Garlic Meatball Po’Boys

I made these up for a Super Bowl party years ago and they were a huge hit. I’ve done them up a few times since, and recently decided to do them up again, with pictures the whole way through. The process is very simple.

Throw all the ingredients in a bowl. You may need a good butcher to find ground veal, though. (The beer is just for me, although you will need one for the recipe).

Make sure to chop everything up rather fine – mine wasn’t quite fine enough, but it worked out OK for the finished product. Inside of each is a small garlic clove (or a half of a big one).

Quick dredge in flower (hang on to the leftover to make the roux later).

Brown them well. (One beer for the recipe, one for me.)

Browned the meatballs, made the roux (just keep stirring, just keep stirring, just keep stirring, stirring, stirring), and in go the onions.

Add the beer and water and simmer until it thickens.

After it thickens and you add the parsley it looks a bit like this.

The finished product. We do them up in normal rolls rather than a full French loaf. We also skip the mayo, just adding on a good spicy mustard. Insider tip – rip out a lot of the bread leaving just a little left (and the outer crust, of course), which will make eating them a lot easier. Serve with either the Abita Amber or, my preference, Turbo Dog.

Very easy to do up – probably about 20 minutes of prep work, and then the rest is simmering, stirring, and drinking beer. And boy do they make great leftovers.^[1]

The recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/garlic-meatball-poboys-recipe2/index.html

^[1] So much so that Karin asked me to double the recipe for next time just for the leftovers.

Chicken Cacciatore

One of the things I’d meant to do with this blog is post links to recipes I’ve had success with. Currently, the list of recipes I’ve posted stands at one. Granted, it’s a great recipe, but still, there are others that need to be posted.

For whatever reason, I’ve never posted the link to the recipe I use for chicken cacciatore. I’m not sure if I can call a recipe developed by someone else my “signature dish”, but if I can then this one is it. It’s super easy and delicious. It also pairs well with both red and white wines.

The couple of notes I would add:

• Make sure there’s enough liquid to cover the chicken. This may mean adding more wine and stock.
• I don’t bother with the wings; I only use legs and thighs.
• Go with about 2-3 pieces per person.
• Adjust the amount of crushed red pepper to your desired heat level.
• I always wind up with a good amount of fat floating on the top which I strain off. Trust me – it makes for a more flavorful dish without it.
• If you don’t like mushrooms, this dish will change your mind. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had people say they don’t like mushrooms and then devour every one on their plate.

The link: Emeril's Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Marsala

One of the big things that Karin and I have been doing more of is eating at home. With our schedules in the past, eating at home wasn't always easy. Now that we're striving for a more laid back pace of life we're trying to eat at home more often. Towards that end, we found a Chicken Marsala recipe that we had to share.

The recipe, of course, is from Emeril. It's very easy to make up, with very little prep besides dealing with the mushrooms. I'd recommend using crimini mushrooms as they're easy to prep - pop out the stems, and then slice. If you have a food processor, all the easier. We used fresh chicken tenders (not the frozen/battered kind), which eliminated the need to pound the chicken flat. If you don't have Emeril's seasoning, a good seasoned salt or just salt and pepper in the flour helps.

Enjoy!

(the recipe)