Spaghetti & Meatballs

Ah...spaghetti and meatballs. One of my favorite feel good foods. My dad makes the most amazing meatballs but for some reason even though I use the same recipe as him...I can never make them taste as good as his!

Since having this revelation I have been on a hunt for a delicious meatball recipe that I can add to my arsenal of cooking knowledge (which is quite small at this point!). I recently tried a Cook's Illustrated version of meatballs that was a ton of work and the end result was definitely not worth all the effort. Two of my favorite food bloggers happened to use variations of the same recipe so I thought it would definitely be worth a try. Since we love cheese in this house I did add some grated parmesan cheese to the meatballs which I really enjoyed. This recipe exceeded my expectations! We will definitely be making this again.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Sauce:
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato puree (29 oz can)
1 can tomato sauce (29 oz can)
2 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1 tsp dried parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

For the sauce - heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent and soft. Add tomato sauce, tomato puree, parsley, basil, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let sauce come to simmer. Cover and let simmer for around 2 hours.

For the meatballs - in a large bowl mix together 1/4 cup of the breadcrumbs and the milk. Let soak for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients into milk/breadcrumb mixture and mix together with your hands. Form balls out of the mixture (we made about 12 large meatballs out of this). Add meatballs to the simmering sauce for last 45-55 minutes before the sauce finished cooking or until meatballs are cooked through.


Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker


CHEERS!

Bell's Oberon

HAPPY OBERON RELEASE DAY!

Today is the official first day of summer (in my book at least!). I tend to measure my seasons by the beer releases...Oktoberfest means fall is here; Capital Brewery's Winterskal tells me winter has arrived; Maibocks alert me to spring's arrival; and Oberon is my signal that summer is finally here! Don't bother me with details like the current temperature and the fact that it just snowed here last week - I don't want to hear it!



CHEERS!

Homemade Pasta

This past Christmas I got something I have been wanting for a good while now...the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer! We have only used it once - we made some sausage and cheese ravioli. The pasta part was a success...the filling-not so much. So this time I decided to just make plain fettucini style pasta to go with some homemade alfredo sauce (recipe to follow later). I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the pasta attachments to do most of the work for me but the entire recipe can be mixed and cut by hand if you choose.

After making fresh pasta I really do believe it is worth the extra effort - the taste is just something you can't get with the dried pasta you find at the store.

Fresh Pasta:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semolina flour (I found this at my local Whole Foods)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 large eggs
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. water

Mix the flours and salt together in a mixer using the dough hook attachment. Form a well in the middle of the flour mixture and crack the eggs into it. Mix until a shaggy dough forms. Add the olive oil - mix well. Add the water - mix well. Once dough has formed (and no more dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl), take the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until completely smooth. Break dough up into 4 balls and let rest under a moist towel for 20 minutes. NOTE: When not using dough make sure it is under a moist towel or the dough will dry out.

After dough has rested attach pasta roller to the Kitchen Aid mixer (or use a rolling pin if doing by hand). Take one dough ball and flatten to fit through roller. Start at the largest setting and run the dough ball through the roller. Slowly start making the roller setting thinner and thinner until the dough is the thickness desired for your pasta.

Next cut the dough piece into the desired length for your finished pasta (my sheets were cut into thirds). Attach the pasta cutter attachment (or if doing by  hand, fold the sheet into thirds and use a pizza cutter to cut the pasta) to the mixer and run each sheet through the cutter. When the pasta is cut place onto a floured surface and sprinkle flour over the top of the pasta so it won't stick together. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

If making pasta right away - put the cut pasta under a moist towel until ready to cook. If saving for later - let pasta dry for about 10 minutes and then arrange into nests. Put nests on a baking sheet and into the freezer for about 20 minutes. Then put each nest into a freezer bag and save for later use.

Source: Annie's Eats


CHEERS!

Welcome

Welcome to the Baker and Brewer blog! We are a couple of 20-somethings living in the Chicago suburbs who love food and beer - after reading numerous food/beer blogs we decided to start up our own - a place to share new and old recipes and chronicle our adventures in brewing.

We hope you enjoy reading our blog!



CHEERS!