Appetizer #12 - Sweet-Sour Surprise Meatballs

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #12 - Sweet-Sour Surprise Meatballs

    This recipe is based on a recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book published in 1969. I am also leaving out the 1/2 tsp of MSG called for in the original recipe. I made these meatballs for a church potluck and while I enjoyed the sauce, I wished I had used a better quality meatball. The recipe says you can use 1/2 pound tiny cooked mini meatballs, 1/2 pound cooked shrimp and 1/2 pound chicken livers (I'm not a liver fan, so "No, thank you"). I have a shellfish allergy and as I just mentioned, I won't eat liver, so I used all meatballs.  I used a zero-sugar pineapple juice drink for the pineapple juice, to lower the sugar and it worked well; you would have even more pineapple flavor if you used juice from canned pineapple. I feel this would work well also with chunks of cooked chicken. I had to cook these the night before my church potluck and even though I heated before serving, the sauce looked "chunky", not smooth as it was fresh. I would recommend cooking and serving these right away. Keep warm in a chafing dish or crock-pot if not served right away.

Ingredients:

2 tbsps cornstarch

2 tbsps sugar

1 chicken bouillon cube or equivalent of bouillon powder (1 1/2 tsps)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vinegar

1 cup pineapple juice or zero-calorie pineapple juice drink

2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1 1/2 lbs cooked shrimp (shelled), beef liver, mini meatballs, pork or chicken (If using liver, pork or chicken, cut into small chunks)

Directions:

Combine cornstarch, bouillon cube/powder and sugar in a sauce pan. Stir in water, vinegar, pineapple juice, soy sauce and butter. Cook until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Cover and simmer on low for five minutes. Your mixture will have thickened up. Stir in your cooked protein (shrimp, liver, pork, chicken) and heat through before serving.  Pour into a serving dish and serve hot. You could also keep warm and serve in a crockpot (on low). You could serve this over rice as an entree.

Sweet-Sour Surprise Meatballs

 

Pie Number Three: Pork and Tater Pie

The Year of Pie

Pie #3 - Pork and Tater

     Pork and Tater Pie.  I wasn't sure what to expect from this recipe which comes from the Favorite Recipes From Southern Kitchens - Meats: Including Seafood and Poultry, published in 1967, but it turned out really well. This recipe was submitted to Southern Kitchens by Mrs. A. Tschoepe Jr, of San Antonio, Texas. I adjusted some of the seasoning, because I didn't have any "savory" seasoning and also because I wanted to. Also, I added nutmeg. It is a two crust pie and although I still struggle with making pretty circles when I roll out my dough, but overall, I am doing good with crusts.  I brushed melted butter on the top crust, before baking and it gave it a nice, golden brown color.  Modifications in italics. Note that the original recipe only calls for salt, savory (1/2 tsp), sage (1/4 tsp), cinnamon, cloves (1/8 tsp) and pepper. The original recipe does not include thyme, Italian seaoning or nutmeg. I really liked this pie. I served with a nice garden salad and it was perfect. So, try this pie!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour, sifted

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

1 lb ground pork, browned

2 cups diced potato, cooked

2 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt 

1/8 tsp oregano

1/8tsp thyme

1/8 tsp Italian seasoning

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp pepper

parsley (optional)

Directions:

Sift flour and salt together and cut in shortening until pea-size crumbles form. Sprinkle 6 or 7 tablespoons cold water over the pea-sized crumbles and mix until dough forms (I used my hands to form the dough ball after mixing with the fork). Separate dough into two halves. Roll out one half of dough until about 10 inches round. Loosely lay dough over a 9 inch round pie pan. Cook pork in skillet and drain off fat. Add seasonings and 1/2 cup water. Mix thoroughly until heated through. Pour the meat & potato mixture into the pie pan. Set aside and roll out the second half of dough. Place over the filling. Crimp top and bottom crust together and trim any excess dough. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush top crust with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Serve with sprinkling of parsley flakes. The original recipe says four to six servings. You can get six to eight servings. 

Pork and Tater Pie

Pork and Tater Pie

Creamy-Spicy Sauce

 Creamy-Spicy Sauce

        This is a super easy sauce.  I'll give some measurements, but you can adjust as needed or to taste. I made this sauce for chunked pork loin, which I served over rice.  You can use it on chicken or maybe fish or even on plant based substitutes.  Try it with cooked & cubed tofu or paneer cheese or potato. Try it with pasta or rice and mix in chunks of meet or the aforementioned tofu/paneer cheese. I used La Costena Ranchera Salsa. This salsa is a tomatillo and mixed chili peppers sauce.  I definitely taste chipotle in there and I love chipotle. This salsa is a dark, roasted color.  La Costena products can be found at Latino groceries and other local grocery stores. 

    First, cut your pork/chicken/tofu/paneer cheese/potato into chunks as big or small as you like. Heat a skillet, add a bit of oil (I like canola & olive oil) or cooking spray. Add whatever you decided to use, meat, tofu, paneer cheese, to the skillet and cook until meat is cooked thoroughly or the tofu/paneer cheese is completely cooked.  Sorry I don't have more info on how to tell when tofu/paneer cheese is completely cooked.  I just cook paneer cheese so it is a little browned on the edges of the cubes and some of the pieces pop a little.  Also, the tried and true method is to just spear a piece with a fork and check it by biting it. For potato, I like to cook the cubed potato in salted boiling water until softened, but not too soft, because I'm adding it to a skillet.  

Second, determine how 'saucy' you want your sauce.  I like saucy, myself.  You can start with 1 cup of sour cream and mix in "salsa to taste".  Add the sour cream and salsa mixture to your skillet with your meat, tofu, paneer cheese or potato and heat through, stirring to combine all.  

Third, if serving with rice or pasta, fill bowls with rice/pasta and spoon your meat/tofu/paneer cheese and sauce mixture over top.  Serve with bread and butter if you like.  

Ingredients:

La Costena Ranchera Salsa or try it with your favorite salsa

Sour Cream

Pork/Chicken/Tofu/Paneer Cheese/Potato (Use enough for the amount of servings you plan)

Creamy-Spicy Sauce with Pork

Porcupine Balls

 Porcupine Balls

        So, I finally made something from the cookbook which got me to start this blog. I made  Porcupine Balls.  I think I'd heard of these before, but hadn't ever considered making them.  This recipe calls only five ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs sausage, 1/2 cup uncooked rice, 1/2 cup milk, onion and sage. Including tomato sauce to pour over top, there's six and there is a note to 'flour' them, so if you want to do that, it's seven ingredients.  I somehow missed that part and didn't flour mine and they turned out fine.  

    The directions are to mix in the order they are listed, make small balls, flour and pour the sauce over them.  Bake slowly for 2 hours.  The recipe doesn't give a pan size or an oven temperature, which I've found in old, cookbooks like this one, there isn't always a pan size and directions are sometimes really unclear. But, I decades ago (like this cookbook is approximately 80 years old), so many more women regularly cooked every single meal, twenty-four/seven and they probably just knew what to do.  

    I used regular sausage that comes in the little tubes, white rice, 1/2 of a medium onion (diced) and I didn't have sage, so I used Italian seasoning mix (2 teaspoons in the mixture and sprinkled some on top). I didn't flour the balls and I used a tiny can of tomato paste, which I thinned out with water to about 2 cups and added a small can of tomato sauce. 

   A small ice cream scoop was used to make the balls and I really liked the size they ended up being. I didn't use any cooking spray on the pan, but I guess you could. It turned out fine without it.  I had the common sense to use the largest baking dish I had (11"x14", I believe) and I still had to squeeze them in there.   After I'd placed all of the balls in the baking dish, I poured the tomato sauce I mixed up over top and placed the pan in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees.  I ended up taking them out about 12 minutes early.  They were perfect and my house smelled really good! 

    What would I do different? I would try using minute/quick rice or maybe even pre-cooked rice and I would play around with using a hotter oven and cooking for a shorter length of time. I think you could absolutely make these ahead of time and store them without the sauce, refrigerated or even freeze them. Obviously if you freeze them, you'd need to ensure you thawed them out before baking with the sauce.  There's definitely some possibilities for changing things up a bit.  Like, my using the Italian seasoning, not just sage, was an excellent decision.  And, I sprinkled a little bit of parmesan on top when I was ready to eat. I made brown rice to go with mine, but you could easily to some kind of pasta or mashed potatoes. I think you could also make some delicious hot subs with these.  Just add some extra sauce and cheese. 

    I ended up with 20 sausage balls. For me I had 4 in a serving with a side of brown rice. You could have 4 - 5 servings, depending on whether or not you want 4 pieces of 5 pieces. 

    Would I make this again? Oh my gosh, 100%, yes!!!! It tasted really good and wasn't greasy at all, which I'd kind of been expecting.  

    A huge "thank you" to Mrs. Ray Sheeley, who submitted this recipe back in the early 1940s.  

    

Boneless Pork Ribs & Basil Garlic Spread

 Boneless Pork Ribs & Basil Garlic Spread

    This isn't a recipe, it's just something I made. These two items do not go together; I just wanted to talk about the boneless pork ribs I cooked last night in my large, cast iron skillet. This story starts with some seasoning I bought at the Dallas Farmer's Market on Saturday. I didn't realize it, but I heard someone say it was "Small Business Saturday", so I'm happy that I was supporting some small businesses which operate at the market. 

    First up, I was happy to find that a small business, Brother's Products had a booth there.  Brother's Products used to have a booth at my local farmer's market and I have enjoyed the products I have purchased from them. They have feta cheese, flavored olives, hummus (flavored & plain) and my favorite product, is their Basil Garlic Spread.  The spread contains fresh garlic, fresh basil, lemon, olive oil & salt. The 8oz container was $6 and will last a month in the refrigerator. If you love garlic, you would love this.  This time around, I spread it on toast, because that's what I had on hand, but you could put it on anything you wanted. 

    Second, I taste tested some "Spice & Chili Mix" seasoning from Arial's Spices, a business new to me. It had a really good kick, so I bought a 4.8oz jar for $7.  The Spice & Chili Mix has ghost pepper, cayenne pepper, red chili pepper, paprika, onion, garlic, salt and select natural herbs. And then, this is now where the boneless pork ribs come in.  Last night I sprinkled the seasoning on the boneless pork meat which I had thawed out. I browned all sides in my pre-heated cast iron skillet. I didn't measure the seasoning because I wasn't sure how spicy it would be with what I had put on.  It is easier to add flavor after the fact and pretty impossible to remove it, so I was being sensible. After I had browned all sides of the meat, I covered the pan with a lid and turned the heat to low.  I've no idea how long I cooked it (I'm kind of "loosey goosey" if I'm not using a recipe), but when I was sure it was thoroughly cooked, I poured some Aldi store brand, barbecue sauce on it.  I'd thought the barbecue sauce would go well with the seasoning. I maintained the low temperature and just heated the barbecue sauce.  

    The verdict? The meat was good, but I'd hoped for a little more 'spicy'. So, when I ate my leftovers today, I added a little extra seasoning.  No biggie.  Am I excited to use this seasoning on more things? Yes.  Would I also be interested in checking out their other seasonings? Also, yes.  

    Lastly, please support your local, small businesses and if you ever get the chance to go to the Dallas Farmer's Market (mostly market right now, not so much veggies/fruit) or if you happen to see them at another Dallas area market, I highly recommend Brother's Products and Arial's Spices.