Swedish Meatballs - Time for Comfort Food

It's time for a comfort food recipe.  

If you are like me, I love my wintertime comfort foods.  Today I'd like to share a Swedish Meatball dish that I love to eat with mashed potatoes and oven roasted lemon brussel sprouts.  I hope you'll try it.  It's delicious.

Meatball Ingredients -

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley minced
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, grated (finely chopped)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 3/4 cup herb breadcrumbs (I like Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned classic stuffing)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Cream Gravy Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups beef broth (can substitute chicken broth)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy cream

Mix meat, parsley, allspice, nutmeg, grated onion, salt, pepper, garlic, breadcrumbs, and eggs until combined.

Using a tablespoon measure out the meat mixture into roughly 35 meatballs.

In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil over medium heat.  Add meatballs and cook until browned.  Takes about 5 minutes.

Remove grease from pan -- Lower the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan.  When butter starts to bubble, sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Add the beef broth to the pan a little at a time.  Whisk.

Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, allspice, and nutmeg.  The slowly add cream.  Add meatballs.

Simmer until the gravy has thicken and the meatballs are cooked all the way through 8-10 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles, and vegetable of your choice.

That's it.  Enjoy!

Cennetta

Nappa Cabbage Ox Tail Stew

There is nothing like comfort food in the winter time.  This morning when I woke up it was -4 degrees.  This has truly been one of the coolest winters in a great while.  We are known for heavy snow falls.  But this year we have gotten a heavy dose of bone chilling temperatures for the month of January.  Today, February 5th, it was 14 degrees at high noon.  

Back in the day, my mom made the best soups and stews (She still does. ;-)) One of her famous stews is Ox Tail Strew.  It loaded with root vegetables, oxtails, and a hearty tomatoes broth.  I love it.  This is one of the easiest stews to make.  This time I added nappa cabbage just to change it up a bit.

Ingredients:

Approximately a 2lb Package of Oxtails (make sure there is some marbling)

One Small Nappa Cabbage 

Carrots (baby carrots or diced large ones)

Potatoes (diced)

Medium Onion (diced) 

Tomatoes (baby tomatoes or sliced large ones)

Lawry Seasoning Salt to your taste

Salt and Pepper to your taste

Bay Leaves (3 or 4)

Parsley to your taste

Small Can of Tomatoes Paste

Small Can of Tomatoes Sauce

Start by washing oxtails thoroughly and place in a large pot.  Season with salt, pepper, and Lawry's.  Add diced onion to the pot.  Fill pot with water, a few inches above meat.  Cover and place on stove, bring to boil medium high heat.  Cook until meat is tender.  Remove pot from flame to cool.

Now, prepare the other vegetables.  Wash and cut nappa cabbage into pieces, about 2" long.  Put it to the side.  Next, clean and/or peel the other vegetables as needed.

 

Optional: Next, I remove meat from bones, returning the meat to the pot.

Add potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. Then add the parsley and bay leaves. 

Bring mixture to a boil.  Add tomato paste and sauce stir until completely mixed into the other liquid. Cover and let cook until potatoes are almost done. 

 

Add nappa cabbage last.  Cover and cook until tender.

 

Ready to eat.  We usually serve stew with cornbread or some type of garlic bread. 

Stay warm and eat good! C

Mixed Greens and Avocado Salad - Healthy Alternative to Fast Food During the Holiday Shopping Season

  
Black Friday officially starts of the holiday shopping season.  Many of us will spend our evenings and weekend's shopping for gifts and preparing for and going to holiday parties.  The hustle and bustle limits the amount of time we have to prepare home cooked meals.

A health, quick alternative to fast food is a great salad.  One of my favorites is Mixed Greens and Avocado.  It so simple to make and taste great.

Ingredients are:

Baby Kale and Spinach
Avocado
Tomato
Cucumber
Marzetti Honey French Dressing
Roasted Chicken Breast (optional)

Without Dressing

Enjoy!
C