Welcome to My Kitchen

This is the place that I love to be. I like to be creative and cooking is what is doing it for me these days. It's kind of a necessity and it makes me feel accomplished. I like knowing what we are eating and where it comes from. I go out of my way to make sure this happens.
I like that I don't buy several household staples from a grocery store. I enjoy making applesauce, jams and jellies, apple butter, spaghetti sauce, spicy mustard, pickles and anything else I can.
I like getting dirty, getting my hands into things, feeling and experiencing my food from the beginning to the end. I like making things, growing things and bringing those two together to create a healthy meal. I like nourishing others and knowing that I did my best to give them the best.











Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Garlicky Spaghetti and Meatballs

Here is the recipe from Cooking Light magazine (issue April 2012)  I will put my alterations in blue parenthesis.
9 oz. refrigerated fettuccine  (I used whole grain angel hair pasta)
12 oz. ground sirloin  (I used 1 lb. ground beef. from the 1/4 cow we bought)
1/2 cup panko  (I only had 1/4 cup panko so used that + 1/4 breadcrumbs)
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil  (I used 3 tsp dried basil leaves)
3/8 tsp kosher salt (eyeballed it)
1/4 tsp black pepper (eyeballed it)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp olive oil
1 3/4 cups lower sodium marinara sauce  (I used 2 cups of my homemade sauce)
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated  (I used Trader Joes Parmigiano Reggiano)
Directions:
1. Cook the pasta per directions.  Drain over a bowl and reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.
2.  While pasta cooks, combine beef and next 6 ingredients (through egg); shape mixture into 16 meatballs.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Add marinara and 1/3 cup reserved pasta water.  Cover and cook 11 minutes or until meatballs are done.  Divide the pasta evenly among 4 plates; top evenly with sauce, meatballs and cheese.
Serves 4
calories: 489, fat:16.6, protein:29.1, carbs:71.6 and fiber: 2.6

This was excellent.  BUT  I think that I will stick to the good old Rachael Ray chicken meatballs that we bake in the oven.  The basil in these gave them amazing flavor and I can only imagine how much better it would have been with fresh basil. 

Something else I did was drain the grease from the meatballs by putting them on a paper towel lined plate.  While the meatballs were draining, I sauteed some fresh mushrooms and added those to the sauce.
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