Porcupine Balls

Casseroles flexible dishes requiring less preparation needed making them the ideal dish for the busy home cook.    Most casserole recipes do not have to be followed exactly.  Slight changes in the amount of the main ingredients will have little effect on the finished casserole.  An appealing aspect of casseroles is they only take a few minutes to put together.  While they are baking your time is freed up to do other things.    Adding to the convenience of casseroles is most of them can be frozen for later use.  I often make two casseroles at a time, popping one into the oven for that night's dinner and the other into the freezer for another night. They are a good way to use up those little bits of leftovers and casserole leftovers reheat well too.

When it comes to casseroles ground beef reigns supreme.  Ground beef is an economical meat choice that lends its well to the use of extenders.  Ground beef can also be shaped into meatballs, patties and loaves adding to the versatility of this inexpensive meat.  For best results, grind lean beef at home or have it ground for you as part of your beef on the hoof or bulk beef purchase.  It is possible to substitute ground pork, turkey, chicken or venison for ground beef in most casserole recipes.

Porcupine balls are tasty meatballs that get their name from the cooked rice sticking out from the surface.  Grated carrot or zucchini can be added to the meat mixture if desired.  They can be baked, cooked in a crockpot or covered frypan.  Once cooked they do freeze well for later use. 

Porcupine Balls

1 lb lean ground beef
½ c uncooked long grain rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp pepper
¾ tsp Italian seasoning
2 c (500 ml) jar home canned tomato soup*

Finely chop the onion.  Mix all ingredients except the soup together.  Form the meat mixture into walnut sized meatballs either by hand or using a meatball former.  Place meatballs in a single layer in a baking pan.  Pour the tomato soup over the meatballs.  Cover and bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for 45 minutes.  Remove cover.  Bake an additional 15 minutes.
Yield: 24 meatballs

* If using commercially canned 10 oz soup add ¾ c of water to the soup before pouring over the meatballs.

The meal pictured consisted of the porcupine balls, baked potatoes and home canned wax beans.  I put two large potatoes in the oven to bake along with the porcupine balls.  This meal would definitely fit into the comfort meal category because it just has that wonderful taste of homemade.  The meatballs are a sure kid pleaser!

My husband said the meatballs tasted a lot like the filling in cabbage rolls and they did.  I found the meatballs a little on the bland side so will be increasing the seasonings the next time I make them.  I will also use home canned roasted tomato soup for a flavour boost.

How to Cut a Mango (video)

On Sunday I wrote about the chicken and mango chutney dinner I made.  One of our local grocery stores has cases of mangos on sale for $3.99.  Each case contains 14 mangos.  My husband brought home one case for me.  This case will be used for fresh eating and to make mango chutney and mango jam.  At this price I will be getting a second case before the end of the sale.

Mangos have a large pit that can present a bit of a problem if you don't know how to cut a mango.  Improperly trying to cut a mango ends up in a mushy mess but properly cutting you end up with slices, dices or chunk rather quickly.  Rather than trying to explain how to cut a mango, I found this good video that demonstrates how to cut a mango by Chef Allen Susser.  Notice that Chef Allen holds the unpeeled mango pieces in the palm of his hand to do the slicing and dicing technique.    If you want chunks rather than dices space the cuts further apart when doing the dice cut.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Using Herbs in the Kitchen

A recent comment regarding drying oregano prompted this week's Frugal Kitchens 101 post.  Herbs can be used fresh, dried, frozen or teas.  They are a wonderful way to add a lot of flavour to foods without adding salt.  Although some dishes may still require a little salt when using herbs, the amount of salt added can be greatly reduced.  Herbs can be used to add high and low notes to a dish.  For example when cooking lemon chicken adding lemon balm tea with add a bit of higher lemon note.  Adding lemon balm to chicken stock gives a lemon note to the rice cooked in the stock.  Both oils and vinegars can be infused with herbs to add flavour to the base notes of vinaigrettes, sauces, and dressings.  Herbs can be the main ingredient in a dish (eg. basil pesto) or they can serve as the garnish on plate (eg. parsley).  Aside of the flavour and visual appeal of herbs, many fresh herbs are beneficial in terms of health.  Parsley helps to freshen your breath while mints help setting the tummy after a heavy meal.  On that note of the versatility of culinary herbs in the kitchen how does one go about cooking more with herbs?

• Chances are very good if you are like most home cooks you will have a few bottles of dry herbs floating around.  They likely are stored in a open rack by the stove, lined up on the back of the stove or in a cabinet over/by the stove.  There is a very good chance these herbs are well over a year old.  Throw these herbs out!  Why?  Both heat and light destroy the essential oils in herbs so you aren't getting flavour, you are getting filler.  If you are serious about learning to cook with herbs, empty those bottles, clean them then refill with quality herbs.  Do not replace with the little bottles of herbs in the grocery stores that you have no way of knowing how old they are and have been exposed to light.  Buy dried herbs from a bulk food store where you can buy the amount you need or dry home grown herbs.  Buy herb plants from a nursery or start from seed.  Some fresh herbs can be bought in the produce section of the grocery store.
• The basic herbs I recommend starting with are parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and marjoram.  These herbs can be used by themselves or in combination to form herb blends (eg. Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning).  All of these herbs grow nicely on sunny window sills.   If growing herbs indoors I also recommend adding chives and members of the mint family (eg. spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm) to your collection.  These herbs are extremely easy to grow.  Until you get used to growing indoor herbs stick with the basic varieties as many like basil are available in several varieties but the basic culinary variety used is sweet basil.
• I prefer using fresh to dried herbs and for some dishes like pesto fresh basil is needed.  Essential oils in dried herbs are more concentrated so to substitute dried herbs for fresh, less is needed.  The conversion for substituting is 1 tbsp fresh herb = 1 tsp dried herb.
• Start small.  Learning to cook with herbs is quite easy but my recommendation is to keep it simple and easy.  Start with something simple like a homemade vegetable dip using either fresh or dried herb(s).  Use half the herb(s) the recipe calls for.  Taste.  If the dip has a strong enough flavour for you then leave as is and note the change beside the recipe ingredient list.  If the dip is not flavourful enough add a little more until you get the flavour you want.  Remember it is always easy to add more herbs but you can't take out excess so always add less.
• Herbs should not overpower the dish.  Certain herbs pair with certain meats or fish better than others.  For example, rosemary pairs nicely with salmon and beef but is a bit overpowering for whitefish.  Use a lighter herb such as lemon thyme with whitefish.  Parsley goes with just about everything to the point is over used as a garnish.  Cooking method can affect the flavour of the herb as well.  In particular sage tends to get stronger and bitter when added to anything to be canned.  Cooking times can affect flavour as well so tender herbs (eg. parsley, basil) should be added during the last few minutes of cooking to retain best flavour and colour.  Do a bit of reading on the herbs you want to use.
• Have fun!  Cooking is all about having fun in the kitchen.  Using herbs is just one more way to extend the repetoir of meals you can make.  Simply adding a sprinkling of fresh chives to a baked potato or chopped parsley on roasted potatoes can make them feel special even though all you really did was add herbs. 

Chicken with Mango Chutney

Yesterday I wrote about an easy chicken and gravy with rice dinner using boneless, skinless chicken breasts and Thai sweet rice.  This sticky rice is often paired with mango slices then surrounded by coconut milk as a desert.  I decided to take a savory spin on the sweet rice and mango combination by using mango chutney to create an entrée.

Mango chutney has a deep, warm, spicy flavour with slightly sweet high notes.  It has a chunky texture similar to thick salsa.  It really is delightful!  Mango chutney pairs wonderfully with chicken adding a lot of flavour. 

Pictured is the easy to make chicken with mango chutney.  I cooked the Thai sweet rice in chicken stock while the chicken was cooking.  I seared the chicken on both sides then covered the pan and allowed the chicken to continue cooking on reduced heat until the juices were no longer pink.  This kept the chicken nice and moist.  To serve I placed the chicken on a bed of sweet rice and topped with mango chutney.  It was an easy, low fat yet wonderfully flavoured meal.