Meatballs in Marinara

It's hot outside. Let's make something that does not require the use of the oven, shall we? Nothing makes me say Mmmm louder than a good meatball. I was thrilled to see this recipe from "Can you stay for dinner" because it didn't require pre-frying the meatballs before placing them into the sauce. The raw meatballs are submerged in the marinara and slow simmered for an hour. The flavor of the meatballs ooze out into the sauce making it more flavorful. Brilliant!

The original recipe says it yields 15 meatballs, but I was able to get 24 1 inch balls. Serve these with pasta and a chunk of focaccia bread (recipe here). Or you can skip the pasta all together and make meatball marinara subs topped with mozzarella cheese. I'm really glad I have leftover meatballs in the fridge :)

White Castle Burgers For a Crowd

'

It's that time of year again. Football season. This signifies the return of "Pigskinus Gigantopithecus". The man caves of North America are once again filled with the sounds of cheering, clapping, fist pounding and, more commonly in this household, cursing the football gods for their team's poor performance.

Shhh...here are a couple of them in their natural environment. Notice the trophy proudly displayed on the bar of the man cave. Is he smiling? A rare sight! Either his team is winning or he discovered how to view 8 football games simultaneously.

If you recall, these bigfoot-like animals have the digestive systems of omnivores, but can adapt to a steady diet of beer, pizza and chicken wings, which make up the majority of their diets, during the 5 month football season.Today, I will tempt their tummies with White Castle-like sliders! This is a basic recipe that is fast, easy, and great if you need to feed a crowd.

Homemade Pita Bread

Today's blog post is inspired by leftovers. Yes. Leftovers. Mr. Incredible is not a picky eater, but he does have this thing about leftovers. He doesn't eat them unless they've been "reincarnated" as another dish. This forces me to be more creative in the kitchen. You should have seen some of the leftovers I totally went Iron Chef on (the majority of them are not worth mentioning). In the end, they usually end up served with jasmine rice, a fried egg on top with a good dousing of Sriracha sauce.

I have been wanting to make pita bread and saw this as the perfect opportunity to try a carbohydrate, besides rice, with a meal ;) Last night's leftover steak has been reinvented as ...I wasn't sure what to call this... Steak stuffed pita bread.

The Original Arthur Bryant's Barbecue KCMO

This is a picture of me waiting in line for some Arthur Bryant's barbecue in Kansas City Missouri. This photo tells you a few things: I am not in Texas in my kitchen baking. I am one of those crazies who will wait in line for over an hour for good food. I am significantly shorter than the general population.

What this photo doesn't tell you: The line curved all the way around the building. It was 42 degrees outside. The people seated inside were taunting us with their barbecue sauce covered smiles through the window. It was 12:02 PM.

Sweet and Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps

I spent the entire day cleaning and organizing my home. First, I vacuumed then I steam cleaned the carpet, washed the curtains, cleaned the oven, mopped the floor, rearranged the pantry and polished the silver. Ok, I didn't really do that last one, but had I had silver to polish, it would have been polished. For reals. Before I knew it, 10 am had turned into 4 pm. Dinner was fast approaching and I wanted something fast and easy to prepare. It's times like these that I turn to my trusty wok for a quick meal. I was able to have dinner on the table in under 40 minutes. You beat me this time Rachael Ray!

So there's only one question. Are you ready to wok? (Come on, you knew that was coming).

Ingredients

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1.5 tablespoons sriracha chili sauce (optional or to taste)
1 cup of green onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 lbs flank steaks (cut across the grain into very thin slices, no more than 1/8-inch thick) you may also substitute chicken breasts for the steak
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Juice of one small lemon

Broccoli slaw, for topping
Chopped green onions, for sprinkling
Lettuce leaves  (romaine, bib, iceberg)

In a bowl stir together soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, green onions, garlic, ginger and lemon juice; mix until the sugar is dissolved. Add in the steak and toss to coat; marinade 20 minutes at room temperature.

Heat oil in a wok over high heat until just smoking, then add in the steak slices in one layer, saute the slices turning occasionally until browned and cooked through. Transfer to bowl and sprinkle with green onions.

Fill a lettuce leaf with beef and roll it up. Top with broccoli slaw (optional).

Serve with hot jasmine rice.

Secrets, BBQ and Men

I was shooed out of my own kitchen the other night. It was 9:40 P.M. and Mr. Incredible was concocting a version of his favorite BBQ sauce: Gates Bar B.Q. from Kansas City, Missouri, home of the best BBQ. Yes, I said it. Simmer down Texans. You make some awesome brisket. But let's save that for another post.

Was the secrecy really all that necessary? Sharing is caring I told him. And that's when I got lectured forever about BBQ and men. I'll spare you the details because I'm sure you're strapped for time and also because I was only partially listening. He explained that men judge other men on two things. One is their grilling ability slash BBQ-ing skills. Two are their chili making abilities. The rest of the skills, you know, like nunchuk skills, bow hunting skills, and computer hacking skills do not apply here. Those are reserved for impressing the opposite sex. Because everyone knows girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.

A man who already possesses decent grilling skills must then create a signature sauce. A sauce he can call his own and hopes that one day he can snicker in the faces of those who ask for this special recipe. "Alright, I get it," I said and had a taste. It was surprisingly good. Sweet, tangy, peppery with a bit of heat at the finish. It was the perfect accompaniment to the beef ribs I prepared the next night. Unfortunately, I was unable to coerce Mr. Incredible into giving me his recipe, so I'm hoping the pictures of these delectable beef ribs make up for it (fingers crossed). 

Ribs marinating in lemon juice, a little soy sauce, and pepper. The ribs are then covered and baked in a 350 degree oven for 1.5 to 2 hours until tender.

The ribs brushed with Mr. Incredible's signature sauce. Then placed under the broiler until the sauce is dark and caramelized. 

Ribs are turned over, sauced again and returned to broiler to brown.

Finished ribs served with jasmine rice and sauteed zucchini.