Frikadellers

Two days after my last post, I went into labor and baby Gwendolyn was born on December 8.  She has been taking all of my time.  Maybe an apology is in order for not posting sooner, but she is so cute, and I'm kind of tired.  My mom made frikadellers when I was a kid, little meatballs in a sweet sauce. Traditional frikadellers are a Danish pork/veal meatball in brown gravy.  Now my mom's version is different.  I asked about the history and she said my grandmother made them with a sweet sauce and found the recipe and used it because it was Danish. My mom is the youngest of three daughters, so I decided to ask her older sisters about the recipe. The middle daughter, Julene, responded to my request and told me the history of the recipe.  My Aunt Julene's husband worked for Hunt-Wesson, and the company had a campaign promoting Hunt's Ketchup and a frikedeller recipe was created and shared.  My uncle Val changed the recipe to include apple sauce, which is the sweet element in the sauce.  This recipe is a family favorite thanks to my Uncle Val.  My fikedellers are a little different from frikedellers that my family grew up eating.

 Tender meatballs with a sweet tangy sauce, reminds me of my mom and childhood.

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. ground Veal
1/3 lb. ground Pork
1/3 lb. ground Beef
3 large Honeycrisp Apples
1 Yellow Onion
1 Egg
3 Slices of Bread
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

Wash, core and cut apples into big chunks.  Place in pressure cooker with 1/4 cup
ketchup and brown sugar.

Cook on high for 8 minutes.

Puree apple mixture with an immersion blender.

Chop onion in blender.  Remove from blender and put in a mixing bowl.  Chop bread
in blender.  Remove crumbs to bowl with the onions. 

Mix onion, bread crumbs, meat, salt, pepper, egg, and nutmeg together.

Heat 1/4 inch of Olive Oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.

Form meat into 1 inch balls and cook in skillet until browned on all sides.

Pour apple tomato sauce on frikadellers.  Cover pan with lid and cook for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Frikadellers

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. ground Veal
1/3 lb. ground Pork
1/3 lb. ground Beef
3 large Honeycrisp Apples
1 Yellow Onion
1 Egg
3 Slices of Bread
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

Process:

Wash, core and cut apples into big chunks.  Place in pressure cooker with 1/4 cup ketchup and brown sugar.

Cook on high for 8 minutes.

Chop onion in blender, remove from blender and put in a mixing bowl.  Chop bread in blender, remove crumbs to bowl with the onions. 

Mix onion, bread crumbs, meat, salt, pepper, egg, and nutmeg together.

Heat 1/4 inch of Olive Oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.

Form meat into 1 inch balls and cook in skillet until browned on all sides.

Pour apple tomato sauce on frikadellers.  Cover pan with lid and cook for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cajun Coleslaw

I really like coleslaw.  I'm not sure what it is about crunchy cabbage in sauce, but it is so yummy to me. Our friend's in Maryland introduced us to Duck Dynasty.  I have heard of it, but had never had a reason to watch it truthfully.  I tend to swear off all reality TV.  We watched with them and we were hooked. I love the funny antics in each episode and the redneck premise of the show.  For dinner I decided to channel my inner Southern and cook a Louisiana inspired meal to eat while we watched Duck Dynasty for our Friday night movie.  The first part of our Louisiana feast was coleslaw, not just your average sweet coleslaw from KFC, I chose a spicy Cajun coleslaw instead.  My husband and I love flavor, and he agreed this was a very good coleslaw.  This recipe is best served the next day.  If you give the flavors a day to really develop, your tatse-buds will be rewarded I promise.  Our dinner also included biscuits and blackened catfish, so stay tuned for the catfish in the next post.

 This is what coleslaw should be.

Ingredients:

1 small head of Cabbage
1 small head of Red Cabbage
2 Yellow Onions
1 Lemon
5 tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Spicy Brown Mustard
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 tablespoons Ketchup
3 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

 Whisk mustard and mayonnaise together in a very large bowl.

 Add hot sauce and whisk until thickened. 

 Add ketchup and whisk until thickened.

 Add salt and and garlic powder, whisk.

 Add red wine vinegar, juice the lemon into sauce and whisk.

 This beautiful sauce will accompany the cabbage and bring it to perfection.

 Peel, cut onions in half, and slice thinly.

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, rinse, cut in half, and cut the core out.

 Slice cabbage thinly.

 Repeat process with the red cabbage.

 Add cabbage, and onions to large bowl with sauce.  Stir and refrigerate for at least a day.

Enjoy!

Cajun Coleslaw

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

1 small head of Cabbage

1 small head of Red Cabbage

2 Yellow Onions

1 Lemon

5 tablespoons Mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Spicy Brown Mustard

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons Ketchup

3 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

Process:

Whisk mustard and mayonnaise together in a very large bowl.

Add hot sauce and whisk until thickened. 

Add ketchup and whisk until thickened.

Add salt and and garlic powder, whisk.

Add red wine vinegar, juice the lemon into sauce and whisk.

This beautiful sauce will accompany the cabbage and bring it to perfection.

Peel, cut onions in half, and slice thinly.

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, rinse, cut in half, and cut the core out.

Slice cabbage thinly.

Repeat process with the red cabbage.

Add cabbage, and onions to large bowl with sauce.  Stir and refrigerate for at least a day.

Enjoy!

Freshly Ground Pan Fried Bacon Cheeseburger

My hamburger buns needed a ground beef patty on them, which means I get to share a recipe with you. After reading about how to cook a hamburger, sans a grill, I learned a few things, such as, one - freshly ground beef produces a tender moist patty, second - don't mess with the meat too much, third - choose a chuck and or sirloin cut for the beef, fourth - cook the meat cold on a hot cast iron skillet. With my ground beef patty knowledge I am ready to share my recipe with you.

 Look at that magnificent burger.  It has it all.

Ingredients for this recipe are:

2 lbs. Beef Sirloin Roast (Or pre-ground)

2 lbs. Beef Tender Chuck Roast (Or pre-ground)

4 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

1 lb. Bacon

Sliced White Vermont Cheddar

Spelt Hamburger Buns

 Cut beef into 1 1/2 inch cubes.

 Push beef through grinder.  Skip this step if you used pre-ground.  If using pre-ground, try to buy
 it the day you will use it and keep it cold.  Starting with freshly ground beef you will notice a more 
moist and tender burger.  Keeping the beef cold right up to the point of cooking will insure you 
don't overcook the beef.

 Lightly mix ground meat with spoon, adding Worcestershire sauce, Salt, and Freshly Ground Pepper.

 Taking a baseball size piece of beef, pat into a flat disk with an indentation in the middle.  When 
beef cooks it puffs up in the middle.  With the indentation already there it will puff up but the
 overall patty will be flat still. 

Pre-heat oven to 425 Fahrenheit

Pre-heat 12 inch cast iron skillet over media-high burner.

 Place patties in pan and brown on both sides.

 Move hamburgers to oven on a cookie sheet if making more than will fit in pan.

Sauté bacon on griddle until brown.

Pile the burger on a bun with cheese, bacon, lettuce, and condiments. We had homemade ketchup 
on our burger, recipe can be found Here.

Enjoy!

Freshly Ground Pan Fried Bacon Cheeseburger

Printable Recipe Found Here

2 lbs. Beef Sirloin Roast (Or pre-ground)

2 lbs. Beef Tender Chuck Roast (Or pre-ground)

4 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

1 lb Bacon

Sliced White Vermont Cheddar

Spelt Hamburger Buns

Optional Toppings:

Mixed Spring Lettuces

Ketchup

Honey Mustard

Cut beef into 1 1/2 inch cubes.

Push beef through grinder, skip this step if you used pre-ground.

Lightly mix ground meat with spoon, adding Worcestershire sauce, Salt, and Freshly Ground Pepper.

Taking a baseball size piece of beef, pat into a 1 inch thick flat disk with an indentation in the middle.

Pre-heat oven to 425 Fahrenheit

Pre-heat 12 inch cast iron skillet over media-high burner.

Place patties in pan and brown on both sides, move hamburgers to oven on a cookie sheet if making more than will fit in pan.

Sauté bacon on griddle until brown.

Pile the burger on a bun with cheese, bacon, lettuce, and condiments.

Enjoy!

Barbecue Sauce

We ran out of barbecue sauce last month, and I haven't needed it truthfully.  Today I did see a need for barbecue sauce and felt inspired to make it myself for the first time.  I love barbecue sauce.  It adds so much flavor to meat, poultry, and food in general and reminds me of my California roots.

 Homemade barbecue sauce, what could be better?

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar (brown sugar will also work), 2-3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon Spicy Dijon Mustard, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Pour all ingredients in a blender.

 Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Pour sauce into sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to boil.

After boiling, simmer for five minutes.  I love the color, the smell is incredible too.

Bottle it up.  I had enough for a pint and some left over for my baked beans (stay tuned for this recipe).

Enjoy!