Meatballs and Spaghetti

When I am in the mood to make my own meatballs, this is the recipe that I use. It is a Tyler Florence recipe but I do not make the meatballs as big as he does!

1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 Tbsp. roughly chopped parsley
1 cup milk
4 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 1/2 lb ground pork or turkey or veal
1 large egg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and parsley and cook until the vegetables are soft but still translucent, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let cool.

2. Pour enough milk over the bread in a bowl to moisten and let it soak while the onions are cooling.

3. Combine the meats in a large bowl. Add the egg and Parmigiano-Reggiano and season generous with salt and pepper. Use your hands to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread and add that to the meat mixture along with the cooled onion mixture. Gently combine all the ingredients with your hands or with a spoon until just mixed together. Do not over mix or the meatballs will be tough. Divide them into 10 equal pieces and shape them into balls. You can make them smaller and get more meatballs.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

5. Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in frying pan over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes or less if the meatballs are smaller. Place meatballs in a baking dish. Spoon over half of whatever tomato sauce you will be serving and bake for about 15 minutes.

6. While meatballs are baking, cook your spaghetti and heat up your tomato sauce and enjoy!



Note: If you want to freeze some of the meatballs, just cook them all the way through in the pan, cool and freeze for later use.

Beef Bourguignon

When it is chilly outside, I am always in the mood for a good stew. Which is basically what this dish is. I was watching the Food Network one cold afternoon and modified the Barefoot Contessa's recipe, removing things like pearl onions, which John and Sarah would never eat.

1 lb. stewing beef chunks

1/4 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and cubed

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup beef stock

1 cup red wine

1 can (10 1/2 oz) Cream of Tomato soup

1 tsp. dried thyme

2 Bay leaves

1 cup frozen peas

Salt & Pepper to taste

Thickener:

2 Tbsp. softened butter

1 Tbsp. flour

Mix together and set aside.

1. Cut the beef into bite sized chunks. Heat up a Dutch oven, add enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Brown beef chunks in a single layer, removing from pot with a slotted spoon when uniformly browned on all sides.

2. Into drippings in pan, add onion and carrot and saute until onions are tender. Add garlic and cook for a minute.

3. Add the potatoes to the vegetable mixture and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add thyme.

4. Pour the can of soup into the mixture and stir well. Add the beef broth and cook to simmering.

5. Add the red wine and bay leaves and bring to a boil.

6. Add the softened butter & flour mixture and with a whisk dissolve it into the liquid. Add the beef chunks, lower heat to simmer, put the lid on the Dutch oven and cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, stirring from time to time.

7. Half an hour before beef bourguignon is done, add the cup of frozen peas.

8. Serve over buttered egg noodles, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley.

Serves 4 or 2 very hungry men.