Turkey Meatball Parmigiana

I love trying to change things up with meals and keep things from getting boring.  I love things that are quick and easy to make when I get home from work.   Making a batch of meatballs and freezing them, allows me to do this.

I saw a recipe for giant Turkey meatballs and thought, hmmm, I could make normal meatballs with my Turkey mince and make them Parma style.  These were a success with the Crash Test Dummies!

The batch I made was too big for one meal and will do us for 3 meals, however depending on the size of your family it may do for 2 meals.

500 gm turkey mince

1 onion, chopped

1 cup bread crumbs, I used fresh you can use dried

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon sour cream or Greek yogurt

1 egg

2 cups tomato passata

1 cup grated pizza or tasty cheese

Mix the milk through your breadcrumbs and set aside to soften.

Chop your onion, it doesn't need to be fine.

Gently cook your onion in a tablespoon of butter until slightly softened,  add your Worcestershire sauce and stock and simmer to reduce by half.  Take off the heat and set aside for 15 mins to cool.

In your mixing bowl place your turkey, bread mix, onion mix, egg, yogurt salt and pepper.   Mix together with hands.  It may look sloppy at the beginning however it will all come together as a bit of a sticky mess.

See a sticky mess.

Scoop into balls and set on a baking paper lined oven tray.  At this stage you can put half in the freezer if you wish, or all of them.

On a baking tray place your desired amount of meatballs in a pre heated 180C oven and bake for 6 minutes.  In your casserole dish place half your tomato passata, place your par cooked meatballs.

Top with the remaining sauce.

Top with your cheese and bake for 30 minutes in your still pre heated 180C oven.

Serve with veg or rice and a nice bread to wipe the plate.

Slow Cooker Creamy Pork Chops

I am the type of person that doesn't usually win anything.  However I do seem to have good luck at the meat raffles.  

I have a chest freezer in the garage that I have been saying for 2 months that I need to empty (use everything) and defrost it.  Hmm well that hasn't happened!  I keep winning these meat raffles and filling it up.  

With meat as expensive as it is these days ... I'm not complaining!  However it leaves me with some puzzles, we do not eat chops and some of the meat packs have contained pork chops, finding ways to cook foods we don't eat has been a challenge.  This recipe I have adapted from others on the internet.

4 pork loin chops with bone

1 leak, sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

100 ml cream

2 tablespoons corn flour

In a heavy based frypan fry your chops, approx 3 mins each side, until brown.  Place in your slow cooker.  In the same pan fry your sliced leak and garlic clove, add water, simmer for 5 mins,  Pour this over the pork in the slow cooker.

In the same frypan combine the stock, Worcestershire sauce and sugar, heat until boiling.

Pour over your pork and turn slow cooker on low.  Cook for 8 hours.

Gently lift the chops out of the slow cooker, you may need to use a spatula or they will fall apart.  Set aside to stay warm.

Ladle the sauce into a saucepan and blitz with a stick blender to smooth.  Allow the sauce to simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes.  Mix together the corn flour and an equal amount of water to a smooth paste,  add some of the sauce to slacken the cornflour and this prevents from going lumpy. Allow to simmer and thicken for 5 minutes.  Add cream and stir through.  Allow to simmer for another 5 minutes and serve.

Chocolate Malted Milk Cheesecake

I love the combination of chocolate and malt. From a choc malt milkshake to a bag of those yummy round little balls of choc malt goodness you get in the lolly aisle of the supermarket.

I have been thinking about making a no bake cheesecake like this one for a while, when family comes for a visit is the perfect time to make it!

Scott's Aunt and Uncle came for a visit on Cup Day on their way around Australia in their Caravan.  I made a nice slap up dinner and this cheesecake as a treat,  I know from experience that there is not a lot of room in a caravan to do meals such as I made.

130 gm Oreo's

40 gm butter, melted

3 leaves gelatin, gold strength or 7 gm powdered

50 ml hot water

100 gm dark chocolate, melted

100 gm milk chocolate, melted

3 tablespoons malted milk powder

3 x 250 gm cream cheese

3/4 cup caster sugar

300 ml cream, whipped

Blitz the oreos until crumbs and add melted butter while motor is running.

Press crumb mix into the base of a lined cake tin.  Refrigerate until ready to use and base set.

In the bowl of your mixer place cream cheese and sugar, beat until smooth.

In separate bowls melt your chocolates.  Allow to cool to room temp.  At the same time melt your softened gelatin in the hot water and set aside to cool.

When you have a nice smooth cheese mix beat in the cooled gelatin.

Whip your cream but do not over whip it or it will be grainy.

Fold together the cheese mix and whipped cream.

Divide your cheese mix in thirds between the two chocolates and a third for the malted milk section.

I left my dark chocolate to cool a little too much and it ended up with flecks of chocolate through it as well.  Almost like chocolate chips.

Gently spread the dark chocolate mix over the base and set aside.

Mix the malted milk powder through the cheese mix until smooth.

Spread over the dark chocolate layer.  Repeat with the milk chocolate layer over the top.  Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours.  

                                      

Serve with berries if desired.

Raspberry Bavarois

I have a room full of cookbooks that I buy and love.  I have made a vow to try and make at least one recipe from each cookbook that I have not previously made before, over the next 12 months. 

This recipe is from Manu's French cookbook.  Love this book and I have made others from this book before, however have always wanted to make this one.

I used frozen raspberries however you could use fresh when in season and cheaper.  You could if making this for a dinner party, add some Chombord (raspberry liqueur) to this for adults only.

I learnt the difference between the different strengths of gelatin sheets today.  Silver is the lowest strength, the same as the gelatin powder, gold is slightly stronger and titanium is double strength.

50 ml water

80 gm caster sugar

150 gm raspberries (defrosted if using frozen)

2 leaves gold gelatin (5 gm powdered) soaked

150 ml cream, whipped

raspberries and whipped cream for serving

Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Soak your gelatin in cold water when soft squeeze out excess water and place in hot sugar water.

Stir until gelatin is dissolved.

Place raspberries in food processor,  blend until smooth.  Pour hot sugar mix through feed tube with motor running.  

Place raspberry mix in a bowl and set aside to cool.

When the raspberry mix is cool, whip the cream to soft peaks do not over whip or it will be grainy.

Stir the cream and raspberry mix together until completely combined.

Pour into 4 serving glasses, giving a little swirl and tap to smooth out and chill for 4 hours until set.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and raspberries.