Thursday, February 3, 2011

Snow = Saucy Balls

So I was snowed in for the past two days and it was heaven. Eventually being snowed in proves to be more burdensome then fun; the world doesn't stop just because you can't get out of the house after all. But I choose instead to ignore the sense of doom and gloom and instead give in to the temptation to do FUCK ALL. And it was amazing. I slept late, I watched an America's Top Model/The Tyra Banks Please Look At Me show (your call) then the next day Top Chef New York. I didn't put on real clothing till around 1pm. I feel invigorated having taken advantage of these mental health days so seldom afforded to law students. But most importantly, for the sake of this blog, I did a lot of cooking.

Adventure #1
Kettle Corn

Sweet and Salty and featured on Martha Stewart. Good Idea?? SURE!!! Here is the recipe:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Coarse salt, to taste


Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add popcorn kernels, and cover. When kernels begin to pop, lift cover carefully, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Cook, shaking pot frequently, until the popping slows; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Continue to shake pot until popping has almost stopped (be careful not to burn). Sprinkle with salt.

Sound easy? Yeah.....LIES!!! First of all trying not to burn the popcorn is harder then it sounds. Also I think this sugar measurement is pretty generous. Next time I'll probably use only 3/4 a cup. But the one thing that really should be in the recipe is the high liklihood that the popcorn wants to escape like me from a Glee marathon and you will probably end up wearing the popcorn. Shit...went.....EVERYWHERE. I had popcorn in my salt bowl, on the oven, in the measuring cup I used to measure the popcorn (couldn't do that again if I tried).

All that said, it was pretty damn good.

Adventure #2

I also made Spagetti and Meatballs....Nom. And I mention this because trolling throug hte millions of meatball recipes online, I am forever frustrated by the overly complex meatball recipes out there. This is mostly aimed at those meatballs that use more then one kind of meat. This bothers me. Are they good that way? sure. Is that how Italians do it? Maybe, but who cares I'm F**ing Polish.

I think meatballs are at their finest when you just let them do what they do and be meatballs. No bells and whistles. Here is the recipe:

1/2lb chop meat (I use sirloin...no comments on fat content I'm getting there)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 onion chopped very finely (to ensure meatballs are juicy. This is my trick for juicy turkey meatballs too)
breadcrumbs (no exact measure, but basically until the meat is dry enough to make a meat ball with)
salt and pepper
1 egg
Parmesan cheese

combine (with hands....which I hate doing cause the meat is cold, but I suffer for my art. procedural note: don't do it with your rings on....I could tell you story's about cleaning rings when I worked at a jewelry store and the number of times it involved removing age old pieces of meat....eck)

Heat non-stick pan(med-med high), add 2 tablespoons olive oil. place meatballs (formed so that they are roughly the size of golf balls (maybe a little smaller) into the oil, brown, and rotate until all sides are browned (not burned....don't want them to taste or feel like little golf balls, just look like them) 7-8 mins. when done cook in sauce for like 10-15 mins on med low

Sauce is easy too: cook 1 clove garlic on med in Olive oil until fragrant (not brown) add 1-2 cans whole tomatoes (better the tomatoes better the sauce), salt and pepper, and herbs of your choice and simmer for about 15 mins (bring to boil first then lower heat) puree ...add meatballs....enjoy

Well I hope you have enjoyed my adventures in saucy balls and attacking popcorn

Happy noming

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