Swedish Meatball Meatloaf

I was looking for something to make my Mom on Mother's day this year, and I thought about a meatloaf. Sometimes, they can be pretty bland, so I started thinking about how I could make a meatloaf that tasted, well, not just like a loaf of meat. Then I came across our Swedish Meatball recipe, and there it was. So here it is:

 Meat Loaf

2 Lbs. Ground Beef
2 Cups breadcrumbs
1 Onion, finely diced
2.5 teaspoons Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
2 teaspoons Nutmeg
2 teaspoons Paprika
1 teaspoon dry Mustard
3 Eggs, beaten
Butter

 Heat up a saute pan and add butter. Saute diced onion in butter, until onion is soft. Combine meat with the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let onion cool and add to meat mixture. Form meat into a loaf, and put into a baking pan. Cook at 350-degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly. While meatloaf is cooking, make the sauce.

Sauce:

 2-3 Cloves Garlic, minced
 5 Tablespoons Butter
2 teaspoons Tomato Paste
1 teaspoon Beef Concentrate
2 Cups Beef Boullion, or soup stock
1 Cup Sour Cream

 Add garlic to a tablespoon of butter and saute for one minute. Blend the rest of the butter, tomato paste, concentrate and stock. Stir over low heat until it thickens. At the last minute, add the sour cream, mix well, and serve over meat loaf.

Scotch Eggs with Sweet Mustard Dipping Sauce

This was a huge hit. I will definitely be making these again. They're a little time consuming, as the sausage tends to be a little difficult to handle when wrapping it around the egg. It just had to be handled until the fat in the sausage warmed up enough to get a little gummy and stick to the egg. This is the recipe that I found on the internet (with a few differences).

6-7 Hard-Boiled Eggs
1-1 1/2 Pounds of Pork Sausage
2-3 Raw Eggs, for breading
Splash of Milk
Salt and Pepper
Bread Crumbs, for breading (I used Panko, but a finer bread crumb would be good too)

Take the sausage and make patties big enough to encase the egg. Work the sausage around the egg until it's sealed well (this takes a few minutes. Having dry eggs helps too) Roll the sausage encased eggs in the bread crumbs, then in the egg wash (egg, milk, salt and pepper), then again in the bread crumbs for an extra layer of crunch. The traditional cooking method for these is a deep fry, but I baked them in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes (turning them half way through cooking). When they're done, let stand a few minutes to cool, then cut in half length wise and serve with the following sauce.

Sweet Mustard Sauce:

Equal Parts butter and flour (I used 3 tablespoons of each)
2 cups Milk (the original recipe called for half and half, but I used milk, because it was all I had)
2 Tablespoons of Sweet Mustard
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Make a roux (a mixture of the butter and flour). Melt the butter and whisk in the flour until it's well incorporated, and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Add salt and pepper. Take the pot off the heat and add the milk (otherwise, you may curdle the milk). Stir constantly until the sauce is thick and creamy. Add more milk if it's too thick. Add the mustard at the last minute and mix well. Pour into a bowl and serve with eggs.

Pot Stickers

A friend of my family's shared this recipe with me (something not often done). There aren't many solid measurements in this recipe. It simply takes a lot of practice, which she certainly has.  She makes these in large quantities, and then freezes them in order to pull them out for hungry football watchers. I made these one year for a potluck, and nobody ever let me forget it. Very time consuming, but extremely worth it.

Dough:

Flour
Boiling Water --- Finish with Cold Water

Pour water over flour until moist. Mix and knead until a dough forms. Set aside and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Filling:

A mixture of Ground Pork and Turkey
Cabbage

The ratio of cabbage to meat will be 2 :: 1. So if you have 2 pounds of meat, you will need 4 pounds of cabbage.

1 Bunch Green Onion, chopped fine
2 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger, chopped fine
Shitake Mushrooms (7-10) soaked for 1-2 hours, chopped finely
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Sesame Oil
1-2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Sugar
Dash of Salt

Take cabbage and chop fine, either by hand or with a food processor. Place cabbage in a collander and squeeze out excess water. Blend cabbage with salt. Mix meat with all ingredients (except cabbage), and mix well. Add cabbage just before you're ready to cook the potstickers, and mix well. Take the dough and separate it into equal parts. Take each part and roll into long skinny cylindars, with a width slightly larger than that of a quarter. Slice the cylindars into half inch pieces. Take each piece and roll into 2 inch disks. Take a teaspoon of the filling and place in the middle of each disk. Fold each disk in half and press to seal. Pinch the ends as well and crease to seal. To cook them (remember, the filling inside is raw) place them in a large pan of canola oil. Cook for 15 minutes, or until golden brown on the outside. These also freeze well. When you cook them from frozen, place in a pan of water. Boil until dough is soft. Remove just long enough to oil the pan, and return potstickers to pan. Cook until brown on each side

Dipping Sauce:

1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger, chopped finely
5-8 Cloves Garlic, chopped finely
2 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, chopped finely
1/2-3/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup White Vinegar (or less, if you prefer)
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/4-1/2 Cup Sesame Oil
1 heaping Tablespoon Korean Chile Powder

Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl, and serve with potstickers. This sauce is also excellent to marinate chicken in or to make fried rice with.

If you have leftover filling (which you probably will) roll it into bite size balls. Brown in a frying pan until each side is brown, and then finish in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Serve with the above sauce. A peanut butter soy sauce is an excellent dipping sauce as well.

Beer Battered Onion Rings

If I remember correctly, I found this recipe in a magazine. Hands down, one of my favorite bar foods. Serve with ketchup, or your favorite dipping sauce. I love a fry sauce (ketchup and mayo) with a little smoky kick (as you would get from chipotle).

Batter:

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Melted Butter or Canola Oil
2 Egg Yolks, beaten

Add gradually, and stir constantly:

3/4 Cup Flat Beer (either an Amber or Pale Ale work well)

Allow the batter to rest in the refridgerator, covered for 3-12 hours.

Combine:

2 Walla-Walla Sweet Onions, cut into rings
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Milk

Soak onions in liquid for an hour. Lay out on paper towel to drain. Cover onions in batter. Pick up four to five rings at a time, and drain off the excess batter before frying. Fry in a deep fat fryer, with the oil (Canola), heated to 365 degrees,  filling about a third of the fryer. Fry until onion rings are golden brown. Take out and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper while still hot, and serve.

Artichoke Dip

This is a very versatile recipe. This is the original.

1 (8 ounce) can Artichoke Hearts, water packed (not marinated)
1 (7 ounce) can Green Chiles, chopped
1 Cup Mayo
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

Mix all ingredients and put into a shallow baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until golden brown around the edges, and bubbling. Serve warm with tortilla chips or crackers.

I've tweaked this recipe serveral time to make it my own. Adding a pre-made pesto is excellent, as are some sundried tomatoes, or, my personal favorite, roasted garlic.

Cheese Ball

Here's the quintessential holiday cheeseball.

2 Large Packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 Jar Kraft Bleu Cheese
1 Jar Kraft Sharp Cheddar
1 teaspoon Onion, minced
Chopped Walnuts

Rub a chilled bowl with garlic. Mix all ingredients well. Chill until able to roll into a ball (chilling the bowl before hand will help this process). Roll ball in chopped walnuts and serve with crackers.

Cheese and Olive Spread

I'm not sure where this recipe came from, but it's delicious. The spread is even good cold on baguette. 

1 Can Chopped Olives
3-4 Green Onions, chopped finely
1/2-3/4 Cup of Mayo
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 Loaf of French or Italian Baguette

Mix all ingredients together and spread onto baguette slices. Toast under broiler until cheese is melted and golden brown around the edges.