Let me just come right out and say it.  These Swedish meatballs are the bomb!  Seriously.  They. Are. Awesome.  IKEA had better watch out. I’m just sayin’.

Swedish meatballs are a perennial favorite among the smörgåsbord set, which is why I had to include them in my Meatball Week series.   These plump and moist little nuggets of meat are delicately seasoned with fragrant spices like cardamom, allspice and nutmeg before being bathed in a rich and velvety cream sauce.  As with most traditional ethnic dishes, you’ll find as many different recipes for Swedish meatballs as there are cooks who make them.  I’ve tried many different versions, and I think this one is the best I’ve tasted.

The basic recipe for my meatballs came from Marcus Samuelsson, who got it from his Swedish grandma.  When a recipe comes from a famous chef’s grandma, you just know it has to be good.   With ingredients like honey and pickle juice, it’s unlike any I’ve seen before.    I did deviate quite a bit from the original, but that’s just how I roll.  That’s the great thing about recipes like this.  There’s lots of room to improvise.

The meatballs themselves are made with a mixture of beef, pork and veal.  I’ve always been a fan of using veal in meatballs.  I think it gives them a lighter texture and better flavor.

Let’s get started! 

To make the meatballs, you first sauté some finely diced onions in olive oil.  Set them aside to cool while you gather up the rest of the meatball ingredients.

Toss the sautéed onions in with the other ingredients and mix them all up together in a big bowl.   Form as many golf ball sized meatballs as you can get.  I got a ton.  Then, brown them in a skillet.  But, don’t cook them all the way through.

Yes, that is butter that those meatballs are frying in – big, fat, voluptuous butter.  But, it’s okay.  I don’t do this every day.  And, I don’t have an endorsement deal with any big drug companies.

Next, whip up that fabulous Swedish meatball sauce.   You start by making a roux, which is used as a thickening base for all kinds of sauces, gravies, soups and stews.  A roux a mixture of butter and flour that is cooked together until it reaches varying shades of brown, depending on what it’s being used for. Cooking the flour allows it to thicken the sauce without giving it a “raw”, starchy taste.  The roux for this dish should be on the lighter side – sort of like a café au lait color.  Marcus’s grandma’s recipe doesn’t call for a roux.  But, I wanted a sauce with more body, so I made one.

When the roux is ready, add some stock, a little at a time so that it doesn’t sputter up and splash you in the face. Trust me, that is not pleasant!

Then, add some heavy cream, lingonberry preserves and pickle juice.   No, that’s not a typo.  I thought the pickle juice was weird too.  Just do it, though.  You’ll thank me later.

When the sauce starts to bubble,  gently plop the meatballs in.   Then, simmer them in that glorious sauce until they’re cooked through.  Honestly, it took almost all of my self-control not to just slurp that sauce up with a big, fat, giant spoon!

Serve them with more lingonberry preserves and some pickled cucumber slices -  and watch your guests drool.

TOUCHDOWN!

If you missed the first two Meatball Week installments, you can find them here:

• Scallion Meatballs with Soy-Ginger Glaze
• Kefta Meatballs in Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Sauce

Coriander, cumin, paprika and cinnamon are but just a few of the staple ingredients you’ll find in the Moroccan dada’s  pantry.   The cuisine is earthy, fragrant and complex, redolent of rich spices, chiles, onions and garlic -  punctuated with  bright bursts of citrus, cilantro and mint.    To me, it is both straightforward and mysterious at the same time.  I think that’s what I love most about it.  And, that’s why I decided to make the second quarter of my Meatball Week all about Kefta Meatballs in Moroccan-Spiced Tomato Sauce.

My source for this dish came from Paula Wolfert’s The Food of Morocco, considered by many to be the definitive work on Moroccan cuisine.  With a lifetime spent immersed in Moroccan food and culture, Wolfert’s name has become synonymous with it.  And, luckily for the rest of us, she loves to share her enthusiasm.

The original dish is a tagine, which is a slow-cooked stew named for the pot that it is traditionally cooked in.   Wolfert’s kefta tagine features little lamb meatballs simmered in a cumin and paprika-laced tomato sauce.  Before serving, eggs are draped on top of the stew and poached.  Oh my!  I had to fight myself not to chuck the whole meatball plan and just make the recipe as written!  But, I’m hopelessly devoted to you, dear readers, and I could not leave you “meatball-less”.    So, here we go… 

The first thing you need to do is make your meatballs.  Wolfert says to use either lamb or beef, and I chose the more traditional lamb.  Onions, spices, garlic and crème fraiche are added to the lamb.  Crème fraiche!?!?  Yeah.  I had the same reaction, but it works.  The meatballs turn out kind of light and fluffy and have a subtle, pleasant tang to them.

Here we have the “Offensive Line” ready to cross the line of scrimmage.

Next, we start to make the line of scrimmage, er….um… I mean the tomato sauce.

Sauté finely chopped red onions in olive oil, then whisk in tomato paste.

Mix in the tomatoes and spices, and let it come to a bubble.   Wait a few minutes and then, breathe deeply.  It will smell heavenly.

Finally, add the kefta balls to the sauce and gently poach them for about half an hour.  Resist the urge to crack a few eggs in there.

Aaah!  Mmmmeatballs!

It’s meatball week here at Chez SGCC.  That’s because we love meatballs and think they make the perfect Super Bowl nosh.   They’re compact, easy to eat and can be made a zillion different ways.  So, as we count down to the big game, I’ll be sharing some different and delicious meatball recipes for you all to try out.

Let’s kick off with these yummy Asian-style Scallion Meatballs with a Soy-Ginger Glaze.

The original recipe for these tasty little morsels, from Canal House Cooking, calls for ground turkey.  I decided to make them with a combination of ground chicken and pork.    You can use whatever you want.  Turkey is perfectly fine.   I just think that Asian meatballs should be made with chicken and pork.   I also put a splash of fish sauce in my meatballs.  Don’t ask me why.  I’m just crazy like that.  I think it ups the umami quotient. 

I like to pulse the meat up a few times in the food processor before I mix in the rest of the ingredients.  You don’t have to do this either.  I find it gives the meatballs a finer texture, though.

There are no bread crumbs or other thickeners in the original recipe either.  I found the meatball mixture to be a little too wet for the balls to hold their shape, so I added a little cornstarch to it.  It worked great!

I love these gratuitous frying pan shots, don’t you?  The bubbles make me giddy!

Once your meatballs are all cooked, serve them with a drizzle of soy-ginger glaze.  They taste even better if you eat them with cute little curly-topped bamboo toothpicks like these.

When I served this Buffalo Chicken Dip last weekend during the play-off games, the hungry football fans at my house went wild!  In fact, Mr. SGCC told me not to bother making Buffalo wings anymore because this dish was easier to make and eat, and was just as delicious.  I don’t know if was just the beer talking, but it was quite a testimonial!

The first time I saw this dip was about a year ago at this time.  I was shopping at my neighborhood supermarket and my friend Jeanne, the Publix Aprons lady, was handing out samples of an almost identical dish.  Jeanne is great!  She was a caterer, food writer and cooking instructor in the Boston area before moving down here several years ago.  Now, she cooks up lots of tasty stuff at Publix.   I always stop by her makeshift store “kitchen” for both good food and conversation.  If you get a chance, check out her new blog,  Sola Gina Nella Cucina: Cooking On My Own.  It’s a good read with lots of great recipes.

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, the dip.  I remember thinking at the time that this dip was the perfect nosh for sitting in front of the TV, watching football.   It has all the great flavors of Buffalo wings, without the mess or the bones.  I slipped a copy of the recipe in my purse with every intention of making it.  Yeah, well the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and so, apparently, is the road to my kitchen.  Winter melted into Spring and football season was long gone.   That recipe card sat  in the corner of my kitchen counter for months and I never got around to making it.  When I finally was ready to make it, I couldn’t find that darn recipe anywhere!  I couldn’t find Jeanne anywhere either.  She had taken a few days off to spend some time with her kids.  

I remembered which ingredients I needed for the dip, but not the measurements.   I searched the Aprons web site – several times.  The recipe wasn’t there.   By this time I had become a little obsessed.  So, I turned to Google.  I found several different versions of Buffalo chicken dip, but none were exactly how I remembered it.   The closest came from the Baltimore Nesties Cookbook web site.  I have no idea who the Baltimore Nesties are, but I owe them one for that recipe.  I adapted it based on what I remembered of Jeanne’s recipe.

To make this dip, you will need a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, cream cheese, bottled buffalo wing sauce, blue cheese dressing, chopped scallions and shredded cheddar.   Just heat up the cream cheese, wing sauce and dressing, toss with the chicken and scallions, sprinkle on the cheddar and pop it in the oven.  That’s it!    You can serve it with crackers, tortilla chips or even crudités, if you want.  Personally, I think it would be fab served with those big scoop-shaped Fritos.  Wish I’d had some of those when I made it.

This recipe is super easy, and takes hardly any time at all to make. If you made it during the Super Bowl, you could probably pull it together during the half time show.   And, it is so, so good!  Creamy, cheesy and spicy all at the same time!

If Buffalo wings are a Super Bowl tradition at your house, why not try this dish instead?  Whether you’re a Giants or a Patriots fan, this Buffalo Chicken Dip is something everyone will root for!

Every year, long before the Thanksgiving dishes are even dried and put away, the Christmas rush is on. That’s when so many of us find ourselves racing around, spending money we don’t have on lots of things we don’t need. It’s crazy! One way that I’ve found to minimize the stress of Holiday shopping – and spending – is to make delicious gifts for family and friends in my own kitchen. Not only are homemade gifts often more economical, but they can also be much more meaningful to their recipients.

Each year, I choose a different assortment of tasty treats to give as holiday gifts.  I package each in pretty decorative packaging and make up cheery goodie bags to deliver to the lucky recipients.  I usually choose a few easy recipes along with some that are a little more complex to get a nice balance in my bags.   I really enjoy doing this, and the whole process helps to get me into the Holiday spirit.  And, after all that has happened around here lately, I could really use some help getting my Christmas mojo on! 

When it comes to creating edible gifts, the possibilities are endless. From the simplest sugar cookies to more labor intensive items like candies or preserves, there are plenty of recipe options available, regardless of your level of culinary expertise.  Below are some of some of my favorite gifts from the kitchen from years past.  I hope you find a few that inspire you.

What are your favorite edible gifts to give and to receive?

Remember eating English muffin pizzas as a kid? I do. My mom used to make them for us all the time. She’d take a few muffins, slather on some marinara sauce (homemade, of course) and top it with whatever kind of cheese she happened to have in the fridge.  Then, she’d pop them in the toaster oven until they were hot and bubbly. The sauce would puddle up and settle into those nooks and crannies under a gooey blanket of melted cheese. We loved them!

Later on, when I was in college, English muffin pizza became one of the mainstays of my diet – and my social life. With a hotpot and toaster oven being the only appliances allowed in my dorm room, my culinary options were limited to canned soup, ramen noodles and whatever I could find to toast. Preparing anything beyond that required both resourcefulness and creativity. I spent many a late night study break whipping up English muffin pizzas for my dorm mates and me with sauce from a jar and regular old Kraft singles. It was far from gourmet, but every bite was filled with the taste of sweet independence.

When Mini SGCC was little, I carried on the English muffin pizza tradition. By that time, I had a well equipped kitchen, a fully stocked fridge and a lot more choices. I began to experiment a little with different sauces and toppings, and tried to sneak a few healthy bits of fruits and vegetables into my pizzas.

Last May, I met some of the folks from Bays English Muffins at BlogHer Food in Atlanta.  After the conference, they were nice enough to send me some free samples to try out.   When the package came in the mail, the first thing I thought of was pizza.  English muffin pizza to be precise!  So, I put on my pizza-making thinking cap and came up with a few ideas to take them to the next level.  These are not your mama’s English muffin pizzas, people!

This one is topped with a zesty basil pesto sauce, slices of fresh Roma tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese.  I had some homemade pesto in the freezer, but store bought pesto would work fine here.

For this pizza, I cooked diced red onion and zucchini in olive oil until soft.  For the “sauce” I used Boursin cheese, a spreadable garlic and herb cheese.  Topped with a little shredded mozzarella, it was out of this world!

I think that this one was my favorite of all.  I spread a layer of cream cheese on the toasted muffin, and spooned on a mixture of diced fresh pineapple, pepperoni and red onion sautéed in butter.  Then, I sprinkled some shredded Swiss cheese on top.  When I sank my teeth into it, I got sweet, salty, crunchy and creamy all at the same time. Divine!

The topping possibilities for these pizzas are literally endless!  Pretty much anything that you have in your fridge can be turned into a mini pizza masterpiece.  It’s a great way to use up leftovers too.

Making English muffin pizzas is one of the easiest things in the world to do.  It’s almost impossible to ruin them.  But, there are a few tricks you can use to make them even better.  First of all, you should always lightly toast the muffins before you add on any toppings.  By doing this, you’ll prevent “soggy bottoms” and keep your pizzas nice and crispy.  Second, if you’re using fresh tomatoes, set them on a plate lined with a paper towel for ten minutes or so before putting them on the pizzas.  This will help to “dry” them up a bit so that they hold their shape when baked.  Finally, if you are using fresh vegetables to top your pizzas, take a few extra minutes and sauté them on the stove to get tender.   The pizzas only bake for about ten minutes, and I found that the veggies were still kind of raw.

English muffin pizzas are fast, easy and super delicious.  Plus, they’re a lot of fun!  They make a great lunch for the kids, a quick weeknight dinner and a perfect, self contained nosh at cocktail parties.  So, channel your inner child and make some now!

Thank you to Bays for providing the English muffins used in making these recipes.  As always, however, the opinions presented are mine – all mine!

Necessity is the mother of invention. In other words, when someone really, really needs something, he or she will figure out a way to do or get it. Sometimes, I’ll be in the middle of making a recipe and realize that I’m missing an ingredient.  Actually, this happens a lot, since I’m not exactly the best organized person in the world. So, I’ll have two choices: scrap the whole thing, or find something else to use instead.  I hate to waste food, therefore, scrapping is not an option.  Usually, after rummaging around a bit, I’ll find something that works, and .

This idiom also comes into play when I have too much of a particular ingredient and I’m struggling to find ways to use it.  Case in point – all of that fresh, beautiful zucchini from the garden I was telling you about a few weeks ago.  Now, I know that there are zillions of different ways to prepare zucchini.  But, given the fact that the temperatures here have been topping out in the 90′s every day, my viable options are limited.  That’s HOT, people! The last thing I want to be doing is spending any more time hovering over my stove than absolutely necessary.  Since no one around here is fond of eating raw zucchini, and Mr. SGCC appears to be allergic to his grill, my next best solution is a recipe that requires very little cooking time – like these Cheesy Zucchini Latkes.  

Latkes are savory fried pancakes made with grated vegetables that are bound together by egg, bread crumbs and often, flour.  Traditionally made with potatoes, they’re a popular dish at Hanukkah time.   We’re not Jewish, but my mother used to make latkes a lot, though she called them potato pancakes.  But really, you can make great latkes with any kind of firm, gratable vegetables – like zucchini.

In my latkes, I’ve used a base of coarsely grated zucchini and onion, panko crumbs and eggs.   A lot of latke recipes call for flour.  I don’t think they need it, so I leave it out.  If your latke mixture seems too loose, you can certainly add a few tablespoons of all purpose flour to “tighten” it up.

I’ve also added a pile of shredded pepper jack cheese to my latkes.  It makes them all melty and gooey inside.  Just like with butter, everything is better with cheese!  You don’t often find cheese in traditional versions of latkes, as it isn’t pareve.  But if you don’t follow Jewish dietary laws, you’re as golden as these latkes are.  Hey!  At least I didn’t add bacon, although, I was tempted to.

Latkes are super easy to prepare and have a mercifully short cooking time.  Once you have your ingredients all mixed together,  all you need to do is scoop them into golf ball-sized blobs and fry them in a mix of butter and oil.   It only takes a few minutes on each side to get that burnished, crispy, crunchy outer shell, and gooey, molten cheesiness on the inside.

These zucchini latkes or pancakes or whatever you want to call them make a great accompaniment to any kind of meat, poultry or fish.  They are truly lip smacking delicious.  I topped mine with a schmear of some sweet and spicy red pepper jelly that I found at my local farmers market, and finished each of them off with a tiny dollop of crème fraiche.  They would also be fab served with a little applesauce on the side.

So, if you’re still hiding under a mountain of zucchini, or even if you’re not, try making some Cheesy Zucchini Latkes.   You’ll be glad you did.

Each month, I teach an Italian cooking class at a popular local Italian specialty market.  My students and I meet in the morning, prepare a four course meal together and enjoy the fruits of our labor and each other’s company over a nice lunch.  We have a lot of fun and we all learn a lot, myself included.   A few months ago, my menu included a delicious appetizer inspired by one of my favorite food bloggers, Elaine from The Italian Dish.   After being blogging buddies for a few years, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Elaine last Fall at BlogHer Food in San Francisco.  She is sharp, funny and absolutely lovely, as I knew she would be.

Elaine’s dish was a crostini topped with chèvre, or goat cheese, fig jam, basil and prosciutto.  For my class, I tweaked the recipe a little, adding mascarpone to mellow the goat cheese, and swapping out the basil for some minced sage and thyme.  It was a big hit with the whole class, and I liked it so much that I even included it on my Christmas menu.

The other day I was searching for something in the fridge (other than my duck prosciutto), and came across a package of puff pastry that I had put in there to thaw and then forgot about.  Not remembering how long it had been in there, I decided to use it before it went bad.  Since I already had all of the crostini ingredients, I thought I’d try the dish baked in the puff pastry.    Yes, I know.  I’m a regular Indiana Jones in the kitchen!

First, I fluffed up my fig jam and whipped up my chèvre concoction.

Then, I cut each sheet of pastry into twelve, reasonably equal-sized rectangles.  I spread a schmear of the chèvre mixture on half of the pastry pieces and plopped a little dollop of fig jam on top.  After that, I placed a small piece of thinly sliced prosciutto on each.  I left out the herbs because I was still in my PJ’s and didn’t want to go outside to pick them.  If you’re not lazy like me, go ahead and add them in.

Once my twelve pastry rectangles were all dressed and sitting pretty, I covered them with the remaining twelve.  I pinched them all around the edges with the tines of a fork so that none of that cheesy, fruity, meaty goodness would leak out.  Then, I brushed them with a little egg wash so that they would get shiny and browned in the oven.  Egg wash is like the bronzer of baking.

Et voilà! Toasty, tasty, flaky little pastries filled with chèvre, fig jam and pig!  What could be better than that?

Well, here we are again.  Another year gone by and I honestly didn’t see it coming.  Seriously.  Where did the time go?  They say that time flies when you’re having fun.  If that’s true, then 2010 must have been one helluva nonstop party.  Too bad I can’t remember it!

I don’t usually make a lot of New Year’s resolutions.  Been there, done that.  I find that I usually break most of them by the end of January, and then spend the rest of the year beating myself up over it.  Who needs that kind of pressure?  I mean, I know that I’m never going to hoof it to the gym at 6:00 a.m. three times a week.  Almost everyone who knows me, knows it too.  So why set myself up for failure?    Instead, I try to set a few goals that I want to achieve, and work toward them in small, realistic increments.  I probably won’t be making many any pre-dawn visits to the gym. But, I might take Bella for an extra walk around the block from time to time.

The past twelve months have been a mixture of bitter and sweet for me.  I’ve had some wonderful new opportunities come my way, like my gigs writing for Edible Sarasota Magazine and the Tampa Tribune.  I’ve also had some not so wonderful things happen in my life, but I won’t bore you with the details.  A new year is on the horizon and that means a fresh start and a world of possibilities.  I have a feeling that 2011 is going to be my year.  I can taste it!  And, I hope you’ll all come along for the ride.

The slideshow below features my favorite SGCC recipes of 2010.  I’ve chosen one from each month.  Some may be familiar to you and some may be new.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing them with you.

January:  Ginger Scallion Noodles from Momofuku

February: Candied Bacon-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

March:  Honey-Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

April:  Lemon Linguine with Basil Pesto Shrimp

May:  Piece Montée

June:  Chiles Rellenos

July: Bing Cherry Sorbetto

August: Sweet & Spicy Wickled Okra

September:  Homemade Refried Beans

October:  Vietnamese Spicy Chicken Noodle Soup

November:  Turkey Cutlets alla Milanese

December:  Russian Tea

Before I wrap up 2010, I’d like to leave you with a recipe for a great little snack to enjoy while you sip your champagne tonight.  My Sweet and Spicy Pecans are absolutely addictive and a breeze to make.  I included containers of them in my Christmas gift bags this year and they were a huge hit.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can adapt it in many different ways.  I used brown sugar, cinnamon, cayenne and smoked paprika in my version, but you can use less sugar to make the nuts more savory, or switch up the spices however you like.   Not only are these pecans an incredibly delicious nibble, they can also be added to salads, veggies and lots of different baked goods.  Banana bread or apple muffins with spiced pecans, anyone?  Mmmm!

Thank you so much, dear readers, for your continued support of SGCC and of me.  I truly value each and every one of you.   I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.  May 2011 bring you all you ever dreamed of.

See you next year!

Oh, Happy Day!  Dorie’s new cookbook has finally arrived!  I picked up my copy of Around My French Table last week and was in love before I got past the dust cover. The book is filled with over three hundred of Dorie’s favorite recipes, culled from her time spent in Paris. It’s the kind of unfussy, homey food that you’d find in any French home cook’s kitchen.   In true Dorie style, the recipes are very readable, with clear and detailed instructions accompanied by entertaining stories and suggestions for creative tweaks.  And, the photographs are perfectly droolworthy – food porn at its best!

Of course, no new Dorie Greenspan cookbook would be complete without a large group of adoring fans waiting in the wings to cook their way through it.  There probably aren’t many who haven’t heard of the wildly popular baking group Tuesdays with Dorie.  For almost three years, this dedicated group of bloggers has been baking one recipe per week, in tandem, from Dorie’s classic tome, Baking: From My Home to Yours.  And now, TWD’s fearless leader, Laurie Woodward has done it again by creating French Fridays with Dorie.  That’s right.  Each Friday, a new group of Dorie devotees will be cooking a new recipe à la française from Around My French Table.

The great part about FFwD is that the rules have been relaxed.  All you need to do in order to join is buy a copy of the book and cook along whenever you can.  Not having a participation requirement is kind of liberating, and will make it easier for more people to join in.  I’m all for that!  The group currently has over seven hundred members signed up.  Seven Hundred!!! This is gonna be very interesting!

Dorie has always been a huge supporter of TWD, and she is doing no less for FFwD.  In fact, she was kind enough to select all of the recipes for this inaugural month herself, including today’s pick, Gougères.

Think of gougères as a kind of savory cream puff without the filling.  They’re made with the same kind of pastry dough, called pâte à choux .  The difference between them is that gougères are not sweet.  They typically contain cheese and sometimes, herbs.  Gougères are meant to start a meal, while cream puffs usually finish it.

Dorie’s gougères recipe very easy and virtually foolproof.  I whipped up these cheesy little puffs of deliciousness with three other dishes cooking, a house full of teenagers and a very curious puppy underfoot.  And, they turned out perfectly!  If I can do it – you can too.

I’m really excited about being a part of FFwD, and I plan to participate as often as I can.  While, we’ve been asked not to publish the recipes, you can find them all in Around My French Table.  And, don’t forget to stop by the FFwD site to see what the rest of the group has done with Dorie’s gougères.

À bientôt!