Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

Gee, I really have been on quite a "cooking kick" these days, posting all the meals I have been making. Suffice to say, I like cooking but more importantly, I like eating!

I made this meatball meal last night. It is so easy and delicious. I usually make my own meatballs from scratch using ground beef (chicken or turkey would also work) and other ingredients but this time, I bought store-made meatballs, ready to cook.

Here is the shortened version if using store bought meatballs. Below that, is MY recipe for my homemade meatballs. Both work well in this recipe. It is the delicious, easy sauce that really is the star of the dish.

Rosie's Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

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Store bought meatballs - preferably fresh ( if frozen, thaw first)

1-2 Tablespoons butter (yes, I have been on a butter kick lately)

200 grams sliced mushrooms (I bought pre-sliced but you can certainly slice your own)

1 can Evaporated milk

That's it!!! Now, I used to cringe at the very mention of the words Evaporated milk. I hate the tinny taste and I always remember my Dad putting it in his coffee. I would always ask for a taste of his coffee when I was little, but the tinny taste really bothered me. Don't worry about that here though. It makes a perfect sauce for anything. Since it is really only reduced milk (ie. some of the water has been taken out of it, hence the name Evaporated milk) it is a wonderful base for many sauces. Trust me. It tastes much better when used in cooking, than if used straight out of the can.

Here are the steps to that perfect mushroom-y meal:

In a large non-stick skillet, brown the meatballs until golden. (No need to use any fat at this point as the beef will provide that, once browned.)  Turn and brown the other side. 

The browner, the better! Once browned, remove the meatballs and set aside.

Add 1-2 tablespoon butter to the same frying pan and sauté the mushrooms until golden.

Once the mushrooms are golden, add 1 can of evaporated milk and simmer. Add the meatballs back into the milk/mushroom sauce.

Keep simmering the meatballs until they are cooked all the way through. Turn them occasionally, to keep them moist on all sides.

The simmering will further reduce the sauce and will make it so tasty. Watch that the milk doesn't boil over even when simmering, as milk has a tendency to do that.

Of course I added it on top of some leftover cooked quinoa! Rice would also do nicely, as would pasta.

Add a salad and you are done.

Here is my own original recipe for tasty meatballs: ( and if you have the extra time to make them)

Rosie's Tasty Meatballs

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1 - 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1/2 red onion - minced very fine

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon yellow prepared mustard

2 handfuls breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 Tablespoon Worchestershire sauce

1-2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes - to taste (careful - these make them spicy!)

2-3 handfuls shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

1-2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Other chopped herbs if desired but not necessary (basil, oregano, cilantro, chives etc.)

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix all together with your hands. You may need to add more breadcrumbs if the mixture is too wet. Roll the meat mixture into balls and use for Rosie's Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce recipe above.

That's it!!! You can thank me after you have cleaned up every last remaining morsel of sauce with that last hunk of bread. And I won't tell if you lick your plate. It's that good!!!

Enjoy,

Rosie

Well, I've done it again!

Last night,  I made myself a wonderfully flavourful meal that I literally threw together by chance. It is simple, very tasty and of course, includes quinoa as a base. I won't call it a salad; it is more of a hot meal, but I did have the cold leftovers today for lunch and let me say, it is equally as good cold. So, let's begin.

I think I will call it "Rosie's Sweet and Spicy Prawns". Here is how I made it.

Rosie's Sweet and Spicy Prawns (serves 3-4 people)

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I bag jumbo prawns, cooked, defrosted and rinsed

1-2 large cloves garlic, minced

2-3 Tablespoons butter (or olive oil, although butter IS BETTER!)

2-3 Tablespoons Hot Red Pepper jelly

1/2  jalapeño pepper, diced (use more if you can take the heat)

 Few handfuls of Salted peanuts

Salt and pepper

Olive oil (optional)

I box cooked quinoa (cook according to box directions)(can use couscous, rice etc.)

Cook the quinoa according to directions on the box. Keep warm until the prawn mixture is finished.

In a large skillet, add the butter and the minced garlic. Sauté until the garlic is softened a little, not until golden. The idea is to not burn the garlic, just soften to release the aromas.

Rinse the defrosted cooked prawns and add them to the butter and garlic in the skillet. Sauté until all the prawns are coated with the butter. Add the diced jalapeño.(You can see that I diced it into fairly large pieces, to really get a bight. I only used 1/2 a pepper, but use more if you like more heat).

Add 2-3 tablespoons of Red pepper jelly to the prawn mixture and stir in to incorporate the flavours. It will melt into the butter and create a smooth reduced sauce.This jelly is both sweet and hot as it has hot pepper flakes. I love the combination of the sweet and hot and this will turn up the spicy-ness of the dish, so beware!

Add salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil (or more butter) to help emulsify the sauce. You won't make a lot of sauce, but it will be very flavourful. Spoon out some warm quinoa onto a plate and then add some prawns and a few spoonfuls of sauce. Top the dish with salted peanuts. I didn't have straight peanuts, but rather my go-to seed, nut and fruit mix that I threw on top. It had a few peanuts in with the mix and I found the peanuts combined with the sweet and hot pepper jelly, was fabulous. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please let me know what you thought of the dish when you have tried it.

You can see that the package of prawns is not huge. Enough for 4 people I think.

You may want to use more butter here than I did.   2-3 Tablespoons should be right.

Heart to my followers! (If I have any??!!)

Mmm,  I can almost smell this cooking.

These pictures are making me hungry again and I just ate!!

I use a teaspoon to scrape out the jalapeño seeds. It works well.

I just noticed this red pepper jelly has jalapeño and habanero peppers. No wonder it had such a kick.

This seed, nut and fruit mix is good but peanuts alone, would have been better. This would also be great on plain jasmine or basmati rice instead of the quinoa.

Enjoy!

Rosie