Beef and Anchovy Meatballs with Soured Cream

Hi! It is time to start Monday with a nice meal. For today we have a delicious recipe, on the house, of course, followed from  Josceline Dimbleby’s “Marvellous Meals with Mince”, 1982. It is tried and tested so don’t worry. You can accompany it with a glass of red or white wine because it has red meat but also white meat. And for desert, may I suggest the fruit that blushes when you cook it? Ok, is that all? Thank you, it will be ready in 10-15 minutes. You can enjoy the wine in the meantime.

Beef and Anchovy Meatballs with Soured Cream

I have not counted them

Ingredients:

• 75 g/ 3 oz white bread (or brown) with crusts cut off
• milk
• 350 g/ 3/4 lb ground beef
• 50 g/ 1 3/4 oz can of anchovy fillets
• 2-3 cloves of garlic cloves
• a handful of  parsley,  chopped finely
• flour
• 1 tbsp/ 15 ml oil
• a good blob of butter
• 150 ml/ 5 fl oz carton of soured cream
• chopped parsley to garnish
• salt and black pepper

Method:

• Pull the bread apart roughly and pour over enough milk to soak it. Mash with a fork until pasty. Add the ground beef and drain in the oil from the can of anchovies. With a sharp knife, chop the anchovies and garlic together very finely. Mix into the meat with the parsley and season well with salt and black pepper. With wet hands, form the mixture into meatballs, each about the size of a walnut, and roll in flour.
• Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan. Reduce  the heat to medium and fry the meatballs for about 6-8 minutes, turning them round all the time, until they  are a rich golden brown all over. Tansfer to a warm with a slotted spoon. Stir the soured cream with a fork and then spoon over the meatballs. You can use yoghurt for a light ans healthier choice. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Enjoy your meal!

Elena G

Mousaka with Gruyere Cheese

I feel so relieved! My exams are over. So is my stress. I can continue writing here, without thinking that I have an exam tomorrow or I have to learn for one. So I add today the recipe I put some weeks ago in Romanian. This is the English recipe of mousaka, the Greek type . But this one comes with a twist: it has Gruyère cheese in it. I loved it the moment I put my eyes on it, as it has cheese and aubergines, one of my favorite vegetables. Plus, it is traditional to make with aubergines, not potatoes. I have made mousaka with potatoes some years ago just to see how it tasted, but I didn’t like it. My fave is this one. If you are lucky to have this book: Josceline Dimbley “Marvellous Meals with Mince” – 1982, than you can just skip this.

What I like about this recipe is that it has exotic spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, that add a special flavour and fragrance to the dish.

Mousaka with Gruyère Cheese  

Ingredients:

• 550-675 g (1 1/4 – 1 1/2 lb) aubergines (approx. 3)
• lemon juice
• 2 onions
• 25 g (1 oz) butter (80-82 unsalted butter, if you find)
• 450 g (1 lb) lamb mince (you can add half lamb and half beef mince if you like)
• 1 tsp (5 ml spoon) ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 6 tbsp water
• a good handful of parsley, chopped
• 200 g (8 oz) Gruyère cheese, sliced thinly (the original recipe states 100 g, but my experience has shown me that it is not enough, plus I love cheese, so there is never enough for me)
• salt and pepper

For the topping:

• 50 g (2 oz) butter
• 50 g (2 oz) plain flour
• 450 ml (3/4 pint) milk
• a little grated nutmeg
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp single cream
• salt and black pepper

Method:

• Peel the aubergines, slice into 1/4 – 1/2 inch (5 mm – 1cm) rounds and immediately smear with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Then rub all over with salt and leave in a colander in the sink for half an hour, to drain away the bitter juices. I can tell you that there won’t be much or no bitter juices.
• Peel and chop the onions. To do this I have discovered in London the excellent Alligator Onion Cutter. I hate cutting onion so I have purchased one there. I saw it in Selfridge and other stores. It is worth it having one, believe me. Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the onion over a gentle heat until softened. Add the minced lamb and fry over a rather higher heat, stirring and breaking up with a wooden spoon until it is separated and sealed. Stir in the ground cinnamon and  a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Then stir in the tomato purée and water and bubble until the water is absorbed. Turn of the heat and stir in the chopped parsley.
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil and empty the aubergine slices into it. Cover the pan and boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.
• In a 2 1/2 – 3 pint (1,4 – 1,7 litre) ovenproof dish (a glass one shows tha layers attractively) make layers of aubergine slices, mince mixture and Gruyère cheese, starting and ending with a layer of aubergine.
• To make the topping, melt the butter in a saucepan, remove from the heat and stir in the flour. Stir in the milk, gradually at first. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time and then bubble gently, still stirring, for about 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt and black pepper add a little grated nutmeg. What a lovely flavour!Remove from the heat.
• Whisk the egg yolks with the cream and gradually add the white sauce, stirring in thoroughly. If the sauce is al all lumpy, whisk until smooth and then pour on tp of the aubergine and meat layers.
• Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4/ 180°C, 350°F and bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes, until a rich golden brown on top.

Bon appetite!