Meat Balls ala Italian Mama and more!

What an inspiration it is for to when one of my favorite foodie magazines new copy is out!  I just cannot WAIT to get my hands on them!  Basically in my mind being the first to see it, try all the awesome recipes in it!  Reading words like "clementine mimosa, grapefruit lemonade...steamed whole fish in hot beer and ginger lime sauce..." oh how I love the foodie language!  This month I was inspired by The Food and Home August Cover "Fresh and Fiery" when the Asian recipes with spring rolls, stir-fries, noodles, tempura and sake caught my eye!   They always have the most interesting questionnaires each month and I would say that one that stood out for me is:  "What does the Chinese term DIM SUM literally mean?  It means "Dot on the heart" - how romantic for cooking terms!

Ever since the Foodie Pick and Pay on William Nicole opened it's doors, I wanted to do one of their cooking classes in the Food Studio so last week I went and did an Italian Course - YUM!  It is much fun, people meet up and have some wine, one mingle as most have the same "foodie language" and there you go!  I met lovely people there and had a blast of a evening!  I was lost in Foodie World when I saw the wall painted with these words:  "There is no LOVE sincerer than the love of food! Awesome!

All our ingredients were ready for us after we have seen the demonstration, and we could get all hands on!
For starters we made Asparagus in Parma Ham Gratin with a mini Salad.  This was SO quick and easy!  We had our gas ovens pre-heated and we blanched the asparagus in hot boiling water for a couple of minutes and then in ice cold water.  We removed the hard bottom parts of the green spears.  We wrapped the full of flavor, salty parma ham around the asparagus, and then made a paste with the butter and the Parmesan and placed in on top and then the pan went into the oven! The smells in the kitchen the anticipation and he laughter was buzzing and fun!  Please email me if you would require the recipe - cookingfoody@gmail.com

The smell of fresh ingredients, the strong parmesan cheese, the fresh citrus smell of the clementine we used for the mini salad and red wine went off well.  We arranged the rocket leaves added the clementines (you can also use fresh figs, nectarines or peaches.  We placed the asparagus gratin parcel next to our mini salad, added some fresh "real deal" Parmesan shavings and dressed the salad with rock salt and ground pepper, olive oil and balsamic dressing.  While we were busy at the stove they played funky music to keep us in the mood! 

 We then started this amazing little tomato sauce which is so versatile, you can make 3 other recipes or more with this and can be frozen and used straight away.  We were told that the longer we cook the peeled Italian tomatoes in a can, the sweeter they will be come and they will develop flavor and will loose their acidity without adding any sugar!  More on this sauce and recipe later...

 

 I made some awesome new friends and we chatted and had a blast with this Italian cooking class!

In the August copy of the Woman and Home Simonsberg did a food ad on their Cambrieni, which is basically Brie and Camembert cheese mixed.  The recipe asks that you make a Rose Petal syrup.  This was extremely exiting as I received some shocking pink roses for woman's day so with the smell of roses in the air I started with this recipe:

Pan-fried sesame and honey crusted Camembert served with rose petal syrup
serves 4

250ml (1 cup) fresh rose petals, washed
300ml water
200ml sugar
5ml (1tsp) fresh lime juice

1.  Place the sesame seeds on one plate and he honey on another
2.  Dip the cheese wedges into the honey and then coat with the sesame seeds.  Using your hands press the cheese firmly into the sesame seeds to coat the wedges well.  Refrigerate for 10 min ( I would recommend a little longer)
3.  To make the rose syrup, simmer the petals in the water, for 30min.  Strain and discard the petals.  Place the water back into the pot and simmer until the liquid is reduced.  About 50min.  Mix in the sugar and lime juice and boil until the sugar is dissolved.  Make sure that the sugar does not caramelize.   Bottle in sterilized jars and store until ready to use. 
4.  Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and, over medium heat, gently fry the wedges in batches until the sesame seeds are golden, about a minute on each side. Drain and serve drizzled with the syrup, topped with parsley and chives, while still hot!  It was delicious!  Sticky rich camenber

 

AND then...for the moment you all have been waiting for...the BEST Meatballs that I have ever eaten!
It is SO true as they say, simple good quality ingredients makes the best food.  I was dreaming off into my Italian World...between the Tuscan fields into a Italian Mama's house....

 

Firstly we started with the yummy tomato sauce I was talking about earlier, here is the recipe:

Basic Tomato Sauce - serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 Garlic clove, finely chopped

15ml olive oil

1.5ml dry chilly flakes

5ml dried oregano

2 x 410g Italian Plum tomatoes

10g Fresh Basil roughly chopped

15ml Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 This is sauce is so delicious and thick, full of flavor and taste.

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and gently fry off the garlic for a few seconds before adding in the chilli, oregano and tomatoes

Bring slowly up to a gently simmer and allow to cook for at leat one hour to allow the flavors to develop and to sweeten the tomato sauce

Break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon about half way through cooking to release the pips and make a smoother sauce

Once the sauce is nice and sweet, season to taste and stir in the fresh herbs

Stir through the extra virgin olive oil to enrich the sauce

One can also make 3 different varieties of this sauce to name but a few.

1.  For a Puttanesca sauce - add 30ml capers, 2 anchovies finely diced and a 1/4 cup of black stoned olives

2.  For an Arrabiata sauce - add freshly chopped red chillies to taste (it should be fiery)

3.  For a more meaty sauce - lightly fry some finely diced onion and prosciutto, add some sliced mushrooms and saute till tender and add it to the tomato sauce

Twice cooked Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Fior Di Latte Mozzarella and Fresh Basil

Ingredients - serves 4

500g Minced Beef

1 slice brown bread (use a food processor to make breadcrumbs of the slice of bread)

15ml dried oregano

1.2ml cumin seeds, crushed (I used powdered)

1.2ml dried chilli flakes

7.5ml fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 egg yolk

5ml salt

1 small onion finely diced

1/2 garlic clove

7.5ml olive oil

7.5ml dijon mustard

30ml olive oil

Previously prepared tomato sauce

30g Mozzarella balls, broken into small pieces

30g Parmesan cheese, thickly grated

10g Fresh basil leaves thorn

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
Add the breadcrumbs, oregano, cumin, chilli, rosemary and egg yolk to the minced meat and season with salt
In a small saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and saute the onion till soft and fragrant add pinch of salt
Add the garlic in and continue cooking for 30seconds then add the Dijon mustard
Stir well and allow to cool slightly.  Add the onion mixture to the mince mixture and mix well
Wet hands shape the mixture into meatballs he size and shape that you would prefer.
Preheat a large frying pan and add the olive oil.  Add the meatballs and fry them until they are golden brown all over.  Put the meatballs in a ovenproof dish/pan and cover with the tomato sauce.  Top with broken mozzarella pieces and Parmesan and bake int he oven for 15-20 min depending on how you would like your meat done, until the cheese is golden brown.  Tear the basil up and 5min before the end add the basil on top of the meatballs.  Serve with fresh (home made) or bought cooked spaghetti or tagliatelle

This is before you put it in the oven

After it came out of the oven

Dishing up of the yummy rich meatballs - think with such a gorgeous sauce one can use vegetarian meatballs as well.  Thanks Rebecca for your inspiration, hope you enjoy this!

Well...it's almost 12 o clock - AGAIN so off to bed with me dreaming of my next adventure.  This has been a hectic week with my hubbies birthday which we have celebrated at the Saxon Hotel - blogging to follow and Fire and Ice Hotel in Melrose Arch with friends.  I have been lucky enough to watch the RAIN tribute to the Beatles musical at Monte casino this week, next week we are watching the TATOO show there in the open outside area, have a girls movie ladies night and going away for the weekend.  Hopefully I can catch up on some blogging and exercise!