North African Meatballs with Dried Date Cous Cous

I was browsing Food Network's site and decided to look at some Melissa D'Arabian's recipes. She is the host of the TV show $10 Dinners, and after our Valentine's splurge, we needed some cheaper recipes! While I'm not sure how authentic this recipe (I know virtually nothing about African cuisine despite the fact that my parents lived in Nigeria for several years), but it sure was tasty! I loved, loved, loved the ginger in the meatballs and the sauce married beautifully with the slightly sweet cous cous. Even my 19 month old liked it!

I adapted the recipe only slightly but I loved it as I made it so I wanted to write it down so I didn't forget my changes.

North African Meatballs

adapted slightly from Melissa D'Arabian

for the meatballs:

1 egg

2 T tomato paste

4 T cilantro leaves, minced

1 T fresh ginger, finely grated

1 t cumin

pinch of cinnamon

1 lb ground beef

1/3 c breadcrumbs (I used Italian breadcrumbs b/c that's all I had on hand)

3-4 T vegetable oil, for cooking

for the sauce:

1 T olive oil

1/2 small white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lemon, zested

1/2 to 3/4 c good quality green olives, chopped

1/2 c white wine

1/2 c chicken broth

1 14-oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of cinnamon

salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the cous cous:

2 c chicken broth

1 T butter (or vegan butter)

1/3 c dried dates, finely chopped

1/3 white onion, diced

1 c quick cooking cous cous

salt and pepper

For the meatballs: Combine the egg and tomato paste in a large bowl and mix until well blended. Add cilantro, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and bread crumbs. Stir in the beef and combine gently. Wrap bowl with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll meat mixture into 1-inch balls.

Heat vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Brown the meatballs in batches until golden brown on all sides. (If they aren't completely cooked at this stage that's okay since they'll be simmering in the sauce.) Transfer meatballs to plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

For the sauce: In the same pan that you made the meatballs, add olive oil and saute onion, making sure to scrape up the browned bits on the pan from the meatballs. Cook for about 3 minutes and add the garlic. Cook an additional minute before adding the lemon zest and olives. Stir to combine and cook 1 minute. Add the wine and chicken stock and let the sauce reduce for about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, cayenne and cinnamon. Season with salt and pepper. Turn down heat to medium-low. Add meatballs back into the pan, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

For the cous cous: After adding the meatballs into the sauce, bring chicken stock, butter, dates and onions to a boil in a small sauce pan. Once it comes to a boil, stir in cous cous, remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let it sit for 5-7 minutes, fluff with a fork and serve with the meatballs and sauce.

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Filet Oscar

I love going out to eat at a fancy-schmancy restaurant but I detest going out on holidays. I try to avoid crowds, long waits, fixed menus at all costs! So Andrew and I cooked at home and we chose this stellar recipe as our main course. Filet Oscar is basically a filet mignon topped with crab meat and drizzled in Bearnaise sauce. Be still my heart! What's not to love about all that goodness?!?

Since we were having surf and turf, I asked the butcher to cut smaller filets so we wouldn't just have gobs of food we couldn't finish. The Bearnaise sauce was a little tricky for me since I was trying to make it and calm a cranky toddler at the same time. Here are a couple of tips for a successful Bearnaise sauce: 1) check the white wine mixture often because it boils down to 2 tablespoons quickly, 2) when it comes time to put the sauce over the double-boiler, make sure the water is only simmering and not boiling, and 3) when the recipe says to whisk constantly, it means to whisk constantly! Literally, I stopped whisking for about 30 seconds and my sauce curdled. But I got a perfect Bearnaise sauce the second time around! And it was absolutely the most delicious compliment to the steak and crab meat.

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Garlic Hasselback Potatoes with Herbed Sour Cream

This was one of our side dishes for our Valentine's Day celebratory dinner at home. I thought they were a chi-chi version of baked potatoes but they weren't difficult at all to make. I made the herbed sour cream ahead of time so that the flavors had more time to marry. As advised in some of the reviews I read, I added shallots to the olive oil-garlic mixture with which I basted the potatoes. This recipe is perfect for company since it's easy to make but has a great gourmet flair!

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Caramelized Pancetta and Fennel Salad

Um yum! Andrew made this salad last weekend and it was delicious! We had guests over for dinner and everyone's salad plate was licked clean. I cannot wait to make this recipe again, but I think I may double the amount of fennel and pancetta. I am practically salivating just thinking about it...and that's definitely a sign of a great recipe!

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Lobster Lasagna Roll-Ups

I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of this recipe! Even without a picture, it was too good not to share.

I was at the store and saw that they had lobster tails on sale - like a really good sale! - so I had to buy two of them even though I had no idea what to do with them. Since I was already planning to make lasagna, I decided to combine to two to make Lobster Lasagna Roll-ups!

They were wonderful and really elegant - they'd be perfect to make when you're having company. You can even prepare them ahead of time and just bake them right before dinner time.

Lobster Lasagna Roll-Ups

1 8-oz box of lasagna noodles, cooked according to pkg directions

1 15-oz tub of part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 c grated parmesan

2 T chopped parsley

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 egg

2 lobster tails, meat removed and chopped

salt and pepper

1 T olive oil

3 slices pancetta or bacon, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 14-oz fire roasted diced tomatoes, pureed in food processor

salt and pepper

1/2 t dried basil

a pinch of red pepper flakes

1 c heavy cream

chopped parsley or chives, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pan over medium heat, add olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add diced pancetta and onion and cook for several minutes, or until onion is softened and diced is starting to crisp up. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Stir in pureed tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil and red pepper flakes. Lower heat to medium-low and continue to cook as the noodles are cooking.

Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Combine ricotta, parmesan, parsley, egg and shallots together in a bowl.

Add cream to the red sauce and stir well. Remove from heat.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread a little of the tomato cream sauce on the bottom of the pan. To assemble the roll-ups, lay the lasagna noodles out flat. Spread each noodle with several tablespoons of cheese mixture and top with raw lobster meat. Roll up and place seam side down in the pan. Repeat until you have used all the cheese mixture and lobster. (You may have a few noodles left over.) Gently pour or spoon the tomato-sauce over the rolls.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve.

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Cheesy Sausage and Potatoes

While this recipe is not healthy or gourmet at all, it was so good that Andrew and I both cleaned our plates! The recipe only has a few ingredients, which is always nice. I could easily see craving this dish when it's cold outside and I want some simple comfort food.

Just a thought - I think this recipe would be great too if you substituted the smoked sausage for crumbled breakfast sausage and topped the hash with poached or over easy eggs.

Cheesy Sausage and Potatoes

adapted by Erin from Simple and Delicious

3 T olive oil

1 bag frozen cubed potatoes

1/2 white onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced

5 slices American cheese

In a large pan over medium-high heat, add oil. When oil is heated, add potatoes, onion, red and green bell peppers. Cook until potatoes are tender and golden brown and vegetables are soft. Add sliced sausage and cook until heated through. place cheese slices over mixture. Remove from heat and cover pan to allow cheese to melt. Stir to combine cheese into sausage-potato hash and serve.

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Super Bowl Food Ideas

When I think of the Super Bowl, I think of munching on a smorgasbord of finger foods - not football. And with the Super Bowl only a few weeks away, I know I'm already thinking what nibbles I can make and I bet I'm not alone. Just wanted to pass on a few of the recipes that I'm thinking of making...

Queso Blanco Dip - In Texas, we have all kinds of different queso recipes but this one using white cheese looks like a nice change of pace to me.

Sweet and Savory Wings - You can't have a game watching party without wings, right? This recipe intrigued me - read it and you'll see why!

Buffalo Popcorn Chicken Bites - These look easy and yummy!

Pretzel Crusted Pickle Chips with Mustard Sauce - These sound just weird enough to be delicious. And they have good reviews too!

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos - Oh my gosh, these are delicious. I've made them several times (I'm not sure how they haven't made it onto my blog yet!) and I know they'd be a perfect addition to a buffet. If you make them, you MUST make the cilantro sauce that goes with them. The best part of this recipe is that it makes a ton and the left-overs freeze beautifully - even the sauce!

Salad on a Stick - I love this idea! It makes a salad look so much cuter and it makes it portable. I think kids would be more apt to eat their veggies if they're served on a skewer too.

Bacon Cheese Fries - When I lived in Dallas, I used to frequent this restaurant, Snuffer's, and they had the best cheese fries. This recipe sounds really similar and I think everyone would love them on game day.

Spinach Artichoke Dip - Spinach Artichoke Dip is a perennial favorite for a reason - it's good. Really, really good. It's a great dish for a buffet too because it can be prepared ahead of time and then baked right before the game. Plus you gotta get some veggies in somehow...

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