Mama's Meat Balls

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chicken stock
1/4 yellow onion
1 clove garlic
¼ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground veal
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
3-6 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

 Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic and parsley in a blender of food processor and puree.
 In a large bowl, combine the pureed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, parsley and salt. Combine with both hands until mixture is uniform. Do not over mix.
 Put a little olive oil on your hands and form mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls. They should be about ¼ cup each, though if you prefer bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.
 Pour about 1/2-inch of extra virgin olive oil into a straight-sided, 10-inch-wide sauté pan and heat over medium-high flame. Add the meatballs to the pan (working in batches if necessary) and brown meatballs, turning once. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
 While the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over medium heat. Lift the meatballs out of the sauté pan with a slotted spoon and put them in the marinara sauce. Stir gently. Simmer for one hour.
Serve with a little extra parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Serve alone or over spaghetti (in which case, you will need 6 cups of marinara).

Wolfgang Puck's Bacon Wrapped Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1/2 pound mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped

3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound ground veal

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 pounds smoked bacon (sliced-about 13 slices)

Method:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook over medium-high heat until they just begin to color, 3-5 minutes. Stir in the cream, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 FA. Add to the bowl the beef, and veal. Stir in the egg and continue mixing just until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

On a work surface, position a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with the bacon slices, placing them parallel tot the short end and slightly overlapping, with their ends hanging over the edges. Add the meat mixture to the pan patting it down to make it smooth and even. Fold the ends of the bacon strips up and over the meat mixture to enclose it completely. Cover the loaf pan with aluminum foil.

To prepare the water bath, place a roasting pan inside the oven on the middle shelf. Bring a kettle of water to boil. Using an oven glove, slide out part way from the oven the shelf with the roasting pan. Place the loaf pan in the center of the roasting pan. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the side of the loaf pan. Cove the roasting pan with aluminum foil.

Carefully slide the shelf back into the oven and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue to bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat loaf registers 165 Fahrenheit, about 30 minutes more.

Remove the pan of meat loaf from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, carefully empty the boiling water from the roasting pan. Holding the loaf pan with oven gloves or pot holder, carefully pour the juices from the pan into a sauce boat or heatproof cup. Cut the loaf crosswise into 8 slices, taking care to cut completely through the bacon with each slice. Serve each slice drizzled with pan juices.

Todd English's Lobster Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups apple cider

6 shallots, minced

3 bay leaves

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

Two 15-ounce cans whole chestnuts packed in water, drained

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup sour cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 large scallions, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Ten 1 1/4-pound boiled lobsters, halved

1/4 pound mixed young salad greens

Method:

In a large saucepan, combine 1 cup of the stock with the cider, shallots, bay leaves and sherry vinegar. Boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Add the heavy cream and nutmeg and simmer over moderate heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened. Add the remaining 1 cup of stock and the chestnuts and simmer until the liquid reduces by a third, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the maple syrup and butter. Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender and puree until smooth. Blend in the sour cream. Transfer the puree to a clean saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

Gently reheat the nutmeg vinaigrette. Add the scallions and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Cut the lobster tail meat into 1-inch chunks and replace it in the tail sections of the lobsters. Spoon half of the chestnut puree in the center of each of 2 large platters. Arrange the lobster halves around the puree. Spoon the warm nutmeg vinaigrette over the lobsters, garnish the platters with the greens and serve at once.

Jamie Oliver's Nan’s Peach Calofouti

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons plain flour

1 pinch salt

5 tablespoons golden caster sugar

3 large free-range eggs, beaten

450 ml milk

1 whole nutmeg, for grating

50 g butter

400 g tinned peach halves in juice, drained

good-quality vanilla ice cream, to serve

Method:

Preheat your oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7. In a bowl, add the flour, salt and 3 tablespoons of caster sugar to the beaten eggs. Mix well, then put aside. Warm the milk in a saucepan until lukewarm, then stir this into the egg mixture. Grate in about ¼ of the nutmeg.
Grease a shallow ovenproof dish with butter, put the drained peaches on the bottom then pour the egg batter over them. Dot the remaining butter on top in little knobs.
Pop in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the egg has set but still has a slight wobble to it. Sprinkle over the remaining caster sugar and serve with a good spoonful of ice cream on the top. Absolutely delicious!

Sweet "Potatoes"

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter                                                              4 tablespoon

Cream cheese                                                                 4 tablespoon

Vanilla essence                                                               1 teaspoon

Condensed milk                                                             450 grams

Walnuts (chopped)                                                       2 cups

Ground cinnamon                                                         1 tablespoon

Method:

Beat butter and cream cheese with vanilla and salt until pale and fluffy. Mix in sugar and walnuts until smooth. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Roll dough (1 tablespoon each) between your hands. Shape into "potatoes." Roll in cinnamon; brush off excess with a pastry brush. To create "eyes," stick in walnut pieces. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Strawberry-Jam Cakes

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter                                                            ½ cup

Sugar                                                                                 ¾ cup

Orange zest                                                                    1 teaspoon

Eggs                                                                                    2 whole

All purpose flour                                                           1-1/2 cup

Baking powder                                                              ½ teaspoon

Salt                                                                                       ¼ teaspoon

Milk                                                                                     ¼ cup

Strawberries jam                                                           6 tablespoon

Fresh Orange juice                                                        ¼ cup

Condensed milk                                                             1-1/2 cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter a standard 6-cup muffin tin; set aside. In a medium bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until creamy; set aside. Into a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk in alternating batches to butter mixture; set aside. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold into batter. Divide half of batter among muffin cups. Make an indentation in the middle of each; fill with 1 tablespoon jam. Top with remaining batter. Bake until a cake tester inserted in top cake layer comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Unmold cakes, and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. In a small bowl, whisk together condensed milk and juice. Place rack over parchment paper; drizzle cakes with glaze.

Potato Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter                                                             1 cup

Light brown sugar                                                         ¾ cup

Sugar                                                                                  ¾ cup

Vanilla essence                                                             1 teaspoon

Eggs                                                                                   2 whole

All purpose flour                                                          2 cup

Baking soda                                                                    1 teaspoon

Salted potato chips (crushed)                                 4 cup

Walnuts                                                                           1 cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 190°C. Beat together butter and sugars with a mixer on high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat on medium speed until just combined. Add flour, baking soda, and beat on low speed until just combined. Stir in 2 cups potato chips and the nuts. Roll dough into 2-inch balls, and then roll balls in remaining potato chips to coat. Place cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheet.