Spaghetti and Meatballs from SimplyRecipes

Ingredients
Sauce
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ chopped sweet yellow onion
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 cup very finely chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped crimini brown mushrooms
• 2 28-oz cans Italian plum tomatoes (get San Marzano brand if possible)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste concentrate in tube
• ¼ cup grated parmesan-romano cheese blend
• Salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
• ¼ cup red wine

Meatballs
• 1 lb ground beef (at least 16% fat)
• ½ lb fresh bulk Italian style pork sausage
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• ½ cup finely chopped crimini brown mushrooms
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup unseasoned bread crumbs
• ¼ cup grated parmesan-romano cheese blend
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Red wine

Spaghetti
• 1 1/2 lbs dry 100% semolina spaghetti, thin spaghetti, or bucatini

Method
1 Prepare the sauce. Heat olive oil in 4-5 quart pot on medium-high heat. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add carrots and mushrooms, blend together for 2 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, stir together. Add basil and parsley, stir tomatoes with a potato masher until sauce starts to thicken about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add tomato paste concentrate, stir to blend. Reduce heat and simmer while preparing meat balls, stirring occasionally.

2 Prepare the meatballs. Mix by hand in a large bowl beef, Italian sausage, basil, parsley, mushrooms, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, herbed salt, and pepper until well mixed. Use small melon baller, or teaspoons to form 1-inch round meat balls. Roll and compress into tight balls.

3 Heat frying pan on high heat. Add olive oil. Sear and brown meat balls on all sides. About 2-3 minutes. Depending on pan size you may need to brown two batches of the meatballs. Do not crowd the pan by stacking the meatballs. Cook in a single layer. Do not over-cook. As meatballs are finishing, add a little bit of red wine to de-glaze pan.

4 Add ¼ cup red wine to the sauce. Then stir in ¼ cup cheese. Add salt to taste. Add meatballs, gently stir. Simmer sauce and meatballs for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5 While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot with 4 quarts of water in it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add 1 Tbsp of salt. When the water returns to a boil add the pasta to the pot. Leave the pot uncovered while you cook the pasta on high heat with a vigorous boil. Put a timer on for 8-10 minutes, or whatever your pasta package directions say is appropriate for al dente (cooked but still a little firm). Drain.

To serve, place thin layer of sauce on plate, add pasta, add sauce and meatballs, sprinkle with grated parmesan-romano cheese.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/spaghetti_and_meatballs/

Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

I love hard boiled eggs. For years I ate one every morning until my doctor told me that you shouldn’t eat the same food every single day. So now I eat them only a couple of times a week. Sometimes with a little salt, usually without. Used to be that people were scared of eating eggs because of the cholesterol in the egg yolks. Now research has found that eggs also raise the good cholesterol that bodies need. When it comes to boiling eggs, the biggest problem is that people can easily over-cook them, leading to a dark green color around the yolk, and a somewhat sulphuric taste. Here’s a my method for how to cook hard boiled eggs so that they don’t get over-cooked:

How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs Recipe
• Cook time: 12 minutes

If you want hard boiled eggs that are easy to peel, make sure they are several days old. If this is Easter time, and everyone is buying their eggs at the last minute, buy your eggs 5 days in advance of boiling. (See the reference to using old eggs in Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking). Hard boiling farm fresh eggs will invariably lead to eggs that are difficult to peel. If you have boiled a batch that are difficult to peel, try putting them in the refrigerator for a few days; they should be easier to peel then. If you need to hard cook fresh eggs, and want them easy to peel, steaming the eggs works well. Even fresh eggs steamed for 20 minutes will be easy to peel.

Method

1 Put the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan, covered by at least an inch or two of cold water. Starting with cold water and gently bringing the eggs to a boil will help keep them from cracking. Adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the water will help keep the egg whites from running out of any eggs that happen to crack while cooking, but some people find that the vinegar affects the taste. I don't have a problem with it and I usually add a little vinegar. Adding a half teaspoon of salt is thought to help both with the preventing of cracking and making the eggs easier to peel. Put the burner on high and bring the eggs to a boil. As soon as the water starts to boil, remove the pan from the heat for a few seconds.

2 Reduce the heat to low, return the pan to the burner. Let simmer for one minute. (Note I usually skip this step because I don't notice the eggs boiling until they've been boiling for at least a minute! Also, if you are using an electric stove with a coil element, you can just turn off the heat. There is enough residual heat in the coil to keep the eggs simmering for a minute.)

3 After a minute, remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. If you are doing a large batch of eggs, after 10 minutes you can check for doneness by sacrificing one egg, removing it with a slotted spoon, running it under cold water, and cutting it open. If it isn't done, cook the other eggs a minute or two longer. The eggs should be done perfectly at 10 minutes, but sometimes, depending on the shape of the pan, the size of the eggs, the number of eggs compared to the amount of water, and how cooked you like them, it can take a few minutes more. When you find the right time that works for you given your pan, the size of eggs you usually buy, the type of stove top you have, stick with it.
I also find that it is very hard to overcook eggs using this method. I can let the eggs sit, covered, for up to 15-20 minutes without the eggs getting overcooked.

4 Either remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place them into a bowl of ice water (this is if you have a lot of eggs) OR strain out the water from the pan, fill the pan with cold water, strain again, fill again, until the eggs cool down a bit. Once cooled, strain the water from the eggs. Store the eggs in a covered container (eggs can release odors) in the refrigerator. They should be eaten within 5 days.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_perfect_hard_boiled_eggs/

Easy Meatloaf

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 egg lightly beaten
8 oz's canned diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup quick cooking oats (minute quaker instant oatmeal)

Topping (probably want to double):
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 deg F.
Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.
Topping:
Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour. (probably 75-80 minutes actually. just check).

http://caloriecount.about.com/meatloaf-recipe-r281514

Beer Battered Fried Pickles

Ingredients
•2 (16-oz.) jars dill pickle sandwich slices, drained
•1 large egg
•1 (12-oz.) can beer
•1 tablespoon baking powder
•1 teaspoon seasoned salt
•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•Vegetable oil
•Spicy Ranch Dipping Sauce

Preparation
1. Pat pickles dry with paper towels.
2. Whisk together egg and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; add 1 1/2 cups flour, and whisk until smooth.
3. Pour oil to a depth of 1 1/2 inches into a large heavy skillet or Dutch oven; heat over medium-high heat to 375°.
4. Dip pickle slices into batter, allowing excess batter to drip off. Fry pickles, in batches, 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Drain and pat dry on paper towels; serve immediately with Spicy Ranch Dipping Sauce.
Note: For testing purposes only, we used Vlasic Kosher Dill Stackers.

For what its worth, 2 jars of pickles did not come close to using up the batter. They may have meant two 32 oz jars....


https://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-food/beer-batter-fried-pickles-193300834.html