(meat)BALLS.



Appetizer sized all cooked up!

I like meatballs, I haven't made them excessively but I made them by way of (you guessed it) Jamie Oliver and have had great success.  I tried this recipe with ground chicken (don't) and just beef (great but not the greatest) I have found, and as suggested in the recipe, a combination of ground pork and ground beef give a great meatball, and it's true.  It is an excellent flavour profile.   Meatballs are for more than pasta!  Soup, sandwiches, and hors d'ouvres are all excellent ideas for these.

These are great fresh, or make ahead.  I did both!  See notes below.

This is the original and inspiration:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/meatballs-pasta

I made a triple batch.  This is what I did:

INGREDIENTS:

Several sprigs of fresh rosemary (5 or 6 will do)

2 lbs of lean ground beef

1 lb of lean ground pork

2 eggs

2 heaped tablespoons of italian seasoning

2 tablespoons of dijon mustard

salt and pepper

30 saltine crackers, pulverized (smash them up yourself or place in a food proccessor)

Olive oil (if you like)



Get your hands in and mash!

Short Rib Succulence!

MEAT!

This was a good recipe, I'd do it again exactly.  I've never had short ribs and I will have them again, oh yes I will.  I LOVED THE SAUCE.  Repeat..I LOVED THE SAUCE.  Alright, done.   I was going to blog the whole meal but the other two recipes I had although good, were not exceptional and I honestly don't want anyone else making them thinking they're awesome.  I give you the awesome people, not the 'it was okay'

This is Kraft easy, because I got the recipe from Kraft.  They often boast their own produced (obviously) and sometimes the shortcuts they have are kinda silly but more often than not, you find a jewel on there and it's a good jewel.   With this, I hit a goldmine.  Or a giant carbon deposit! anyhoo...  I made a few mods, the link has the original, and what I did is below that

BBQ SLOW COOKER BEEF SHORT RIBS


All done, served with slaw and biscuits

 INGREDIENTS:

3 lb of beef short ribs

Salt and pepper

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 small carrot, diced

3T flour

3/4 cup chicken and rib BBQ sauce (Kraft)

3T honey

1 Tbsp. yellow mustard

mmmmmmmm, burrrrger

 This recipe is good, here is the original:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/a-cracking-burger

Adam wanted to make dinner the other night, and I knew that it would have something to do with meat. It's a hunch I get and I was right.  So we had some fresh ground in the fridge and this burger recipe came to light.  I knew the recipe in my mind and mentioned if he needed substitutions for things, to let me know, we talked alot throughout the recipes preparation :)

Adam has made this recipe before, almost exactly as described in the link above. A few changes were made though.  Find below Adam's adaptation (mostly based on what we had in the house)

A "Cracking" Burger



Burgers with the fixin's in the

backyard

INGREDIENTS
• 1 piece of conventional bread, whizzed up into fresh bread crumbs
• small handful of cilantro - stems and all.
• 2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef

• 1 large egg lightly beaten

• salt and fresh ground pepper

Garnishes:(I call this 'whatever you want' because we all have different tastes)
Salsa
Sliced Avocado
Tomato slices
Lettuce leaves

Mustard and ketchup

cheddar cheese


grilling up goodness!

roast without the roasting

some days active cooking isn't a priority....but eating well is :)  This past weekend my sister got married which is AWESOME (a post will be coming in the next couple of days detailing some of my eating experiences) but on Sunday, the day after the wedding I wasn't feeling awesome.  Nooooooo, not alcohol induced so much as lack of sleep induced.  So for some reason it's 6:15 AM and I'm awake.  Up like a dart.  Perfect.  ugh.

just removed from the crock pot into
a casserole while the gravy gets made

Well I knew as on those days the reasonable feelings aren't going to last and I will be dead tired by the afternoon.  What to do?  CROCK POT.  again.  yes, I'm into the crock these days but this day in particular called for easy comfort. 



CROCKPOT POT ROAST is easy comfort.



I adapted this somewhat from the 365 days of slow cooking blog, and some other ideas too.  Here's what I did: