Meal 106 - December 13th - Chilli Con Carne Meatballs
I'm having a bit of a disastrous December, and not just because I have not yet started my Christmas shopping. Two bouts of sickness has meant, nearly two weeks into the month I have only cooked two 15 minute meals. My grand plan of cooking the remaining sixteen 15 minute meals is in serious jeopardy. It doesn't help that Lolz is now threatening to refuse to eat any more fish meals. Still, at least her stomach is now functioning as normal and she chose this chilli con carne/meatball combo as meal number 106, as we continued our gastronomic world tour, which has already taken us to Mexico, Greece and Morocco in the last couple of weeks...
Showing posts with label meatballs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meatballs. Show all posts
13 Dec 2013
1 Sept 2013
Sticky Squid Balls, Grilled Prawns and Noodle Broth
Meal 73 - September 1st - Sticky Squid Balls, Grilled Prawns and Noodle Broth
September for me has always been a bit of a watershed month. It signifies the end of the summer holidays. The weather gets cooler, the days shorter. The countdown to Christmas begins. It's normally around this time I start to think (cue the miniature violins) of all my unfulfilled new years resolutions and what I still want to do before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Today, I am particularly thinking of the 47 15 minute meals I still need to cook, at the rate of almost 12 per month. Given that I have never cooked more than 10 in a month, things are not looking promising. I was actually hoping to squeeze one more 15 minute meal into August in order to beat this record but unfortunately, my plan was scuppered by a night of semi-impromptu drinking, which ended with a trip to the chippie and a chicken shish kebab.
September for me has always been a bit of a watershed month. It signifies the end of the summer holidays. The weather gets cooler, the days shorter. The countdown to Christmas begins. It's normally around this time I start to think (cue the miniature violins) of all my unfulfilled new years resolutions and what I still want to do before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Today, I am particularly thinking of the 47 15 minute meals I still need to cook, at the rate of almost 12 per month. Given that I have never cooked more than 10 in a month, things are not looking promising. I was actually hoping to squeeze one more 15 minute meal into August in order to beat this record but unfortunately, my plan was scuppered by a night of semi-impromptu drinking, which ended with a trip to the chippie and a chicken shish kebab.
21 Mar 2013
Lamb Meatballs, Chop Salad & Harissa Yoghurt
Meal 27 - March 20th - Lamb Meatballs, Chop Salad & Harissa Yoghurt
Increasingly lately, my 15 minute meals seem to be coinciding with running - at some point I may have to do some kind of analysis to see if there is any correlation between distance run and the score that Lolz gives me. Today's run was particularly arduous as I nearly got run over by an Audi pulling out of a driveway. I also encountered more fast runners than normal and so, desperate as always not to be overtaken, my pace was a little quicker than normal. So any effect that running has on my cooking skills was likely to be exacerbated today.
Increasingly lately, my 15 minute meals seem to be coinciding with running - at some point I may have to do some kind of analysis to see if there is any correlation between distance run and the score that Lolz gives me. Today's run was particularly arduous as I nearly got run over by an Audi pulling out of a driveway. I also encountered more fast runners than normal and so, desperate as always not to be overtaken, my pace was a little quicker than normal. So any effect that running has on my cooking skills was likely to be exacerbated today.
31 Jan 2013
Swedish Meatballs, Celeriac & Spinach Rice
Meal 10 - Jan 30th - Swedish Meatballs, Celeriac & Spinach Rice
Big night tonight. Not just because a romantic weekend away meant this was my first opportunity to cook a 15 minute meal for a week, but also because Lolz' fave football team, Norwich, were playing Tottenham and if things went badly, Lolz would not be getting any dinner. I decided to go for a quick, calming pre-dinner run, but ended getting caught up amongst the Fulham fans making their way to Craven Cottage. Not the best start to the evening. And not only that, for once my food processor stood redundant as I picked possibly the only recipe in 15 minute meals which requires neither fine chopping, slicing, grating, whipping, liquidizing or indeed any of the other seven as yet unknown function which said processor can apparently perform. I was a little nervous.
Shortly after beginning my prep, Norwich scored the opening goal of the game. Despite Lolz' (admittedly rather sheepish) celebrations I put it out of my mind and, unlike the Tottenham defenders, focussed on the task at hand. First job was putting on the rice and I decided to test out the Jamie method of using 2 cups boiling water for one cup rice. Since the rice was the standard wholegrain stuff that takes 20-25 minutes to cook, I knew that the 15 minute cooking time was out the window... The peeling and chopping of the celeriac was also a more laborious task than expected. Anyway, before too long the celeriac was frying away, rice cooking and meatballs sizzling, and I psyced myself up for the next task: flambeing the meatballs! I was slightly dubious given the proximity of the cupboards to the stove, and having never flambed before I was unsure how big the flames would be, and exactly how big a danger there was of setting fire to the kitchen. Results can be seen below.
Thankfully Gareth Bale scored a spectacular equaliser for Tottenham so Lolz did get her dinner, although (secretly sulking at the late equaliser I imagine) did say that she would have appreciated some kind of cold yoghurt/ cranberry based sauce on the side. Personally, given that I did not set fire to the kitchen, and that the finished dish was one of the tastiest so far, I thought it was a bloody triumph.
Lolz gave the dish 9/10. Difficulty rating 5/10 - just need to make sure you regurlarly stir the celeriac to prevent burnage, and give the meatballs an occasional shake.
Big night tonight. Not just because a romantic weekend away meant this was my first opportunity to cook a 15 minute meal for a week, but also because Lolz' fave football team, Norwich, were playing Tottenham and if things went badly, Lolz would not be getting any dinner. I decided to go for a quick, calming pre-dinner run, but ended getting caught up amongst the Fulham fans making their way to Craven Cottage. Not the best start to the evening. And not only that, for once my food processor stood redundant as I picked possibly the only recipe in 15 minute meals which requires neither fine chopping, slicing, grating, whipping, liquidizing or indeed any of the other seven as yet unknown function which said processor can apparently perform. I was a little nervous.
Shortly after beginning my prep, Norwich scored the opening goal of the game. Despite Lolz' (admittedly rather sheepish) celebrations I put it out of my mind and, unlike the Tottenham defenders, focussed on the task at hand. First job was putting on the rice and I decided to test out the Jamie method of using 2 cups boiling water for one cup rice. Since the rice was the standard wholegrain stuff that takes 20-25 minutes to cook, I knew that the 15 minute cooking time was out the window... The peeling and chopping of the celeriac was also a more laborious task than expected. Anyway, before too long the celeriac was frying away, rice cooking and meatballs sizzling, and I psyced myself up for the next task: flambeing the meatballs! I was slightly dubious given the proximity of the cupboards to the stove, and having never flambed before I was unsure how big the flames would be, and exactly how big a danger there was of setting fire to the kitchen. Results can be seen below.
Thankfully Gareth Bale scored a spectacular equaliser for Tottenham so Lolz did get her dinner, although (secretly sulking at the late equaliser I imagine) did say that she would have appreciated some kind of cold yoghurt/ cranberry based sauce on the side. Personally, given that I did not set fire to the kitchen, and that the finished dish was one of the tastiest so far, I thought it was a bloody triumph.
Lolz gave the dish 9/10. Difficulty rating 5/10 - just need to make sure you regurlarly stir the celeriac to prevent burnage, and give the meatballs an occasional shake.
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