For the Carnivores

Fried Soft-Shell Crabs   (how I do it)

I like chicken piccatta. Capers, lemon, parmesan, what’s not to like?  It’s not your easy after-a-long-day-at-the-office recipe, but it’s worth the tiny bit of extra time and trouble. Here is a recipe for chicken piccata meatloaf from allrecipes.com! Very faithful and delish.  Or make the chicken breast version. You may not have capers and shallots, but get them. They make all the difference.

Glaze

I am making quick spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. Here’s my recipe for 4 servings:

• Cook the spaghetti until it is al dente, or however you like it. Rinse it and set it aside.
• Brown 1 pound of ground meat, beef, turkey, chicken, Italian sausage, or some combination in a saucepan. (My personal favorite is 1/3 turkey, 1/3 beef, 1/3 Italian sausage) Break up into small pieces. Use a fork or a potato masher if you like.
• Prep some veggies:
  • 1 rib of celery, chopped finely
  • 1/4 of a small onion, yellow or white, chopped finely
  • 1/2 of a small bell pepper, chopped finely
  • 1 carrot, peeled and chopped very finely
• Add the celery, onion, bell pepper, and carrot to the meat. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the onion is wilted.
• Take one jar of your favorite marinara sauce. (Mine is Rao’s.) Add sauce to the pot with the cooked meat.
•  Add to the sauce and meat:
  • 1/2 cup vodka
  • 1 small can of fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 2 good squirts of garlic paste or roasted garlic paste, about 2 – 3 Tbs
  • a big pinch of dried Mexican oregano
• Put the garlic bread in the oven at about 350F. Follow the package directions, except for the temperature.
• Stir gently now and then while cooking the meat sauce on low heat. Let it simmer for maybe 20 minutes while you sit down and take a breath. If it is making a mess on the stove, turn the heat down and put a lid on the pot, canted slightly to let some of the steam escape.
• Get someone to set the table while you check the bread and raise the temperature to 400F if you want to eat soon.
• Put the drained spaghetti in a bowl, pour the sauce over it, put the cheese on the table,  take the bread out of the oven, and call everyone to dinner.

Ingredients

• 3 slices white bread, crusts removed, cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/2 large yellow or white onion, grated using the large holes of a box grater
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1/4 cup sour cream (use full-fat or the sauce may curdle)
• 2 tablespoons lingonberry, red currant, raspberry, or cranberry jelly, to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Place the cubed bread in a large bowl and mix with the milk. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the bread has soaked up all the milk, shred with the tines of a fork or by hand. 
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan on medium-high heat. Stir in the grated onion and cook until translucent and softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for a minute.
3. Stir the cooled onions into the milk bread mixture. Add the egg, ground beef and pork, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Use your (clean) hands to mix everything together until well combined. (If you have extra time, chilling the mixture for 20 or so minutes will make it easier to roll out the meatballs.) 
4. Use your hands to form the mixture into meatballs about 1 1/4-inch to 1 1/2-inch wide and place them on a plate or sheet pan. This recipe should make about 40 meatballs. Note that the meatballs will be a bit on the wet side.
5. Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat. When the butter is melted and foamy, start adding some meatballs to the pan.
   Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, slowly brown the meatballs on all sides. Use a wooden spoon or tongs to turn them. Handle the meatballs gently so they do not break apart as you turn them. Once the meatballs have browned on all sides and are just cooked through, remove them from the pan to a bowl. You’ll warm the meatballs in the sauce later. Once you have removed the meatballs from the pan, wipe out the butter and blackened bits with a paper towel. We’ll want to start with fresh butter so we don’t pick up any burnt bits from the pan. This way, we will be able to more accurately gauge the amount of fat in the pan for making the meatball sauce in the next step.
6. Add 3 tablespoons of fresh butter to the pan. Heat the butter in the pan on medium heat until it melts and starts to bubble. Slowly whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour. Stir until smooth. Continue to stir, allowing the flour mixture to cook for several minutes, until the roux is the color of coffee with cream.
7. When the roux has cooked to a lovely shade of light brown, slowly add the stock, stirring as you do. The stock will sputter at first, and the roux may seize up, but keep adding the stock slowly and keep stirring. Eventually, the sauce will loosen and become silky.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sour cream. If you are including jelly, either stir it in now or serve it on the side. Taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper to taste. (I use about 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.) 
9. Return the meatballs to the pan with the sauce and cook on low heat to warm them through for a few minutes.  Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Or serve individual Swedish meatballs dipped in gravy as an appetizer.