Meatball lovers - here's 5 recipes for your mealplan!

For me, meatballs are always a winner.  Kids love helping you roll them up, and will generally eat them if they've had a hand in making them.  You can experiment with flavours and tastes and even types of meat (Ok, maybe not horse as Ikea recently found out) but it's a great way to jazz up plain old mince of any kind.

I always find something comforting about meatballs, probably because they are one of my Mum's specialties and I guess my girls do too - because there are never objections to meatballs at our house!


1. Hungarian Meatballs
These are a beef/pork mince combination and are quickly prepared and then sent off to simmer in your slow cooker.  You can fast track these on the stove if you like too.

2.  Spicy Tagine Meatballs
These are made from beef mince (but you could use lamb) you can add extra yoghurt and have less paprika if you want less spice.  I love these and they are going on my meal plan this month for sure!  If you don't have a tagine, just a pot with a snug lid in fine!

3.  Smokey oven baked meatballs
So easy to prepare and pop in the oven - ready in an hour go-to-whoah!  I made mine with beef but I think you could use chicken or turkey mince too - I've made them with pork mince with spectacular results.

4.  Moroccan Turkey Meatballs
I never get tired of this one, my kids love it too, it's so flavourful and moist - which are two things that turkey isn't used to being called!  You can try this with lamb or beef mince too!

5.  Swedish Meatballs
If you are a fan of the Ikea Meatballs - leave those ones behind, these are BETTER.  Back me up those who have tried them!  They literally melt in your mouth so I would suggest making a double batch, because if you don't you will have only yourself to blame because I warned you!

So which one do you like the look of?  Have you tried any of these?  Let me know what you think!

Put it on the Meal Plan: Saucy Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff

This is a firm family favourite, I can't believe I haven't blogged it before.. not until I was doing my meal plan and linking all the recipes I was going to use I realised I didn't have it... only a 30 minute version which is alright, but I prefer this one.

We all like our sauce in this family too and there is often requests for second helpings of pasta with 'just the sauce'.  So over time this has become more saucy to accommodate.  I've also noted in the recipe how you would make it in the slow cooker or in the oven (which I did in this case).

Ingredients:

1 kg blade steak, cubed

2 tb plain flour

1 tsp paprika

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 brown onion, roughly chopped

1/2 cup red wine

400g tin diced tomatoes

3 cups beef stock

2 tb tomato paste

2/3 cup sour cream

1.5 cups mushrooms, sliced

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degrees or if using a slow cooker, omit.

In a plastic bag mix your beef flour and paprika, shake to combine.

Have your onions and garlic on standby and heat an heavy based pot/casserole pot/saucepan or your slowcooker insert on the stove with a tablespoon of oil.

Add the onions to the pan when it gets hot and heat until onions become soft and translucent.  Add the meat and brown.

Then add the wine, tomatoes and only 2 cups of the beef stock, stir well.

Lastly add the tomato paste.. it should look like this:

Pop the lid on (or transfer to oven proof dish with a lid or foil) or transfer to your slow cooker.  Cook for 2 - 3 hours (set your slowcooker on high, or slowcook it on low for 5 hours)

When it comes out it should look like this, if it's a bit dry - don't worry.

Add your sour cream and mix through.

Then add your mushrooms.

 Add the remaining 1 cup of stock now.  Add a bit more if you like.

At this point you can put it back on the hob or in the slowcooker on high with the lid on.  Make your pasta

Then serve on pasta (or rice if you like!)  The beef will be melty-in-the-mouthy.  And that slow cooking would have made the sauce lovely and rich.

Add it to the meal plan or bookmark for your next one :)

A modern twist on a family staple- Sausage casserole -

My hubby has been sabotaging my efforts in the kitchen of late.  Not intentionally but every time I buy beef mince to go with the sausage mince in my freezer, which is intended for meatloaf, hubby makes nachos.  I really need to label the tupperware containers.  Anyways, I have had the sausage mince from my butcher for a while and I like to get through everything in the freezer so I thought I'd make a sausage casserole.

This one is tasty and saucy and just what you want in a casserole, the potato top makes it an all-in-one-meal.   Add whatever veges you have handy - clean out the crisper!  No side servings, just serve it up and gobble it down.  Kids love sausages and when you tell them there's sausage in and the gravy factor, they will be asking for seconds, trust me.  In hindsight I should have made two - to stash for later.  Very annoyed I didn't now!

Ingredients:

500g sausage mince

(If you don't have a butcher who sells sausage mince on its own just skin your snags!)

1 onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, finely diced

1 stalk of celery, finely diced

2 sprigs thyme

100g butter

100g plain flour (about 1/3 cup)

20g beef stock powder (4 tsp)

1 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced 

Method:

In batches brown off the sausage mince, wait for it to go golden brown, you want it to be somewhat crispy - adds flavour!

Make a gravy by melting your butter, add your flour and stock powderto make a roux and gradually add 1 litre of water and all the thyme leaves to make a thick gravy.  I made mine in the thermomix - add all ingredients, put on 12 minutes, 90 degrees, speed 4.

This is the bit where I forgot that I hadn't put the blade or the base on my jug! 

Luckily I had rectified this before putting in the water!

After you've finished the sausage mince, add the onions, celery and carrot and lift off any crunchy bits off the bottom of the pan.... transfer when onions and carrots are soft.

Then pour over your gravy.... *drool*  but only say 3/4 of it.. I had a bit extra, I put it in the freezer for the next time I make regular snags..

Place your potatoes on top, swig over a bit of gravy and then sprinkle with pepper and salt.

Turn the oven on to 180 degrees c, place the dish in uncovered and let it bubble away for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Add it to your meal plan this week, great budget buster!

Kid friendly stash-meal: Pinoy baked macaroni

If I told you I put banana in my macaroni would you think I was crazy?  Probably.  When I was in the Philippines this was everywhere and whilst I would not recommend eating spaghetti from Jollibee - the Filipino (or Pinoy as locally known) equivalent of McDonalds I would recommend trying the local spaghetti or baked macaroni.  It's a little on the sweet side but I think if cooked the right way and not overdone it's really, really delicious.

What made me change my mind - was one day a colleague's mother sent in some homemade baked spaghetti for us to share as she worried about all the long hours we were working and wanted us to have something homemade.  My kind of woman and how could I refuse a meal like that?  Well it was delicious and I begged for the recipe.. but have grown impatient and went to find it myself.

I was expecting to see a bunch of sugar in there but the sweet taste is actually the banana ketchup.  I promise making the banana ketchup is not a wasted exercise because not only is it yummy on sausages but it's a key ingredient in this macaroni and well worth your effort.  But if you're time poor it's cheap as chips from here.

Makes 2 meals

Ingredients:

1 onion, pureed

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

500g beef mince

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup banana ketchup

420g tin peeled tomatoes, pureed

Cheese sauce

100g butter

1/2 cup flour

2 1/2 cups milk

250g cream cheese

1 cup grated tasty cheese

Method:

Have your blender or thermomix on standby, you're going to use it with this recipe - it really helps the texture..

So put your pureed onion and garlic into a hot well oiled pan and throw in your mince, brown nicely.

At the same time put a pot on to boil water and when it's boiling, add 2 cups macaroni.

When your mince is browned add your beef stock, pureed tomato and banana ketchup, turn on to a simmer for 10 minutes, by then your macaroni should be cooked.

Pour in your macaroni and give a good stir.  Simmer for another 5 minutes before you transfer your mince and macaroni into some baking dishes.

You can smell a slight sweetness and you might be tempted to eat it like this but keep going... place your baking dishes on baking trays to make transferring to the oven easier - so preheat that oven to 200 degrees c.

Make some cheese sauce by melting butter in a saucepan, adding the cream cheese until it's melted in and then add the flour, keep stirring and gradually add the milk and then lastly turn the hob right down and add the cheese and stir for another minute until it's melted in.

(I cheated by doing mine in the thermomix - all ingredients except the tasty cheese for 7 minutes at 80 degrees on speed 3 - throw in the cheese for another 3 minutes same speed/temp).

Pour over your macaroni and beef.

Lovely!  Now transfer to the oven for about 25-30 minutes until you get a light golden brown on top.

Serve one, stash one!

Let it completely cool before wrapping - my tip is a piece of greaseproof paper on top of the cheese and then wrap all of it in tin foil and then lastly in glad wrap.    That will make sure that the lovely top layer won't peel off when you defrost and reheat.

Enjoy!

Beef Estofado

Ahh, the thing I love about Winter is getting out the cast iron pot or the slowcooker out and smelling a beautiful casserole fill the house with wonderful aroma.  It's so welcoming and homely.

I saw this recipe in Australian Good Taste - it's part of the 'cook the issue' promotion.  As I made it I tweaked it a bit, so if you want the original recipe, you'll need to go buy your own copy!

Now, some things I want to share:  I wasn't such a fan of the polenta topping.  Personally I would make this recipe again but use a potato/sweet potato mash on top (with the diced parmesan).  I found the polenta topping a little bitter after it had cooked.  If you love your polenta (which I normally do) give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 kg chuck or blade steak

2 onions, roughly diced

2 carrots, roughly diced/cut

4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

2 smoked chorizo sausages, roughly chopped

1 tsp dried oregano (I used fresh)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp paprika

1 tin peeled tomatoes

1 cup white wine

1 cup beef stock

1/2 cup peas

for topping:

2/3 cup dried polenta

1 cup self raising flour

2 eggs

100g parmesan cheese, diced

Method

Pre-chop all your meat, chorizo, onions, garlic and carrots.  Heat up and place a tb oil in your cast iron or heavy pot.

Brown your meat, a bit at a time and set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and chorizo over a medium heat until the onions become a bit golden on the edges.

 Add paprika, cinnamon and oregano, mix through well for about a minute.

This smells SO good at this point, try not to pull out the bits of chorizo and eat it all...OK?

Add back the beef and then add carrots, tinned tomatoes, beef stock and white wine.

Pop the lid on and set it down to low for about 1 hour.  Look at THAT.

Get making your polenta (or mashed potato) top.  For polenta mix polenta and self raising flour in a bowl.  Mix 2 eggs with buttermilk, then gently add the wet to the dry ingredients

Stir through parmesan...a bit at a time.

Sprinkle peas over the top of the meat mixture....

...then dribble the polenta mix over the top.  Make sure you leave some 'holes' for the meat to vent


Bake for 30-40 minutes until polenta (or mash) is golden brown on top.

Yes, you're allowed to drool at this bit.

Now if this doesn't warm you up... I don't know what will!