Spiced Lamb & Beef Meatballs

These are make ahead meatballs.

I am always on the look out for fast and quick recipes. This one got my attention for sure. I made it while Mark was out for March madness. Even though I was tired from taking care of the boys after our little bed time routine I whipped up these bad boys and stored them in my garage freezer.

Spiced Lamb & Beef Meatballs (recipe from thekitchn.com)
makes 30 to 40 generously-sized meatballs

1 1/2 pounds ground lamb
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 small onions, finely grated
1 3-inch piece fresh ginger root, peeld and finely grated
5 garlic cloves, crushed
3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chile powder
2 tablespoons garam masala
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons ground almonds
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour

Mix together the beef and lamb until they are well combined. Using your hands or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, stir in the onion, ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, chile powder, garam masala, cilantro, almonds, eggs, and flour.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of the meat mixture and roll into evenly-shaped meatballs. Roast the meatballs for 20 minutes or until just barely pink in the middle.

Eat with rice, yogurt, and a chopped cucumber salad.

On freezing & refrigerating:
• Meatball mixture can be made up to 12 hours in advance and refrigerated.
• Meatball mixture can be frozen, uncooked, for 3 months.
• To freeze the cooked meatballs, place them on a large baking tray and freeze them for 2 hours or until solid. Then remove them and put them in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat on a baking sheet in a 300°F oven until warmed through, turning the oven up to broil at the end for 5 minutes to re-crisp the edges.

I made my own sauce for these meatballs. Fresh tzatziki sauce is so simple but so good.


Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/07/greek-yogurt-tzatziki-recipe.html

Braised Beef with Fresh Chinese Noodles

1/2 lb egg noodles (I used Chinese egg noodles)
1 lb lean beef
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 1/2 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup duck broth or 1/2 cup chicken broth (I like chicken broth)
4 teaspoons water
6 green onions, sliced (for garnish)
* Add Chinese cabbage

1. Cook the noodles in salted boiling water just until tender; drain, and rinse under cold water.
2. Slice the beef into very thin slices.
3. Mix together the garlic, salt, ginger, cooking wine, and five-spice powder, and add the mixture to the beef; mix.
4. Heat the oil and saute the beef over high heat for 2 minutes.
5. Mix together the soy sauce and broth, and add it to the beef; bring to a boil. Cook until beef is fork tender.
6. Add noodles, mix well and heat thoroughly.
7. Add the green onions & Chinese cabbage, and stir for another minute.
8. Serve immediately. You can also add fried garlic for topping.

Enjoy!

Beef and Black Bean Chili

3/4 c. dried black beans or 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed, drained
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 lg. green bell peppers, chopped
1 lg. onion, chopped
2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb. Ground Beef
1/4 c. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes in puree
1 can (28 oz.) diced stewed tomatoes

Optional:
1 c. (4 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 c. dairy sour cream
Tortilla Strips
Sour dough bread

Soak dried beans in cold water to cover 12 hours or overnight. Drain. Rinse beans. Combine beans and 1 quart water in large saucepan. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 1-1 1/4 hours until beans are tender.

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add bell pepper, onion, jalapeno peppers and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Increase heat to high. Add beef. Cook 6 minutes or until beef is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt and black pepper. Cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes. Simmer, covered 1 hour and 20 minutes. Drain beans. Add beans to mixture. Simmer 10 minutes.

Transfer chili to serving bowls. Serve with cheese, sour cream and sour dough bread. Makes 6 servings.

Carne Asada with Spanish Rice

Ingredients

2 pounds flank or skirt steak
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Marinade:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 large handful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, finely chopped (great flavor in the stems)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

1) Lay the flank steak in a large bowl or baking dish. Combine marinade ingredients and pour the marinade over the steak. Make sure each piece is well coated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

2) Preheat your grill over medium-high flame (you can also use a cast iron grill pan on high heat for stove-top cooking). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Remove the steak from the marinade. If you are cooking indoors, you may want to brush off excess marinade as the bits may burn and smoke on the hot pan. Season both sides of the steak pieces with salt and pepper. Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.

(Optional) Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn). I used soft corn tortillas. Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds each on high.

(Optional) Serve with pico de gallo (fresh tomato salsa) and chopped avocados.

Spanish Rice Recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil (can use up to 1/4 cup)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
3 cups* chicken stock (or vegetable stock if vegetarian)
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste or 1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
Pinch of oregano
1 teaspoon salt

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.
Method

1 In a large skillet brown rice in olive oil, medium/high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook onion rice mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened.

2 In a separate sauce pan bring stock to a simmer. Add tomato sauce, oregano, and salt. Add rice to broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover. Lower heat and cook 15-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice and the instructions on the rice package. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6.

Asian Short Ribs

My friend Linda shared this amazing recipe to me. I tried it and it is fool proof. Try it! You'll love this melt in your mouth short rib beef stew. Simply amazing. I didn't take a photo but trust me it's amazing.

Ingredients

*2 tbsp whole Chinese five spice
*4 lb. bone-in beef short ribs (usually two packets of ribs, try to trim off a bit of the fat b/c it does get a bit fatty in the end)
*2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
*1 large yellow onion
*4 garlic cloves
*1⁄3 cup plum wine, red wine vinegar or marsala wine (whatever you have that is red and more of a sweet note)
*1⁄3 cup soy sauce
*1⁄3 cup rice vinegar
*1⁄4 cup sesame oil
*1 tbsp chili garlic paste
*2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
*1/2 cup of Hoisin sauce
*Steamed Rice for serving

other stuff I sometimes add:
*chopped carrots
*mushrooms

Directions

1. Season the short ribs with the five spice and shake off the excess.
2. In a heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes total, adding more oil to the pan if needed. Transfer to a slow cooker.
3. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the wine is reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker along with the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chili paste, ginger, orange zest, orange juice and sugar mixture. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours according to the manufacturers instructions.
4. Spoon the fat off the sauce. Transfer the ribs and sauce to a serving bowl and serve with steamed rice. Garnish with chopped green onions.
   

Serves 6.