So I’m a bit late to this, what with it being July and all. But I decided June was appetizer month. I was gonna learn how to make a few appetizers so I could bring some to the July 4 party later this year, and cook up the rest as part of a meal for my family when I visited them in California.
Let’s start in chronological order…
Saturday, May 31, 2014 – Technically this is in May, but I wanted to get a head start on appetizer month. One classic appetizer is soup, and I happen to like cream of broccoli soup.
As you can see, it’s a relatively standard affair. I had some leftover frozen chopped onions (which I used), and some leftover reduced frozen chicken stock (which I reconstituted). The only other notable ingredient is the garlic paste from a tube. I decided to experiment with that instead of chopping up some garlic. Maybe I should have just used real garlic. (More on that later.)
The biggest problem is that the soup turned out super bland. And this was after dumping in a bunch of salt, pepper, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, wine, and Kitchen Bouquet. After chatting with Chef Carol, she suggested adding some parmesan cheese, or counter-intuitively, soy sauce or miso.
I also decided the soup wasn’t thick and creamy enough. Next time, I’ll double the roux (and maybe cook the roux a little longer) and the cream.
Also, I tried to garnish this with some cilantro. The cilantro sank to the bottom of the soup. Oh well…
Saturday, June 7, 2014 – You’ve already seen this one. This was my leading pic. This is the Lamb and Mint Meatball recipe, specially requested from Chef Carol. For the July 4 party (which is thrown for two generations of family friends), I traditionally make a dessert, like cookies or cupcakes or a cookie cupcake. But the “adults” at the party (even though we’re all technically adults here (technically)) don’t like sweets so, counter-intuitively, desserts aren’t that popular. So I decided this time I’d make something savory. And meatballs fit the bill perfectly.
Ignore the stand mixer and the microwave. They’re just background clutter.
I had some leftover lamb (from when I made dumplings) in the freezer, so I defrosted them and ran them through the food processor to get something resembling ground lamb. Otherwise, it’s a fairly standard affair. The lamb, egg, bread crumbs, and half of the mint form the meatball. The rest of the ingredients form the sauce that the meatball is simmered in and served in. The sauce itself is based on a tomato and onion puree, and is flavored up with, well, everything you see here.
The meatballs themselves tasted of lamb, tomato, and onion, but again, I felt like they could use more seasoning. (Again, maybe it’s that tube of garlic.) And despite being called “lamb and mint meatballs”, I could barely taste the mint. So a lot more mint.
You’ll also notice that the meatballs are swimming in sauce. This much sauce is necessary to cook with, since even though the meatballs are seared in the frying pan, they are finished simmering in the sauce. But this is way too much sauce to serve with. So next time, I shouldn’t serve it with so much sauce. (And maybe add some parsley as a garnish.)
Unless I turn it into a pasta sauce. I dunno if this would work well as a pasta sauce though.
Sunday, June 15, 2014 – Who doesn’t like mashed potatoes? I figured I round out appetizer month with some mashed potatoes. Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, to be exact.
You’ll note those potatoes. These are Yukon Gold potatoes. Chefs know that Yukon Gold potatoes are better for mashed potatoes. (Russets are better for baked potatoes.) Other than that, the only feedback I had for myself is that I need less parsley. Seriously, the recipe calls for more parsley in addition to the garnish. Outside of the garnish, this recipe doesn’t need parsley.
And more garlic. It’s that damn tube of garlic again.