Sticky Ribs with Goose Fat Fries | You've Got Meal!

Ah, sticky ribs, the reason God gave you fingers. And there you go. Enjoy! Just kidding, Mrs. G says I have to give you guys the full details of the recipe. Not that I wouldn’t have done that, but I think I mentioned before I’m kind of lazy. 

The main idea of the whole meal is to enjoy a Friday night sticky, greasy, delicious dinner made of some oven baked ribs, some potatoes cooked in goose fat, everything balanced by some crunchy and tangy salad leaves with beets and pumpkin seeds. 

The ingredients we used: 

• 3 single ribs, about 100 grams each (makes it easier to cook), 
• some potatoes, preferably new, 
• salt, pepper, 
• thyme, oregano, smoked paprika, 
• ketchup. 

For  the salad we had some crunchy iceberg leaves, with some radicchio rosso, an oven cooked small beet, cut into sticks, pumpkin kernels, salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and a tsp. of some not very strong mustard.

I find that cooking ribs has a positive effect on my mood, maybe because of the delicious smell of grease and condiments melting away into something great. Despite that, it has a definite negative impact on the look of the kitchen, especially if you pan sear it. So, I like to slow cook the ribs in the oven, in an covered tray until the fat melts and the meat gets nice and tasty.

1. Start of by rubbing the meat with the dry condiments and some salt. 
2. For the next step, you can choose to use a tray with a grill on top, so the fat will melt and fall into that, or you can place the ribs straight in an oven tin, in which case the fat will melt and the ribs will also cook in it. 
3. We went for the second, mainly because I find that cooking meat in fat of any kind makes it really tender and elevates the taste. 
4. So, we covered the tray with some tin foil, and cooked the meat for 80 minutes on a medium low heat, turning the ribs half-way and covering back the tray with tin foil. 
5. In the last 10 minutes, remove the tin foil and brush the ribs with some ketchup or barbeque sauce. Turn up the heat and cook in order to create a glaze.

Meanwhile, you can cook the spuds by, you’ve guessed it, frying them in goose fat. Start of by cooking them on high heat for a couple of minutes, in order to get some color, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for around 15-20 minutes, until you get a golden brown color on all sides.

The salad helps the meat and the potatoes tone down on the fatty note. Just make a vinaigrette with the juice of half a lemon, 3 tbs. of olive oil, 1 tbs. of red wine vinegar, 1 tsp. of mustard, salt and pepper. Mix the result with the salad leaves of your choice – choose some crunchy ones, the beet and pumpkin seeds.

This meal, that you’ve just got – pun intended, screams for some Cabernet or a nice, red ale, so take your pick with the alcohol.  A full, heart meal that can get you ready for a lazy weekend at home, perhaps in the company of some chicken wings? Because that’s the second reason God gave you fingers.

Guys, we try and give you in every recipe we post here our honest and explicit experience with food, and any feed-back or tips for further improving any dish is well appreciated. So feel free to comment, criticize or like any post here, can’t wait to be hearing from you!

Enjoy,

Turkey Meatballs | You've Got Meal!

We stopped at this recipe one of these day just before our cooking inspiration was close to zero. You know those days when you have no special cravings, no idea what to cook and you just stare at your fridge and freezer, but no option satisfies you.

We got lucky when we spotted a large piece of turkey breast in the freezer. Turkey meat is a nice and lean meat that is very versatile. If you find the meat dull and you have a bigger piece it is a great idea to grind it or part of it for meatballs or burgers to get a great flavor. It is easier to add the flavor you want in meatballs or burgers.

That being said, we used about 600 grams of ground turkey and made some nice meatballs and served them with mashed sweet potatoes and some pickled cauliflower.

You will need:

• 600 g ground turkey
• 1 small onion, finely chopped or grated
• 2 carrots, grated
• 2 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 handful chopped fresh parsley

For the mashed sweet potatoes:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 medium potatoes (basically you need to have a 50/50 ratio of potatoes and sweet potatoes)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 50 g butter
• 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1. Mix all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and form balls from about 1 tbsp of composition.
2. Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a skillet and fry the meatballs on all sides, about 7 minutes , until brown.
3. You can take them out on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
4. For the mash, boil the potatoes, mash them, add the butter, ginger and the seasoning and mix well.

Enjoy,

Comfort Food: Fish and Beans Soup | You've Got Meal!

A tasty, delicious Italian inspired soup that combines the subtle taste of zander with the hearty taste of Cannellini beans, all brought together by a touch of tomatoes and basil.

Fish soups, for me, aren’t really all that much of a great choice in comfort foods, but when combined with some Cannellini beans things change. And with the coming of winter this dish brought a little piece of warmth and comfort into the kitchen. There a still a lot of fresh flavors in this recipe to keep things relatively close to summer, but adding the soup shifts the recipe in a whole different direction.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams of fish fillets, cut into 5-7 cm pieces (we used zander), 
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (400 grams), 
• 200 grams of passata, 
• 800 grams of vegetable stock, 
• 250 grams of cherry tomatoes, both halved and whole, 
• 3 leeks, only the white parts, 
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, 
• 2 tbs. of capers, 
• 2 rosemary twigs, 
• 2-3 bay leaves, 
• 15 medium sized basil leaves, 
• 3-4 tbs. of chopped olives, 
• fennel seeds, 
• salt, pepper, olive oil.

1. Start by cutting the leeks into slices- cook them with the garlic in some olive oil, on medium heat, until softened. 
2. Next add the olives and capers and cook for another 5 minutes. 
3. Pop in the tomatoes (canned, passata and fresh), rosemary, bay leaves, salt, pepper, grounded fennel seeds and the stock, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. 
4. 5 minutes before the end add the canned cannellini beans – if you’re using uncooked ones make sure you boil them in advance. 
5. In the final 3 minutes add the fish, after which, near the end, throw the basil leaves in the soup- they need about 1 minute to soften and infuse the soup. 

You can add a touch of lemon juice to the soup, to make things fresher, or you can use a touch of yoghurt in the same purpose.

All in all, an easy to make soup  that can serve either as a great reminder of summer or a comfortable companion for a cold day.

Enjoy 8e5baa17709cf14ece6cea98478e5def9198be9f4387789663,

Rice-filled Pumpkin | You've Got Meal!

It took for us to make our own blog in order to start cooking pumpkin, but the wait was worth. Growing up the only way we actually ate pumpkin was in (a very nice) pie, that, I have to admit, is one of the best smelling dishes I’ve ever seen. But bringing this seasonal ingredient to a salty dish was something I wanted to do for a very long time and I started with the stew posted last time. This time, the dish is a little flashier and it can certainly make you feel badass in front of your guests. Honestly, bringing a neat looking pumpkin filled with a spicy, creamy rice to the table has to score some points with the company you keep. 

Let’s start of with the ingredients that I used for filling a pumpkin about 1,3-1,5 kilo pumpkin: 
about half a cup of risotto rice, 
1 medium onion, 
3-4 cloves of garlic, 
1 medium beet, 
4 tbsp capers 
1 chilli, 
cinnamon, ground cumin and cardamom, 
salt, pepper, 
75 grams of butter, 
olive oil and 
100 grams of grated Parmesan. 

And of course the above said pumpkin and its insides. A couple of things about the ingredients: I decided to fill the pumpkin with a risotto style rice and, also, add cheese to this combination, but you can easily turn this recipe in a vegetarian star by using soy or coconut milk/cream, in which case a slightly more oriental touch of aromas could be in case. For the pumpkin, pick a healthy, sturdy one, with no visible marks or soft areas – those can give you trouble in the oven. You need to remove the insides of the “beast” before beginning, but don’t throw it away, you’ll integrate it in the rice. Also, make sure you don’t throw the top of the pumpkin, you’ll use it later.

• To start things of, cook your beet in the oven. First wash the root vegetable, pat it dry, place it on a piece of tin foil, splash a small amount of olive oil on the beet, some salt then close the foil on the vegetable, creating a wrapper that still holds enough room for the steam to build in there. The cooking time depends on the size of the beet, in this case it took 45 minutes. The vegetable is done when you can easily stick your knife through it. When the beet is done, remove the foil, let it cool down then finely cut it -  set aside. 
• Next, start making your risotto by cooking the finely diced onion and garlic for a bout 4 minutes on high heat, in some olive oil. Next add the beet,  the capers and the pumpkin insides (you won’t be able to use all of it, so keep around 1 cup of the finely diced pumpkin “entrails”). Cook the vegetables for another 3 -5 minutes. Add in the rice and all the spices and cook them for a minute before adding the liquid – use only stock or add wine, if you feel like it (1 part wine to 3 parts stock, make sure you simmer the wine down before adding the rest of the liquid).You need to cook the rice to about 90% done, so make sure you taste your rice -  it should take around 20 minutes on a medium high heat. 
• Remove the rice from the stove, add in the butter and mix things. 
• Next, start filling the pumpkin with the creamy rice – add a couple of tbs. of rice and top those with a heavy layer of cheese. Keep going until you’re almost at the top -  don’t completely fill the pumpkin up t the top, it will need some space to bubble up when the insides  start cooking. 
• Place top on the pumpkin and put in an oven tray, with some oven proof paper, on medium heat and cook for about 30 minutes. 
• You can choose to serve the pumpkin whole and cut it at the table or slice it yourself before plating, either way make sure to add some green to the dish with some chopped  parsley or oregano or basil or thyme or mint. Pick one already. And then eat, you’ll like it. 

Oh, and I can’t end this recipe without making this point: you can always use bacon in cooking the rice, just saying, no pressure……

Autumn Stew | You've Got Meal!

There are only a few dishes that, cooked during the cold seasons, can make me feel better about the crappy weather outside, and this stew is one of them. You can always come up with another combination of vegetables or other meats for this one, but I was pleased (and warmed) by the result.

So, grab yourself 2 medium onions, an obscene amount of garlic (don’t worry about the amount, when cooked in stews garlic gives a rather sweet taste instead of, well, garlic taste), 2 carrots, 200 grams of honey fungus (during this time of the year this mushroom is available in farmer’s markets), 200 grams of pumpkin (with or without skin), 300 grams of potatoes, 150-200 grams of quince, 150 grams of smoked bacon, some nigella seeds, fresh  oregano, sage and parsley, salt, pepper, 500 ml of dark beer (I used Guiness in this recipe).

Start of by heating up a good amount of olive oil in a heavy base, tall pan, then pop in the diced onion and garlic. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, then add in the sage, finely diced carrots and bacon -  cook them for another 3-4 minutes. Add the pumpkin, quince, both finely diced, and the honey fungus. Give everything a good mix, so that the hard vegetables get covered in the flavorful oil and bacon, cook for another  4-5 minutes. Pour in the beer, crank up the heat, add salt, crushed nigella seeds, pepper and 1 tbs. of chopped oregano leaves and reduce the liquid to about a third. Next, reduce the heat to medium low, put in the spuds, cover the pan and let it simmer for about 25-30 minutes. 

You can check to see if the vegetables are done during this time, this is especially useful if you decide to leave the skin on the pumpkin, which makes cooking the vegetable in case takes longer. Garnish the stew with some chopped parsley and, if you feel like it, pour a couple tbs. of heavy cream on top.

Serve this stew with some spicy pickled cauliflower for a more rustic feel and, if you really feel like the incoming winter is getting on your nerves, don’t forget about a nice cup of mulled wine. 

Enjoy,

Parsnip Soup

Winter is coming! And not only in Game of thrones, but also in real life. You know, real life, that kind of stuff you read posts about on Facebook. Anyway, with summer fading away so did our beautiful vacation in Thassos (if you haven’t read about it you should. It’s illegal not to. Where, you ask? In your country, go figure), and so I decided to bring a touch of autumn in the YOUVEGOTMEAL! kitchen with this parsnip soup. 

You can find many varieties of this dish in the great world of Google, but, in case you didn’t know this about me, I tend to get lazy sometimes… maybe a lot. So I just clicked the 1st search result which was a Jamie Oliver variation of this soup.

I liked what I read, and, with a few changes from the Naked Chef, things went like this, ingredients wise:

• 1 big onion                                            
• 4-5 cloves of garlic (use a sweeter variety if you can)
• 1 piece of ginger, thumb size
• About 750 grams of parsnip, cleaned
• A couple of bacon strips
• 1 red or orange chilli (optional)
• 750 grams of milk
• About 1 l of vegetable stock
• Nutmeg, turmeric, cumin, green pepper and salt
• Olive oil 

The beautiful thing about a cream soup is that you don’t really have to bother to chop your veggies finely and this is not an exception. Chop everything roughly, anyway you feel like it. Heat up the oil and pop in the onion, garlic, ginger and spices. Gently fry the onion on a medium low heat until it softens. Add the parsnip and coat it in the aromatic onion-garlic mix. Add the liquids and cook the vegetables on medium heat until the parsnip softens. To test it just try and put a toothpick through it, if it goes in easily you have a winner. Remove from the stove and blitz the soup. Taste for more salt and pepper.

You can serve it like this, but for a more elaborate approach finely slice your chili, fry a strip of bacon, break a couple of parsley leaves (or coriander) and sprinkle that on top. I have nothing but love for you veggie lovers out there, but I can’t just say no to bacon. It just makes things better, like wine, you just need to know when to stop.

Enjoy,

Chicken with Porcini Mushroom

For me, when someone says porcini, I get a tingling in my fingers. These are, in my humble opinion, the best mushrooms you can get or forage (let’s leave the wonderful truffles out of this, shall we? They might be mushrooms as a species, but you can’t make a stew out of them). And, for me, porcini have a different background, as they were introduced to me by the one of the most incredible people in the world, meaning my grandmother. She used to pick them herself in the forest or buy them from other foragers and I loved every tiny bit of that mushroom, any way she would cook it for me: in a stew, with different meats, grilled, boiled, didn’t matter. She was also very picky with her mushrooms: she only used young, fresh porcini, that had no sign of disease or bruising and she didn’t hesitate to throw any mushroom that wasn’t up to some very high standard. Oh, and another thing, she only eats 2 kind of mushrooms: porcini and honey fungus. Anything else, she threw away…  Honestly, nothing else. Bit weird, but she still is amazing and a great inspiration for me. 

So, when I went to visit her a couple of weeks ago, she gave me half a kilo of porcini that she pre-boiled and froze for me. What can I say, I AM her favorite grandson. So, with the mushrooms and my grandmother in mind, I decided to make a dish using the beautiful porcini. Now, chicken wasn’t a choice because I just love it, this recipe works great with some game poultry, quail or pheasant, but chicken breast is plain enough to absorb any spices you throw at it and it doesn’t outshine the porcini, so it’s a viable solution for this dish.

So, 500 grams of boiled porcini means that you can use about 300 grams of fresh ones or about 75-100 grams of dried mushrooms. When using the pre-boiled ones the advantage is that you don’t  have to cook it very long, but with the fresh ones, you get a bit more flavor. 

The meat: 1 free-range (special thanks have to go to my mother for this one) chicken breast, deboned. 

Also: 

2 tbs. of chopped fresh sage, 

a red onion, diced, 

3-4 crushed garlic cloves, 

a spicy chili, 

ground fennel seeds and cloves, 

2 bay leaves, 

Greek yoghurt, 

olive oil, 

salt and pepper, 

some rose wine (go Provence here, the Bordeaux style ones can prove to be a bit too strong for this kind of meat. If using game poultry, replace with red) 

(optional) some turmeric. 

Start of by heating up 3 tbs of olive oil in a heavy base pan, add the sage and cook it for 30 seconds, enough to create a nice and crispy outcome. Add in the chicken, cut however you want, and cook it for 5 minutes, coating it constantly with the sage. Next add the onion, garlic and chili and cook for another 3-4 minutes, after which add the boiled mushrooms, also diced. Add in the spices. Mix everything together and cook for 2 minutes, the add about 1 glass of wine. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to a medium low and let it simmer until the liquid is reduce to half. In the end, add a couple of tbs. of Greek yoghurt and, optional, you can chop some parsley on the dish. Plate it, pour yourself some more of the wine and raise the glass for grandmothers everywhere, be they picky about their mushrooms or not.

Enjoy,

PS:  if using game poultry, make sure to lightly coat the meat in some flour before cooking it. This will create a nice caramelized exterior, as well help the sauce thicken.

Seared Salmon, Potato and Sun Dried Tomato Puree and a Lemon and Caper Sauce

This recipe was the result of the incredible power of marketing! A local supermarket managed to get me to buy 3 salmon steaks, 200 grams each, for a decent price. Can’t say that I regret it, the fish was really good and the sauce and side dish proved to be wonderful companions.

Meatball Madness (II) Italian Style Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Meatball madness! What? Again? You can't escape the madness! Especially when you have a lot of them hanging in your fridge, in wich case you can make them shine again with an easy and super delicious sauce. 

Now, the results of the original madness were some meatballs with a definite sweet touch, so I wanted to make a more sour sauce. 

Ingredients: 

the juice of 4 big, ripe, red tomatoes(just use a grater), 
1 medium onion, 
2 garlic cloves, 
200 ml of red wine, 
250 grams of tiny cherry and plum tomatoes, both red and yellow, 
half a handfull of basil leaves, 
salt and pepper

Saute the diced onion and garlic in some olive oil, add the wine and let the liquid reduce by half. Next put in the tomato juice and the tomatoes, chopped basil, salt, pepper and bring to a simmer on low heat, pop in the meatballs and cook with a lid on for about half an hour. a very simple but great tasting sauce that brings a wonderfull zing to the meatballs, so get your madness on and start cooking those meatballs.

Enjoy,