See Us Eat: Dinner at Home

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Dinner at Home

Creamed Spinach
Alexis discovered that her cast-iron pan works very well for creamed spinach--no sticking.

-3 lbs spinach
-1/2 onion, diced
-8 cloves garlic, minced
-3 strips bacon, cut in lardons
-1 and 1/2 cups cream
-salt and pepper to taste
-a sprinkling of nutmeg

Blanch the spinach, drain and set aside. Start to render the bacon in a pan. When translucent, add onions and garlic. Stir frequently until bacon, onions and garlic are browned. Put the spinach in a towel and squeeze as much liquid as possible out, then chop. Add the spinach and the cream and stir to combine. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and continue to cook, stirring every once in a while on low heat for about 1/2 hour.

Meatballs with Vodka Cream Sauce
Usually I put ricotta in the meatballs as a sort of filler, this time I didn't have any and thus the texture of the meatballs suffered. They tasted good, but they came out a little hard. The sauce was tart and creamy at the same time.

Meatballs
-1 lb ground beef
-1 large handful fresh parsley, chopped finely
-1 egg, beaten
-1 tb garlic powder
-1 ts salt
-1 ts black pepper

Mix all ingredients with hands until combined. Roll into balls, 1 inch in diameter. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake on 400 for about 25 minutes, or until done in the center.

Vodka Cream Sauce
-2 cans diced tomatos
-1/2 onion, chopped
-5 cloves garlics, peeled
-1 handful fresh basil
-salt and pepper to taste
-1/2 cup vodka
-1/2 cup cream

Sautee the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil. When beginning to carmelize add the tomatos, and basil. Cover and simmer for 1/2 an hour. Puree with an immersion blender. Add the vodka and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the cream and pour over the meatballs.

Labels: beef, homemade, spinach