best meatballs eva

So, the cheese bread 2 ways?  Yeah, it went with meatballs and linguine.  These are really great meatballs that are even better as leftovers.  Meatball sandwich anyone?

best eva meatballs
Meatballs
2 lbs grass fed ground beef
1 cage free egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic minced
1/3 cup grated romano cheese
1/2 Italian-style bread crumbs (I make my own. take leftover bread, toast in oven, add basil, and a little romano)
finely chopped basil leaves (to taste, I use 3)


Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Shape into balls. You pick the size. Place on cookie sheet bake at 350 until browned, about 40 minutes. 


meanwhile........


Sauce
2 cans organic tomato sauce
1/3 cup parmesan cheese


Heat the sauce on low for 10 minutes. Add cooked meatballs and cook for another 30 minutes. 
Serve with your favorite pasta!

cheese bread, 2 ways

In the winter, I serve plain ole cheese bread to accompany an Italian dish.  In the spring and summer, however, I have a little more to offer.  My basil plants are growing beautifully and were just begging to be cut back this morning.* I used my clippings for an almond basil pesto, which was then smeared onto 1/2 of the bread.


cheese bread, 2 ways


for the bread:
1 cup warm water
1 packet of rapid rise yeast
1 tsp salt
1 TB olive oil
2 cups (+ more as needed) organic flour


Pour warm water and yeast into bowl.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Stir in oil, salt, and flour.  Kneed for 5 minutes.  Add more flour until dough is not sticky.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.  Pour out onto a pan in either a round (pizza style) or rectangle (think breadsticks).  Let rise 15 more minutes.


pesto:
1 cup basil leaves, packed
1 clove garlic
3 TB olive oil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup almonds


Place ingredients in a food processor and chop thoroughly.


Now put it all together:


Bake bread at 350 for 10 minutes.  Take out of the oven.  Add toppings as you like and bake for another 15 minutes.  I added 1/2 parmesan cheese, 1/2 pesto.  You can use the same dough recipe for pizza dough.

* when cutting back a basil plant (or any plant for that matter), use the rule of 1/3.  Always cut back by no more than 1/3. 

tarte a la bouille

I grew up eating this timeless cajun dessert, tarte a la bouille.  The crust is a traditional pate brisee, and the filling, a vanilla custard.  It's simplistic and exquisite all at the same time.  I made one to take to my wonderful Mississippi in-laws yesterday.  It was enjoyed by all.

CUSTARD:

• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup half and half cream
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tbsps cornstarch
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter

CRUST:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 pound butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You should begin the recipe by combining the milk and cream and scalding the mixture over a low fire until skin forms on the surface but milk does not boil, approximately 200 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, sugar and cornstarch. Using a wire whisk, whip gently until cornstarch and sugar are dissolved. Add approximately one cup of the hot milk to the egg mixture while beating constantly. This will temper the eggs, prior to adding them to the hot milk. While whisking the scalded milk, add the egg mixture and continue to whip until mixture thickens to the texture of a very heavy cream. Add vanilla and butter and continue to cook until thick custard is achieved. Remove from heat and cool thoroughly before pouring into the uncooked pie crust. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla. Blend 1-2 minutes until ingredients are incorporated. Add baking powder and flour and continue to process until flour is absorbed and a dough ball forms in the process. Remove dough and refrigerate one hour. Roll dough into a large pie-shaped crust, approximately 1/8-inch thick. Place the dough in a pie pan, allowing the excess to rest out on the work surface. When the custard is cooled, pour it into the pie shell and fold the pie dough over to the center of the pie in an uneven fashion. It isn't necessary for the crust to be sealed on the top. Bake 30-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

recipe from John Folse http://www.jfolse.com/recipes/desserts/pies24.htm

bbq shrimp pasta

Pretty much everyone knows what BBQ shrimp is nowadays.  Worcestershire, butter, lemon oh my.  Even if you have never been to NOLA, you have probably tasted some version of this recipe.  Not too many years ago, however, it wasn't such common knowledge.  I am from Louisiana, and have lived on the outskirts of New Orleans all my life.  My husband....not so much.  One of our first dates was spent in a well known New Orleans restaurant arguing over BBQ shrimp.  I fell in love with him when he ordered BBQ shrimp, assuming that it would be slathered in a pile of rib-stickin tomatoey goop.  Further, I knew he was for me when he dumped the garlicky sauce on his pants and put up with me calling him "garlic crotch" for over 15 years and counting.

Here's a great BBQ shrimp recipe that I serve over pasta. You can sop up the extra sauce with a biscuit.  Just don't spill it and risk immature name calling.

BBQ Shrimp over linguini

1 onion quartered
2 bay leaves
3 cups shrimp stock (boil the shells with water)
2 cloves garlic
1tsp Zatarains liquid shrimp & crab boil
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 lbs. shrimp
1/2 cup heavy cream
s&p to taste
herbs to taste
boiled linguini

boil onion, bay leaves, shrimp stock, garlic, Zatarains, Worcestershire, 1/2 cup of butter in heavy sauce pan.  let reduce until it's 1/2 cup of thick liquid (30 minutes).  Strain sauce.  Add shrimp, heavy cream , and 1/4 of butter.  Cook shrimp until tender (10 minutes).  Season with s&p and herbs of choice (chopped basil, oregano) of linguini.

Here are some pics of the progession of the meal.

                                         before the boil

after the boil

 

finished product

sloppy joe 2.0

Last night, I decided to go all retro at it, sloppy joe style.  The difference between my joes and your local school cafeteria (unfortunately)?  Grass fed beef, organic tomatoes, homemade rolls.  Yeah, the cheese is regular old kraft american cheese.  There are some things that must remain the same.  I won't hand over my fries recipe just yet.  Let's just say that my 9 year old could barely breathe from shoving them in his mouth so fast.  Love that child. 


Sloppy Joe 2.0

1 lb of grass fed beef (I get it from http://www.rockymtncuts.com/)

8 oz organic tomato sauce

1 clove garlic minced

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1 TB dijon mustard

s&p to taste

heat a little olive oil in a skillet.  throw in the beef and cook until no longer pink.  add next 5 ingredients.  cook 10 more minutes, or until thickened and liquid is reduced.  serve on a bun or eat over cornbread (best with leftovers)             



garden lovelies

Yes, there is the word "grow" in my blog title.  I'm not talking about growing around the middle either.  I don't really have a lot of space to grow much.  In fact, most of my gardening is done in pots.  Why?  Well, there's the pool that just about takes up the entire backyard.  There's also Bella, the dog.  You'll learn lots about Bella...be patient.  To sum it up, lack of space + digging dog = pots.


Right now my garden of pots is full of blooming tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs.  By summer, there will be some good eatin' going on.  Here are a few pics I took this morning.  No, I don't eat Louisiana Irises.  They were too pretty not to include.

just call me herb

This was my breakfast.  Jealous?  Don't be.  This is a healthy and easy recipe that you can make fresh every morning.  Better yet, double the batch to save for another busy morning in your week.  Let's get the recipe out of the way so I can do a proper introduction.  Shall we?


Eggs and Zucchini


1/4 cup onions
1/2 of a zucchini
2 eggs
chopped basil
s&p to taste


heat up a skillet and throw a little olive oil in.  swirl it around.  saute your onions until light brown. throw in the zucchini. cook for a couple more minutes.  dump the veggies out in a plate.  cook the eggs in the same skillet to your liking (scrambled, sunny side up, etc).  place the eggs over the veggies.  sprinkle with fresh basil. 

OK, enough about my breakfast.  I am starting this little blog to pass some time while I wait for a teaching position to open up in the fall.  I live in south Louisiana, where I love to garden, cook, and eat.  I have a partner/husband and two young boys.  We try to eat fresh, local, and healthy every day.