Blogger issues and spicy baked meatballs

My blog is back! Albeit a little sketchy – with missing posts and some comments. Who would have believed that on the day I was to reveal my new blog design, blogger itself would crash!? So, for now, it is back to my old design until the new one is installed again.

Sigh. Gotta love technology.

My blog may have been down, but there has been lots of activity in the BBB kitchen recently. Starting with meatballs.



Yes meatballs.

Ok ok - so you will have noticed there have been quite a few meatball recipes on this blog recently - some tofu based, others lamb based and some even stuffed with mozzarella.

And this version was a trial run of another of the dishes we will be serving at my upcoming birthday party.

So meatballs it is. Again. I hope you can bear with me ;)

By the way, has anyone guessed the theme of my party yet??? Perhaps it will become more apparent as we trial run more dishes over the next week?

Starting with the previous lamb meatball recipe as a base, I played around with the ingredients and spices a little, to come up with a slightly different flavour combination.



The big change that I made was using beef mince, in place of lamb, as my dad doesn't like lamb but I knew he would love to try some meatballs at the party.



While for the party I will be serving the meatballs just in their spicy tomato sauce, last night after simmering, I piled the meatballs into a dish.



Topped them with a sprinkle of cheese,



And baked them in the oven for 5 minutes, until the cheese had melted.



And the finishing touch?



A generous sprinkle of fresh parsley.



And thus these spicy baked meatballs came to be.



I am pleased to report that like their lamb counterparts, the beef meatballs were moist, packed with flavour, and had a nice hit of spice from the chilli.



And, when combined with the rich tomato sauce, and served on a bed of spinach…



it was quite the comfort meal indeed.



Spicy Baked Meatballs (serves 4)   
 
For the meatballs

• 650g minced beef
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• Handful fresh coriander

For the sauce

• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tbs cumin seeds
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbs smoked paprika
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• Grated cheese and fresh coriander to serve

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. To make the meatballs: place all ingredients in a food processor, and process until mostly smooth and the mixture comes together. (You may need to do this in stages, scraping down the sides of the bowl as required). Roll the mixture into 16 – 18 balls, place on a plate and cover will cling wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. To make the sauce: heat oil in a large frypan, then add the cumin seeds, and toast until they start to pop (around 30 seconds). Add the onion and other spices, stirring to combine. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and water, and simmer slowly for 5 minutes.
4. Place the prepared meatballs into the sauce, and cover with a lid (or foil). Slowly simmer for 30 to 40 minutes (or until cooked), turning halfway through.
5. Pour the meatballs and sauce into a medium casseroled dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese, then bake in the preheated oven for 5 minute or until the cheese has melted. Sprinkle with coriander and serve.

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Day 22 - MOVE it, TONE it, DRINK it

• MOVE it – Body Pump (1hr)
• TONE it – Push ups 40
• DRINK it – 1.8L

Day 23 - MOVE it, TONE it, DRINK it

• MOVE it – RPM / Spin (1hr)
• TONE it – Sit ups 100
• DRINK it – 2L

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What about you? Are you on Blogger? Did you lose any posts ??