THURSDAY

Meatballs with Tetrazzini Sauce  |  Pappardelle Pasta  |  Haricot Vert with Shallots, Tomato & Lemon

Both the meatballs & tetrazzini sauce recipes come from my new favorite cookbook, Canal House Cooks Everyday.  Chefs & authors, Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton refer to the tetrazzini sauce as “decidedly retro”  harking back to a time when “ladies sipped sherry“, cocktails were enjoyed by women wearing pearls & men clad in suits with ties.  Remember…

To be honest…I do not remember this era {I was merely a thought existing in the clouds at this time} but I did grow up watching re-runs of Leave It To Beaver.  I can just picture June, in the kitchen, whipping up a tetrazzini for Ward and the boys while Ward enjoys a martini, reading the newspaper, after a hard day at the office… {does anyone know what Ward’s job was?}   So funny…

Preparations for tonight’s dinner began with the Meatballs {NOTE:  I was NOT wearing a dress, heels or pearls around my neck.  I did, however, have my pearl earrings on}…

Meatball Madness {adapted from Canal House Cooks Everyday}:

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt & pepper
• freshly-grated nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1½ - 2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 pounds ground beef

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Heat oil in a large, cast-iron skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 15 minutes.  Add the minced garlic in the last 2-3 minutes of cooking the onion.  Season to taste with salt, pepper & LOTS of nutmeg.  Remove skillet from heat and let cool.
2. Put the eggs & half-and-half into a large bowl and whisk together until well-mixed.  Add the bread crumbs and the cooled onions and mix together.   Add the ground beef & pork, mixing well.
3. Scoop the meatballs into 1-ounce balls {with a small ice-cream scoop} and arrange on 2-3 large, parchment-lined, baking sheets {the raw meatballs will be very soft but they will hold their shape when cooked}.  Bake in the oven until just cooked, 20-30 minutes.

Once the meatball mixture is prepped, making the meatballs is so easy {use a small ice-cream scoop}…

While the last batch of meatballs cook {there will be plenty of meatballs left-over for freezing, by the way…I only used 1/3 of the meatballs for tonight’s dinner ~ the rest were frozen) prepare the haricot vert salad & the pasta.  The pappardelle pasta we are having tonight is fresh so it only takes 2-3 minutes to cook…

If you are having dried pasta, allow for 9-10 minutes…following package instructions.

Haricot Vert with Shallots {adapted from Smitten Kitchen):

•  ¾ pound haricot vert
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large shallot, thinly-sliced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 tomatoes, seeded & diced
• ½ of a lemon, freshly-squeezed

1. Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil.  Cook haricot vert for 3 minutes.  Remove greens from the heat, strain and plunge into an ice-water bath.  Drain the beans from the ice-water bath and set aside.
2. In the pot, previously used for cooking the greens, melt 2 teaspoons of butter over medium heat.  Add the shallots & sauté until they are just traslucent {not browned}, about 2 minutes.  Add the drained and cooled haricot vert back into the pot and reheat the greens  in the butter and shallots.  Season with salt & pepper.
3. Spread haricot vert and shallots onto a plate, topp with the diced tomatoes and squeeze fresh lemon juice over the dish.  Serve immediately.

And the finished dinner plate…

But, before I leave & while you are sipping on that Manhattan, I want to share with you this photo that Max texted me this morning {it was my wake-up text}…

He has been on a whirl-wind trip covering Washington DC & New York City this week…he finally comes home TOMORROW!!!  I can’t wait to see him!!!!