Here and There: March 2016

Sunday, March 13, 2016

French Onion soup au Gratin with Meatballs

This recipe came through one of the food sites on FaceBook on National Meatball and then I couldn't find it. Basically it is baked meatballs in French Onion Soup.. The meatballs were suppose to be stuffed with cheese cube and caramelized onions.. But the slices of onions were too large so I just used a cube of cheese, which if I was to do this again would use cooked chopped mushrooms and onions. I remember doing stuffed cheese burgers when they were the rage, but only once, this time, I can't say I could see the cheese!

My hubby is always assigned to do the meatballs and patties as he always very precise and the meatballs are uniform as are the patties.

I use one package of beef and pork which made about 50 meatballs, 40 of which I froze for later use.

To the meat mixture, add one egg, dried mustard and Worcestershire sauce, mix and form into small meatballs.

Caramelize 1-2 onions using water or wine. I use a Canadian Chef ( Michael Smith) method of steaming the onions until soft and golden. The use of a lid and liquid helps the onion cook slowly and caramelize to a golden color. Add the onions to a broth, I never use prepared broth, use homemade broth if you have or just add more water. Check out MIchael Smith's video for the soup.

To assemble, layer the onions in the broth into a cast iron skillet, then the uncooked mushroom, I added whole mushrooms which my hubby took out and sliced! Then the uncooked meatballs.

Bake at 325 to 350 for about 20-25 minutes, then add the grated mozzarella cheese and bake until meatballs are cooked and the mozzarella bubbly! Add parsley, which I didn't have but fresh grated parmesan was added!

I used mini skillet cast iron pans for individual serving, but will be making this dish in a larger skillet as an appetizer for a group. Enjoy with French Bread.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

This is a recipe that I have been doing since we lived in another city and used to eat these delicious Vietnamese Spring rolls in a restaurant. The wrappers were filled with fresh vegetables, pork and shrimp and then deep fried!

My whole family loved these spring rolls which we all dissected to see what was in the wrappers. The stuffing was not minced so easily identified and easily made at home.

I have been making these for my daughter in university as a quick supper. They are her favourite and I still continue to have a supply in my freezer.

There is no real recipe other than using a package of ground meat, chicken or pork, thinly sliced Chinese cabbage or regular cabbage, grated 2 -3 carrots, diced small onion, grated ginger, handful of chopped cilantro. Mix well. The filling is a very mixture and you can add more to create a very colourful filling.

Sauté the meat and finely chopped onion.. Thinly sliced pea pods, green onions are nice.. However, bean sprouts are a pain as they poke through your wrapper!!
Chopped shrimp can also be added to the filling. I don't put garlic into the filling as I can't stand the smell in the deep freeze as they are first frozen on a cookie sheet before packing them in a covered container.

The spring roll wrappers that I find are the easiest to use and do not tear are made in Singapore by Spring Home, TYJ Spring Roll Pastry. These can be found in the Asian section of your super market.

About 2 tablespoons of the filling were added to the centre of the wrapping.

The wrapper was folded up and then each side was folded inward to make an envelope. A trick I learned was to dab a bit of a flour and water mixture at the top end to help the wrapper stick together.

The package of 50 wrappers, even though I made a big bowl of filling, 5 wrappers were left over. Not a problem, wrap half a banana and enjoy it with maple syrup or ice cream!

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Since I had Tourtiere filling leftover. I used this along with caramelized onion, hot mango sauce, slivers of pineapple , cabbage and cilantro.

This filling was very tasty and as always tasters are a favourite of my hubby and I!

The spring rolls can be deep fried but I have been baking them in my toaster oven for years. Lightly spray the uncooked spring rolls with cooking oil and bake until golden and crispy, about 20 minutes! Serve with a sweet and sour sauce, my husband loves Hoisin sauce.

Tourtiere Pies, Meat pies

One of the things I like to have in my freezer is frozen mini Tourtiere Pies. These little pies were always sent uncooked with my daughter when she attended university. All she had to do was vent the pie to allow steam to escape as she baked a pie for 30 to 40 minutes at 350. She said by the time she could smell the pie baking, she was ready to enjoy her supper. Gravy is traditional served with meat pies but Fresh Salsa is delicious and not as heavy as gravy!

A French Canadian friend who grew up in French Canadian village talk about this dish always been served after midnight Christmas Eve mass.

There are many versions of meat pies in Quebec using different meats and spices depending on the area.

The ground meat is cooked first and then layered into an uncooked pie pastry. I use a combination of beef and pork along with sautéing a small finely diced onion.

I used 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 tsp dry mustard and tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce as the spices. It is a fragrant pie while baking.

Since this was a complete meal for my daughter, I liked to add peas to the meat pie which she liked or never complained about it!

From the standard pie pastry recipe, I am able to make six very packed meat pies. It occurred to me that I have never baked these pies in a mini size so do not have any pictures of a baked mini meat pie. I have prepared these pies for my new son in law's birthday this week, who also loves these pies. These pies are ready to be packed into a ziplock bag once frozen.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Vegetable Noodle Bowl with Homemade Ponzu Dressing

This easy noodle bowl dish is refreshing and delicious. It is a good way to use up vegetables in your refrigerator. Perfect as a lenten dish or to reduce the amount of meat in our diet.

Ponzu dressing is a citrus based watery thin soya dressing which you can also buy in the Asian section of the Supermarket but easily made at home.

Ponzu Dressing:

1/4 c soya sauce
1/4 c water
2-3 T mirin/sake
2-3 T rice vinegar
3- 4 T lemon juice or lime juice
1 T dried Bonito flakes
1-2 tsp Chili flakes
Rind from the fruit

A combination of lime and lemon as the juice is very nice. I also used a small chunk of Jalapeños in place of chilli flakes.

Combine the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Stain sauce into a jar.

For this noodle salad use a combination of vegetables.

I dehydrated Shitake Mushrooms in hot water until soft, then sliced them thinly as this mushroom is very meaty. White mushroom can also be used.

Pan fry the mushrooms in a bit of olive oil along with minced garlic clove and minced fresh garlic. You can add a hot chilli

Add finely sliced vegetables. I used cabbage, white onion and red bell peppers.

To assemble either in a single bowl or family style eating, add the cooked noodle, then the sautéed vegetables, grated carrots, finely chopped cilantro. I topped this with steamed shrimp, drizzled the Ponzu dressing, sprinkled sesame seed.

The combination is endless, other vegetables such as pea pods, bok choy, Chinese Cabbage, peanuts and green Onions.