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Woot! I'm back baby! Picked up my laptop from the apple store today after hearing good news from Genius Simon that it was back up and running.

I've been trying a whole lot of recipes from the Masterchef website. Not always the ones they feature on the show, but also the ones the sponsors put up. And now that I have my own kitchen, I can cook whatever I want, and as many meatballs as I want! Om... ah nom nom nom nom!!



I had never made meatball mix with stock before. I was a little hesitant at first wondering if the mixture would even combine with liquid. But the breadcrumbs did an excellent job of soaking them up. For a mixture with not that many ingredients, it should did smell fantastic as I was rolling them into little balls of delicious-ness.

The end result, juicy, flavoursome packed meatballs, with pasta and a rich tomato sauce, all in done in less than an hour.


3. Stir in risoni & tomatoes. Cook for 8 mins, uncovered, stirring occasionally, or until pasta is al dente. Garnish with parsley & serve with steamed vegetables and parmesan.

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It's the first meatballs of 2010!
As many of you may know, I have a meatball obsession. So when I was in the mood for meatballs just recently, I decided to pull Bill Granger off the shelf to see if he had the goods.

This recipe is a fantastic mid-week meal. I thought it was a little strange that there was no egg in the mixture to keep it all together. I also found it weird that I baked the meatballs instead of pan frying them. This in fact made it super easy as most of the recipe is just bunged in the oven, then finished off on the stove.

I added more pancetta than required, but no one complained. I would easily make these again.

Check out my new cookbook stand. It has a splash cover so I don't make a mess of my cookbook! Not bad for $20 from the General Trader!


3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teasponn ground coriander
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
500g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) chicken
3 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
50g (1 3/4 oz) pancetta, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
Sea salt
500g (1 lb 2 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
Freshly ground black pepper
125ml (4 fl oz / 1/2 cup) chicken stock

500g (1 lb 2 oz) wholewheat fusilli, cooked
Parmesan shavings

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F / Gas 6). Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring for 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the coriander and chilli and cook for 1 minute.

2. Put the chicken in a bowl with the breadcrumbs, pancetta, parsley and salt. Add the spiced onion and mix well with your hands. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm the mixture. Wet your hands with cold water to stop the mixture sticking and roll into small meatballs.

3. Put the cherry tomatoes on a baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzle with 1 tablspoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put the meatballs on a second lined tray and drizzle with the remaining oil. Roast the tomatoes and meatballs in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are golden and the tomatoes start to pucker.

4. Put the stock and tomatoes in a saucepan and add the the meatballs. Simmer for 5 mintues and season to taste before spooning over pasta and serving with parmesan shavings.

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It's another meatball curry!
I ❤ meatballs.
I ❤ curry.
I found another recipe to combine the two, and this time it has a Thai twist.

So simple to make, so tasty. I amazed myself with how delicious these were.
It just proves, you don't need to have pasta in a napoli sauce to enjoy a good, old fashioned ball of meat!

Red Curry with Meatballs

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
2-3 tablspoons Thai red curry paste
400ml can coconut milk
1 long red and 1 long green chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced, plus extra to serve
3 spring onions, thinly sliced, plus extra to serve
1 lemongrass stem (pale part only), finely chopped
Juice f 2 limes, plus wedges to serve
1/2 cup (60g) almond meal
Steamed rice, to serve

Meatballs
500g lean beef mince
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
1 lemongrass stem (pale part only), finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander, plus extra to serve
2 tablespoons finely grated ginger
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

1. For the meatballs, place all ingredients in a large bowl, season, then use your hands to mix together until will combined. With slightly wet hands, form into about 20 walnut size balls. Chill for 15 minutes.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, deep frypan over medium heat. Cook the meatballs, in 2 batches, for 10-12 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove. Set aside.

3. Wide the pan clean, then heat remaining oil over medium-low heat. Add capsicum and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened, then add curry paste and stir for a further minute until fragrant.

4. Stir in coconut milk, chilli, spring onion, lemongrass, lime juice and almond meal. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened.
5. Return meatballs to curry sauce, stirring gently to coat, then place over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to heat through.

6. Scatter curry with corriander, chilli and spring onion. Serve with rice and lime.

Serves 4.

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For Father's Day this year I cooked dinner for my dad instead of buying him something that would sit around collecting dust or serve no purpose.

I had wanted to try this recipe for a little while now, and Mum suggested I make it for the dinner I was planning to make. Whilst making it was terrified that Dad might not eat it since it contained quite a bit of ginger and coriander, which he dislikes both. I went easy on the chilli since I know he does not like hot stuff, and I would have preferred to serve it with cous cous (which he also despises), but opted for rice just in case... I didn't want to serve him everything he hated in one meal and be disowned!

Luckily he LOVED it. I didn't tell him what was it in, until he was having the leftovers for lunch the next day, and even that didn't even put him off!
It was delicious, nice middle eastern-y style flavours with with the lamb and all the spices. I love meatballs, and this was no exception.


Nepalese Meatball Curry

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small white onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5cm piece fresh ginger, grated
750g lamb mince
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 fresh long red chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander
2 tablespoons stale breadcrumbs
1/4 cup lemon juice

curry sauce:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 cloved garlic, crushed
3cm piece fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh coriander root and stem mixture
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
1 cup beef stock

1. Make curry sauce: heat oil in a large saucepan; cook onion, garlic and ginger, stirring, until onion softens. Add coriander mixture and spices; cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add undrained tomatoes and stock, simmer, covered, 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a large frying pan; cook onion, garlic and ginger, stirring, until onion softened. Cool 10 minutes.

3. Combine the mince; whole egg and yolk, chilli, spices, coriander, breadcrumbs and onion mixture in a large bowl; roll level tablespoons of the lamb mixture into balls.

4. Heat remaining oil in same pan; cook meatballs, in batches, until browned all over.

5. Add meatballs to curry sauce; cook uncovered for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Stir juice into curry off the heat.

Serves 4.

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It's mid-week cooking time again folks!
This week I was tossing up between meatballs and cannelloni. It was a tough decision, but this recipe sold me. Who would have thought to put salami in meatballs? It's genius!

I altered the recipe a bit and added double the quantity of tomatoes as I love lots of sauce with my pasta. I also slow cooked the balls throughout the day so they could absorb the sauce. The key to this recipe is to season the tomato sauce to your taste. I added basil, sugar, salt, pepper and some beef seasoning. This all adds a bit more depth to the flavour.

The meatballs themselves were amazing! The salami really made them stand out to your traditional boring old meat balls. The house was filled with the delicious scent of a home cooked meal, mum even requested she get a big serving! Everyone loved it, and I will definitely be keeping this recipe.

Italian Meatballs with Pasta & Tomato Sauce
Taste Website

1/4 cup (60ml) Colavita olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup (250ml) dry white wine, chicken or beef stock
400g can Italian chopped tomatoes
400g dried short pasta
Flaked parmesan, to serve

meatballs:
500g minced beef
25g sliced salami, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
50g parmesan, finely grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (35g) dried breadcrumbs

1. For meatballs, place all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Form tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls.

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan or saucepan over high heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until well browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Add wine or stock and simmer until reduced by 1/2. Return meatballs to pan with tomatoes and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

4. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and return to pan. Add meatballs and sauce and toss to combine, then serve scattered with flaked parmesan.

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