Meatballs

For a quick weeknight meal, think about meatballs. They are easy to throw together and if you have batches of your homemade tomato sauce in the freezer you're prepared. We like meatballs baked in tomato sauce with mozzarella on top served with mashed potato & broccoli. This week we are eating the last of our broccoli from the garden. A friend suggested we cut the central florets as they were ready & leave the plants in to allow the side florets to develop. We have got an extra meal off each plant.

To make meatballs first soften a finely chopped onion with garlic, then combine with about 800g lean mince, 1/4 cup fresh white breadcrumbs (I crumb all our unused white bread & freeze so I always have some at the ready), 2tbsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp chopped rosemary, 1 egg yolk, salt & pepper, sprinkling of chilli flakes, 1 tbsp grainy mustard. Essential ingredients are mince, breadcrumbs & egg. Everything else is optional - play with the flavours until you get the taste you like.Pat the mixture into meatballs the size you want. I use wet hands as it stops them from sticking to me. If you are making them in the morning you can cover with cling film & refrigerate for a day. Add the meatballs (at room temperature) to a thick bottomed shallow casserole & brown on all sides, in batches if necessary. Cover the meatballs with about 2 cups of tomato sauce, roughly torn basil leaves, broken up mozarella (remember Clevedon buffalo) and grated parmesan. Cook in the oven at 200 for about 20 minutes. Serve with mash & a seasonal green. I always use Agria potatoes for mash (they're such a pretty colour) and I usually mash with olive oil - try infused oils such as garlic or chilli. Or add a tsp of horseradish sauce or grainy mustard. If someone wants cheese, I just provide cheese & a grater at the table & they can add their own.An alternative idea is meatballs with spaghetti. Then I cook the meatballs on a grill tray in the oven on fan grill (175) about 1/2 hour, turning once. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet then mix with your tomato sauce & add the meatballs. Serve with a seasonal salad.Another pasta dish I cooked this week was salmon tagliatelle. This is Peter's birthday dinner - everyone in our family has a birthday dinner, and I also make it for his homecoming meal when he's been away. He's just returned from 10 days in the UK. This feels like a glamorous dish & is so easy. I think there are boundless variations of this around but I learned this off a friend about 20 years ago. First put on your pasta water. Then in a heavy-bottomed pan heat about 300ml cream to almost boiling and add the juice & rind of half a lemon. Add 200g flaked smoked salmon, some black pepper, a pile of grated parmesan. Cook the pasta according to the packet - I use egg tagliatelle which takes about 4 minutes to cook. Divella is my favourite brand. Mix through with the salmon & serve sprinkled with fine-chopped parsley. You may have noticed I add parsley to everything because I love it and it makes even the dullest dish look interesting. Serve with a green salad.

Today at the market I bought some Rewena bread to eat with our soup for lunch. We had some Harira soup from the freezer (see blog entry June 1). It is quite sweet but dense & delicious. We've also been tasting Over the Moon cheeses. Try the triple cream brie & the goats cheeses. They also do cheesemaking courses in Putaruru & I am hoping a fellow cheese-lover may join me on a course one day.
If you want to treat a friend or loved one, buy them a Floriditas cupcake.

Eggs & bread

Eggs & bread. What more do you need (maybe potatoes -see potato bread below)? I can eat eggs on toast for breakfast lunch & dinner. First you need a good grainy toast. I make this bread for all our toast needs. It started life as a Nigella recipe called Norwegian Mountain bread and with a few tweaks turned out like this.

250ml light blue milk
250ml water
350g wholemeal bread flour
50g rye flour
7g (1 sachet) easy-blend yeast
50g rolled oats (not instant)
25g kibbled wheat (I sometimes swap the quantities of oats & kibble)
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp linseeds
1 tbsp salt

some turns of the black pepper grinder (occasional variation)

Mix the milk & water together in a measuring jug. Combine everything else in a large bowl. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients & stir until you have a sticky porridge like mixture.
Put into a very well greased loaf tin and put into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 110 C and after 30 minutes turn it up to 180 C for about an hour. Take it out of the tin and test with a skewer. If not done pop back in the oven without the tin until the skewer comes out clean.

Experiment with the grains & seeds you like and note that you want 500g of dry ingredients so mix quantities to get the flavour you want.
We make this bread every week or twice a week if need be. If a certain 80 yr uncle comes to visit you may need to bake a fresh loaf daily for the duration of his visit!

Slices of this bread toasted are all you need beneath home made jams & jellies or a variety of eggs - soft boiled, carefully peeled, then squashed with a fork so that the yolk runs across the toast; poached; scrambled with herbs from the garden.

If you are looking for something a bit more substantial with your eggs on toast introduce them to lentils. I usually use French Puy lentils but you can use brown lentils or beluga. I just love the colour & texture & taste of Puy lentils and they make delicious sprouts. Anyway simmer your washed lentils (about 1/2 cup per person) about 20 minutes until just tender. Tip lentils into a warm bowl & stir through your best olive oil & your favourite goat's cheese with a handful of finely chopped parsley. Season & divide evenly onto warmed plates, top with slices of prosciutto and a poached egg.

Or cook thickly sliced brown button mushrooms over a high heat about 10 minutes, then add thinly sliced onion, finely chopped garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, cinnamon, a tin of crushed tomatoes, just enough water to keep moist, and simmer 5 minutes or so. Add the lentils & chopped parsley. Divide between slices of toast & top with a poached egg. This is also nice on sourbread toast, or Pandoro Italian bread. Or homemade potato bread. If using white bread we toast it on the cast iron griddle.

For potato bread:

300g cold or warm boiled potatoes (I use Agria and don’t forget to save the water)
700-800g strong white flour
1 tbsp salt
7g (I sachet) easy blend yeast
1 tbsp good Greek yoghurt
300ml tepid potato water

Press the potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl or mash really well. Add 600g of the flour with salt & yeast. Mix together adding the yoghurt & potato water slowly. Mix to a dough & knead well adding flour as needed. You will probably add up to another 200g. It won’t be as neat as regular dough but when you have a heavy ball put it in a clean greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for an hour or so.
When it’s doubled in size punch down, knead for a minute or so & form into a loaf. Preheat the oven to 220˚C & leave the loaf on the baking tray covered loosely with a tea towel for about 30 mins. When it’s doubled again put it in the hot oven for 20 mins then turn down to 190˚C for another 10 minutes to finish off. You know it’s done if it sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.

Potato bread is legendary in our house - we always had it for Saturday lunch with cold meats, salad & chutneys when the children were little.

If you're a fan of the omelette check out Julia Child's method. This is the only way to make omelettes. Do try it. And while we're with Julia Child check out the chicken sisters.