Oven Baked Beef Ribs with Plum Sauce Glaze

BBQ! Yeah, I love the food that comes out from our BBQ kettle very very much... the meat is always tasty and has that special smoky aroma. However...  I find it very troublesome when we are having it on weekdays. We only have the BBQ kettle and it takes very long to prepare the heat beads for cooking. Using an oven is just a short cut to it, just without the special aroma.

A couple days ago, I cooked this beef ribs and combine them with some ready made sauce. The end result was just finger licking tasty! My husband and I had them with some sliced cucumber as a salad... I know I was just being lazy :) Not surprisingly, my little man  loves this dish too minus the cucumber but he had it with some fresh tomatoes.

The beauty of this dish is we don't need to be constantly in front of the stove. We can just leave it to work itself and we can do other things... Anyway, let's jump to the recipe. Who knows you'll get some inspirations from it.

10 pieces of beef ribs -> one day ahead, simmer for 2 hours with onion, garlic, peppercorn, star anise and nutmeg plus some sprinkle of salt

Cheat glazing:
1 part of Chinese style plum sauce
1 part of BBQ sauce

Marinade the cooked beef ribs and store them in the fridge for the next day.

The next day, turn on the oven and set to 180deg C. Then, prepare the baking tray by lining an aluminium foil then topped with baking paper. Put the cold ribs on the tray and place the tray in the oven. I put the bone side at the bottom.

Baste the ribs with the sauce after 10 minutes in the oven. Return to the oven. Let it further cook for another 20 minutes. Baste again. Turn the tray to the other side of the oven. I mean the side that was right inside, now is at the door side. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.

The left over can be cut into cubes, reheated on the pan. Put a bit more BBQ sauce and mixed with some vegetables. And there you go, it becomes fresh delicious salad :) Oh... and the broth can be used to make Pho in a hurry too. Just add some chicken stock powder, salt, sugar, ground pepper and fish sauce.

Soto Betawi

Description:
I cooked this soto by using the cooking method that is usually used to cook Italian style osso bucco. The recipe is based on several recipes that I found on the internet and modify it to suit my taste.

This dish is served at MFM #2 - June 2009 edition hosted by Pepy


Ingredients:
3 osso bucco
plain flour for dusting
0.25 cup vegetable oil


Spices:
2 lemongrass, cut into 3 and bruised
9 cloves
6 kaffir lime leaves
2 Indonesian bay leaves

Ground spices:
1/4 cup oil
150g Spanish onion
7 garlic
4 candlenut
1/2 Tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cm ginger

Hot water just enough to cover the meat for cooking the meat

Last seasonings:
1 tsp salt or to taste
0.5 tsp sugar or to taste
0.5 cup coconut milk powder
0.5 cup FCMP
1 cup water

Condiments:
Fried potato discs
Tomato
Chilli sauce
Bitter bean crakers



Directions:
Dust lightly osso bucco with plain flour. Then, heat the oil on a frying pan and pan fry the osso bucco until the surface is golden yellow. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C.

Use a dutch oven (heat proof pot and lid), heat the pot on the stove and saute the ground spices until fragrant. Add the meat, whole spices and top up with hot water until just cover the meat. Cover the pot and put in the oven. Cook for 1.5 hours or until meat is tender.

Cool the meat to room temperature. Then, keep it in the fridge until the fat solidify. Scrape the fat from the surface of the soup. If the dish is not going to be consumed on that day. Keep the osso bucco and the broth in a container and keep them in the freezer.

Drain the osso bucco. Heat up some oil on medium heat and pan fry until golden brown (Note: the oil will splatter). Then, cut the meat into cubes. Put the meat cubes back to the soup. Add the last seasoning mix. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve hot with the condiments and steam rice.

Meat Balls in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:
Meat Balls
500 g mince beef
500 g mince pork
1 egg

0.25 cup FCMP
2 Tbsp plain flour
1 Tbsp sweet paprika powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp white pepper
0.125 tsp ground allspice

vegetable oil for frying


Tomato Sauce
1 bottle (680 g) passata di pomodoro (tomato puree), Divella
1 bottle (500 g) oven roasted garlic & onion pasta sauce, Five Brothers Bertolli
1 tub (140 g) tomato paste, Leggo's
400 g brown onion, peeled and chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp garlic, chopped coarsely
1 Tbsp oregano flakes
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
0.5 Tbsp basil flakes

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil



Directions:
Tomato Sauce
Saute onion and garlic in a big cooking pot on medium heat until onion is translucent. Add other ingredients and bring it to simmer. Use a stab blender, partly puree the tomato sauce.


Meat Balls
Mix all seasonings in a big mixing bowl. Add meat and egg then mix well. Take about 50 g (about the size of a golf ball) of meat mixture and shape to a ball.

After finishing making the meat balls, make the tomato sauce.

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil on a pan on medium high heat and brown the meat balls in three batches. Once the meat balls are brown, transfer the balls to the tomato sauce and let it cook in simmering tomato sauce. Continue browning the rest of the meat balls.

Cook until meat balls are done.

Tongseng Kambing (Lamb with Javanese Style Curry, Tomato and Cabbage)

Description:
The curry recipe is adapted from gule recipe in Kisah & Kumpulan Resep Puteri Jepara by Suryatini Ganie. As usual, I adjusted the ingredients according to the stock in my pantry.



Ingredients:
600 g lamb strap, cut into 3 cm strips

Seasoning paste:
3 Tbsp oil
1 tsp beef style stock powder, Massel
1.5 large red onion, finely cut
3 Tbsp garlic, finely cut
1.5 Tbsp tamarind water from flesh of 2 eyes of tamarid soaked in hot water
1.5 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp galangal powder
1 Tbsp ginger powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp hot chilli powder
0.5 tsp nutmeg powder
1 Tbsp palm sugar
2 candlenuts
1 pack coconute milk powder, Ema

2 Tbsp fine dessicated coconut

3 cloves
1 lemongrass, cut into 3 and bruised
10 lime leaves
3 cm cinnamon

500 mL water

6 Tbsp sweet soy sauce, Bango
2 Tbsp lime juice

250 g cabbage, cut into 2x1 cm strips
1 tomato, cut into big cubes
fried shallot for garnish



Directions:
Blend the ingredients for the spice paste in a food blender.

Pan fry the lamb strips on an oiled frying pan on high heat until the colour turn golden brown.

Dry fry in a medium size pot the dessicated coconut until golden yellow. Add seasoning paste and saute until fragrant. Add water, clove, lemongrass, lime leaves and cinnamon. Bring the broth to boil. Add lamb and the remaining ingredients. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Sausage Rolls

Description:
This was one of my ways to use up the puff pastry that I made for KBB challenge.

Ingredients:
1 recipe puff pastry

400 g mince beef
400 g mince pork butt

2 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 medium onion, small dice and sauteed
6 cloves garlic, grated
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 extra large egg

Grind together:
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp chicken stock powder, Massel
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp white pepper powder
2 tsp sweet paprika powder
1 tsp dried basil flakes
1 tsp dried tarragon
0.5 tsp fennel seeds
0.5 tsp dried oregano
0.25 tsp nutmeg powder
0.25 tsp all spice powder

1 egg, lightly beaten (optional for glazing)



Directions:
Grind spices to powder.

Add the spices, mashed potatoes, garlic and onion to the meat mixture. Mix them in food processor until the meat is very fine. If the food processor is not big enough, blend them in batches. Add grated carrot and blend them.

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Line a baking tray with a baking paper.

Cut puff pastry into big strips (about 15*40 cm). Put some of the meat mixture onto the middle part of the puff pastry strip. (resebling a log). Fold both ends to the top of the meat and put the seal at the bottom. Cut the puff pastry log into 4 with a sharp knife.

Bake at 180 deg C for 30 minutes or until the top is golden colour. If the bottom part is getting dark, switch the heat to grill. Ensure the rack is not too close to the grill.


Cook's Note:
- I usually take a bit of the meat mixture and pan fry it to find out whether the taste is ok. When the meat filling is in the puff pastry, it will be too late to fix it.

Italian-American Meatballs

Description:
Here is another version of meatballs. I adapted the recipe from Lidia's Italian American Kitchen called Spaghetti and Meatballs (Spaghetti con Polpette di Carne). This yields quite a lot for two of us eventhough I have prepared some for the next day lunch. Serve the dish with your favourite tomato sauce and pasta. Yumm...

The combo of bread crumb and water make the meatballs moist and tender.



Ingredients:
600 g lean mince beef
1 cup dry bread crumb
0.3 cup grated parmigiano regiano cheese
0.25 cup full cream milk powder
0.25 cup freshly chopped flat parsley
0.6 cup water
2 tsp mince garlic, sauteed
1 tsp salt
0.25 tsp white pepper powder
1 large egg

0.25 cup all purpose flour, for dusting

0.25 cup vegetable oil, for browning the meat balls



Directions:
Heat up the tomato sauce in a medium size pot on low heat.

Put all ingredients for the meat balls in a mixing bowl. Blend until well combined but don't overmix. Shape the meat mixture into 3 cm balls.

Dredge the mealballs in the flour lightly and evenly coated. Put aside and finish off the rest of the mixture.

Heat up some oil on a skillet. Put as many meatballs into the skillet but not overcrowding. Fry and turn as necessary until light golden brown. Prevent them from overbrowning. Adjust the heat.

Once done, put the meatballs in the tomato sauce. Let the tomato sauce gently simmer and cook the meat balls. Continue frying with the remaining of the meatballs.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Description:
After trying two sauce recipes which were from Australian Women's Weekly, Floyd's China and Kylie Kwong's Simple Chinese Cooking with disappointment. All sauces are very sour and just too sour for me. The vinegar left the abbrasive sensation on the throat.

At the end, I made my own sauce that is simple and suit my tastebuds. It sweet and sour and not the other way round. I adapted the marinade and batter from Kylie's recipe. And... I'm pleased with the result.

The photo is not artistic at all and the photo was taken the next day with a pocket camera with the flash on. *promise... will take a better photo next time. Yang penting kagak nyolong foto orang lain* :-p



Ingredients:
600 g pork neck, cut into bite size

Marinade overnight in the fridge with:
1.5 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp soy sauce, Kikoman
2 egg yolks
2 tsp oil

cooking oil for deep frying


Before frying, add to the pork mixture
0.25 cup plain flour
0.25 cup corn starch
0.5 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp water


Sauce:
1 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped into 8 segments
0.5 cup tomato sauce (ketchup), Master Foods
1.5 cups water
2.5 Tbsp white vinegar, Home Brand
2 Tbsp caster sugar

2 Tbsp corn starch + 0.5 cup water
0.5 cup tinned diced pineapple



Directions:
Battered pork pieces:

Marinade pork pieces overnight in the fridge.

Add the coatings to the pork mixture. Blend till each piece is coated with flour.

Fry into batches in hot oil for 1-2 minutes or until light yellow. Drain and put aside then continue with the remaining batches. Add fresh oil if the oil is too low or strain the oil if the oil has too much crumb.

Fry the fried pork pieces in batches for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain and put on the paper towel.


Sauce:

Saute the onion in oil until fragrant. Add tomato sauce, water, vinegar and sugar. Bring them to boil.

Add corn starch slurry and mix. Let it boil until the sauce thickens. Add pineapple pieces.


Cook's note:
- The pork pieces can be replaced by other meat such as chicken or fish.
- When the fried meat is reheated in the microwave, it still has some crunch. Of course, when it is not overcooked in the microwave.


Cook's Note:
- I find that tapioca starch is more gluey than the corn starch when the sauce is cold.

WTSIM Indonesian: Tinoransak (Spicy Pork Stew)

Description:
Indonesian food is so much more than beef rendang, satay, fried noodle or fried rice. Each province has its own specialty and the taste can be very much different from the other area. From sweet to savoury and hot. From plain to very much spiced up. Not mentioning that each household may have their own way of cooking the same dish. Some of the Indonesian foods are also influenced by other ethnic groups such as Indian, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch due to the trading and the colonialization era with them.

When I saw Mbak Arfi's post about this event, I thought it would be a good time to try a new recipe that I would like to try since a few months ago. The dish is called Tinoransak which means pork cooked in spices. The dish is from Manado in North Sulawesi. The dish may not look appetizing because of the green chillies, but... you have to taste it! It is very mourish... mouth watering dish.

When I asked my fellow blogging friends, there are so many variations of this dish. Some people may use lemon basil leaves and some may use herbs that I have not even seen them in my life. It's just those herbs only available in that area and not commonly used in the other provinces. The dishes from this region are dominated by tons of chilli, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, lemon basil and screw pine leaves besides the basic shallot and garlic.

I adapted the recipe from Seri Masak Femina Primarasa: A la Resto Manado. I didn't crush the spices with mortar and pastle, but I only sliced the spices as the fragrant will still be amalgamated to the dish. I also adjusted the chillies so that it does not burn me inside out!

This post is also available in http://14byreginab.blogspot.com/2008/09/wtsim-indonesian-tinoransak-spicy.html.




Ingredients:
600 g pork neck, cut into 2 big chunks
750 mL water

250 g (2 medium) Spanish onion, peeled, halved then quartered and sliced coarsely
2 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
5 big green chilli, sliced lengthwise, deseeded and sliced
4 cm ginger, peeled and finely grated
0.5 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
12 kaffir lime leaves
3 lemongrass, white part only and bruised
3 Tbsp canola oil


Directions:
Simmer pork in water on low heat for 15 minutes in a small pot. Meanwhile, prepare the spices.

Turn of the fire and take out the meat from the water. Cut the meat into pieces, about 1.5x2x3 cm.

Heat up oil on a saucepan and saute the spices until fragrant and tender. Add the meat to the seasoning. Then, add half of the simmering water or just enough to cover the meat. Cook until the stock is reduced to quarter or meat is tender.


Cook's Note:
- Cooking time depends on the cut of meat. If using tender lean meat, do not cook too long. Also, do not add to much simmering water, otherwise, it will be soup when the meat is tender. The dish should have a little bit of gravy by end of cooking.
- Bottled lemongrass is very much milder in comparison to the fresh lemongrass. I think it was just a waste to use the bottled lemongrass since the fragrant is not there at all. I still keep the green part of the lemon grass as it's better than the bottle lemongrass to flavour the dish. I keep the lemongrass in the freezer as it keeps longer.
- I used Spanish onion to replace shallots due to the high cost of shallots.
- The dish can be made with other meat such as beef, lamb, chicken or fish.

Grilled Pork with Sweet Soy Sauce and Corriander (Babi Panggang ala Sate Manis)

Description:
I got the recipe from Ci Ine's blog (Sate Manis) but I made it as strips instead of satay style. Easier to prepare :D

Btw, aku udah nyoba beberapa resepnya ci Ine dan sesuai dengan seleraku :D

No more sample left. Photo will be attached next time when I make this dish again :D



Ingredients:
500 g pork neck, cut into strips about 3-4 cm wide, 2-3 cm thick

Marinade seasoning:
5 Tbsp mince Spanish onion (about 1 medium onion)
3 tsp mince garlic (3 cloves)
2 Tbsp corriander powder
1 tsp salt
2 slices galangal or 1 tsp galangal powder

50 mL tamarind water (1 tsp tamarind in 50 mL hot water)
75 g brown sugar (about a packed 0.25 cup)

2 Tbsp oil, for sauteing the seasoning

Add to the reserved marinade before grilling and use for basting:
2 Tbsp caster sugar
6 Tbsp sweet soy sauce

Lime, cut into wedges



Directions:
Saute the seanoning until fragrant (not browning). Add tamarind water and sugar, stir and heat it up until sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat and add pork strips. Marinade overnight in the fridge or at least for 30 minutes.

Turn on the grill. Put the meat on the grill rack on top of the baking tray. Don't forget to line the baking tray with aluminium foil for easy cleaning.

Add the remaining ingredients to the reserved marinade. Baste the meat 2-3 times. Grill until done about 15-20 minutes and turn the meat after every basting.

*Don't use the basting sauce for glazing the meat when the meat is done.*

Slice the strips into pieces. Sprinkle the meat with lime juice.

Char Siu (Chinese Style Barbecue Pork)

Description:
Just moving an old recipe from my blog section.

Char Siu Pork is one of my favorite foods. I remember that my nanny used to buy some for me at the market nearby the house when I was a little girl. Those small strips of red pork meat with sweet and savoury taste.
In Australia, however, I find the pork sometimes having quite a strong smell. Kind of the piggy's body odour. So... when I get it here, I have to be selective where I get it from. The char siu from Sunny's in Carnegie is nice. My husband said the taste was always the same, nice and it is his favorite.

I also had a nice experience having char siu chicken in KL, Malaysia a long time ago. I bought it at a halal food court in a shopping mall. I cannot remember the name of the mall but it is opposite Sungei Wang mall. At first, I ordered for char siu pork to the sale assistant because I did not know that it was a halal food court. He said that he only had chicken there. I was quite sceptical about the taste at first but I was totally wrong. The chicken pieces were very delicious and moist.

Anyway, I am trying here to make my own using pork shoulder. I combined Ci Stella's recipe at http://cikciks.multiply.com/recipes/item/18 (TFS :)) and the recipe from Women's Weekly Chinese Cooking book. For those who do not consume pork, you can use chicken thigh and you may want to replace the wine with apple juice. Here are the ingredients that I put in my version of Char Siu Pork with a kick.



Ingredients:
1 kg pork shoulder, trim the skin and the excess fat or use chicken thigh fillet

2 Tbsp Shao Xing wine
2 Tbsp honey
1.5 Tbsp light soy sauce, Kikoman
1 Tbsp hoisin sauce or charsiu sauce, Lee Kum Kee
0.5 Tbsp fermented soy bean paste, Korean DS brand (tauco)
3 tsp mince garlic
1 tsp sesame oil

1.5 Tbsp caster sugar
3/4 Tbsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder
0.5 tsp white pepper
0.25 tsp cayenne pepper (omit if you don't like chilli)

1/3 tsp red food colouring, Queen Pillar Red Box (Put 2-3 drops if you don't want it too red), optional

Glaze:
Honey


Sauce:
Hoisin sauce : Choy Sun Sauce (Oyster Sauce) : Soy Sauce = 2 : 2 : 1
Add a bit of water to slightly thin the sauce



Directions:
1. Slice pork shoulder into strips about 3-4 cm width
2. Mix all seasonings in a bowl until well combined
3. Put the meat in a container, coat the pork meat and marinade for 30 minutes in the fridge
4. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C
5. Take the meat out of the fridge and leave it to room temperature, about 30 minutes
6. Put the meat on the meat rack. Reserve the marinade for basting
7. Roast the meat until done about 30 minutes. Baste the meat with the reserved seasoning every 10 minutes and turn the meat.
*However, do not baste with the reserved marinade once the meat is not to be returned to the oven and cooked.*

8. Glaze with honey and grill for another 5-10 minutes each side.

Regina's Express Rendang... shorter in time, lower in fat

Description:
Starting from the my disappointment when I made rendang the other day. The meat was tough eventhough it has taken ages to cook that meat. So... I made another rendang today and using mostly dried and bottled spices, with tender pork fillet. This recipe was usingMbak Esther's rendang recipe as the basis.

This rendang is perfect for those who cannot find fresh spices due to demographic issue and want the low fat version of it. It's much lighter to carry dried spices when you go back from overseas or shopping somewhere far from your home. Who wants to pay extra for your luggage to carry water? ;-p

However, just don't compare it straight to the original version as it is using only minimum amount of coconut milk and is not cooked for a very long period. Another point is that this quicky method keeps most of the vitamins in the meat. Nevertheless, it's a pretty good substitute as the premixed seasoning.



Ingredients:
800 g lean(er) meat fillet (for quick cooking, not stewing meat), cut into medium size chuncks, chicken thigh fillet or for vegetarian version use such as tofu, egg, eggplant, potato.

0.5 cup water

Basic spice:
3 Tbsp canola oil
6 dried kaffir lime leaves

Blend these spices into paste:
6 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
0.25 cup water

250 g Spanish onion, chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp lemongrass, drained, Continental Essential

4 Tbsp coconut milk powder, Rasaku
3 Tbsp almond meal
1.5 Tbsp coriander powder
1.5 Tbsp galangal powder
1 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tbsp sweet paprika powder, optional
2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp hot chilli powder (put more if you can bear the heat)



Directions:
Use a food blender to make the puree spice. Put garlic and water in the blender, blend until quite fine. Add Spanish onion and lemon grass, blitz until fine. Add the remaining ingredients, blend until well mixed.

Put oil on the deep frying pan and saute the spices until thick and fragrant. Add meat, lime leaves and cook until change colour. Add water and cook until meat is done.

Fish out the meat from the spices, put on a plate and leave as much spices in the pan. Put back the juices in the plate to the pan. Continue cooking the spices on very low heat until darker in colour, fragrant and very thick (to develop that unique rendang flavour).

Meanwhile... wash your dishes, clean the kitchen or do something else. Don't forget to stir the spice occassionally.

Once the spice mix is done, put back the meat and mix well. Serve with hot steamed rice.

Rendang

Description:
I used the recipe that was given by Mbak Esther and a reference from Mbak Tika Dettmer. I also made slight changes with the ingredients. Just slightly....

Cook with the traditional method if you are not rushing. I'm not sure why it took ages to cook this meat. I might get an old cow or overwork cow. Despite the long cooking time, the taste of the gravy is awesome!!! Finally, I cooked a delicious rendang.

I think the other way to cut down the time is to cook the meat in pressure cooker or use tender meat. Cook the spices separately, use coconut milk powder and just add enough water to blend the spice to the meat.

I used the US measuring spoons.

Anyway.. no photo for this post. The dish has gone to the rubbish bin since it was too hard to chew.



Ingredients:
1.5 kg beef for stew, cut into big chunks

1 L coconut milk, Kara santan kelapa murni
3 stalks lemongrass, half bottom and bruised
6 kaffir lime leaves

3 Tbsp canola oil

Blend these spices into paste with blender:
300 g Spanish onion (I used the mince Spanish onion from my spice pantry)
10 tsp mince garlic, also from my ready to use spice pantry
10 candlenut
1.5 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp sweet paprika powder (for colour if not using a lot of chillies)
0.75 Tbsp turmeric powder
0.5 Tbsp salt
0.5 Tbsp caster sugar
0.5 Tbsp hot chilli powder (put more if you can bear the heat)
20 g galangal, cut into small pieces + 1 Tbsp galangal powder
30 g ginger, cut into small pieces
150 mL water



Directions:
Put oil on a pan and saute the ground spice until fragrant.

Put meat in the slow cooker pot. Add ground spice, coconut milk, lemongrass and lime leaves. Cook at low heat for 4.5 hours. Stir occasionally. Once cooked, remove meat.

Meanwhile, after 3.5 hours cooking the meat, take out about two third of the gravy. Put the gravy in a saucepan, continue heating on low heat until gravy thicken. Stir occasionally. Add the remaining gravy and the meat from the slow cooker and continue heating until thicken for another 1.5 hours.

Definitely, don't follow my cooking method since I think I got the wrong cut of meat. It should not take that long.

Penne with Meat Balls

Description:
Meat balls... who doesn't like them? This version of meat ball has tender texture with a tinge of chewiness, perfect for pasta dishes. This recipe is easy, fast and very tasty.

Usually, I pan fry meat balls for the pasta sauce. It takes ages, is a bit fiddly and the oil splatters on the stove. This time, I use the boiling method and it takes shorter time too!! Thanks Mbak Esther for the tips (you need to be her contact to read the content).

Don't throw away the stock, it can still be used for soup or other dishes. The boiling method also reduces the amount of fat if you are on a diet. If you want the low fat version, please feel free to use the lean meat. But a little bit of fat, makes the meat balls tender and moist. When I take this path, I will mix 'normal' mince pork and lean mince beef.


Ingredients:
Meat Balls:
250 g mince beef
250 g mince pork
1 egg, 59 g minimum mass
0.25 cup wholemeal flour
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion flakes
0.5 tsp white pepper
0.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp ground allspice (Jamaica pepper/allspice pimento)
2 Tbsp milk powder, full cream
5 Tbsp cold water (75 mL) - otherwise, use milk
1 Tbsp olive oil (15 mL)


Stock for cooking the meat balls, simmer:
6 cups water with 5 tsp beef stock powder, Massel


Complete Meal...
about 300 g penne, Barilla, to be cooked al dente
1.5 - 2 bottles pasta sauce, Bertolli 5 brothers - Oven Roasted Garlic and Onion, 500g per bottle, depending how saucy you want
Grana Padano, shaved

Alternatively, serve the meat balls as part of sandwich.
Bread rolls
Salad (tomato, onion, lettuce, capsicum...)
Salad dressing (I like ranch dressing)
Cheese slices


Directions:
Put all ingredients for meat balls in a food processor. Mix at low speed for about 3 minutes. If no food processor, just mix all in a mixing bowl until well mix and slightly pasty.

Meanwhile, prepare the boiling stock in a small pot and keep the stock simmering.

Prepare a small bowl of cold water to dip in the spoon while shaping the meat balls. Put a blop of meat mixture in your palm and squeeze out some through the thumb and index finger to make a small ball. Make sure that the surface is pretty smooth, not splitting. Otherwise, the meat ball will split while being boiled.

Put the meat ball in the simmering stock until floating, let it cook for about 3 minutes. Take out from the stock and drain in a collander. Repeat the steps until finish.





Assembling...

If you want to give some brown colour to the meat balls, you can pan fry the balls with a little bit of oil (about 1-2 Tbsp). Otherwise, simmer the pasta sauce and add the balls. Mix with the cooked pasta and let it cook for another 3 minutes. Serve with grana padano.

Bolognese Sauce (Mince meat with tomato sauce)

Description:
This sauce can be served with different types of pasta but preferably wide pasta such as tagliatelle or fetucinne and shell type of pasta. The purpose is to scoop the sauce with the pasta :D This sauce is also nice as pizza topping and an ingredient for lasagna.

The other variation of this sauce is to add red wine when you cook the meat. Cook until the wine is evaporated then add the tomato sauce. You can also add a touch of cream in the sauce and tadaaaa... you'll get creamy bolognese sauce.

If you are adventurous, you can try this for me. Make tomato soup from this sauce by thinning the sauce with some beef stock and add carrot and beans. I've never tried this though ;-)

And... this is my entry for MFM #14 which is hosted by Esti. Hope you enjoy it, too :D

Ingredients:
500 g beef mince, lean
500 g pork butt mince
1 Tbs olive oil, extra virgin, Carapelli

1.5 kg basic tomato sauce
1 bay leaf, fresh
1 tsp oregano, dried flakes
black pepper, freshly ground

1 carrot, grated, optional
1 celery, chopped into small cubes, optional


Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a big pot and saute the meat. Break the meat into small pieces with wooden spoon. Cook until meat change colour.
2. Add tomato sauce and other spices.
3. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cover with the lid.

Steamed Pork Dumplings (Siomay Babi)

Description:
Another version of siomay Bandung :D

Ingredients:
1 kg mince pork butt
1 chayote (labu siam), about 200 g after peeling and decoring, finely grated
3 eggs, 59 g mass each
15 g garlic, peeled and finely grated
1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp white pepper
a dash of salt, optional

275 g tapioca starch

Boiled potatoes
Boiled and steamed cabbage leaves
Firm tofu




Directions:
1. Mix mince pork with the seasoning until combine. Add tapioca starch and mix until combine.
2. Shape or wrap with wonton skin.
3. Steam for 20 minutes.
4. Serve with steamed cabbage, tofu and potatoes. Drizzle some peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato sauce.

Fried Pork Balls (Bakso Goreng Babi) - version 4

Description:
Finally, I can make the pork balls like, well close to the pork balls at Tante Caulfield's. You know... just like the other copycat recipe (also known as economical version) heheheh Anyway, the taste and teh texture is very close, I'm serious. If you like the balls chewy in the inside and crunchy at the outside, then... this is the one!

The keys are the seasoning and the frying temperature and time. This recipe is based on my first trial with the pork balls by modifying Ci Ine's (Elkaje) recipe.

Please note that the spoon measurement is based on US measuring spoon.



Ingredients:
350 g mince pork or mince beef (I haven't tried with lean meat)
225 g tapioca flour
2 eggs, extra large or 59 g mass size
9 Tbsp (135 mL, using the 15mL US Tbsp) water

0.5 Tbsp soy sauce, Kikoman
1 Tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
0.5 Tbsp spring onion, white part, finely chopped
20 g garlic, grated or finely chopped, about 5 medium size cloves. Caution: Some garlic varieties may have more pungent flavour.
0.5 tsp caster sugar
0.3 tsp ground white pepper
0.3 tsp salt, optional



Directions:
1. Put meat and the rest of ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Mix well until the meat is distributed in the mixture, no big lumps and the mixture is sticky.
3. Rest the mixture for about 5 minutes to let the tapioca flour swells in the liquid. The mixture will become slightly thickened.
4. Meanwhile, heat up enough oil in the frying pan to medium high heat.
5. Wet the spoon in cold water every time scooping the meat mixture. Put the meat mixture in your palm. Form the hand like holding an ice cream cone. Press the fingers from bottom up. Squeeze out some mixture from between the thumb and the index finger.
6. Once finished enough balls in the frying pan, reduce the heat and fry the balls for 10-15 minutes on medium low heat. Take out from the oil and drain on the paper towel.


Note:
If the meat is substituted with mince chicken, reduce the water to 6-7 Tbsp as chicken is more watery. The mixture can be partly replaced or completely replaced with mince prawn meat, crab meat, fish and/or squid. Just adjust the amount of water accordingly.

If you want meatier balls, reduce the amount of tapioca flour and adjust the amount of water.

Any left over can be used for stir fry or soup.

Fall Off the Bone - BBQ Pork Ribs

Description:
It was like a milestone for me in this BBQ department. I've never been able to cook fall off the bone meat when I oven baked the ribs. I guess the ribs were cooked in a shorter time and the temperature was also too high. Also, I got to use my slow cooker and now I've lots of ideas what to cook with it but not sure when to cook them :-p

I got the recipe from southernfood.about.com and luckily one of the reviewers said the meat was done and tender after 4 hours in the slow cooker. The meat are still moist too! :D The only thing is there was a lot of left over sauce. Need to gauge it better next time.

Sorry... no photos this time, the ribs are all gone... :-p

Ingredients:
1.3 kg pork ribs (American style pork ribs) or beef ribs
400 mL barbecue sauce, Master Foods
2 small onion, cut into quarters

freshly ground black pepper
ground sea salt

serve with freshly cut vegetables such as red peppers, green peppers and tomatoes

Directions:
1. Half the rib slab. Season ribs with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Put meat on the baking tray lined with a parchment paper. Grill in the oven for 10 minutes on each side. This helps to minimise the protein precipitation during slow cooking.
3. Put the meat, sauce and onion in the slow cooker and set at low. Cover with the lid. Cook for 3.5-4 hours. Pour some sauce on the top of the ribs at half way of cooking.
4. Put the meat the baking tray lined with a parchment paper. Put the bone side on the top first. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side. If you have a BBQ pit with charcoal, I suppose the taste would even be better. Rest the meat for about 5 minutes before slicing.
5. At the mean time, boil the sauce on the saucepan on medium heat until sauce is thickened. Cut the ribs into segments and serve the sauce with the ribs.