HOMEMADE MEATBALLS

These meatballs are really good for spaghetti and meatballs, meatball sandwiches, Swedish meatballs... or just eating plain. When I am making them, with plans to freeze some, I have to be careful about who might be sneaking around when they come out of the oven--they disappear almost as quickly as I make them.

This recipe comes from "The Stocked Kitchen" cookbook


1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. bread crumbs (I use Panko -- Japanese-style breadcrumbs)
1 T Italian seasons (I use Penzey's Italian Herb Mix)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T dried minced onion
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together. Using your hands to mix works best. I like to put my hand inside a plastic sandwich bag (makeshift glove) for easier clean up.

2. Roll into 2 inch balls.

3. Either cook in boiling sauce (marinara, barbeque, sweet & sour) for 30 minutes or bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes on a foil lined jelly roll pan topped with a cooling rack. If you use cooling rack, spray with nonstick spray.

4. Serve as desired or store in tightly sealed container in fridge. I have frozen them too. They warmed up great!

Note: recipe states that you can substitute ground chicken or ground turkey--I haven't tried either yet, but a nice way to cut some fat and calories!

DANISH HAVARTI CHEESE SOUP

I love cheese. I love soup. I love cheese soup. This is a naughty-but-nice recipe. Naughty on the calories, nice on the palate. Too bad. You could lighten it up easily by using all milk instead of cream and milk, or half-n-half instead of heavy cream. But here’s the deal: if you’re going to do that, you better do it on your first shot. Once you’ve had it tasting its best, you won’t really want to go back, now will you?

Ingredients:

2 medium size potatoes, diced into bite-sized chunks

1 to 1 ½ tablespoons chicken boullion (I use Penzey’s Chicken Soup Base)

3 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup water

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

½ cup finely chopped onions

3 tablespoons flour

1 lb. (16 oz) Havarti cheese (grated)

Salt & pepper to taste

Croutons (for garnish)

1. Boil diced potatoes until tender; drain and set aside

2. Combine milk, cream, water, and chicken base in a pot. Heat to dissolve soup base, but do not allow to boil. Alternative: you could use 1 cup of prepared chicken broth (like Swanson’s) and omit the water and soup base. ALSO, you could omit the water all together and just dissolve the base in the milk and cream. Just depends on how thick and rich you like your soup!

3. In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, melt butter and sauté onion and celery until very soft and tender (approximately 5 – 7 minutes). Stir constantly and keep the heat medium or less, as you do not want to brown the veggies. When the veggies are soft, add the flour, stirring together to form a thick paste. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes (you’re cooking the raw flour taste out and making the roux that will thicken your soup). Watch the heat so that you don’t brown the flour.

4. Begin adding the milk mixture to the roux, stirring constantly (a whisk works nicely here). I add it in thirds.

5. Add the grated cheese and stir until completely melted.

6. Add the cooked potatoes.

7. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

8. Serve topped with croutons.