Recipe

Baked Turkey Meatballs

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Baked Turkey Meatballs

origin: adapted from gourmet via smitten kitchen
yield: serves 4, or more as appetizers or sliders
prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 15 to 20 minutes

ingredients:
3 slices italian bread, torn into small bits (1 cup)
1/3 cup milk
3 oz. sliced pancetta, finely chopped (you can swap in canadian bacon if you can’t find pancetta)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large egg
1 lb. ground turkey
2 tbsp. tomato paste, divided*
3 tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

directions:
preheat oven to 400°f with a rack in the upper third of the oven. soak bread in milk in a small bowl until softened, about four minutes.

cook pancetta, onion, and garlic in one tablespoon oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. cool slightly.
squeeze bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk. lightly beat egg in
a large bowl, then combine with turkey, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, pancetta mixture, bread, and parsley. form 12 meatballs and arrange in another 4-sided sheet pan (i used a 9×13 roasting dish).

stir together remaining tablespoons of tomato paste and oil and brush over meatballs (the paste/oil does not mix in any cohesive manner, but just smoosh it on and run with it) , then bake in upper third of oven until meatballs are just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Toxic Waste Drink Recipe

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Toxic Waste Drink Recipe

This is currently my drink of choice.

Ingredients
10 ounces Tang Orange Drink
1 ounces blue curacao
1 ounces of Gin

Directions
Mix in a regular pint glass, add ice. Drink should be “Nuclear Waste” Green. Gin gives it a bit of that kick. Normally Orange juice is used instead of Tang, but I prefer the slightly sweeter taste this gives.

Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

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Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

We just created this recipe last night and started it in the Crock Pot.

Ingredients
2 Medium or 4 small red potatoes
4 Medium Leeks
6 small carrots
2 full heads of garlic
3 stalks of celery
1 – 4 quart Pacific Village vegetable stock (House brand of New Seasons Markets)
1 1/2 table spoons extra virgin olive oil
water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cut all vegetables into small chunks. In a frying pan use the olive oil to sauté the leeks, carrots, garlic and celery. This only takes a few minutes. When done the vegetables should still look like veggies, just a bit softer.

Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

Combine all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Top off with water and cook on low for 8 hours.

Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

I cheated by using minced garlic for one of the full heads. It’ll freeze well for use in the winter, although I like to freeze the soup then use it as ice in the cooler during camping trips. The recipe is currently vegan, but during a camping trip I’d probably add some kielbasa or pork sausage of some sort for extra proteins and to make the portions go further.

Grilled Steak Recipe

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Grilled Steak Recipe

For those who don’t know the meaning of the word “Vegetarian.”

I usually cook this on a charcoal grill. (with real charcoal, not briquettes the extra buck in cost per a bag is well worth the taste difference) But you can also use Alton Brown’s method of cooking in a cast iron frying pan although it doesn’t work as well in my opinion.

Ingredients:
About 1/2 pound of meat per person.
Fresh Ground Pepper
1 1/2 TBS of Soy Sauce (buy from an Asian store, most the US stuff is too weak.)
1 1/2 TBS of Teriyaki Sauce (as above – if you can’t read the label it’s good stuff)
2-3 pieces of garlic cut into slivers
1/4 cup of Apple Vinegar (helps add liquid to the soy sauce and teriyaki sauce and starts breaking down the meat making it more tender)

With a sharp knife poke holes into the meat. Insert garlic slivers into each one. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over the meat. Turn the meat until each side is covered. Place in fridge for 15-20 minutes. I usually do this while the grill is heating up. Take this time to also prepare a piece of aluminum foil into a bowl shape. Fill half way with water and place on the grill, usually away from the hottest part.

After the grill is sufficiently hot (test by holding hand 3-4 inches away and count. You want to count to 3 or 4 which will be about 400 degrees F) shake the excess moisture off the steaks. Place on the hottest part of the grill. Wait about 5-6 minutes then turn over. The bottom side should be a reddish brown. 5-6 minutes more pull them off.

Between the vinegar and the water you should have a pretty tender and moist piece of meat. Buying organic meat helps a lot too.

Garlic Blue Cheese Sauce:

Make a basic white sauce base, milk, flour, little butter heated in a frying pan. Add garlic and crumbled blue cheese. Mix well but be sure to not over heat and melt the blue cheese. Makes a good topper for the above steak, fried potatoes, stuffed tomatoes, even a pizza dip.

Roasted Garlic

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Roasted Garlic

Ingredients
2-3 Full Cloves of Garlic*
1 TBL Spoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Per clove

Directions
Cut top off the garlic so that most of the cloves are exposed. Drizzle the olive oil over the cloves. Bake in an oven at 375 degrees for 8-12 minutes.

The garlic cloves will pop out of their skin easily with a butter knife. Spread across Bagels, crackers, pita bread, etc. Or use in other recipes.

*Less if using Elephant Garlic. The purple varieties of garlic tend to work really well in this recipe