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Tag: comfort food

Jamie Oliver’s Big British Meatballs

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I’ve been a fan of Jamie Oliver for about as long as I can remember, both for his cooking style and his ethos on food in general. He’s a strong advocate of healthy eating, especially for kids, and always comes up with easy recipes using seasonal ingredients to create well-balanced meals. He’s got tons of cookbooks (15+) and his shows are almost always on TV, so there’s definitely a huge selection to choose from if you want to be inspired by one of his creations. This take on Jamie Oliver’s Big British Meatballs is the ultimate comfort food, easy enough for a weeknight meal, but hearty and perfect for a weekend dinner.

His recipes range from 30-minute meals (full meal ideas, not just single recipes) to more elaborate comfort food-style recipes. They are always easy to follow, don’t use hard-to-find ingredients, and focus on creating a balanced dish that anyone can make. This is exactly my kind of cooking! So, I thought I would try out some of his recipes and make at least one each month and blog about it here.

There really are so many to choose from, but when looking for this month’s recipe, his Big British Meatballs were impossible to resist. It’s to-the-bone cold in London at the moment, and I’m craving all things soup, casseroles, and hearty. This recipe is definitely hearty! It’s from his ‘Comfort Food‘ book, and is the book I’ve used the least so far because the recipes are more elaborate and time-consuming. But I had some time on my hands, and most of the ingredients, so I decided to give it a try. You. Guys. Am I glad that I did…! I’m not a huge meat eater, but this was so tender, so full of rich but not overpowering flavor, and despite quite a few ingredients/steps, relatively easy to pull together. This would make for a great make-ahead meal, or a Sunday dinner.

If you are looking for a cozy and hearty winter dish, then look no further and give this a try!

The recipe can be found here and also copied below. I used lamb instead of pork, and halved the recipe – it came out perfectly, and made about 4 servings. This came out very savory (don’t worry about it being too sweet with the jelly, or too bitter with the pale ale!), and I served it on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes and garnished with savoy cabbage.

This is one of the recipes that Jamie Oliver made on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and you can watch the video here.

Big British Meatballs

Serves 8

2 hours
363 calories

Meatballs
2 large onions
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground chuck steak
1 handful of bread crumbs
3 oz good-quality sharp Cheddar cheese

Gravy
7 oz finely ground chuck steak
1 large onion
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 beef bouillon cube
¾ cup pale ale
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon blackcurrant jam
2 teaspoons English mustard
2 tablespoons malt vinegar

For the meatballs, peel the onions, pick the rosemary leaves, then finely chop them together (or blitz in a food processor) and put into a large frying pan on medium heat with a lug of oil, the Worcestershire sauce, and a good splash or two of water. Cook for around 20 minutes, or until the liquid has disappeared and the onions are sweet and lightly caramelized, stirring occasionally. Season to taste, leave aside to cool, then put into a bowl with the ground meat and bread crumbs. Using clean hands, mix it all together beautifully, scrunching for a minute to create a delicious texture. Divide into 16 equal sized balls, then wash your hands and cut the cheese into 16 cubes. Poke and push a piece of cheese into the center of each ball, then gently roll into perfect balls. Take pride in your balls, repeat, until they’re all done, and place in the fridge.

For the gravy, put the ground meat into a large saucepan with a little oil and cook until golden, stirring regularly. Meanwhile, peel the onion and finely chop with rosemary leaves, then add the ground meat and cook for another 5 minutes, or until lightly golden. Crumble the bouillon cube, then pour in the ale. Cook away until nice and dark, then stir in the flour, jam, mustard, vinegar, and 3 cups of water. Simmer for around 30 minutes, or until rich and thick, then season to perfection. Preheat the oven to full whack (475 degrees Fahrenheit) and preheat a high-sided roasting pan.

When you’re ready to go, drizzle the preheated pan with oil and add the balls, leaving nice gaps between them. Blast at the top of the oven for around 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove the pan, pour the gravy over the balls, and pop them back into the oven for about 5 more minutes, to get everything cooked into each other – sometimes I even baste the balls with a little gravy to give them a lovely shine. Serve on mashed potatoes or smashed root veggie, with some lovely seasonal greens on the side.

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January 7, 2018
Authentic (ish) spaghetti carbonara
One of the things I told myself when I started this blog was that I would not do tons and tons of pasta recipes. See, my favorite food is and always has been: pasta. I have to force myself to not eat pasta every day of the week (and twice on Sunday), and part of the reason I wanted to start cataloguing my recipes was so that I could use this as a resource for myself, when trying to answer the age old question of what’s for dinner.

I spend lots of time working, like most folks, and don’t have too much time to prepare elaborate weeknight meals (though that certainly doesn’t always stop me, even if I end up eating at 9:30pm or sometimes later…!).

A quick pasta dish is often my saving grace after a long day in the office, and spaghetti carbonara fits the bill perfectly: it’s made from mostly pantry items (or things that I always have on hand) and comes together in the time it takes to cook the pasta (yes, really).

Carbonara was totally unknown to me until I moved to France, where it is on every menu, from restaurants to home kitchens. I was never a big fan because it is usually kinda thick and creamy, and not the light sauces that I tend to go for.

Then, my spaghetti life changed: I had this dish in Italy. You guyyyyyysss. It was nothing like the clumpy mess of cream and lardons that they’re serving up elsewhere, this was a delicate balance of parmesan, eggs and black pepper. You might be thinking, what about the guanciale (pork, similar to lardons or bacon) the recipe also calls for? I stopped eating pork ages ago, so no bacon, ham or traditional carbonara for me. I’ve always been able to manage a ‘vegetarian’ version in the past, which as you can imagine has always lacked that smoky salty bacon flavor.

Then I thought, if carbonara can be this good without meat, imagine if I kicked it up a bit with some turkey bacon and made it myself? After a few attempts to get the recipe right, I was nothing short of amazed at how good this came out. Despite not having as much fat as the traditional recipe from the pork, the sauce came out perfectly balanced, savory and creamy, and the turkey bacon and parmesan added that extra flavor to complete this so-simple-its-complex recipe.

I’m definitely not one to say that recipes should be followed to the letter for them to be ‘authentic’, as experimentation and mistakes often lead to some of my favorite kitchen creations. But some things are just so good as they were meant to be, that you have to try it the ‘real way’ at least once before you start changing things up. For spaghetti carbonara, this means: no chicken, no mushrooms and certainly no cream. Give it a try, then customize as you like 🙂

For anyone looking to try a slightly slimmed down take on the classic spaghetti carbonara, or anyone like me that doesn’t eat pork, please give this recipe a try – you will not be disappointed!

And don’t give up if you don’t get it right the first time you try it. Recipes with only a few ingredients are often the most difficult to get right, because every ingredient counts. The main difficulty I encountered when making this recipe was preventing the eggs from scrambling – once you get past that hurdle, you’ll be a pro at whipping this up in 15 minutes tops.

As always, my recipes are for two people but this can easily be doubled and is lovely reheated for lunch the next day 😉

Ingredients:
1. 150 grams of spaghetti
2. About 6-8 slices of turkey bacon, chopped into rough pieces (or turkey lardons if you can find them!)
3. 1 large egg
4. 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
5. Fresh ground black pepper
6. Sea salt, for seasoning
7. 75 grams of parmesan cheese – freshly grated
I’m including lots of detailed steps for any readers that haven’t ever made this before, but it really boils down to: make the pasta, fry up the turkey bacon, mix together the egg/parmesan/black pepper, add cooked pasta and turkey bacon to egg mixture and serve. Easy peasy.

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a generous amount of salt (2-3 tablespoons) and cook the pasta until al dente. My trick for perfectly cooked pasta is to cook 1-2 minutes less than the time indicated on the package. For spaghetti, this is usually 6-7 minutes.
2. Heat a small pan on medium heat, add the butter and turkey bacon and cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked through and slightly crispy. Set aside.
3. In a large metal bowl, whisk together the egg and grated parmesan, and grate in some fresh ground black pepper.
4. While the pasta is boiling, using a pot holder, carefully place the metal bowl over the pot for about 45 seconds to gently warm up the bottom of the bowl, and the egg & parmesan mixture.
5. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of the pasta water.
6. Add the cooked pasta to the turkey bacon pan (without heat) and let sit for 2-3 minutes to slightly cool.
7. Add the pasta & turkey bacon to the egg mixture bowl and toss quickly with tongs to make sure the pasta is evenly coated with the sauce.
8. For a creamier sauce, add in a tablespoon at a time of the reserved pasta water, continuing to toss the pasta. I usually end up adding about 3 tablespoons.
9. Use a ladle and fork to serve if you want to get the ‘nest’ like look, and top with some grated parmesan, sea salt and black pepper.
Warming the egg mixture slightly, and letting the pasta cool a bit will help prevent the egg from scrambling. Adding the pasta water will help to cook the egg in the sauce, and will give the pasta a luxuriously creamy texture.

I hope you enjoy this simple pasta dish as much as I do! If you make this recipe, I’d love to see – snap a pic and tag @seefoodplay on Instagram to share your take on this classic Italian fave.

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January 2, 2018
Chilli con carne
I know, I know…it’s May and I’m writing about making hearty, spicy chilli! With 50 degree weather these past few days, though, I’ve been struggling with salads and other typically-Springy dishes. Now, I’m in full-blown Autumn mode and have been craving thick and filling soups and stews. A good compromise considering it is May, is Chilli! It’s really a year-round dish, and can easily be freshened up with a big dollop of sour cream, some fresh cilantro, served atop a big bowl of rice. Or if you are always cold like me, then you can just have a big steaming bowl of the stuff on the couch enjoying a marathon of Netflix with your hubby. Or you can eat spoonfulls of it directly out of the pot and hope said hubby doesn’t catch you… up to you 😉

Adding this recipe to the blog was a no-brainer because I’ve been making it for years, and everyone needs at least one good go-to chilli recipe. This is mine because it uses mainly pantry items, so can almost always be thrown together if you’re in a pinch trying to find out what to make for dinner. This is essentially a perfect weeknight dinner because it packs a lot of flavour with only a few ingredients. It’s also great because it allows you to be flexible with the time you put dinner on the table, because it can be ready in 30 minutes, but can simmer for an extra hour if needed! Anyway, this is one of those recipes that I’ve made at least a hundred times (like my marinara sauce) and I love it just as much each time. It’s also one of those recipes that is extremely forgiving… you barely even need to measure things out too well.

Ingredients:

Spices
- 1 tablespoon of powdered garlic
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 2 tablespoons of cumin
- Smoked paprika (or chili powder)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 200 grams of ground beef*
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 large can of whole tomatoes, passed through the mixer until smooth (unless you want chunks of tomatoes, which I love but Hubby doesn’t)
- 1 16oz big can of red kidney beans
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- A few spoonfuls of Olive Oil
Garnish: fresh chopped cilantro, sour cream, chives, chopped onion… and whatever else you like!

Instructions:
1. Add a spoonful of olive oil, all of the spices, and ground beef to a large saucepan or non-stick pot, then brown the ground beef on medium heat (about 5-10 minutes).
2. Add in your chopped onion, and cook for about 5 minutes more.
3. Turn up the heat for about a minute (take care not to burn the onions, though!) then add in the tomato purée. The tomatoes should de-glaze the pan, so once that happens, turn the heat back down to medium.
4. Finally, add in the beans and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes. If you have a bit of time, don’t hesitate to let this simmer for an hour or so; it only gets better with time!
5. Top with freshly chopped cilantro, a dollop of sour cream, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes: I use a very small amount of ground beef in my chilli because I really feel that the beans and tomatoes are the stars of this dish, but feel free to beef this up a bit more (ha ha see what I did there? Okay nerd moment out of my system). Seriously though, sometimes I add less sometimes more. Play around with it until you get a beef-to-bean ratio that best suits your taste buds!
May 30, 2015
Homemade (copycat) Totino’s Pizza rolls
Okay, so I should start this post out with a disclaimer stating that I was planning to write about a light and healthy summer version of my 30-minute black bean soup. As I was getting ready for work I was going over the recipe in my head, making sure I had all of the ingredients, and above all, thinking about the spoonfuls of crème fraiche that I was going to be dumping on top of a nice warm bowl of black bean soup after work. Alas, that recipe will have to wait because I’m yet again in need of some good ole comfort food

That’s right… my motorbike was stolen…AGAIN! The first time was annoying but I got her back more or less unharmed, but this time was definitely a down-right pain in the butt. The seat was broken, along with the rear-view mirrors and the gas tank cover…. and not surprisingly, she doesn’t start. So, Jonathan is tasked with sorting that out while I sort out Round 2 of comfort foods. For this edition, we are taking off the healthy-eating hat and putting on the “I need pizza rolls, asap!!” hat. Yet another one of my childhood favorites, I could eat these little preservative-filled artificial cheese-oozing mini-taste-nothing-like-pizza rolls every day. But I don’t, because I’m a reasonable adult (read: only because they don’t sell them in Europe).

From one pizza roll lover to another, trust me: this recipe is the real deal! No need to make your own pizza dough (though you could), and no need to cut calories by baking instead of frying (though you can!) – just good old fashioned snack food to help you get through a bad day, or to make a good day even better 😉

Ingredients:
- 20 Wonton wrappers
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 1 cup Italian sausage (cooked)
- ¼ cup Black olives (finely chopped)
- ¼ Green peppers (finely chopped)
- 1 cup mozzarella (shredded)
- 1 cup Vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup Fresh basil (garnish)
Instructions:
1. Set out your wonton wrappers, then layer on about a teaspoon of marinara sauce then add the rest of the ingredients.
2. Wet the edges of the wrappers with a bit of water, and carefully close them.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan or pot, then add the wonton rolls in batches (don’t over-crowd them!) and fry until golden brown.
4. Strain them and remove any excess oil, and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
5. Garnish with fresh basil as desired.
May 22, 2015
Creamy mashed potatoes
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m definitely in cold-weather mode with my recipes lately because it’s been so darn chilly these past few weeks! Instead of craving summer salads and grilled food, I’m craving hearty stick-to-your ribs recipes that will warm me up. I’ve also been really busy at my day job, trying to settle into our new life in London, and feeling a little homesick for my life back in Paris. A nice helping of comfort food is our self-prescribed recipe to cope with all of these changes, and we’ve been cooking up a bunch of ours recently.

Everyone has their own take on what represents comfort food for them, but for me, one of my classic favorites would definitely be mashed potatoes. They remind me of Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) and they’re easy enough to make for a mid-week dinner, so you can enjoy them all year round. I’ve tried several different recipes, from garlicky mash, to red skin potato mash, skin on vs peeled, and lots of other variations.

For some reason, my favorite mashed potatoes used to be the ones that came in the Swanson TV dinners. Yes, really. I couldn’t wait to gobble them up, and one of my faves was the fried chicken w/mashed potatoes and corn. I think even now I’d probably still love them! Let’s not think about how many preservatives and other awful things must be in those things, though…

Over the years, I’ve come to have a new favorite: simple, creamy mashed potatoes. No fancy ingredients, no garlic, no bacon, no cheese… just potatoes, salt, pepper and a bit of dairy with a dash of olive oil. This would be the perfect side to go with the perfect restaurant-style steak!

Ingredients:
- 5 large potatoes, peeled & quartered
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of salt
- ¼ cup of heavy cream
- Salt and pepper, to taste (optional)
Instructions:
1. Place the salt and potatoes in a large pot, and fill with water until the potatoes are covered.
2. Boil the potatoes for about 25 minutes, or until completely tender.
3. While the potatoes are boiling, heat the heavy cream and butter on a low heat until butter is melted. Set aside.
4. Once cooked, drain the potatoes and return to the pot. Add in the cream and butter mixture.
5. Using a hand mixer, whip the potatoes for about 30 seconds, until smooth. Then, add in the olive oil and whip for another 30 seconds.
6. Season with salt & pepper as needed, and serve hot!
May 18, 2015
Macaroni and Cheese
comfort food

noun

noun: comfort food; plural noun: comfort foods

food that provides consolation or a feeling of well-being, typically having a high sugar or carbohydrate content and associated with childhood or home cooking.

…I was robbed! This weekend’s drama definitely put me in the mood for a big helping of the above — comfort food.

You guys, do you ever have day that goes so well that you start thinking something’s up? It was a super productive day at work, and a big weekend planned including seeing a good friend in town from Paris. Well, Friday was one of those days! It ended on a pretty good note and I was out of the office earlier than usual, around 5pm. As I was driving home on my (once) beautiful Honda motorbike, I was thinking how happy I was that I brought it over from Paris to London when we moved. And even more so, I was thankful to not be stuck on the hot & stuffy London Tube to get home!

Home in only 20 minutes, I parked my bike and headed upstairs to my flat. Fast forward to the next morning when I went outside… only to see that it had been stolen! That’s the worst feeling ever, realizing that someone else has your stuff… and you have no way of getting it back 🙁

I raced back upstairs to tell Jonathan and he goes “Yeah I noticed it wasn’t there last night when I came home…!!” – he simply thought I had left the bike at work for the weekend as rain was on the forecast. This means that the it was stolen sometime between 6-8pm on a busy road, and in broad daylight as it doesn’t even get dark until pretty late these days. Talk about brazen!

After a few hopeful phone calls to the city pound to make sure it hadn’t just been towed for some reason, I finally accepted that my treasured moto was gone. So, I filed the police report and went about the rest of my Saturday feeling pretty down. I know it’s just a material good, but it’s such a violation to have something taken from you. But then, I got an email from the London police confirming my details and to let me know that it had been recovered! I know sometimes motorbikes are stolen and used for joyrides (or for committing other crimes…), so I tried to prepare myself for the worst. Off we went to the local police station, and there she was…sitting in a corner: a bit banged up, but all in all, not as bad as we were expecting! The steering column was all broken and the ignition was ripped out, but Jonathan was able to use his mechanic training hot wire it to start, and we brought her home safe and sound. We’re in for about $1000 in repairs (!!!), but overall a happy ending to a very annoying situation!

After the longest Saturday ever, I was definitely in need of a nice big bowl of comfort food, but not just any comfort food: macaroni and cheese. Whenever I’m feeling down, stressed, or just want a taste of home, I always crave mac n cheese for some reason. After ten years of living in fancy-cheese-having France (but no cheddar*…!) it’s nice to be able to whip up a bowl of the stuff using the ingredients I’m used to, ie a nice sharp cheddar.

As is often the case for Sunday dinner, I found myself staring into the fridge looking for inspiration. But tonight was a no brainer as soon as I opened the fridge and realized taht I had a bunch of greek yogurt and cheese to use up.

A comfort food recipe should be by definition easy to make, and this is no exception. Feel free to wing it, change up the quantities, and swap in different cheeses – the warm fuzzy feeling that this dish will give you will be the same, either way 🙂
Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe Type: Comfort food

Cuisine: American

Author: Veronica | seefoodplay.com

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 35 mins

This is one of the simplest recipes I’ve come up with thus far for easy, creamy and very cheesy macaroni and cheese. Ready in about 20-30 minutes, this is the ultimate comfort food recipe | seefoodplay.com
Ingredients

3 tablespoons of greek yogurt

1/2 cup of water

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of flour

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

100 grams of macaroni (or any shape you want!), cooked until al dente

Cheese:

¼ cup of parmesan

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

½ cup strong cheddar (save for topping)
Instructions

Place your butter in a medium-sized pot and melt it on a low heat, then add in the flour.

You’ll need to whisk the butter + flour mixture together to prevent clumps, and it will come together to form a nice smooth buttery roux.

Next, add in the Greek yogurt to combine well, then the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and ground pepper.

Now, add in all the cheese and stir until melted.

Use a big spoon (or whisk, like I do) to continue to stir the cheese mixture, adding in the water slowly if it gets too thick.

Now, add in the cooked pasta and stir until mixed in with the cheese.

Place a bit of olive oil in a baking dish, and transfer your macaroni +cheese mix to the dish.

Top with the ½ cup of cheddar, then bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the topping is as golden as you like it!
Notes

With the arrival of Marks and Spencer’s in Paris, proper strong/sharp cheddar cheese is now readily available around town. So if you happen to live in Paris, you can make this recipe, too 🙂

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May 16, 2015