Rustic Country Meatballs
I needed a recharge day: full-on introvert, disconnect from the Interwebs, please leave a message at the sound of the beep. Beep. It was absolutely beautiful outside yesterday. Blue skies, cotton-puff clouds, crisp breeze, leaves blowing through the air and floating to the ground like an Autumn snowfall. I wanted to be out in it. Time for a nature recharge.
Since I feel like I have some catching up to do at the farmer’s market, my first stop was the Old Town Alexandria farmer’s market. It’s possible that I get unusually excited about the piles and piles of different apples and squash at the market this time of year. But, I really let out a ‘whoop whoop’ when I got to the Bon Vivant stand (my favorite breakfast spot in Del Rey, Alexandria) and found they were selling beef and chicken from Polyface Farm, located in Swoope, Virginia.
My friend, Stosh, tipped me off to Polyface Farm when my daydream of owning my own farm went off mute… More than the farm (that sells meat and eggs in the local area), my friend tipped me off to Joel Salatin, the owner of the farm and author of several books including Folks, This Ain’t Normal; Salad Bar Beef; The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs; and You Can Farm. I picked up a copy of You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise because it “targets the wannabes, the folks who actually entertain notions of living, loving and learning on a piece of land.” If I’m going to dream, I might as well have a guide… More about this later… I grabbed 3 pounds of ground, grass-fed beef and went on my way. It was frozen solid, so I knew there was a little more adventure left in my day.
I took off from the market and drove south on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, through George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and then headed west to George Washington’s Grist Mill and Distillery. It was closed for the season, but I wanted to catch the colors and scope things out for a future visit.
From there, I headed north to Lake Accotink in Springfield, Virginia, for a quick walk around the lake.
I’d complete my giant loop by heading east for a stop at Nalls Produce. Nall’s Produce is another favorite. I stocked up on honey nut, delicata and acorn squashes; sweet onions; asian pears; and, of course, three overflowing mums for the front porch. On my way out, I stopped to check on Penny the Pig.
During the drive, I had plenty of time to contemplate big topics in my life. Like dinner. Like meatballs…in sauce…with crusty, toasted french bread plunged into the sauce.
This meatball bake is so easy. The meatballs come together quickly. The sauce isn’t pre-cooked; just some dicing, mixing and pouring over the meatballs after they’ve browned a bit in the oven. The goat cheese and ricotta dollops give a tangy, but smooth creaminess to the dish, and the Herbs de Provence perfectly tie the sauce, cheese and meat together. This recipe makes a healthy serving of meatballs. Make sure your family is hungry, invite some friends over, or get ready for some leftovers (ohhhh…they taste so good the next day too). You can serve the meatballs over a pasta of your choice or simply in a bowl with a side of toasted french bread drizzled with olive oil. Comfort food any way you serve it, and your house will smell divine for hours!
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”
~Aristotle
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups torn french bread
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 (28 oz) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, drained & chopped
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- salt and black pepper
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
- fresh basil, chiffonade (thinly sliced), for serving
- pasta or toasted french bread drizzled with olive oil, for serving
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with olive oil.
Meatballs:
Place the torn bread in a small bowl. Add the milk and squeeze the bread and milk together with your hands, breaking up the bread into small pieces and helping the milk soak in. Let the bread soak for 5 minutes until all the milk is absorbed in the bread. Place the crumbled, milk-soaked bread into a large bowl.
Add the ground beef and egg to the soaked, crumbled bread and mix it all together with your hands. Roll and form the meat mixture into meatballs (about 2 1/2 tablespoons-- the meat ball should be on the larger side and fill the palm of your hand). This should make about 16-18 meatballs. Place the meatballs in the greased baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, until the meatballs are browned on the outside but not cooked through.
Sauce:
While the meatballs are baking, in a large bowl, add the San Marzano tomatoes and crush them with your hands (go a little slow as the tomatoes will squirt, which is fun but messy). Then add the fire roasted tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, wine, onion, garlic, Herbs de Provence, oregano, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and black pepper.
After the meatballs have browned, pour the sauce over the meatballs. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes until the meatballs have cooked through. Remove the foil and add chunks of goat cheese and dollops of the ricotta throughout the sauce. Return the dish to the oven (uncovered) and bake until the cheese is golden on top, about 15 minutes (check at this point and add 5-10 more minutes, if needed, to brown the cheese).
Serve over pasta or with toasted french bread. Sprinkle with the basil.
Personally, a large bowl of meatballs and sauce with toasted french bread (to sop up the sauce) is my favorite! If serving with french bread, after you remove the meatballs from the oven, leave the oven on. Place diagonal slices of french bread drizzled with olive oil on a baking sheet and cook in the 450 degree oven for 5 minutes (or until lightly toasted).
Enjoy!
https://www.travelynneats.com/2018/11/04/rustic-country-meatballs/Virginia Ham Biscuits & The Hunt Races
Two hours southwest of Washington DC, and tucked into the eastern edge of Shenandoah National Park, are the gorgeous, rolling Orange County hills that surround James Madison’s Montpelier. I first visited the area this summer on a mom & daughter trip to learn about our Founding Fathers. I am by no means a history buff. I will begrudgingly read a bit of history now and then as if some civic duty, with frequent stops to scan Instagram, daydream, twirl my hair, stare at the ceiling… But, put me IN history…let me touch, smell and see it…and I’m there. So, there I was, via my ever-energetic momma, at a 3-day crash course on Jefferson, Madison & Monroe. We visited Monticello, Montpelier and Monroe’s Highland. Their homes were grand and thoughtful and serene. I was fascinated by the connection between these men. Most impressive to me, though, was how much these men were able to accomplish without the modern day conveniences of travel and communication. Jefferson, Madison & Monroe: statesmen, counterparts, mentors and friends.
I was particularly intrigued with Madison’s Montpelier. After James Madison passed and Dolley moved to Washington DC, the home changed hands several times until William duPont, the famed American businessman, banker and horse racing connoisseur, bought it in 1901. When William passed on to the great beyond, his daughter, Marion, inherited the home. While her father massively renovated the home, Marion’s major renovation would be to the landscape, including the addition of a steeplechase track. In 1934, Marion duPont started The Montpelier Hunt Races on the front lawn of James Madison’s old digs. Today, it is the only live brush hurdle course in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each November, horse-racing-big-frilly-hatted-tailgate-loving Virginians gather on the fields of James Madison’s Montpelier for The Hunt Races. It is a stunning sight to behold, and it just feels so Virginia…
…and what would a horse race be without those stunning hats? Ladies, dig in to your inner Southern Belle. Gorgeous, colorful, elegant, eccentric, fun.
Just as seriously as the ladies take their hats, Virginians pour every bit the amount of passion into their race day tailgates. From college football style tailgates to sophisticated spreads, it’s quite clear: the fans are committed. It was hard to tell what the main attraction was at times: the culinary creations or the beautiful animals powering across the steeplechase track. I lovingly admired both.
Virginia hams, mounds of fried chicken, shrimp cocktail, biscuits piled high, pies and cookies, sweet tea. It was overflowing. I stared and surveyed and ogled my way past the tailgates, making note of what I saw in the displays. I tucked the Virginia Ham Biscuit away into my mental recipe book. It’s a southern staple. Flaky biscuits, piled high with thinly sliced Virginia ham, accentuated by sweet and tangy mustard. It’s a race day classic. P.S…. I left the races with a new cookbook. I’m not sure how that happened, but it did. The Southerner’s Cookbook, from the editors of Garden & Gun, added to the collection…
Back home after the races and it was time to play around with some Virginia Ham Biscuits! Buttermilk biscuits you can melt into. Secret ingredient, oh… it’s the duck fat… and why stop there with the artistic “license”…? While I dressed some of the biscuits with a homemade honey mustard (recipe follows), I heaped caramelized onion jam on top of the shaved ham of the next little sandwich I devoured. It was lovely.
- Classic Buttermilk Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons, cold, unsalted butter (cut in small pieces)
- 2 tablespoons duck fat (or lard)
- 3/4 to 1 cup cold, whole buttermilk
- 1 pound Virginia Ham, thinly sliced
- Honey mustard (1/4 cup whole-grain mustard, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon dijon)
- Plain mustard (whole-grain or dijon recommended)
- or...get creative...
- Caramelized onion jam
- Your favorite chutney (fruit chutneys pair nicely)
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar together into a large bowl. Blend the butter pieces and duck fat (or lard) into the dry mixture with a pastry blender (or two knives) until you achieve a course meal with flakes of butter/fat throughout.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, then slowly pour the buttermilk in the center while stirring the flour into the "pool" of buttermilk. Depending on the humidity levels, it may only take 3/4 cup buttermilk (rainy or very humid day) to 1 cup buttermilk (clear, dry day). Stir in the buttermilk until a dough forms and no dry pieces are left, but it should not be overly wet either.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Roll out the dough until it is 1/2 inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter (between 2-3 inches...I use a 3 inch cutter for bigger biscuits) to cut out rounds and place on a cookie sheet. Gather dough, form, rollout, and cut out biscuits until you're out of dough. Don't over handle the dough as the butter starts to melt. You can dust a little flour over the dough if it gets too sticky.
- Place the biscuit rounds on the cookie sheet so they are lightly touching one another. They'll help each other "climb" as they bake. Friendly biscuits...
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until the biscuits have risen and the tops have started to brown. Remove from the oven, brush with melted butter (if desired).
- When slightly cooled from the oven, slice the biscuits open, pile high with thinly sliced Virginia ham, spread honey mustard (or condiment of your choice) on the top biscuit half, and enjoy! Serve warm or at room temperature.
Butternut Squash, Quinoa & Kale Bake
I have embraced it: summer is over. I love this time of year. Windows open, crisp mornings, leaves unraveling their colors, pumpkin patches, wrapped up in a blanket couch cuddling. But, I wasn’t ready for it this year. Life has been busy…good busy…but BUSY. The summer raced by and I found myself on the other end of it, greeting autumn with full on denial slight hesitation. I’ve tried a half dozen PSLs (I know, but admit it– you long for them each year too…). I tossed a scarf around my neck. Nothing. I just wasn’t feeling it. But, if there is one thing I look forward to this time of year… it is certainly an autumn menu. I knew transition would find me there. Soups, chilis, roasted roots, squashes and pumpkins, apple pies and homemade breads, a house full of fresh-baked scents, spices and cinnamon. This is the time of year when menus get cozy. This is when comfort food is less a guilty pleasure and more just something you sink into with complete abandon. Because.You.Can…
I am adoring Dana Shultz’, aka the Minimalist Baker’s, Everyday Cooking. What’s not to adore about simple, healthy, creative cooking?… She brings butternut squash, kale and quinoa together in a gorgeous combination. But, there’s an earthy richness with the onions, mushrooms and walnuts that really weave all the ingredients together. Bright pops of color and a texture you can sink your teeth into. This dish did it for me. It’s fall and I’m embracing it.
If you’re looking to serve up a side of autumn, this recipe is for you.
- 3 cups butternut squash, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2 tablespoons grape seed oil, divided
- 3/4 cup quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces crimini, button or baby bella mushrooms, quartered
- 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 3 cups loosely packed kale, chopped
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese (or vegan parm), divided
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- Lightly grease an 8×8-inch (or comparable size) baking dish and preheat oven to 400°.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add cubed butternut squash and toss with 1 tablespoon oil. Season with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until fork-tender. Remove from oven and set aside.
- While the squash is baking, rinse quinoa in a mesh strainer. Add to small saucepan with vegetable broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until liquid is fully absorbed and quinoa is fork-tender (15-20 minutes). Once quinoa is finished cooking, season with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper and half of the vegan Parmesan cheese. Stir, sample and adjust seasonings to taste. Remove from heat and leave covered.
- Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion and garlic. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent (about 4 - 5 minutes) stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and walnuts and season once more with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are lightly browned.
- Make room in the pan and add kale. Season once more with a good pinch of salt and pepper, and stir to coat. Cook until kale is just tender (about 3 - 5 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 and add cooked quinoa to prepared baking dish. Top with vegetable-walnut mixture and roasted butternut squash. Lightly stir to combine. Top with remaining vegan Parmesan cheese and bake uncovered for 10 minutes to warm through. Serve immediately. Leftovers will keep covered for up to 3 days.
Tomato Galette with Goat Cheese, Honey & Thyme
Sometimes it’s hard to decide what’s more perfect: a weekend morning strolling the farmer’s market or the post-market creations… Life is full of hard choices. But, making this tomato galette should not be one of them… Galette’s are so easy, so versatile, so lunch, brunch, dinner with a side salad, served hot, cold…so midnight snack.
This galette recipe caught my eye on Bloglovin. Tomatoes, goat cheese, thyme …and honey. Oh honey, does this ever magically come together with the honey. I had no idea why the author of Wry Toast spent so much time talking about the honey in this recipe. Until.I.Tried.It… Savory, sweet, the richness of the goat cheese, tangy tomatoes, and the honey unifies the flavors in a unique and delightful way. Do you have those dishes you just want to bury your face in? This is it.
This galette was lovingly filled with yellow, orange and red tomatoes I picked up from the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market this weekend. Ahhh, a tomato rainbow. I felt like their beauty deserved to be framed, wrapped in love. What better than a galette. Summer’s gift in a light and crispy pastry. Now, that’s a gift worth giving.
Bon appetit mon amour….
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
- pinch of salt
- pinch of sugar
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 4 shallots, diced (approximately 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
- 8 ounces goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 – 4 heirloom or variety of tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Start first by preparing the dough. Using a cheese grater, grate the butter into a small bowl and freeze for 10 minutes. While butter freezes, combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the cold grated butter into the flour mixture until a mealy texture forms, then slowly add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough takes shape. Form the dough in a ball, transfer to a lightly floured surface, and shape into a flattened round. Tightly wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 45 minutes until the dough is firm and cold.
- While the dough chills, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and sauté the diced shallots until lightly caramelized (approximately 10 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle with flour. With a floured rolling-pin, roll out the chilled dough into a 1/8″ thick round and transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheet. It's easiest to transfer the dough by rolling it onto the pin and then lifting it onto the baking sheet.
- Crumble the goat cheese over the rolled-out dough, leaving a 2-inch border along the edges. Drizzle a heavy serving of honey over goat cheese (don't be shy), then evenly top with caramelized shallots.
- Next, season the sliced tomatoes with salt & pepper and layer over the goat cheese and shallots. Drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes and, finally, sprinkle with fresh thyme.
- Fold the 2-inch border of the dough over the edges of the tomatoes, then brush the crust with beaten egg.
- Bake the galette for 45-60 minutes until the crust is golden and the tomatoes have begun to char.
- Cool for a few minutes before serving.
Sweet Potatoes with Spiced Chickpeas & Ginger Lime Tahini Sauce
Sweet Potatoes with Spiced Chickpeas & Ginger Lime Tahini Sauce
There’s a running list of recipes that scrolls through my head. There’s a lot of chatter up there. Thank gawd much of it is food related. This is one of those recipes I’ve waited a long time to make. Suddenly, it became one of those “must make now” recipes. Detour on the drive home from work. In Whole Foods snatching up sweet potatoes, cilantro, limes, tahini, chickpeas with all too much enthusiasm.
I burst through the door, straight into the kitchen, cranked up my fave Pandora channel (ohhh you love Chill Loungers Radio too?!), and got right to work. Don’t stop, won’t stop, oh no…forgot to take pictures…last ditch smartphone shot right before serving. Close call. Glad I can give you a little Samsung Galaxy 4 kickin-it-old-school snap.
This is one of those dishes that highlights what I love about cooking. Simple to make; perfect mix of flavors; separate components of a dish that stand alone wonderfully, but come together perfectly; results exceed expectations. What’s not to like…?
So, in a string of “I’m not vegan” vegan recipes: Just.Make.This.One.
Another beautiful recipe from a favorite website, The First Mess.
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 teaspoons olive or coconut oil
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce or other hot sauce
- 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
- ¼ cup tahini
- 1 lime, juiced (approximately 2 tablespoons)
- 1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon chili garlic sauce or other hot sauce
- 2-3 tablespoons water (to thin sauce after mixed)
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
- Sesame seeds
- Sriracha sauce
- Lime wedges
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking dish with 2-inch sides with parchment paper. Set the sweet potatoes, flesh side down, onto the parchment. Bake sweet potatoes until they are tender all the way through, about 25-30 minutes.
- While sweet potatoes bake, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. In a glass bowl, mix the garlic powder, cumin, ginger, coriander, maple syrup, tamari, and hot sauce. Then toss the chickpeas in this sauce.
- Transfer the chickpeas to the skillet. Sauté chickpeas until visibly browned and lightly dried. The spices should form a golden “crust” on the outside of the chickpeas. This should take about 5-10 minutes with intermittent stirring.
- Using the same bowl that you tossed the chickpeas in, whisk together the tahini sauce. Mix the ginger, tahini, lime juice, tamari, maple syrup, and hot sauce. When the sauce is smooth, add hot water to get the sauce to pourable consistency. Whisk thoroughly and set aside.
- Place the baked sweet potatoes on a platter. Top the sweet potato halves with tahini sauce, the cooked chickpeas, green onions, cilantro, basil, sesame seeds, and sriracha sauce. Serve with lime wedges on the side. Enjoy immediately.
