Crunchy and Crusted: Crinkle Meatballs

For this month's Five Star Cooking theme, I made a very different kind of meatballs. Instead of soft and juicy, these are crunchy and crusted, with a tint of sweetness from pieces of dates. The yogurt sauce drizzled on top balances out the texture. Surprisingly, this is now my favorite kind of meatballs.

Crinkle Meatballs with Turkey and Date

Crinkle Meatballs with Turkey and Date
from Food and Wine
Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 6 dates, pitted and finely chopped
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup French green lentils
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Recipe

1. In a bowl, combine the ground turkey with the bread crumbs, dates, eggs, sesame seeds, sesame oil, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover the lentils, garlic, thyme and cinnamon stick with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat until the lentils are tender, about 25 minutes. Drain the lentils and transfer to a bowl; pick out and discard the seasonings. Stir the olive oil and vinegar into the lentils and season with salt and pepper.
3. Form the turkey mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Spread the meatballs on a lightly oiled large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned on the bottom and cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, blend the yogurt with the lemon juice, mint and lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper. Serve the meatballs with the lentils and yogurt.

Thank you to Natasha from 5 Star Foodie and Laz from Lazaro Cooks! for hosting this month's 5 Star Cooking!

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

Meatloaf with Red Wine Braised Cabbage

This may sound like a thanksgiving dinner, but it is a tasty and satisfying weekend dinner anytime of the year. I recommend cooking the cabbage first to let it simmer on low heat while you prepare and cook the meatloaf.

Meatloaf with Red Wine Braised Cabbage

Meatloaf
Adapted from Good Eats Meatloaf
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
Meatloaf

• 6oz of garlic flavored croutons
• Spices: 1/2 tsp of black pepper, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, 1 tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp of dried thyme
• Vegetable mixture: 1/2 onion (roughly chopped), 1 carrot (peeled and broken), 1/2 red bell pepper (roughly chopped), 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and pressed lightly)
• 18oz of ground turkey
• 18oz of ground beef
• 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 egg

Glaze

• 1/2 cup of ketchup
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• Dash of worcestershire sauce
• Dash of tabasco
• 1 tbsp of honey

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 325F. In a food processor, combine croutons and spices. Pulse until the mixture is fine. Set the mixture in a large bowl. 
2. Combine the vegetable mixture in the food processor and pulse until the mixture is fine but not pureed. Add to the bowl with spices. 
3. Add ground meat, kosher salt, and egg into the large bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Pack this mixture into a 10 inch loaf pan and turn it over onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Bake meatloaf in the oven. Meanwhile, combine glaze ingredients and brush sauce over the meatloaf after the meatloaf bakes for about 10 minutes. Continue baking for another 35 minutes. Make sure to check meatloaf internal temperature to ensure that it's cooked thoroughly.

Red Wine Braised Cabbage

Adapted from LA Times

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots
• 1 cup of peeled and diced gala apple
• 1 medium red cabbage, cored, toughly leaves removed, and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup of dry red wine (I suggest a Pinot Noir)
• 1 tbsp of honey
• Salt and pepper
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tsp of caraway seeds, toasted
• 1 cup of chopped almonds, toasted

Recipe

1. In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add shallots and apple and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
2. Add cabbage, 3/4 cup of red wine, vinegar, honey, and 1 tsp of salt. Add thyme sprigs. Cover the pot, turn the heat to low, and bring to a slow simmer. Simmer for 1 hour while stirring occasionally to ensure the cabbage does not stick to the pan. 
3. Stir in an additional 1/4 cup of red wine halfway through cooking and add additional water throughout cooking if cabbage becomes dry (though you shouldn't need to). 
4. Season cabbage with salt and pepper to taste. Add caraway seeds and stir in chopped almonds. Serve alongside a slice of meatloaf.  

5 Star Makeover: Farm to Table Tamale Pie

It is always so much fun to participate in the monthly 5 Star Cooking Group, hosted by our friends Natasha at 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro at Lazaro Cooks! This summer's June and July theme is "Farmers' Market". We all love farmers' market. The fruits never disappoint and the unique produce always bring surprises like gorgeous flowers, exotic herbs, and cute heirloom tomatoes. This is the first 5 Star Makeover where I decided to browse and buy all the ingredients first before making a dish.
 

Farm to Table Tamale Pie

As I stared at the beautiful and colorful herbs, edible flowers, corn, heirloom tomatoes, I was reminded of Mexican cuisine. I envisioned a delicious tamale pie made with beans, corn, and tomatoes and served over a bed of mixed herbs, greens and flowers. I couldn't help but thinking it's a wonderful idea as I inhaled the fresh scent of all the herbs, mixed with the enticing smell of a baking corn tamale pie.


Tamale Pie on a Bed of Herbs, Greens and Edible Flowers



Tamale Pie
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

Filling

• Butter for greasing casserole
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 lb of ground turkey
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed through garlic press
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp of table salt
• 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup of fresh corn kernels
• 1 tbsp of minced fresh oregano
• 2 ounces of shredded monterey jack cheese
• Ground black pepper

Crust

• 4 cups of water
• 2 tsp of table salt
• 1.5 cups of coarse cornmeal

Recipe

1. For the filling, butter 3-quart casserole. Preheat oven to 375F. 
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and add ground turkey to cook until no longer pink (about 5 minutes). Add onion and jalapeno and cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic cayenne, chili powder, and salt, and cook for 30 seconds. 
3. Add tomatoes with juice, black beans, and corn and simmer until most of liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in oregano and season with salt (I added quite a bit of salt here) and pepper to taste.
4. For the crust, bring water to boil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat. Add salt and slowly pour in cornmeal while whisking vigorously. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook while whisking until cornmeal mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat.
5. Spread 2/3 of cornmeal mixture on sides of buttered casserole (optional: you can also spread them on the bottom if you like). Spoon turkey mixture evenly into casserole and sprinkle with cheese. Spread remaining cornmeal mixture evenly on top of cheese, spreading it out to edges of casserole to seal filling.
6. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered and serve. 

hosted by 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro Cooks!

"Pock" Granny, 3-Cup Chicken & More

You may wonder why I decided to title this post with irrelevant nonsense; fortunately, the blame goes to Chinese people in the past who had much imagination and time to spare.

It has been a few days since I last walked into my kitchen. Two! To be exact. Okay, it really hasn't been that long but it sure felt like a long time. I wanted to make food I loved and missed, so I cooked two of Chinese cuisine's most popularized dishes: "Pock" Granny Tofu and 3-Cup Chicken. These go by many other names: mapo tofu, spicy tofu, hot tofu, three teacup chicken, basil chicken, etc. The tofu dish is essentially a hot and spicy tofu broth with ground meat, while the chicken dish is saucy and sharp in flavor.  

Spicy Tofu in Hollowed Rice and 3-Cup Chicken
served with Shiitake Cabbage

I hollowed out the rice and poured the spicy "Pock" Granny Tofu into the center and served the 3-Cup Chicken on the side along with more sauce. 

"Pock" Granny Tofu + 3-Cup Chicken

The dish "Pock" Granny Tofu actually comes from the story of a woman who created this delicious dish. She was nicknamed "Pock" Granny due to her age and appearance, but she was known to serve simple and flavorful dishes to travelers at her street side inn. I have always separated Chinese food in two categories: food for the poor and food for the rich. While I am sure this holds true in many cultures, it never ceases to amaze me how popular the once commoner food has become today. This tofu dish is a perfect example. In comparison, 3-Cup Chicken has a much more scientific origin behind its name. 3-Cup refers to the key ingredients and measurements of this dish - a cup (teacup back then) of sesame oil : a cup of soy sauce : a cup of rice wine. Of course, others are added (basil, spice, garlic, sugar, etc.) as people become pickier, but it started with 3 very simple ingredients. 

The way my version of this dish is meant to be eaten is to mix all the flavors together and balance them with a cup of perfectly steamed rice sitting on a bed of vegetables.  

"Mixed"

Things just taste better when you get to be the one to mess it up!

Seriously, it takes 10 minutes! Chinese Bolognese.

After driving around in the city all day, we decided that we were famished. I was lazy to cook. He had cravings. He wanted Chinese, and I thought Chinese restaurants were too far. But we both wanted food. After some thinking, I finally decided that it would take less time to whip up a great bowl of Chinese Bolognese, or black bean sauce noodles, than to drive to a restaurant.

10 Minute Chinese Bolognese

Often referred to as the Asian version of Italian bolognese, black bean sauce noodles are more extreme in flavor and much quicker to make. The black bean sauce that tops the noodles consist of ground turkey (traditionally minced pork), spicy black soybean paste, sweet bean paste, soy sauce, garlic, green onions and ginger. Once the sauce is well incorporated, it is served on top of hot Chinese noodles. Though in my photo above, the overwhelming amount of sauce buried the noodles underneath. This is why a famished cook should never be in the kitchen. It took less than 10 minutes and we knew we made the right choice after the happy filling meal. 

Bolognese Steamed Buns

Not knowing what to do with delicious leftovers the next day, I decided that the rich flavoring would be a great bun, or bao, filling. So I made whole wheat bolognese steamed buns for lunch. I absolutely love steamed buns. I can eat them in any way imaginable, from BBQ pork filling to sweet sesame buns to just plain tasty buns. Mmm.

Bye bye, IKEA

IKEA was my first (and unfortunately, my only) encounter with Swedish meatballs, so when I thought about creating the dish, the idea of making an unfamiliar dish scared and excited me at the same time. How nice would it be to enjoy those delicious meatballs comfortably at home as opposed to snacking on them in between shopping for chairs and office desks?

Like Germany, Swedish food tends to be practical and sustaining, but like the country itself, neighboring countries have extended their influence over Swedish cuisine. Swedish meatballs, probably Sweden's most popular and well-known dish, are usually accompanied by lingonberry jam. I figured that the jam is probably served to not only sweeten, but also lighten the thick creamy meatball sauce. I decided to reinvent this dish to create a modern Swedish Napoleon.

Swedish Napoleon - Swedish Meatballs, served with Cherry syrup and Whipped Sour Cream

I boiled down some fresh cherries and sugar to create a fresh cherry syrup to replace the lingonberry jam. I used puff pastry to give the dish some starch and crunchy texture. I also fluffed up some sour cream and milk (using a beater) to bridge all the layers together to create an explosion of flavors when you take your first bite. I will say this much - IKEA is no longer good enough for me!