Old fashioned spaghetti and meatballs

I spent most of the day yesterday, working around the house. Towards evening, I called a halt to my cleaning, and started on dinner. My neighbors were coming, and I started making spaghetti and meatballs. Just a simple old fashioned meal, but very tasty. I got rave reviews. Here’s what I did.

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground lamb

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 large shallot, finely minced

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. thyme

Fresh ground white pepper

Cajun seasoning

2 eggs

1/2 cup of flour

Olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 cans (28 oz.) San Marzano tomatoes

1/2 cup of torn basil leaves

1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained

Preparation

An hour before you plan to cook, place the lamb and pork in a large bowl. Add the grated parmesan cheese, the minced shallots, along with smoked paprika and the thyme. Grind on some fresh ground white pepper, and give it a heavy sprinkle of cajun seasoning. Add the eggs, and use your hands to mix everything together.

Place the flour in a bowl, and season it with some cajun seasoning. Set a large broiler pan on the counter. Use your hands to form meatballs, about the size of a jumbo egg. Roll the meatball in the seasoned flour, and set it on the broiler pan. Repeat until all the meatballs are assembled. Set the meatballs in the fridge for at least a half hour to firm up.

Pre-heat the oven to 375º and set the tray of meatballs on the top rack. Let those bake until they are half cooked, about fifteen minutes.

Add enough olive oil to a large sauce pan, to coat the bottom. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Let that gently cook, without browning the garlic. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl, and use your hand to squeeze them apart. Add the tomatoes to the garlic, and stir. Bring that to a simmer and add the torn basil leaves. Let that simmer uncovered.

When the meatballs are just starting to brown, add them, along with any drippings, to the tomato sauce. Simmer the meatballs very gently in the tomato sauce, for at least thirty minutes, but leave the pot uncovered. When the sauce has reduced and thickened a little, you are ready to serve.

Serving

We had spaghetti and meatballs, along with homemade bread, a large tossed salad, and assorted cheeses and olives. Chianti is perfect with this meal.

Beef and pepper stir fry with spinach

The other day, I still had some roast beef left that I needed to use up. I was in the mood for a stir fry, so I figured why not. I used that with some peppers, onions, and some baby spinach. 

Now, you could just as easily do this with strips of round steak. I had rare roast beef, but the procedure is the same. I used both a bell pepper and a couple of jalapeños. I find that, when cooked, today’s store bought jalapeños aren’t any hotter than bells, but have a different flavor. Here’s how I made the stir fry.

A cup and a half of roast beef, cut into strips

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

1/4 of dry white wine

Soy sauce

Peanut oil

5 thin dried red hot chiles

2 stalks of celery, cut up

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

2 jalapeño peppers, cut into strips

1 large onion, cut into wedges

1 tbs. dark molasses

2 cups of baby spinach leaves

Toasted sesame oil

1 cup of converted rice

2 cups of water

Adobo seasoning

Preparation

First order of business, is to put the rice on. For stir fries, I like Uncle Ben’s converted rice. Place that in a pot. Sprinkle on some adobo seasoning, and then add about a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Add the water, bring to a boil, simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about fifteen minutes.

While that is going on, chop everything up. Place the beef in a bowl, add the wine, a generous splash of soy sauce and the garlic. Stir to mix, and set aside. 

Heat your wok. (I remove the little round deflector from my gas range, and have the wok over a jet of flame.) Add a small puddle of peanut oil, and then add the beef and garlic. Stir that until all the beef is sizzling, and starting to brown, and all the liquid was boiled off. Remove the beef and garlic to a bowl, and set aside.

Add a spec more peanut oil to the wok, and add the dried chiles, along with the celery. Stir that for about a minute, and then add the pepper strips. Stir as that cooks for about a minute. Add the onion wedges and break them up as you stir fry. 

Once the onions just start to clarify, add the beef and garlic back in. Now add the molasses, and give this several shakes of soy sauce. Stir to mix well. Finally add the spinach leaves and stir until they just begin to wilt. Splash on a spec of toasted sesame oil, give it one final stir, and turn the flame off.

Serving

Place the rice in the center of the plate, and spoon the stir fried beef mixture all around the rice. Have soy sauce on the table (Hey, that’s what the blood pressure pill is for, right?) Even though this is a beef dish, I prefer a cold crisp white wine like Pinot Grigio, or even a German Riesling. I find red wine doesn’t match well with a spicy stir fry.