Saucy BBQ Meatballs

Oven BBQ Meatballs

800g ground meat (extra lean beef, turkey or chicken)

1 cup panko

scant 1 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper, or to taste

2-3 tsp onion powder

1/3- 1/2  cup milk

Crumble meat into large bowl. Sprinkle with panko crumbs, salt, pepper and onion powder. Pour in milk. Mix all together. Mix thoroughly just until ingredients are combined (over-mixing will make the meatballs tough). Form meat mixture into 2” balls. Spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray, place meatballs on pan and bake at 375° F for 15 minutes till browned.

Easy BBQ Sauce

1 1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup BBQ sauce (we like Bull’s-eye Chicken and Rib)

1 tbsp vinegar

¾ cup brown sugar

1/2 cup finely minced onion

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tbsp yellow mustard

1/2 cup water

In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients thoroughly.  Place browned meatballs and minced onion in oven-proof dish.  Pour sauce over all.   Bake at 375° F for about 30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and meatballs are heated through.  Serve over rice.

Creamy Lemon Basil Sauce with Chicken and Veggie Stir-fry

This dish is mostly about the sauce.  It’s easy to stir-fry some chicken and veggies, but the yummy flavors of lemon and basil made a welcome change from our usual Asian flavors stir-fries.  Think  hollandaise, and a continental version of stir-fry and you’ll get the idea.  We served the stir-fry on  a bed of fragrant rice, then spooned sauce over the whole thing.  Two thumbs up from the guys 🙂

Lemon Basil Sauce

1/2 cup butter

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp white wine

1/8 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

1/3 cup heavy cream

8 basil leaves, sliced, plus extra leaves for garnish

Melt butter in small pot over low heat.  Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Don’t let the garlic brown.  Add the lemon juice and wine and cook another minute or two.   Add salt, pepper and cream.  Simmer very gently over low heat, for about 15 minutes, until thickened and smooth, stirring frequently and at the end, constantly.  Serve immediately.

Asian Flavors Chicken Meatballs

I’ve had this recipe hanging around in my files for so long, I was almost ready to say, nah not gonna bother.  So glad I bothered!

Asian Flavors Chicken Meatballs

450g ground chicken

1/4 cup panko crumbs

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp red chili pepper, finely minced

1 cup coleslaw mix, finely chopped (use a purchased package if time is of the essence)

1-2 green onions, finely sliced

3 tsp tamari or sodium-reduced soy sauce

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp salt (less if using regular soy sauce)

freshly ground pepper to taste

Gently combine all ingredients together.  Form mixture into 1″ meatballs.  Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes (depending on size).  When meatballs are nicely browned and sizzling, transfer to a baking dish and drizzle sauce over top.  Return to oven and let the sauce warm through, about 15 minutes.  Stir once to evenly distribute sauce and coat each meatball.

Sauce:

1/2 – 3/4 cup Asian flavors salad dressing (I used Renee’s Asian Sesame Vinaigrette)

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp minced ginger

1/2 tsp minced red chili pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp vinegar (or 2 tbsp white wine)

Mix all ingredients together and pour over meatballs.  Serve  with a fragrant  rice (e.g. jasmine)  and stir fried bell peppers.

Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

This is not so much about recipes as method.  Use your favorite meatloaf and stuffing recipes.  Here are my versions to get you started.

Make the stuffing:  (ingredients:  bread, celery, onion, butter, seasonings, broth)

4 slices white bread, finely cubed

1/3 cup finely minced celery (about 1 smallish rib)

1/3 cup finely minced onion

2 tbsp butter

1/3 – 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 pinch salt (adjust as necessary to taste)

freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup hot liquid  (broth, bouillon or water)

Saute onions and celery in butter till tender.  Add to bread crumbs in a bowl.  Add seasonings and stir in liquid, combining all ingredients thoroughly.  Set aside.

Make the meatloaf:  (ingredients:  ground meat, panko or other fine bread crumbs, seasonings, milk, bacon slices, ketchup)

900 grams (2 lbs)  ground turkey, chicken, or beef

1 cup panko

1 tsp salt

fresh ground pepper, to taste

2 tsp onion powder

1/2 -¾ cup milk

Crumble ground turkey into a large bowl.  In a small bowl, mix together panko and seasonings.  Sprinkle over meat, add milk, and stir well.

Assembly:

6 slices bacon

plastic wrap

baking pan, 9×13 or a small cookie sheet

2-3 tbsp ketchup

Lay down a generous length of plastic wrap lengthwise.  Arrange bacon strips.  Over the bacon, pat out the meat mixture to form a rectangle.  Sprinkle the stuffing over the meat.  It might look like there’s not enough stuffing, but I found out the hard way that in this case, less is definitely more!  Now the “tricky part”, grab the top of the plastic and begin to pull it (evenly) toward you to start the roll.  Once it gets going it sort of rolls itself.  Make sure to keep the plastic wrap free from the roll.  Plop the whole thing seam side down in your greased baking pan.  Brush the roll with  ketchup.  Bake at 375 degrees F for about an hour, but start checking for doneness around 45 minutes.  Use a meat thermometer to make sure the inside is cooked through.  Transfer cooked roll to cutting board and slice to serve.

Chicken supper in a hurry

This is a fast and easy supper.  It tastes good with dumplings, or couscous, or mashed potatoes.  If  I want to serve this to more than four people,  I do the initial steps of browning the chicken and sauteeing the vegetables, but then I put everything into a large casserole  and finish cooking it in the oven.

Chicken Skillet Supper

3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts,  each cut into 3 smaller pieces

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper

butter or oil for browning chicken

1/2 onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced or julienned

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

parsley or dill for garnish

In frying pan, heat  a dab of butter over medium heat.  Dredge chicken pieces in flour.  Brown chicken quickly, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove chicken to bowl, keeping warm.  Deglaze  frying pan with white wine, reserving liquid with the chicken.  Reheat pan, adding a small amount of butter to saute chopped onion, mushrooms and sliced carrots about 5 minutes.  Then add minced garlic and leftover flour from dredging, stirring to coat vegetables, cooking 1-2 minutes longer.  Add chicken stock into the pan, bring to a boil.  Return chicken and any liquid to the pan; reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until chicken is tender, about 20-30 minutes.  Sprinkle with garnish just before serving.  Makes about 4 servings.

Easy-Peasy Chicken

This is a quick way to prepare great-tasting chicken.  The first time we made this, I was  slightly weirded-out by the combination of sauce and dressing,  but it’s quickly become a favorite at our house.  I discovered quite by accident that ranch dressing instead of caesar also works very well (I guess the bottles  are similar?).  We have also substituted small,  boneless pork chops for the chicken, and that works well, too.

Mom’s Grilled Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup Bullseye chicken and rib BBQ sauce

1/4 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing

Combine  bbq sauce and Caesar dressing together.  Coat chicken in mixture and marinate for about 30 minutes.  Grill as usual.