Meatballs with Sundried Tomatoes

I wanted meatballs. And I had things on hand for meatballs. So I made some! I like sun-dried tomatoes. They're so nummy.

I was originally just going to make them and bake them and serve them with some kind of packaged noodle but then I added some parmesan cheese to them and it kept them from staying together as well as they could have. So I opted to instead make spaghetti and meatballs using a jar of sauce I had in the pantry.

Anyway here's what you need. Ground beef or turkey like the original recipe, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, bread crumbs, an egg, milk, salt and pepper. And parm if you want to. If you do, make sure it's grated really small.

Sun-dried tomatoes and garlic in the food processor.

Pulse it till it's nice and chopped and combined.

Add your breadcrumbs.

And combine those as well!

Then throw those and everything else into a bowl.

Then mix it all up nicely.

Then refrigerate until ready to use. Form into meatballs. This was when I realized some of my larger pieces of cheese were possibly going to cause problems.

Heat 2 or so tablespoons of oil in a skillet and brown your meatballs on all sides. Mine were a little soft but mostly they kept together.

Then I dumped out the majority of the grease, as there was a looot.

And I added in my jar of sauce, bringing it to a simmer. Boy, cold sauce that has start to simmer and is all thick still is dangerous, have a lid ready. SPLORT. SPLURT. Sauce everywhere. Once it gets hot and thins out a bit it's not gonna make as big a mess.

This is where you'd add your canned tomatoes and so on if you were following the original recipe and making your own tomato sauce. I just didn't have tomatoes on hand and I had a jar of yummy sauce.

Once your sauce is simmering, nestle your meat a balls into the sauce and cover with a lid. I added mine in just as I put the pasta in the water so they simmered for about 9 minutes.

Then I drained my pasta, stirred my sauce and meatballs, and served it on up.

Yummmmmmm.

I might try this recipe again without the cheese. The sun-dried tomatoes didn't really get to shine through with the tomato sauce, but they were still very very good. I used all the garlic accidently, not realized 2 of the cloves in the recipe was for the sauce. Oh well it was still great. Sean gave it rave reviews. He has such simple wants. And usually seems to prefer jarred sauce to homemade.

Here's the original recipe. I have several things from this blog lined up in the future. :)

Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs with Sundried Tomatoes (original recipe from What Did You Eat)

• 4 oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, drained
• 2 garlic cloves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon fat-free milk
• One 14 1/2-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes with their juices
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a food processor, pulse the sun-dried tomatoes, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. Add the bread crumbs and pulse to combine. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the turkey, egg and milk. until well mixed (I use my hands).   Using lightly moistened hands, roll the mixture into 20 meatballs, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each. Wipe out the food processor and add the remaining garlic clove and  pulse until chopped. Add the tomatoes and their juices and the oregano and process until smooth.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the meatballs and cook over moderate heat, turning, until golden but not quite cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the tomato sauce to the skillet and simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Return the meatballs to the skillet and simmer, turning, until just cooked through, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

SERVE WITH Pasta or crusty bread.
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I don't know why I'm so in love with meatballs lately. I almost never ate them when I was young, but I found them so charming and delicious. Mom would have this thing now and then where her and a bunch of ladies would play this weird game called Bunko. And each time they played one of the ladies would host it. Whenever mom hosted it, she made all kinds of things. Mostly I remember the delicious punch she would make (that I'm currently trying to get her to find the recipe for), and a big box of frozen meatballs from M&M's Meat Shops meats with a big bottle of sweet and sour sauce. I loved those meatballs. I sure miss M&M's meats. They had the most awesome frozen foods.

Anyway that sure turned into one heck of a rant. I like meatballs! I hope you do too.

Nnnnnnnnnnnummmmmm.

Chicken Rice Soup

I remember the first time I had chicken rice soup. I don't remember where it was, but I was with my auntie Ruth, and we were at a big department store somewhere close to her house. They had a little restaurant in the back and I was hungry so we went and I had my first bowl of chicken rice soup. I remember being surprised by the rice and immediately in love. Since then, I've always enjoyed it. Also, I miss my Aunt Ruth greatly. Sweetest lady in the world. And so sassy.

Pioneer Woman's soup looked simple and fast, which is always a good thing. I didn't have the yellow food coloring on hand but if I had, I would have used it. Because her grandmother used it, and Ree loved her so she used it. And I love Ree in my own way, so I would have used it too.

But I didn't have it so I didn't.

Anyway this soup was darned tasty and I couldn't get enough of it. It wound up being nice and hearty because I think I used a little more chicken meat than called for and all the rice. I ate the leftovers with a few crackers and a squirt of Sriracha (an asian chili sauce) and it was delicious.

Here's what you need. Chicken, green pepper, celery, pimentos, onion, butter, flour (not shown) and 8-10 chicken bouillon cubes, water, and if so inclined, yellow food coloring. Oh and I tossed in some carrots because I like carrots.

Oh and rice, silly. I made mine a little bit beforehand using the leftover chicken broth from the mexican rice. Yummers.

Off camera now, because I'm a ditz, boil your gallons of water and add your bouillon cubes. I started with 8 and then decided to go for 10 after tasting. Let is sit and simmer over medium or medium low heat while you do the other steps.

Dice up your veggies, drain your pimentos and set aside.

Mmm veggie goodness.

Now in a frying pan, add 4 tablespoons of butter and melt. When melted, add 4 tablespoons of flour. I went a little heavy handed accidently so my roux was a teensy bit thick. It didn't matter in the end. Cook for a couple of minutes, then dump it on into your chicken broth, whisking to incorporate. You aren't looking for a thick broth or anything, it just adds a tiny bit more substance and nice cloudiness.

I cleaned out the skillet I used for the roux and added 2 more tablespoons of butter. Melt dat buttah, yo.

And add your veggies! I threw in a few cloves of crushed garlic too. Because I can't HANDLE not having garlic.

Saute for a few minutes, I wanted mine cooked down a little more so I put a lid on for a few minutes. I wanted those carrots to not be crunchy anymore. Oh and I tossed my onion powder in here too.

Add your chopped up chicken. Ree has instructions for using raw chicken in her recipe linked down near the bottom. Check her page if you don't have ready cooked chicken like I did.

Cook for a few minutes more to make the whole thing happy.

Add it to your broth.

Then add your rice. You should probably start with half your rice and see how thick your soup is. I love rice so I wound up adding it all.

Dig in!

It was so good, just the right amount of flavor. And so fast.

Chicken and Rice Soup (original recipe by Pioneer Woman here)

• 1 cup (before Cooking) White Rice
• 2 whole Chicken Breasts
• 8 pieces (to 10) Chicken Bouillon Cubes
• 2 quarts (plus 2 Cups) Water
• ¼ cups Onion
• ¼ cups Green Bell Pepper
• ¼ cups Pimento (drained)
• ¼ cups Celery
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 4 Tablespoons Flour
• Yellow Food Coloring

Cook up some rice. Wash two whole chicken breasts (skin, bones and all) and place them in a pot; cover with 2 quarts of water. Add 8-10 bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook until chicken is done, about twenty minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool for a few minutes. Cut all the meat from the bones and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Drain the can of pimentos. Finely dice the vegetables. In a skillet, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. When it is all melted, make a roux by adding 4 tablespoons of flour. Stir until thickened and then add it to the pot of chicken broth. Stir well.

In a skillet, melt another few tablespoons of butter and throw in all of the diced veggies. Stir, then add the chicken. Sprinkle with a dash or two of salt. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the chicken mixture to the broth.

Add in the cooked rice. (You can vary the amount of rice based on your preferences). Add in 2 to 3 drops of yellow food coloring.

Ladle into a bowl. Enjoy!

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Simple and comforting.

Restaurant Style Salsa

I hate chunky salsa. There. I said it. Screw you, chunky salsa. Begone from my life.

We have a lot of mexican restaurants here in The Texas, and two of them that I love to eat at have amazing non chunky salsa. See, I grew up hearing how chunky was the way to go. I thought I was the odd one, wanting to have a smoother salsa. I'm so happy I'm not crazy.

Well, I guess I'm a little crazy, but not in regards to salsa.

So let's make some salsa, using my brand new food processor!

You'll need a can of whole tomatoes, two cans of diced tomatoes and chiles, cilantro, onion, salt, sugar, cumin, a fresh jalapeno and lime.

First, dice your onion. What's going on with THIS thing?

I opted to use his less oddly shaped other half. I'm so shallow.

I went to mince my garlic but I realized it was all going in a food processor and it didn't really matter. Still, so pretty!

And because I have a thing against onions, I put them in the processor first..

And I gave them a whirl.

Then I chopped my fresh jalapeno.

And I threw it and everything else into the thing, along with the juice of one of my tiny limes.

Oh man. It's almost salsa time.

Get ready to pulse. Look down and spot tomato juice EVERYWHERE. Panic and throw papertowels down. Notice THIS on the side of your processor.

Doh. Well I certainly went over that. Liquid came up under the blade.

I cleaned up what I could but I was already too far along to stop there. And so I pulsed. I apologized to my poor new processor and promised it wouldn't always be like this.

Pulse it 10-15 times. Or until it's your desired consistency.

It made a lot. Way more than I thought it would. I have salsa coming out of my ears. But luckily, it's delicious.

I got a bag of "hint of pepperjack" tostitos and they're so good together. Next time I would just make the salsa in two batches to avoid the uh.. mess. I'm so sorry, food processor.

The salsa was a big hit with Sean and Garret. Good stuff.

Restaurant Style Salsa (original recipe by Pioneer Woman)

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• ¼ cups Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• ¼ teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
• ½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• ½ whole Lime Juice

Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

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Even though she warns that she recommends a 12 cup food processor, mine is 11 cup and after filling it up, I don't think that extra cup would have made it fit any better. Her processor looks to be almost 15 or more cups. Huge.

Try it for your next party or nerdy hangout. Who doesn't love chips and salsa?

Mmmmmmmm.

*crunch*

Basic Mexican Rice

Taco night was a triumph. I made this rice recipe and earlier in the day, I made some restaurent style salsa. I'll make another post with the salsa so you can keep things easy to find!

The rice is very simple. I thought it was really delicious but Sean said it was too "tomatoy" and "not very mexican", but he's dumb so who cares? I'm also glad he doesn't read this blog. Actually, no, I'm not. I wish he would. :(

ANYWAY. Rice. Yummy.

Rice, onion or onion powder, a can of diced green chiles and tomatoes (aka Rotel), a can of whole or diced tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic, salt, cumin and tumeric if you are so inclined. I was.

Saute rice and garlic in a little olive oil for several minutes, stirring often. Don't burn your rice!

Then add both cans of tomatoes

Cook for a few minutes.

Then pour in your chicken broth and add your spices and seasonings. I threw a bunch of oregano in there too.

The tumeric has a mild flavor but it makes things yellow! Yum.

Then cover and simmer over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes. Delicious!

Basic Mexican Rice (original from Pioneer Woman aka Ree)

• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• ½ whole Large Onion, Chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cups Long Grain Rice
• 1 can Rotel (10 Ounce)
• 1 can Whole Tomatoes (14.5 Ounce)
• 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (more If Needed)
• 1 teaspoon Cumin (more To Taste)
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Fresh Cilantro, Chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and garlic, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add rice and garlic. Stir constantly, making sure the rice doesn’t burn. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes. Add Ro-tel and tomatoes. Stir to combine and let cook for 2 minutes. Finally, add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 additional minutes or until rice is done. Add more liquid as needed; rice shouldn’t be sticky.

Just before serving, sprinkle lots of freshly chopped cilantro over the top. Serve immediately.

Pat's Smoked Sausage and Pepper Sandwich

I love the Neelys. If you don't know who the Neelys are, they are two people on the food network. Husband and wife, they cook together in the kitchen, and they make them some soulful food, baby. I love their energy and how cute they are together. They're everything I wish I could have in the kitchen. I wish Sean was passionate about food. I wish Sean was passionate about anything! That boy needs to learn to have some fun.

Anyway, the Neelys.

They are so darned cute. Always laughing and having fun and playing around. And they make a lot of yummy stuff!

I had just gotten out of the shower and was puttering around the bedroom, doing after-shower things, like applying girly lotions and being distracted by the internet, and I always turn food network on to listen till I'm all done. But I honestly wasn't watching, just listening. I kinda heard peppers, and sausage, and beer at one point. I didn't know if it was from the same dish or not. Then I glanced at the end of the episode and saw him dishing these sausages out into the hoagie buns and immediately went to the food network website to see what the heck that yummy looking thing was!

This is that yummy looking thing.

You'll need 4 peppers (or 3 and an onion), tomato paste, smoked sausage, hoagie buns, garlic, bbq sauce and.. what's that?

Oh SNAP. It's beer. What the heck was that doing in my fridge? Sorry, Garret. It went to a good cause.

First, take your peppers..

Amuse yourself by taking pictures of peppers in different orders..

And slice them up. No dicey! Slicey!

Then take 3 cloves of garlic. Oh come on, I can't ever use the right amount. So I grabbed one more. And its baby.

Sliced peppers! So pretty.

Then cut your sausage into however large you want, I made mine the same size as my buns but I forgot to allow for SHRINKAGE. Shrinkage, it's an issue for many. So allow at least an inch when you cut them. Then cut them in half! Oh and mince that garlic at some point too.

Put a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and fry up both sides.

Remove to a plate. Don't clean out your skillet.

Add your peppers on in. Stir them around and let them start to cook.

Meanwhile, measure out half a cup of BBQ sauce. I love being the SAWSE BAWSE.

Then open your beer. I love that little mist that comes off of bottled drinks when you open them.

Then pour yourself a cup. For cooking, not for drinking.

Ooh carbonatey.

Then get back to your peppers, which should have been cooking for about 6 minutes or so, but probably more because you were taking a million pictures of beer bubbles. But maybe you aren't as distracted by strange things as I am.

Then throw in all that lovely garlic.

Stir it around! Man does that smell good. Garlic and peppers is a match made in heaven.

After your garlic starts to smell very fragrant, add your cup of beer..

Your bbq sauce and your tomato paste..

And stir that around, letting it bubble for a few minutes. The recipe calls for 2 tbsp of tomato paste but I added more like 3 1/2. It helped thicken it up.

Then nestle your sausages into the sauce and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until it's thick enough for your liking.

You can toast the rolls if you want, but I can't be bothered. And Sean didn't care. So put a sausage and some peppers onto a bun..

Then add a slice of mozzarella or provolone.. and devour. It can get a little messy if the sauce drips out so eat over your plate. And have a napkin nearby.

Sean liked them a lot. I liked them a lot. What a nice flavor combination. Go beer. Except for the drinking it part. I still can't seem to do that. Believe me, I tried to finish the rest of that bottle. No sir.

Pat's Smoked Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches (original recipe found here)

• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced into quarters then lengthwise
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup beer
• 1/2 cup Neely's BBQ sauce
• 4 fresh hoagie rolls

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the sausages and brown on all sides, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from skillet and reserve.
Add onions and peppers to the skillet and saute until tender and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste, beer, and BBQ sauce. Cook for a few minutes, then add the sausages back to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is nice and thick, about 10 minutes.
Slice the bread open, put on sheet tray, and toast in the oven while the sausage is simmering. Remove the bread from the oven and fill with the sausages and peppers.
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Simple, easy and quick. Delicious.