on a roll

Sometimes I find it amazing how easily we can start on one path, say working on a craft, a project or a recipe, and plans deviate and you end up on a different path, making something else, something new.  I don't know if it's the way our society operates now...distracted, inundated, always something else on our mind.

Sometimes that distraction can take you to places that you've never ventured to before, and the results are fantastic.

A few weeks back, I mentioned a little restaurant, The Little Owl, that my husband and I discovered in Greenwich Village in NYC, while we were just walking around the neighbourhood.  We weren't really that hungry, but this restaurant's quaintness was so appealing, we had to stop by.

It was late brunch, and my husband had these melt in your mouth, never tasted anything like it before...meatball sliders.  Yes, meatball sliders.  

So, today, when I started making this fantastically easy meatloaf recipe I was testing, from the book, "Best of the Best" (best recipes from the 25 best cookbooks of the year), I remembered the Little Owl restaurant, and thought, why not turn these into meatballs.

Then, realizing I didn't have little buns, I came across this old Cornbread recipe.  Which I turned into Cornbread muffins/rolls.

With the tomato based meatballs, and the cornbread muffins, topped with havarti cheese, this was a fun new way to eat meatballs.  Sometimes you can discover an interesting new path, if you just.....roll with it.

Cornbread Meatball Sliders

The Cornbread "Rolls" (Muffins)

(I made these first, and then set aside before making the meatballs.  Can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days)

Ingredients

• 2 cups cornmeal
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  
• In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk, and let sit for 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  
• Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth.
• Pour batter into 12 muffin cups
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or so, until knife inserted comes out clean.

The Meatballs

(adapted from the "Three Mom's Meatloaf" recipe from Stonewall Kitchens)


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 pounds of ground meat (I used beef)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder (this pairs nicely with the cornbread flavour)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• One 16-ounce can crushed tomatoes

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. 
• In a large bowl, combine the onion mixture, ground meat, eggs, bread crumbs, tomato paste, parsley, thyme, rosemary, salt, chilli powder, and a generous grinding of pepper, mixing well. 
• Roll the meat into 2" balls, and place in  a 9 x  13-inch glass dish
• Mix the tomatoes with 1 1⁄2 cups water in a small bowl and pour the sauce over the top of the meatballs.
• Bake for 30 minutes, basting with the pan juices several times. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F, and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes or so, for a total cooking time of 60 to 70 minutes.

For the sliders
Cut the cornbread rolls in half.  Place the meatball with some tomato sauce from the pan and top with a slice of havarti cheese (optional), and place on the cornbread.  Top with the top half of the roll, using a toothpick to hold it together, if needed.  Serve with crudite or salad.


Enjoy!


{This post is linked to 33 Shades of Green}

just the gravy

Sometimes holidays can be stressful, and getting caught up in the details can make gathering of family and friends...less festive.

After hosting Thanksgiving for so many years, I have the routine down pat and have menus, schedules and lists permanently on my computer to make everything run smoothly.  But what really has evolved over the years, is a solid sense of tradition.  A tradition of having Thanksgiving at our house.  Of being greeted at the door with the comforting smells of turkey, potatoes, and stuffing.  Everyone knows what menu to expect, what to bring, who will come.  Knowing that we'll be eating turkey for days afterwards.  The "same old, same old" has become something expected.  If something or someone is absent, they will be missed.

There is a sense of security with this...it allows the family to bond knowing that all the little details are taken care of, so we can focus on more important things, like being grateful to be able to spend time with each other.  It's not just about the food, or the table settings or the decor, but more importantly, about what happens around the table.  The laughter. The pleasure. The comfort.  

Because really...the turkey, the pumpkins, the pretty dishes...we'll that's just the gravy!

Herb Infused Turkey Gravy

This gravy is fantastic for post-Thanksgiving hot turkey sandwiches.


Homemade turkey stock

• Giblets and neck reserved from the turkey (or left over turkey bones)
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 3 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 leek, white and pale green parts only, coarsely chopped and washed well
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 fresh or dried bay leaf

For the gravy

• 3/4 cup of homemade turkey stock, above
• 3 tablespoons or reserved turkey drippings
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 tablespoons of flour

Preparation of stock
I usually make the turkey stock while the turkey roasts...if you're doing this after Thanksgiving, just save the bones from the carved turkey in the fridge and use it or the giblets the next day.  This can also be done in the crock pot.  Just put everything into the crackpot and simmer on high for 6-8 hours.

• Pan sear the giblets and neck of the turkey
• Bundle thyme, parsley, rosemary and tie with kitchen twine to make bouquet garni.  Set aside.
• Melt butter over medium high heat, add celery, carrot, leak and onion and cook until soft.
• Reduce heat to medium and add giblets, neck, bouquet garni, bay leaf and 4 cups of water.  Cover and bring to a boil, then uncover, reduce heat and cook for approximately 1 hour. 
• Remove contents, but keep stock, refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Preparation of gravy

• Melt butter in sauce pan.
• Add flour, and stir until a paste.
• Add reserved turkey drippings and continue to stir.
• Add turkey stock and whisk, adding more or less until desired consistency.
• Serve.

Make sandwiches with left over turkey, and pour gravy on top.

{This post is linked to My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, House of Hepworths}

give us this day...

Our son wrote a poem about the Fall season at school, and I found it quite moving and apropos for today, Thanksgiving Monday.  Here's an excerpt...

Fall

Fall is a very balanced time of life. The air is never too hot or cold. The dirt is both wet and dry. The outdoors of fall is a blessed time.

It is a time of friends, family, school and fun. It gives you freedom and time to enjoy creation, like trees, grass and clouds. It's a fresh graceful time for learning and playing, planting and seeding, and especially living. When leaves fall and change colour and birds start singing songs, it is a sign of fall.

There are many different roots of fall like harvest, balance, world and grace. There are only a few bad things about fall like bugs and colds and allergies, but they all have their place in the fall.

The change of fall, the roots of fall, the cool of fall , the great of fall. It is an all important part of God's never ending, on-going, greatest, coolest, unimaginable, unforgettable universe, starting with the season of...Fall!!!

I think we have another writer in the family!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

serving thanks

We have a lot to be thankful for.  Bounty of food.  Gathering of family and loved ones.  It's a beautiful time of year where we celebrate being grateful.

It's a special time of year where I like to appreciate the simple things, and it's evident in the table settings and decor used in our home for Thanksgiving. The beauty of something simple like an apple. A pumpkin.  Or even squash. To revel in it's colour, it's texture, it's taste.

We are all very blessed to have such abundance of beauty surrounding us this season.  A season of appreciation of all things simple, beautiful and now.


To all my Canadian friends, enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend!

{This post is linked to My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia}

a hole in the heart

After a whirlwind weekend of indulgent window shopping, seeing the bright and dazzling Times Square, admiring the million dollar architecture and enjoying the scrumptious culinary delights in NYC a few weeks ago…we felt we needed to end our weekend trip by visiting a special place to bring us back to reality and reflect how fortunate we really all are.

{Above photo, courtesy of CNN}

You see, ten years ago, we had planned to be right here in New York.  Before going to a London/Paris excursion on Sept. 12^th, we were planning on stopping by as a post birthday celebration, before heading to London.  But circumstances led to us to stay home instead. Now, not a September goes by when I don’t think about what could have been. It’s amazing how many stories you hear, of someone missing their flight, and someone else taking their place.  How one person was saved because of someone else’s sacrifice. 

Ten years later, looking at the void where the towers were, the enormity of it, the place where monumental heartache took place…I realized that for every hole that is created, somewhere else, another hole is filled.

And even though life seems unfair on the surface, we are guided to fulfill a destiny, a purpose.  And for some reason, all our lives are intertwined in some form or another, with meaningful adjacencies.  (to read a beautiful article about how meaningful adjacencies relate to this memorial, please read Paula Grant Berry's CNN article)

I hope I fulfill my purpose in life…to help create a simple world of love, kindness, and appreciation for our beautiful world.  And especially, during this upcoming Thanksgiving season...to remember to be grateful, and thankful for all we have.

To simply…fill the holes.

Heart Shaped Jam Filled cookies 

(makes approx. 30-40 cookies)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar plus 4 tbsp extra for dusting.
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preparation

• Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl.
• Add the egg and vanilla.  
• Add the vanilla and 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• Slowly mix the flour into the mixture until dough consistency.
• Refrigerate for approximately 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350degrees
• Roll out the dough into desired shapes, creating enough for a solid bottom and one with a cut-out on the top.
• Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
• Top one solid cookie with your favourite jam, and sandwich with a cookie with a cut out.
• Dust the cookies with powdered sugar.

Enjoy...with all your heart.




{Attending these beautiful  parties...House of Hepworths, Fireflies and Jellybeans}

one big apple

For the past few years, there has been a huge trend towards eating local and using the freshest ingredients possible, so during our NYC visit, we browsed through the food market in Chelsea to discover all the wonderful breads, deli meat and cheeses.  There were even great cupcakes.

Funnily enough, I noticed that, despite the nickname, "the big apple", there really isn't an abundant of that fruit in this town.  There are many stories to the origins of why New York City is called "the big apple".  One of them is this:

"In the late 1920s and early 1930s, New York City's jazz musicians began referring to New York City as the "Big Apple." An old saying in show business was "There are many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple." New York City being the premier place to perform was referred to as the Big Apple."

{source: gonyc}

There really is only "one big apple". The sights.  The sounds. The action. The overstimulation of taste buds!   And as a tribute to that, here's a quick and easy apple crisp that uses...you guessed it, only one big apple.

One "Big Apple" Crisp

This is quick dessert when you're craving for something sweet.  Great topped with maple syrup or vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients


•   1 apple, cut into chunks

•   2 tablespoons brown sugar

•   2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats

•   1 tablespoon flour

•   1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

•   1 tablespoon butter, softened

Directions

1.   Place the apple in small ramekin or baking dish.
2.    In separate bowl, combine all remaining ingredients (it will have a doughy or crumble like texture), then sprinkle over fruit.
3.    Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes OR microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes or until the apple is tender.


Instantly satisfying.

{This post is linked to 33 Shades of Green}