Persian Meatballs...

Sorry for the lack of updates again. We've been eating out almost every day this week. I haven't stepped into the kitchen except to make Munchkin some grilled cheese sandwiches. We're going grocery shopping tomorrow, so hopefully I will think of a new post for next week.

Until then....

I will cheat by recycling another post on my other blog~



Get 1 LB. of ground beef and add generous amounts of parsley, mint (lots), cilantro (just a little), garlic and onions. Season it with a dash of salt and pepper. Sorry there are no exact measurements. Just add enough of everything to give the meatballs color like shown above.



Form into little meatballs about an inch in diameter.



Heat a skillet with minimal oil since there will be oil coming from the fat of the meat...



And just cook until done.



Plate it with basmati rice, lavash (flat bread), and some yummy cucumber yogurt!

Cucumber yogurt: Just get plain yogurt and chop some Persian cucumbers and squeeze out all the excess juice. Add it to the yogurt and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I actually added some chopped parsley into the yogurt too and it came out yummy. Next time I'm going to make yogurt with shallots and garlic.

Basmati rice: I like to sautee the rice in LOADS of butter and I add small bits of onion and brown everything. Then I add water (2:1 ratio. 2 parts water to 1 part rice. I use about 1.5 cups rice to 3 cups water) and let boil...when the water is almost all gone, reduce the heat to LOW and cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is done. You can even season it with saffron water...which I didn't have the time to do tonight.

Spicy Penne

Spicy penne pasta will be up shortly!

Salsa

To accompany the steaks, I also made some salsa. This is just a basic salsa recipe that I'm sure everyone already has a variation to, but I thought I would share this anyhow. =)

I used about 1 lb. of tomotoes, 2 jalapenos, 1 large white onion, 10 garlic cloves, 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 lemon (and lime if you prefer) and 1 Anaheim chile (so it said at Ralphs).

Begin by chopping up your tomatoes like so and adding them to a large mixing bowl.




Finely chop all your peppers (I like de-seeding them, because when they're raw like this it has quite a bit of kick...even for my Asian tastebuds) and add them to the mix also.



I actually prefer to destem 1 bunch of cilantro (if you're lazy, you don't have to) and then I add it to the mixture.



Finely chop up your garlic and add it also.



Chop your onions and throw that in as well...




Then I added the juice of 1 whole large lemon, 1 TSP of salt, a dash of pepper and 2 TB of vinegar.



Mix everything around thoroughly and you're ready to serve!

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I actually didn't have time to write down and take pictures of the rest of the food that we had for dinner, so the creamed corn, Sangria and basmati rice (Persian style) will have to wait until the next time. Even when cooking non-Korean food, I still don't really use measurements and such so there's no way of me explaining things unless I actually make it and MEASURE each thing out. Until next time!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Total cooking time: 90 minutes

Every so often, I will buy a Rorisserie chicken from the market and we will eat about 1/3 of it for dinner and then I use the rest for some chicken noodle soup.



I like buying the chicken flavored with some herbs.



Tear apart the meat and save the bones on the side.



Then I get out one of my trusty tea bags and fill it with about 10 whole garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of peppercorns and a few bay leaves.



I also place the smaller bones and some seasoned chicken skin into the bag.



Then throw everything into a pot with roughly 12 cups of water and 1 TB of chicken bouillon and let it boil for about 30 minutes or longer.



After 30 minutes, the broth will become rich and then you can throw in the shredded chicken pieces and let it boil for about 10 minutes.



Chop up your veggies...about 1-2 cups of each. I tend to use less carrots because I'm not a fan. =P



Add them in the following order: carrots, celery and onions last and let each boil for about 5 minutes before adding the next vegetable. Then finish it off with about 1 cup of egg noodles.



When the noodles are done, you're ready to serve. Season it with some SALT (I used about 1 TSP) and PEPPER to your taste.

Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto

Obviously this is NOT a Korean recipe, but the MR is out with his boys tonight which means I get to eat WHATEVER I want to eat! No Korean food! =P

Total Cooking Time: 1 hour

This is a recipe I first tried sometime last year when I saw it in Redbook (the magazine) and I have since tweaked it to my liking. =P




Obviously you will need some shrimp and asparagus. In this case about 3/4 lb. of shrimp and 1/2 a bunch of asparagus.



Wash, clean, and chop both of the items up like so...



In a pot heat 1 TB butter, 1 TB olive oil, 1/2 TB minced garlic.



Add your asparagus first and cook it for a couple of minutes.



Then go ahead and add the shrimp...



Remove it from the heat while the shrimp is still translucent...it will cook more later.



Then add about 2 TB butter and 2 TB olive oil...



Saute some onions and mushrooms (1/2 onion and 2 mushrooms).



Then finally add 1.5 cups of Arborio rice...



Mix the rice around and add about 1/2 cup of dry WHITE WINE (not pictured).



Then add about 1 cup of this 1:1 ratio of chicken broth and water.



Keep stirring and keep a close watch over this. Keep adding the liquid every time you feel you need it (every 5 minutes or so). I ended up using 2 cans of chicken broth and 3 cups of water.



When the risotto is almost done (45 minutes), add the shrimp&asparagus mixture.



Let it cook until all the liquid is pretty much gone and at this point add some salt and pepper to taste.



Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before serving...



Finally top it off with some Parmesan cheese and ENJOY!

Strawberry Jam

The MR's friends came over last week and like true Koreans they didn't come empty handed. =P They brought us a whole box of strawberries (since they knew Munchkin LOVES strawberries). The strawberries were delicious, and although Munchkin does love strawberries, even he couldn't finish the whole box. =) So instead of letting the strawberries go bad and throwing them out...I decided to make some JAM.

I got this recipe from Barefoot Contessa one day while watching her show and ever since I've always made jam at home. It's such a simple and EASY recipe! I thought I would post this up, because we all LOVE pictures, don't we?


First go and get 2 cups of sugar.



One large lemon.



Some strawberries~ BC's recipe calls for 1.5 pints of strawberries, but I found that to be too LITTLE. I think this is about 2.5 pints.



Put the sugar into a pot and squeeze all the lemon juice into there. Zest the lemon in there too!



Turn up the heat (medium) and keep stirring away.



About 10 minutes later the sugar will melt and it will become like this...



Add your strawberries and keep mixing!



Looks delish, no?



Keep it at a low rolling boil for about 40-50 minutes (sometimes even longer). BC's recipe says 20 minutes and I've found that it takes MUCH longer.



Eventually it will start to thicken...



Once it's thickened, turn off the heat and let it cool down.



Transfer it into a container and refrigerate it! You're all done! So easy, huh?