Meatballs in Chunky Tomato Sauce

I know most of you probably have cooked meatballs at least once in your lifetime. But lemme share with you the recipe I grew up with. Back when I was little, sweet and sour meatballs is all I knew. It's one of my faves from my father. When started to learn cooking, I imitated how he does it. But now, I thought maybe I could tweak it a bit to give the meat more oomph and flavor.

The process would start with my father having all the vegetables (one large skinned carrot, one large celery stalk, one large peeled red onion and 5-6 cloves of garlic) grinded with a kilo of lean beef. Well, that's him. My way? I grate the carrots, mince the onion, crush the garlic and finely chop the celery.

One they are mixed thoroughly, add three medium eggs and season with salt and pepper. As for me, I opted to include one tablespoon of paprika, half tablespoon of chili powder and a few dashes of nutmeg. Mix them well.

Before you mold the meat into balls (about the size of a golf ball), I suggest that you "test" the taste first. Simply, coat a pan with olive oil. Once hot, fry about a teaspoon of the meat. This way, you'd be able to adjust the taste.

Deep fry the meatballs over low-medium fire.

Let's do the sauce while waiting for the balls, shall we? In a sauce pan, sautee one medium diced white onion in olive oil over medium. Add 500-600 grams largely chopped tomatoes (deseeded), mix and cover for about two minutes. Add 2/3 cup stock and 500 grams tomato paste. Lower the fire and cover the pan. Let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper. I would prefer to include a teaspoon of crushed basil. Cover again and let it simmer until the sauce thickens.

Once ready, just pour the sauce onto the meatballs. Serve hot.

Happy eating!

I'm on Twitter @imavjavier

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Beef in Red Wine with Black Olives

Thanks to the busy holidays, I wasn't able to put much on my site last month. But I promised to myself that I have to write something at the start of the new year. So here's a recipe which I've actually tried a couple of weeks before Christmas. (Did I say I was too busy to write?)

What I have here is a dish that can be done in any day. The fact of the matter is, I read it from Elizabeth David's cookbook. What really prompted me to do this is a bottle of unfinished red wine. As you may know,  a bottle of red wine has only a day or two to keep its richness once opened. So I maximized the remaining wine through this.

I got here about 500 grams of cheap beef cut into cubes (about an inch thick) browned in two tablespoons of unsalted butter.

I poured in 1.5 cups each of stock and wine and added one large piece of bay leaf, parsley and a teaspoon of dried thyme.

I then covered the casserole with foil and simmered it over low fire for about 1.5 hours. Then I added about a cup of whole pitted olives and simmered it for another 15-20 minutes.

Here is the end result. What better way to eat this than with rice!

Happy eating!

I'm on Twitter @imavjavier

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Braised Beef Shank with Saffron Risotto

I wanted to cook beef. Most main recipes I posted here are either chicken or fish. So I searched through a couple of cookbooks and found out this braised veal shank recipe. I liked the simplicity of the dish, but the million dollar question was...Where do I get veal shank? Veal is not very common in most supermarkets or grocery stores here. I knew then that I had to tweak the recipe so I settled for cheap beef shanks. I added a few ingredients other than those mentioned in the cookbook and here is the product.

First you need to brown 4-5 pcs of beef shank (about 1.5 kg) in 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan. Then arrange the meat in such a way that marrows will not fall off once cooked. Pour a cup of white wine then simmer for 10 minutes over medium fire.

Add 1.5 cups of chopped tomatoes (seeds removed), salt and pepper, 1 teaspoon each of thyme and paprika, and 1 cup of stock. Simmer over low fire for 1.5 to 2 hours, covering the pan during the first hour. Cook the shanks until tender but not breakable. (Should your stock dry up, add 1/4 cup more at a time until the meat is cooked)

Then we prepare the gremolata. All you need to do is crush 2 gloves of garlic, combine it with a handful of chopped parsley and lemon rind (about half of the lemon). Mix well together then place on top of the shank.

As for the saffron risotto, add 2/3 teaspoon of saffron powder to 1 liter of simmering stock (Should you like a bolder color like what I did, add more saffron about 1.5 teaspoon). Check my risotto recipe here. You may opt to add less parmesan cheese or none at all (But it's better with cheese).

Happy eating!

I'm on Twitter @imavjavier

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