Mini Meatballs with Dipping Sauce

Meatballs:

450 g lean minced Beef

1 red Onion, finely diced

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

½ cup Coriander leaves, finely chopped (dried, mixed herbs work too)

100 g pitted green Olives, finely chopped

1 Egg, beaten

salt & pepper

Oil

Dipping Sauce:

4 tablespoons Sweet Chilli Sauce

4 tablespoons Tomato Sauce

juice of 1 Lime/Lemon

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

 

Meatballs:

Preheat oven to 190ºC.  Combine all ingredients except the oil and shape into 40 small balls.  Place in a roasting pan with the oil and bake at 190ºC for 15 minutes until well browned.  I left out the oil entirely and put them on a tray on top of a sheet of baking paper.  Worked fine.

Dipping Sauce:

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar.  Shake well and chill.  Serve meatballs hot with the dipping sauce.

Fried Rice

1½ cups long grain Rice

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

3 tablespoons Oil

6 rashers rindless Bacon, chopped

1 clove Garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons grated root Ginger

6 Spring Onions, chopped

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce

 

Place rice in a sieve.  Wash under cold running water to remove starch.  Cook in boiling water for 12 minutes until tender.  Tip into a sieve and rinse under cold running water to cool.  Drain thoroughly.  Spread rice out on trays and leave to dry for at least 1 hour.

Lightly beat eggs and first measure of soy sauce.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or heavy based frying pan.  Pour in half the egg mixture and cook until golden on both sides.  Repeat with remaining egg.  Cut egg into 1-cm-wide strips.  Set aside.

Heat another tablespoon of oil and cook bacon until crisp.  Remove from wok.  Add remaining oil to wok.  Cook garlic, ginger and spring onions over a low heat for 1 minute.  Add rice and stir-fry for 5 minutes.  Return strips of egg and bacon to wok.  Stir-fry to heat through.  Add second measure of soy sauce.  Stir to mix in.

 

I found there was too much rice in this, and in a normal size cast iron frying pan, it was nearly overflowing with rice.  Seemed a little bland to me…

Pasta Alla Cabonara

Oil

8 rashers rindless bacon, chopped

400 g Pasta shapes (eg. penne, spirals, elbows)

3 Eggs

½ cup Cream

½ cup grated Cheese (or more, if you’re a cheese fan)

salt, pepper

 

Heat oil in a heavy-based frying pan.  Cook bacon for about 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until almost crisp and until pan is dry.  Remove from heat.  Cook pasta according to instructions on the packet.  While pasta is cooking,  whisk together eggs, cream, cheese, salt and pepper.  Drain pasta thoroughly, then return to saucepan.  Toss through egg mixture and bacon.  Return to a low heat and toss until eggs are cooked to your liking.  Serve immediately.  With veges on the side.  Boiled broccoli works well.

(The original recipe says 30 seconds, and not too long or hot, otherwise the eggs scramble.  We like it best when the eggs have gone a bit scrambled, otherwise you get gooey egg.)

Macaroni Cheese

at least 2 big handfuls of Pasta (ideally Macaroni Elbows, but Penne, or Spirals, or any others will do the trick)

50 g Butter

1 small Onion, finely chopped

¼ cup standard grade Flour

½ teaspoon dry Mustard

2 cups Milk

2 cups grated cheese (or more if you like cheese as much as I do)

2 slices of ham, or bacon, or so, diced

salt/garlic salt & pepper to taste

1 diced Carrot

handful of frozen Corn

 

Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Cook pasta according to instructions on packet.  Cook carrot and corn in boiling water for a few minutes until mostly soft enough.  While that’s cooking, make the sauce:  Melt butter in a saucepan.  Add onion and cook for 5ish minutes until soft.  Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in mustard.  Gradually add milk, stirring constantly.  Return to heat, stirring continuously, until sauce thickens and comes to the boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in half the cheese and the veges and ham.  Season.  Add the pasta and mix it through nicely.

Pour the whole lot into an ovenproof dish.  Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.  Cook at 190°C for 20 minutes or until golden and heated through.

 

Serves 4