Supper idea- mortadella sandwiches

This is going to be a new part on F&R- supper ideas- something easy to make, perhaps an inspiration for you :)
Of course, tried out, and it's good! Don't forget to add butter!

Supper idea: Pork ribs with gravy and potato dumplings

Pork ribs is part of my childhood memories. My aunt would make these with potato dumplings, and we would all dig in. Ah, the stuff she made... Delicious :)

I haven't made ribs in a long, long time, so when an occasion finally popped up in the showing up of Magali and Kamil, it was decided- there were going to get ribs:)

Since I was already near tears that I have to do everything myself (one of those days when you either cry or laugh hystericaly from being constantly tired), I didn't make the dumplings (if I did, I would have to cook potatoes the day before), I bought some store made and they where really good- I get them once in a while just to have them for supper.

This seems to take forever to make, but finally it takes like 40 min, where you spend 20 somewhere else.
Just so you know :)


Type of dish: main
Cost: medium/low
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 2-4
Time: 40min
Prep time: 10 min

You'll need: cutting board, sharp small knife, a shallow dish, paper towels, a large frying pan/ cast iron skillet, spatula, tongs, serving plate

Ingredients:

• 0,25-1kg ribs ( 0,5kg is enough for 2 very hungry people)
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 stock cube, beef
• fresh herbs like thyme, parsley, a pinch of rosemary, minced
• S&P
• olive oil

How to:
Wash the ribs and pat them dry with paper towels. Cut into pieces with 1 bone in it. Season well, sprinkle with herbs, and pour over some olive oil. If possible- do this so it marinates a bit overnight or an hour or two.
Heat up the saucepan on high heat, add a bit of olive oil, and fry up 4-6 ribs at a time. FRy on both side until golden brown. Then set aside while frying the rest. When all are fried, add to the pan the onion, garlic, and wait until the onions become translucent. Scrape the bottom of the pan and  add the stock cube, and the ribs. Stir, and cover up, turn down the heat to medium low and leave to cook for 20-30min. This will make the meat very tender, and it will start coming off the ribs. When you are to serve, transfer once again the ribs to a serving plate, and add to the remaing sauce the flour, sprinkling it in the sauce, so you don't have to deal with lumps. Whisk for a while, the flour will thicken up the sauce. Either pour the sauce over the ribs or serve in a gravy boat.
De- li- ci- ous!
I swear, try this:)

Spaghetti polpettas! True italian meatballs

Now once upon a time you turned on theTV and saw a movie with two dogs eating spaghetti meatballs. Fast forward a few years, you go to Ikea and eat the meatballs. They're ok, but a bit tough.
Fast forward few days ago- you just HAD to make meatballs but make them delicate, creamy even, and full of flavour.
And so simple.
And the best part is- you can smuggle in veggies :)
This recipe is just how to make the polpettas-  if you want the recipe for the sauce, try this one . And cook some fettucine or spaghetti for the base- thin pasta goes well with the sauce.

To make it you don't have to be a rocket scientist- just mix, roll balls, cook and serve. Nothing more to that :)

Type of dish: main
Cost: cheap
Difficulty: easy
Serves: 4
Time: 30 min
Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time: 5-7 min

You'll need:
hand mixer with the chopping bowl end, a large saucepan with lid, laddle, medium mixing bowl, a large spoon, small plate, medium bowl, slotted spoon, cutting board, veggie peeler

Ingredients:

• 500 gr mixed ground meat- pork and beef
• 1 carrot
• 1 red chili
• 1 medium onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 handfull mushrooms
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
• olive oil
• 1 tsp vegeta
• 1 bunch  chives, chopped
• 1 pinch each: dried herbs: thyme, dill, parsley
•  pinch salt and pepper
• 1 bay leef
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• flour, any kind

Get your blender asembled (or mixer, magic bullet, whatever you call it), pack in mushrooms, onions, garlic, carrots and chili, and mix until everything is the size of large splinters. In a medium bowl, put in the ground meat, add the minced mixture, egg, breadcrumbs, vegeta, herbs, and chopped chives. Add salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Stir well together and heat up the saucepan with water. Add the stock cube and bay leaf and put the lid on. In the meantime, make the polpettas. Wet your hands ( it'll be easier to make the meatballs without the meat sticking constantly to your fingers), and form small balls, that are usually about 1 heaped tbsp of the meat mixture. Turn each meatball in flour on a plate, so it's covered in flour, and set aside on the cutting board. Repeat with all the meat, and when the water is boiling, add 6-8 polpettas to the pan, giving them time to cook and to float to the surface- this takes about 5-8 min ( including 3-4 min for the floating polpettas to cook). Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl. to cool down, or, if you are making them for dinner, straight into the tomato sauce. Repeat with all the meatballs and either serve, or prep for freezing. Great for a next day office meal to share with a buddy:)

Supper idea- italian plate

Another idea to take home. This delicious plate is a mixture of what you can find in your fridge.
So a bowl of grape tomatoes, some prosciutto crudo, some salami, avocado with S&P and a bit of lemon juice, 3 types of hard italian cheese, some mini mozarella di buffala with a drizzle of truffle infused olive oil, bread and butter. To freshen the palette, some grapes.

Supper Idea - Pad thai with shrimps

 




This is a delicious dish worth making when you really need some good food. I had a slight hangover, and when i do, i prefer spicy food to give me a boost of energy. Lately I've been also stressing out on the use of meat, preffering over it shrimps or tofu.
This was a little bit time consuming but so worth it:) Just prepare it in advance, then you just throw it together!
Ingredients:
For the sauce:

• 1 cup chicken broth or veg broth
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 4 tbsp brown sugar/ or palm sugar
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp fresh white pepper crushed

For the rest:

• Tofu cut in a small cubes and marinated in 1 tsbp soy sauce
• 5-8 shrimps, thawed and with removed tails, soaked in 1 tbsp soy sauce and sprinkled with chilli flakes
• 1 carrot julliened
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, crushed
• 1 chilli pepper sliced
• 1 small onion sliced
• green onions, white parts cut widely, green parts set aside
• 1 lime
• 1/2 pack of udon rice noodles
• Chilli flakes
• bean sprout
• vegetable oil

Prepare the sauce by putting everything together in a bowl, mix well and set aside.
Bring a pot of water to boil, put in the noodles to soak and turn off heat. Check on the package to see if the noodles take 3 min or more to cook completly- mine were 3 min, so i soaked them 1,5min then drained and sloshed in cold water.
Heat up a large frying pan, add oil to a hot pan, and fry the tofu, and set aside. Then add to the pan the chilli, minced garlic, ginger, onions and white nion parts to fry until the garlic and onions are golden in colour. Then add the shrimps, tofu, the noodles, the bean sprouts, and 1/3 of the sauce, while stirring to cook the noodles and shrimp. Every time the liquid evaporates, add more, stirring all the time. When the noodles are done, they should be a little bit sticky, if not slightly mushy, the shrimps shoulb be pink and golden. Turn off the heat, stirr in the green parts of the onion, squeeze in some lime juice and serve!
Delicous