Meatballs and Spaetzle

Meatballs and Spaetzle

Ok. So the next four dishes (including this one) were all done at pretty much the same time. The main camera was lost so I had to use a back up, which can't white balance to save its life. So first up. Something I have never tried before... twofold. Meatballs and Spaetzle. (You've never made meatballs??) No I haven't.. and it shows. Alright. Here we go...


Ingredients

-Ground Beef
-Ground Pork
-Onion
-Mushrooms
-Cream
-Flour
-Milk
-Egg
-Nutmeg

Creation
So I love pasta/noodles/whatever they are called where you live. Really. I could make and eat it every day. So then I got this pasta book... which explains the first post of the year... but it mentions spaetzle. So time to do it. Then I saw the meatballs go with spaetzle...

Yes that is 80/20 Angus and yes it is going in a meatball.

Yeah I had a single 1/4lb of beef just sitting in fridge. What better use right? I mixed in 1/4lb ground pork some chopped onions and a salt and pepper. Then attempted to cook them.

This is what happens when you don't use a binder.

Yeah, they kinda rendered a bunch of fat and juices so why not make a mushroom sauce. Never cooked mushrooms before... so this has to work out. Right?

Sliced mushrooms and onions

Turns out mushrooms actually taste ok. A lot of wasted meals back in the day. 

Yeah this was smelling great.

So while that is reducing time to make spaetzle. 

 1 cup flour. 1/4 milk. 1 egg. Some nutmeg.

I think that is what I put in the bowl. Then I mixed it with a single chopstick. I think I have to do that every time I cook now.

Thought I was kidding? No single chopstick

Yes that is about the consistency I was looking for. There will be no rolling of dough here. Now there was  supposed to be many pictures of how to actually make spaetzle, but I was failing so bad I was unable to grab a camera. However I ended up using a spatula to push it through a half-moon pot drainer.

And this is what I came up with after all the struggling.

Yeah Looking pretty good. So I tossed it in a colander type device, with hope of crisping it up later. 

There are actually tiny holes on the bottom of this.

It can be eaten just like this or crisped up. I opted to go crispy. Now thing become very simple. Now it time to get the meatballs back in the sauce and get ready to put this thing together.

Spaetzle attempting to crisp up in the back... it won't

Now its ready to serve. At this point I realize I had no idea how to plate it. I can hear it now. 'Why is plating such a big deal?' Cause we eat with our eyes first... I mean we don't put spoons and forks in our eyes but... you get the point.

That doesn't look half great?

Even meals done for the first time can be...

Chicken Pappardelle

Chicken Pappardelle with Leeks and Bacon

So I went to a nice Italian Restaurant and had an awesome Chicken Carbonara. So of course I would wake up the next day thinking I could do it better right? Well I did, but it kinda became this instead on a carbonara. It was still very good though. 

Ingredients
-Fresh Pasta
-Shredded Chicken
-Leeks
-Garlic
-Bacon
-White Wine
-Half 'n Half

Creation
First make the ribbon pasta. You can follow my own recipe or do your own. Not a big deal, but when you get to the stage where you let it rest is where all the cooking comes in.

Still one of the best smells ever.

Get the bacon nice and crispy and reserve all the rendered fat. Well you don't have to reserve it all, but I did. cause I didn't want to pour off such delicious stuff.

Bottom half of one leek plus about three? garlic cloves

Chop the veges and get them in the pot to saute quickly. Don't want to burn the garlic. That would be bad. Very bad. Plus there is more to come.

Now add the chicken. I just happened to have shredded chicken from the day before, which I made by boiling a chicken breast till it was done.. I guess. Only about 30min or something. Not sure. It was fully cooked. Then I took to forks and shredded it by pulling with the grain. That way you don't get chunks but shreds. Probably should have took pictures...

Very bright and green. Just wait till the red comes from the bacon

Yep, get all that in there and then add a dash of white wine. Wait for that to boil off and then add cream, salt and pepper to taste. Let that simmer while the pasta is made.

Cutting the pasta

Yep now time to roll out the pasta. Should have only taken about 30min to do everything else. Maybe and if you noticed that it seems that the ration of chicken to pasta is a little off... it is. There is a bunch more chicken if you followed the measurements I gave for the pasta.

Unroll it

 Unroll it and let it rest a tiny bit and then cook for about a min. Toss in the topping and done... and yes I do almost always toss pasta in sauce first.

And there you have it... Mmmm

Simple(ish).. but it taste very fresh and of course is..

Black Chicken

Black Chicken

Not very black...

I think this was the first dish I made that made me really like cooking. I don't really know why I named it 'Black Chicken,' but the sauce was really dark first time. Made me really understand how awesome sweet and savory is. 

Ingredients
-Skinless Chicken Breast (Thick)
-Roma Tomato (Diced and skinned)
-Potato
-Half a Medium Onion (Diced)
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Brown Sugar
-Chili Powder
-Splash of white wine

Creation
Years ago when I first made this I didn't really know what I was doing. Just a bunch of experimentation. But now I barely know what I doing and I experiment even more!

There is also chicken trimmings in with the veges.

So where to start? Chicken is prepared simply salt, pepper and lightly seared on one side in a pot. Just enough to get the pepper stuck. Then flip it and add the tomato and onion. Chicken will not be done at all. Saute with chicken till tomato juice is all but gone.

Low and slow

Throw on the potato sliced anyway you want. I chose to slice it like fries and saute them with the chili powder and a little olive oil. It will balance the dish.

Syrpy goodness

Deglaze chicken and veges with a splash of wine and add some balsamic and brown sugar. When the mixture becomes syrupy now is time check the chicken. It should be done by now... if it isn't then wait. I know right?

Plate and serve. This is the first dish I added to the menu I keep in my head of course that make it...

Rosemary Chicken

 Simple Rosemary Chicken

I am a firm believer that you can't go wrong with a well seared piece of meat

One of those days when you just want something easy. One pot (or pan). Easy clean up. Simple ingredients. Sometimes you just gotta slow down and make things simple and easy. Easy = Delicious (In most cases)

Well here you go yet another recipe without measurements.... only because I found out I'm out of heavy cream and the milk should have thrown away a week ago. Terrible just terrible.

Ingredients
-Boneless Chicken Breast
-Rosemary
-S & P
-Olive Oil

Creation

Some nice looking chicken.

Gotta trim those breasts... Yeah. Since I knew ahead of time that I was going to slice it all pretty like I trimmed it up. Ended up with two nice pieces. Which I marinated in olive oil, rosemary and salt.

Under normal circumstances this would be brined ahead of time 

I say brine> marinate.. when it comes to chicken anyways, but to each their own. But make sure to not brine for too long or instead of juicy meat you'll get salty dry meat. That doesn't make Another Brisket Creation.

This would be the last we see of the tiny piece.. as the delicious morsel was consumed during a taste testing opportunity.. poor little thing.

Sliced all pretty like

Now it is sitting on a curry-type sauce that was pre-made on New Years Day and because I don't have anything written down I'll just have to make another post about that and probably other sauces. Also the rice.. I assume you can make a basic rice. This one being jasmine, so I didn't write that up.

But the star of the show is the chicken. Simple, delicious and makes this...

Pasta Made By Hand

How I make Pasta by hand
(No machine or food processor)

First post of 2012! Finally! Now to get on to business. The art of making pasta at home is thought to be difficult. I know I thought it was, but now I can safely say it isn't nearly as hard nor does it need many hard to get ingredients. Everything you need should be in the pantry. So what do you need? Well my recipe is as follows...

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup flour 

- 1 egg

- tbsp of oil

- tsp of salt

Creation

 All-purpose flour... for now

I begin with a bowl. I know, everyone else uses the well method or a food processor, but they don't know how messy I am and washing an additional bowl ain't no thang. Plus I always seem to make pasta in black clothes... so yeah... Also this recipes makes for a single entree portion or two appetizers.  

 Lookin' good

Now it dumped on the cutting mat. This dough is going to need more flour, because for some odd reason I think it is easier to add flour than water when kneading. I don't know... I like to be different. Kneading is done   till the dough refuses to change shape and sticks to itself but nothing else.

 The crumbly mess has become smooooth

The dough must rest or rolling it out is going to be very difficult. This is about the time I think about what the pasta will be sauced with or filled with in this case. Today I had fresh spinach and parsley on hand, so chopped them up, wilted them in a pan with garlic and cream, then finish with Romano cheese. ...Or if i have all of that prepared I turn on the tv or listen to some music or maybe even wash dishes I don't need anymore like a good little chef...

 In order to roll out thin enough the dough must be cut in half so there are two sheets

Brisket Note: The pasta must be really thin. So thin that can see through it a bit. If I moved the pasta to cover the little blue logo on the cutting mat it I would be able to make it out slightly.

I ended with only enough for four large ravioli. So the rest goes to ribbon pasta. I know to use more spinach next time. Oh well. My homemade rolling pin looks so good. Had to throw that in somehow, cause there is always that inner joy that comes with making something at home.... like pasta....

 Fresh ravioli and tagliatelle

After fresh pasta is made its best to either cook immediately or freeze for later use. The tagliatelle will be frozen in this case. That will be a nice little midday lunch someday. When cooking fresh pasta a rule of thumb is it is done when they float, which is quite fast actually. Less than a minute for thin ribbon pastas. I have over cooked many pastas... many pastas.

Spinach Ravioli with a White Wine Cream Sauce

And that is that finished simple sauce with white wine and cream. Now relish in the glory of your homemade meal. So now what? Well the sky is the limit. You can do pretty much anything...

...like a faux carbonara...

...or a light tomato cream sauce. 

No those did not come from the that little bit of leftover pasta, just in case you were wondering I managed to make it multiply with magic. Though that would be quite awesome. Of course those dishes will be coming up soon and it goes without saying that this is...