Tasty Recipes from Recipe Wizards

Here is a recipe for Debbie Fiutko, who was looking for potluck ideas.

While some find bitter melon an acquired taste, in this recipe it adds zing to the rather bland pork filling.

I was never a fan of meatballs – until I found a recipe that has become the only one I ever use.

The recipe comes from cookbook author Elizabeth Chiu King of Bloomfield Hills, who is also president of the Chinese American Educational and Cultural Center of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

About 10 years ago, we featured King and her new book, “A Wok A Week: 52 Lite and East Meals” (Chinese Cultural Publications, $17.95) in the Free Press Food section.

Recently, the recipe came to mind when I found a bargain on some lean ground beef labeled 91/9 – meaning it’s 91 percent lean and 9 percent fat.

The meatballs are mild in flavor but cooked in a spicy sauce that keeps the lean meat moist.

I serve the meatballs as a main dish – you can choose to serve them as an appetizer – with another favorite, sesame noodles. I use Chinese noodles found in the produce section. Because they are fresh, they cook in minutes. You can substitute any favorite thin long noodle.

Sesame seed oil and chili paste are key to flavoring these noodles. At most stores, you can find toasted sesame seed oil in the ethnic aisle. Dynasty is a common brand; a 5-ounce bottle is about $4. It’s a little pricey, but a small amount goes a long way. The oil is dark and used to flavor the noodles, not necessarily cook them. At high temperatures, it can easily burn.

Look for a hot chili paste – I use sambal oelek, an Indonesian condiment found in the ethnic aisle. It has quite a bite, so use a little at a time.

The dressing for the noodles is simple: Mix together 2 teaspoons sugar, black pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar (or regular vinegar), 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil and 1 tablespoon hot chili paste or sweet chili sauce to taste. Place the hot noodles in a serving bowl and pour the dressing over; toss to coat. Serve the noodles hot or cold with the meatballs.

MEATBALLS IN HOT & SPICY SAUCE

Makes: about 40 / Preparation time: 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (not all active time)

MEATBALLS

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon dry white wine

1 tablespoon oyster-flavored sauce

1 tablespoon cold water

1 small onion, peeled, ends removed, minced

1 pound very lean ground sirloin

SAUCE

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup cold water

2 tablespoons Szechuan or Hunan chili paste

2 tablespoons oyster-flavored sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup

In a large bowl, blend cornstarch, sugar, baking soda, black pepper, soy sauce, white wine, oyster sauce, cold water and onion until smooth. Add the ground sirloin and mix well. Let stand for 30 minutes. Knead the mixture for 1 minute. Roll the meat into 1-inch balls. Wet your hands from time to time to make smoother meatballs. You should have 35 to 40 meatballs.

In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients. Heat a wok on high for 30 seconds. Add the sauce and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the meatballs. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Uncover and roll the meatballs gently with a spatula and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the meatballs and sauce to a dish and serve.

From “A Wok A Week – 52 Lite and Easy Meals” by Elizabeth Chiu King and Donna H. Dean (China Books & Periodicals Inc., $17.95).

Tested by Susan M. Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen. Analysis per 1 meatball.

30 calories (45 percent from fat), 2 grams fat (1 gram sat. fat), 1 gram carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 66 mg sodium, 9 mg cholesterol, 0 grams fiber.

Gravy meatball sliders

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cook time: 65 minutes plus 5 to 10 minutes per batch of meatballs

Serves 12, 3 sliders per serving

Joey Campanaro is a third-generation Italian, and these Italian-American meatballs are the same ones he remembers his grandmother braising in red sauce. Using the brown bits left in the pan after frying the meatballs adds flavor to the sauce. A few fresh arugula leaves give the sliders color and a garnish with a slight crunch.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground veal

1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus extra for serving

3 large eggs

3 cups water, divided

1 cup panko (Japanese-style) bread crumbs

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped, divided use

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cups vegetable oil for cooking

1 Spanish onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1 bunch fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

Two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes

36 small buns

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, veal, cheese, eggs, 1 cup of the water, the bread crumbs, three-quarters of the parsley, and the salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix well. Shape into 2-inch balls.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and sear on all sides until well browned. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meatballs to a plate. Cover with foil and set aside.

Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the pan (do not discard any of the browned meat bits on the bottom of the pan).

Return the pan to the heat and add the onion, garlic, basil, all but 1 tablespoon of the remaining parsley, and the fennel seeds.

Sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onion is slightly brown.

Add the tomatoes and remaining 2 cups of water. Cook the sauce for 30 minutes. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Serve the meatballs on buns and top with grated cheese and the remaining parsley.

Per serving: 588 cal.; 34 g pro.; 54 g carb.; 24 g fat (7 sat.); 128 mg chol.; 1,109 mg sod.; 4 g fiber; 36 percent calories from fat.

I’m not a sandwich fan. Too much bread and not enough filling.

Sure, there are exceptions. Like the chicken Caesar sandwich from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Chicken, bacon, creamy dressing and more creamy dressing. No skimping there.

And banh mi, the Vietnamese sandwich filled with pork and marinated veggies. The sandwiches are a handful, to say the least.

That’s why I picked banh mi for dinner. I figured the sandwiches would make a substantial, flavorful meal without much work. Plus, they’re interesting. It doesn’t hurt to change things up a bit.

Shopping was easy. My grocery store had ground pork in the butcher case, and I found the Asian ingredients – fish sauce and sriracha sauce – easily.

The only thing the store didn’t have was daikon, so I used regular radishes instead.

Making the sandwiches was a bit more time-consuming than I would have liked, especially for a weeknight. First, prepare the mayo. You might want to cut down on the amount of hot chili sauce you add to it. My mayo turned out extra-spicy.

Then, make the meatballs. Be sure to chop, chop, chop the green onions. No one likes a blast of onion in their meatball.

Veggies come next. This step looks more time-intensive than it actually is. The result is a sweet-tart slaw of carrots and radishes that could stand-alone as a salad.

Next, fry the meatballs. I would use a bit less sesame oil than the recipe suggests. My meatballs turned out greasy.

A note on assembling the sandwiches: Sure, the chili mayo may taste great, but don’t use too much. The heat overpowered my meatballs. You want to taste the gingery flavor of the pork.

In the end, I ended up with two hefty sandwiches with lots of meatballs and other ingredients leftover for the next day. The sandwiches didn’t look like much on the plate, but they were flavorful and filling.

PORK MEATBALL BANH MI

Makes 4 sandwiches

This recipe is from the January issue of Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

Hot chili mayo:

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2 green onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)

Meatballs:

1 pound ground pork

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 green onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)

1 tablespoon hot chili sauce (such as sriracha)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Sandwiches:

2 cups coarsely grated carrots

2 cups coarsely grated peeled daikon (Japanese white radish)

1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

4 (10-inch-long) individual baguettes or 4 (10-inch-long) pieces French-bread baguette (cut from two baguettes)

Thinly sliced jalapeno chilies

16 large fresh cilantro sprigs

Instructions:

Hot chili mayo: Stir all ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt. Cover and chill.

Meatballs: Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant tablespoonful for each, roll meat mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Arrange on baking sheet. Can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.

Sandwiches: Toss first five ingredients in medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature for one hour, tossing occasionally.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of meatballs. Saute until brown and cooked through, turning meatballs often and lowering heat if browning too quickly, about 15 minutes. Transfer meatballs to another rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven. Repeat with remaining meatballs.

Cut each baguette or baguette piece horizontally in half. Pull out enough bread from each bread half to leave 1/2-inch-thick shell. Spread hot chili mayo over each bread shell. Arrange jalapenos, then cilantro, in bottom halves. Fill each with 1/4 of meatballs. Drain pickled vegetables; place atop meatballs. Press on baguette tops.

Notes: Hot chili sauce and fish sauce are available in the Asian foods section of many supermarkets and at Asian markets. Daikon is available at some supermarkets and at Asian markets.

The food trends and ingredients that hit big in 2009 were, for the most part, familiar and easy to like.

To name just a handful, we saw sunny-side eggs topping everything from salads to gourmet burgers, the proliferation of artisanal thin-crust pizzas, more burgers everywhere, and an explosion in vegetable gardening inspired by first lady Michelle Obama.

But if trend watchers are correct, 2010 may be a bit more interesting and diverse.

Bon Appetit predicts that meatballs will be huge, figuratively speaking, and the new must-have ingredient will be sriracha – pronounced see-RAH-cha – the Thai-inspired chili sauce. (Sriracha, yes. But meatballs?)

Epicurious.com says fried chicken will steal the spotlight from burgers in New York’s trendiest restaurants, whoopie pies will edge out cupcakes, and lamb will begin edging out pork.

Technomic – a top Chicago-based restaurant research and consulting firm – says comfort foods will keep moving upscale, Korean is the ethnic cuisine to watch and more chefs will grow their own fruits and vegetables.

But here’s my favorite Technomic trend-note: On the flavor front, it says, it’s time umami became a household word, at least among food-lovers.

Even if you don’t know the term, you know the taste and may even crave it – all the more reason to learn its name.

Umami, pronounced ooh-MOMMY, is the Japanese word for the so-called fifth taste – an addition to the traditional basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty and bitter.

Umami is present in the satisfying savoriness of meat and some fish, mushrooms, cheeses and vegetables.

Think of the flavors of beef, soy sauce, truffles, cured meats, walnuts and shiitake mushrooms. Mentally savor garden-ripe tomatoes, aged Parmesan cheese, anchovies, shellfish and tangy fermented kimchee. Think of their fullness, richness and earthiness.

The quick scientific explanation is that all have significant levels of glutamate, inosinate or guanylate, or some combination of those naturally occurring substances. Researchers have recently pinpointed the taste receptors on the tongue that allow us to detect umami and say that people vary in sensitivity to it, just as they do to sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes.

The idea of umami has been slow to gain acceptance in the U.S. but is becoming better known. Some American taste researchers are calling it savoriness or meatiness – terms that are easier to understand and embrace.

I can’t see us praising a meal by declaring, “That was soo umami!” And I don’t think we’ll see it written on menus.

But making it part of our food awareness can help us recognize a craving for it. It can help us understand why we might be drawn more to braised beef short ribs than broiled whitefish, why we long for summer’s tomatoes, why we crave cheese – and why meatballs may have a future after all.