Swedish Meatballs with Creamy Sauce
It’s been a while since I posted an entry about food that I cooked myself. Surveying the contents of the freezer last week, which by the way, is almost never out of ground meat (turkey), I thought I’d make meatballs. It’s been a while since I bought ground beef so for this cooking venture of mine, I used ground turkey.
Swedish Meatballs with Creamy Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 pound veal or beef or a combination, minced (I used turkey!)
- 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
- warm milk, about 3 tablespoons
- 1 cup cream, divided
- 1 egg
- salt & pepper
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 egg yolk
- dash lemon juice
Preparation:
Soften bread crumbs with milk and add to meat. Add just under 1/2 cup cream and mix. Add egg and seasonings and stir. Roll into balls and cook gently in stock for 15 minutes. Remove meatballs from stock and set aside. Just before serving, mix flour with water and add to broth. Bring to a boil and cook 3 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup cream blended with the egg yolk and lemon juice. Season to taste and pour over meatballs.
Serves 8
I was very pleased with this recipe, which is by Diana Rattray of About.Com. It was my first time to make meatballs from scratch, ever! I’ve always been partial to white sauce, so this was a hit with me…and Hubby and our little girl. Hee hee. Next time, I’ll add mushroom to the sauce. We just love mushrooms. Hee hee.
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Chicken Curry
One of my favorite dishes is chicken curry. So it was bound to find it’s way to our dining table. I believe I’ve only cooked it thrice and there was a very long gap between the first and the second attempt.
My first attempt goes way back last year and the second, just a month or two ago. The third, just a mere 2 or weeks after the second. I know that this is such a simple dish to make but the first time I tried cooking it, I was still very intimidated by the kitchen and cooking itself. I was very recipe dependent and hated the words “season to taste”. Hee hee. You know where this is going, I’m going to blame the recipe for the failure of my first try. :P I followed it to the letter even if I felt uncomfortable putting 3 tablespoons of curry powder into the pot where the chicken pieces were waiting for this all important ingredient. The end result was a dish screaming CURRY…too much CURRY. So unlike my grandmother’s! I guess that experience kinda burnt me. Hee hee.
Getting tired of our usual chicken dishes, I finally decided to give it a try, this time, trusting my judgement more. I reduced the amount of curry powder to about a teaspoon or so. The end result was well received by hubby and Abby. 
This was my 2nd try at chicken curry. I didn’t have any bell peppers when I decided to give this dish a second try, thus, the lack of color.
This was my third and latest try. I made sure I had the red bell peppers at least! But I still lacked some of the ingredients, like the celery and green bell peppers. Hee hee! While the second version tasted good, this one was even better, maybe due to the addition of the bell peppers. I could only hope that the next time I cook this dish will be the best tasting of all. *cross fingers*
Here’s the complete recipe, which I snagged from HERE.
Ingredients :
· 2-3 tbsp. oil
· 3 potatoes, peeled, quartered and fried
· 1 lb. chicken, cut into serving pieces
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 large onion, quartered
· 1 tbsp. patis (fish sauce)
· 3 tbsp. curry powder (DO WATCH THE CURRY POWDER, PLS. I’D SAY PUT A LITTLE AT A TIME AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT.)
· salt and pepper
· 1 cup water
· 1 red bell pepper, cut into big squares
· 1 green bell pepper, cut into big squares
· 3 celery stalks, cut into 1-1/2” long
· 1 cup coconut milk or evaporated milk
Cooking Procedures :
1. Pan fry potatoes. Set aside.
2. In the same pan, fry chicken pieces and brown a little.
3. Add garlic and onion. Sauté for a few minutes until soft.
4. Pour in patis and season with curry powder, salt and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes.
5. Add water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat; add celery, bell peppers and fried potatoes. Simmer for 3 minutes or until half done.
6. Add milk and stir occasionally. Cook for another 7 minutes (or lesser when using evaporated milk because the liquids will curled).
7. Remove from heat. Serve hot.
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Chicken Terriyaki (Short-Cut Version)
I recently made chicken terriyaki and I’ll tell you how in a bit. You just have to promise that you won’t clobber me with your woks and laddles or anything you can grab from your kitchen, that is, if you’re a “strictly made from scratch” type of a person. But if you’re the type who doesn’t mind getting a little help from prepared mixes, marinades and what nots, then by all means, read on.
So on with my chicken terriyaki…
This is so easy a gradeschooler can do it without or with very little supervision. I simply rubbed salt on my chicken pieces (all drumsticks) and poured half a cup (maybe more) of this store-bought marinade…
After coating the chicken pieces with the marinade, I left them in the fridge for about 30 minutes turning them over at the 15-minute mark. When I marinate something, I normally transfer the food pieces to a resealable plastic bag. So I would simply turn the bag over after giving the contents a little massage. It’s something I picked up from one of the cook books or magazines I have. 
To cook, I browned the chicken pieces in a lightly oiled pan. I then poured the marinade that was in the bag and allowed the chicken to cook in it, turning the pieces every now and then. Saucy food such as this is oh-so-good with steamed rice.
I wish to thank my Mom for this because, when during her vacation with us, it was she who discovered a bottle of terriyaki marinade in the fridge and decided to do something with it. Hee hee! Thanks, Mommy! 
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Ooey Gooey Chicken “Wengs”
We had another appetizer dinner last Wednesday…chicken wengs, I meant wings. :) It’s really called “Sweet and Gooey Chicken Wings” and had mixed reviews from people who have already tried doing it. Since most of the reviews were mostly good anyway, I went ahead and tested the recipe.
Before Pic - chicken wings bathing in marinade
After Pic - from fair-skinned to dark-skinned gooeyness ;)
We ate the chicken with hot rice and ranch dip. It was finger lickin’ good! 
Although I found the recipe to be ok, next time, I might experiment a little by adding a little more brown sugar.
Here’s the recipe, which I got from AllRecipes:
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken wings
DIRECTIONS
- In 9 x 13 inch casserole, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, ginger and garlic powder. Mix until brown sugar completely dissolves into the mixture. Place the chicken wings in the dish and turn them over until they are all well coated. Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Turn the chicken again after two hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bake chicken at 350 degress F (175 degrees C) covered for 45 minutes. Turn the chicken wings, and spoon sauce from the bottom of the pan over the tops of the wings. Cook an additional 50 minutes, uncovered.
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