Home-made Meatballs

I know I promised all of you this recipe ages ago but I had been so busy...so sorry for that. I got an order from my neighbor for Spaghetti Bolognese with Chicken Meatballs for her family weekend dinner, and even though she didn't said she wanted home-made meatballs, I always like to experiment, so I searched for a few top-rated best meatballs recipes and combine them! After making the meatballs, I requested my maid to help to fry them as I need to pick up my daughter from school, and my MIL was at home for a visit. When I returned, I saw her waiting for me at the door munching the meatballs and asked for the recipe! ^^

Ingredients:

500g minced beef or chicken, or you could even combine both at half each
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dried ground basil
1/2 tsp dried ground oregano
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 egg (stirred)
Olive oil enough to fry the meatballs (not deep fried)
*If your kids do not mind a bit of spice, you can also add in 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Methods:

1. Mix everything into a dough starting from top to bottom list (egg should be the last).
2. If you want to hide in some veggies, you can ground 1/4 cup of carrot and add in, or even broccoli. Potatoes would also be a good addition.
3. You can fry the meatballs or even bake them

These will be great for Bolognese sauce and also good on it's own, dip in ketchup or chili sauce. My kids adore these meatballs and as I'm writing this post, my son saw the photos and asked if I could make them again :)

Freezing and reheating method:

You can freeze them before or after frying/baking. If you are cooking (frying/baking) them first, please ensure they had really cooled before you throw them in the sealed freezer bags. If you are freezing them uncooked, you need to first freeze them on a tray and once they've hardened, you can take them into the freezer bags.

To reheat cooked meatballs, after thawing, you can either fry again just to refresh them or reheat in microwave between 30-60 seconds depending on quantity of meatballs. Or, if you are using them for Bolognese sauce, just pop them in the pot together with the sauce a few minutes before you turn off the fire.

Simple Grilled Chicken

I've posted the recipe for the pasta dish in Simple Olio Spagetti so now is the time for the chicken's recipe. I got the idea when trying out Dominoes Pizza's chicken wings. The best chicken parts for grilling is usually either the wings or the drumsticks. You can choose to grill this in the oven, or if you have a bbq pit, or if you have none, than just fry them with just a liiiiiiitle bit of oil or fat (butter) enough not to make it to dry but also not too oily. They are best eaten on their own, which I know the kids would prefer, or with rice, or pasta or bread. If you have left-overs, refrigerate them and reheat the next morning for sandwiches.

Ingredients:

1kg chicken parts (usually you could get about 6 drumsticks or 8 wings), cleaned and pat dry with paper towels
1tsp ground/crushed black paper
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp salt
2tsb ground fresh garlic
2tsb olive oil
1tsb worcestershire sauce

Methods:

1. Mix all the marinates ingredients in a big bowl to get into a paste-like liquid before adding in the chickens
2. Give the chickens a good rub with the paste, making sure all mixed well
3. Transfer into a freezer bag, try to get as much air out before sealing then leave it to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour
4. Separate the chickens and keep the liquid in a separate bowl
5. While grilling or frying, keep on brushing the chicken with the liquid now and then. You can also bake them in the oven by arranging them in a tray-pan, pour the liquid about half a centimeter deep and turn the chicken once when the top side already brown to ensure the other side also get a bit brown

Freezing and reheating method:

1. Follow step 1-3 but instead of putting in the fridge, you can straight-away freeze them
2. To cook this, you need to take them out of the freezer and transfer them into the fridge at least 12 hours before the intended cooking time. Read more in Secrets of Frozen Food on freezing and reheating the chickens.