of dried: rosemary, parsley, basil, oregano and thyme
24 oz bottle of passata (strained tomatoes)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Sauteed veggies and sauce cooking

For the balls – combine the ingredients in a large bowl mixing thoroughly, then form into roughly 1.5″ diameter balls in your hand yielding around 24-28 balls from the mince mixture
For the sauce – saute all the vegetables on a medium heat in a large pot until they soften adding the dried herbs to the pan as they fry, pour in the passata and bring the sauce to the boil, then simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes, or so,to intensify and condense the sauce. Season with salt and pepper
Add the meatballs to the sauce and stir in cooking for a further 15 minutes, until they are cooked through, adding a little water to the sauce if required to cover the balls

Meatballs!

Serve with Pasta or Rice fora true dose of comfort food!

December 12, 2015

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Maple & Thyme Glazed Parsnips

I love the build up to Christmas as a foodie there are so many festive recipes to discover, cook and share. I will be posting a number of recipes leading up to Christmas. This recipe is a family favourite – even my brother, never a fan of parsnips, likes this dish!

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side)

Ingredients

3 parsnips, washed, peeled, topped & tailed
1-2 dessertspoons maple syrup
small bunch of fresh thyme, washed, leaves removed
1 dessertspoon olive oil
sea salt & black pepper, freshly ground

Method

Set the oven to 190 degrees C (370 F)
Quarter the parsnips, remove the inner woody core and cut into strips
Put the oil and thyme into an oven proof dish
Parsnips cut in half
Add the parsnips and toss to coat
Season with salt & pepper

Ready to Roast

Drizzle with the maple syrup and roast for 25-30 minutes, turning over several times during cooking

Maple and thyme glazed parsnips – great festive veg for Christmas and the Winter season.

December 11, 2015

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Norwegian Style Herring – Pickled for the Holidays

Courtesy of a certain Canadian and Dane living in Oslo; Norway has become a country that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting many times over the past 20 years, or so

Dreaming of the Fjords

With friends, family and alone, I have hiked its Hardanger Jokulen glacier, where George Lucas filmed the cold bits of Star Wars (The Empire Strikes Back), sailed down the enormous Sognefjord and even white water rafted down the glacial melt of its icy peaks in a rubber boat and dry suit!

However, Norway is not just about these great outdoor diversions, as there is one thing that I look forward to on my visits, especially in the Winter Holiday season, when this dish becomes even more popular. That is, munching on their fantastic variety of sweet pickled herring (‘Sild’ in the native tongue) as part of a traditional Scandinavian breakfast

Herring caught by Captain Lofstad of Pura Vida Fisheries, Hampton Bay NY

Herring caught by Captain Lofstad of Pura Vida Fisheries, Hampton Bays NY

Living here in the US, it’s not so easy to get hold of ready made jars of Norwegian pickled herring, so, when the guy from Pura Vida Fisheries at my local Farmer’s Market told me that he had some herring , I thought I might have a go at recreating the dish for myself. After some research into various traditional Norwegian recipes, I tried this one derived from those used by Norwegian immigrants to America’s own Scandi belt in Minnesota!

The Ingredients lined up

Ingredients

1 lb fresh herring fillets (around a dozen fillets)
3/4 of a medium sweet onion (sliced)
5 cup white vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp peppercorns
5-2 tbsp allspice berries
1 tbsp whole cloves
6-8 bay leaves
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp anise seed
Sea Salt

Method

The stages of pickling herrring

Soak the herring in a a solution of 2 cups of water and 1 and 3/4oz of sea salt for 3 hours then drain
Slice the herring horizontally into approximate 1-2 inch pieces
Boil the vinegar with all the spices and bay leaves and leave to cool
Mix the herring, onions and the vinegar spice mix in a large bowl
Pour all the ingredients into a Kilner type
Into the pickling jar

sealed jar, top up with extra vinegar if needed
Seal the jar, place in the fridge for 5 days and that’s it – really easy!
On the 6th day, open the jar and serve your herring on some dark rye, or crispbread with your breakfast, brunch or lunch