Meatballs

Darby requested freezer meals to ease the transition into mommahood. Thought I'd post this recipe. I make a big batch of these, cook them and then freeze them. I reheat them to use in meatball subs or pasta dishes or lunches for my kiddos. Oh, and I should mention, my Dad found this recipe in the newspaper of all places and it is the best meatball recipe ever.

2 lbs. hamburger
1 c. bread crumbs
2/3 c. grated Romano cheese
2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 c. parsley chopped
4 eggs

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (kinda gross) Shape into 1 in. diameter balls. Line them up on a roasting pan. Bake at 375 for about 20 or 25 mintues. (I bake them on a roasting pan so the fat drips thru. Cool and freeze.

Free, free, free!

After our wonderful WhoCares retreat, I stopped at my parent's house and my aunt and uncle's. Here is the produce I scored:
3 large zucchinis
6 Beefsteak tomatoes
a bowl of cherry tomatoes
10 cucumbers
a bowl of okra
1 large watermelon
1 cantalope

P.S. I loved that sliced tomato with some sort of relish on it that Bob and Mark served Sunday morning. Any idea what the relish was??? So yummy.

your advice

i'm looking for a few good recipes for soups or main dishes to fix ahead and freeze before the baby comes. any ideas?

My Latest Lunch: Lunch Yum Yum

Lunch Yum Yum:

Lately I've been making this lunch under the broiler & it is SOOO tasty.

-Heat broiler.
-Halve an English Muffin or Whole Wheat Pita.
-Brush olive oil on the uncut side of muffin/pita. Shake Garlic Powder & Thyme evenly over oiled bread & broil until brown.
-Flip muffin/pita over, add sliced turkey, tomato, cheese of your choice, fresh ground pepper.
-Stick under broiler until cheese is brown.

Eat. Enjoy. Smile. Savor.

From Sicily with Love ...

Tagliatelle with Pistachio Pesto

One of the most prized recipes I took away from the three week vacation/honeymoon that John and I had this summer was a Sicilian Pesto recipe - Pistachio Pesto. There is an area near Mt. Etna (the largest volcano in Europe) called Bronte that is renowned for pistachios and they use them in EVERYTHING. Delicious.

Craving the pesto we had on our trip, John and I decided to make up a batch yesterday. What we made turned out to be a pint's worth of pesto - plenty to keep stored away. We used a few tablespoons on some tagliatelle last night, topped with fresh mint (as the Sicilians do) and had a tomato mozzarella salad on the side. It was fantastic.

Fresh Pistachio Pesto
(enough for one pint)

Ingredients:

10 oz. of pistachios (shelled)
1 bunch of fresh basil
1 handful of fresh mint
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (and some extra for storing)
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of fresh grated parmesan or pecorino cheese

1. In a food processor (or blender), chop the pistachios until finely ground.
2. Add the fresh basil and mint - pulse a few times.
3. Add lemon juice and olive oil. Pulse until ingredients form a thick paste.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Reserve 3-4 tablespoons to serve with pasta (if using that day). Mix grated cheese into reserved pesto.

To serve with Pasta:
1. Cook 1 lb. of pasta.
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining pasta.
3. In large pan, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add 3-4 tablespoons of pesto and 1 clove fresh garlic (minced). Heat for 2 minutes.
4. Add 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. Mix water and pesto together well.
5. Add pasta and toss until well combined with pesto.
6. Top with fresh mint and serve.

Storing Pesto:

If you plan to store the pesto by freezing, you do not want to have any cheese in the mixture as cheese does not freeze well. You can freeze the pesto in two ways:
1. Use an ice tray. Line the tray with plastic wrap and place pesto in each pocket. Freeze and then store in a freezer bag.
2. Use a canning jar. Place in jar and top off jar with a thin layer of olive oil. This will seal the pesto. Keep jar in freezer.
Frozen pesto will last 3-6 months.

You can also store pesto in the refrigerator of a couple weeks.
1. Keep pesto in a canning jar. Top off with a thin layer of olive oil (this will keep the basil and mint from turning brown). Keep in the refrigerator.

Each time you use the pesto, mix in a bit of grated cheese.

This also excellent to serve as a spread on ciabatta or a baguette, on pizza, on baked potatoes and several other things. Just use your imagination.

Can pork chops be good?

Kyle and I both have memories of hard, thick, dry-dry-dry "Iowa Chops" that our dads made on the grill growing up. They HAD to be eaten with apple sauce otherwise they would be un-swallowable.

We recently purchased a few thick chops at the Farmer's Market and wanted to see if Mark Bittman could help us out in the chop department. In his book he even says about grilled chops: "...unless you get fatty, old-fashioned pork from a neighbor, likely [they are] to be on the dry side; still I find these irresisitible." He was right, they were a tad dry but SO much better than what Kyle and I remembered. Instead of eating them with apple sauce, tonight we served them with mango chutney. Yum.

Here is what we did: Dried off 4 room temp 1 in. thick chops, brushed with olive oil and lemon juice (generously) and sprinkled liberally with salt and pepper. We seared them for a few minutes on high heat on the grill and then grilled at med heat until done-- about 10ish minutes more. We watched them closely with our thermometer and removed them at about 158 (trichinosis is killed at 137, FYI)