Sugar and Spice and Meatballs are Nice

 Monsoon season here in Florida.  We've got a huge mass of wet air stalled on our side of the Gulf for more than a week.  It won't become a hurricane but is certainly giving us all the rain of one (but thankfully not the winds).  Days like this you want to curl up in front of a fire,  except it's 'way too warm for a fire in Sally's cabana fireplace!

Porcupine Meatballs

These chicken meatballs are called "porcupines" because they use uncooked rice as a binder, and as the rice cooks it sticks out all over the meatball like spines (sort of)  . Meatballs from many countries include rice (cooked or un-cooked) as an ingredient. Where the porcupine name comes from no one is certain, but all 'rice included' meatballs are called porcupines in America. Go figger!  Meatballs can be baked, deep fried, panfried, or poached in a 'gravy'. These are poached in a tomato cream sauce to provide the liquid for the rice to swell and soften. You could also use a white sauce like Swedish Meatballs are poached in.  This recipe makes about 30 1" balls

2/3 cup Rice, uncooked

1-1/4 lb ground chicken

1/4 cup celery finely diced

1/4 cup carrot, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped

1 28-ounce can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup Half & Half

1 tsp Italian seasoning spice mix

S&PTT (salt & pepper to taste)

In a large covered skillet, pour in the tomato sauce and half & half (I used a bit of leftover Alfredo Pasta Sauce and water instead) and seasonings, and begin heating on low.  Make the sauce thin to start, as it will thicken when you start cooking.

Combine the uncooked rice, chicken, veggies, garlic, and parsley. Combine thoroughly with your Mark-I mixer (hands). Wash those hands!

I used a 1" disher scoop to form the meat/rice mixture into about 1-inch balls and dropped them in the barely simmering sauce. You can just use those Mark-I hands again. Wash those hands afterwards!

Once all the meatballs are in the sauce, cover the skillet and turn up the heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and turn each meatball over. Turn down the heat to low. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes. Serve over rice or pasta or couscous or polenta. Or cool, store, and reheat later.

Here's a Meatball Sub that I made the next day.  Use a slim knife to hollow out the half-loaf of bread, and slide the meatballs inside like loading a muzzleloader! Now thatsa meata-ball sanda-wich!

Mango Gazpacho

Found this is the paper last week. Ran out of time last week, but we're deep in mango season here and I'm going to make this later this week.

3 Mangos, peeled, pitted and cubed

1 English Cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 cup Coconut Milk

1/2 cup Vegetable Broth

3/4" thumb fresh Ginger, minced

1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar

2 Tbsp fresh Mint chopped, plus additional for garnish

S&P TT

1 tsp Curry Powder (optional)

Combine everything in a large bowl. The ladle half of the mixture into your blender and take it for a spin to puree, then recombine. Chill for several hours before serving.

Spiced Oils

It's been years since I made herbed oils and vinegars, but a friend sent me some new combinations to try using ground spices like mustard, paprika, curry powder, turmeric, caraway, cardamon, cumin, cinnamon, fennel and star anise. Grind your own spices in a clean coffee grinder for the freshest flavor. Guess what the friend will be getting for Christmas!

3 Tbsp ground spice

1 Tbsp water

Blend into a smooth paste. Use a bit more water if necessary.

Put the paste in a pint Mason jar, and fill with canola oil. Cover and shake vigorously. Set the jar in your pantry for 2 days, shaking several times a day.

After a couple days, the spice particles will settle out. Carefully ladle the oil away from the spicy sediment. Discard the sediment and filter the oil throgh a paper coffee filter or a couple layers of cheesecloth. Place the filtered oil in decorative jars/bottles and store in the fridge or at room temp for up to six months.

All My Own Rice & Beans

Made these as a side for our Sunday Lunch with Mum-- wild-caught PNW sockeye salmon, green beans, rice & beans, and a mango-banana-blueberry smoothie for dessert.

2 cups Jasmin Rice, cooked with 

1 Packet Badia tm Season Tropical

1/4 cup dice Red Bell Pepper

3/4 cup cooked Indian Kala Chana - Black Chickpeas