Author Archives: The Cooking spoon

Grilled Cheese Meatballs in Onion Sauce

Meatballs loaded with onion sauce and finished off under the grill to melt all that cheese to golden perfection. These are the kind of dishes that make me wish winter would last forever.

You can serve these with mashed potatoes, over pasta or even in a bun.

The meatballs in this recipe are medium large intended for dinner, but you could make them a lot smaller and then serve them as an appetizer for a party with little wooden skewers in them.

Serves: 4 – 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground beef
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed or grated
1 egg yolk
2 – 3 tbsp. panko bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
ground black pepper
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
———————————-
4 medium onions, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. flour
2 cups beef stock
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 cup grated cheese*

*Cheddar , Gouda, Asiago, Fontina, Gruyère, Havarti, Monterey Jack are all great cheeses for melting and grilling, use any one or make a mix.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre heat the oven to 220° C / 425° F
For the meatballs, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Don’t overmix. Form 8 meatballs.
Put them in a oiled oven dish and place in the middle of the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes. I use a cast iron skillet but a baking dish is fine too.
Meanwhile heat a large frying pan and glaze the onions on medium low heat in the two tablespoons of olive oil, add a pinch of salt. Partially cover and let cook for about 20 minutes. Stirring now and again. After the 20 minutes add one tablespoon of sugar and stir around until in begins to caramelize and gets a deep golden color.
Add the two tablespoons of flour and again stir until this too gets a golden color.
Gently add the beef stock and stir to completely combine. Add the cumin and let simmer for 10 minutes.
When the meatballs are cooked take them out of the oven and carefully pour over all the onion sauce.
Set the oven to grilling.
Cover the meatballs and onions with the grated cheese and place back in to oven. Grill for about 5 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

Enjoy!

Myra XO

Homemade Spelt Tortilla

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Nothing beats a home made Tortilla, it’s super simple and you don’t even need a tortilla press. However if you do have one, lucky you, use it.

I don’t have a tortilla press and just use a rolling pin and it literally only takes me minutes.

They are delicious, quick, easy, cheaper than store bought and healthier too since there are no additives of unpronounceable ingredients in them.
I’ve been making these for a long time now and once I started , I never bought a tortilla again. It’s just not worth it. The great thing is, you can use them for anything, sandwiches, veggie wraps, fajitas, you name it.

They freeze well too, so I always make a few extra.

Makes 8 Tortillas.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Spelt flour, half plain, half whole grain
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup very hot water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
more flour for rolling out dough

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and give it a good stir.
Add the hot water and olive oil to the flour and mix, first with a fork, then when it comes together continue kneading with your hands. Knead for about two minutes until you have a soft pliable dough.
Shape into eight balls and place on a lightly greased plate.
Cover with cling film and let rest for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes, roll each ball out on a floured surface into a circle of about 20 cm. / 8″. Place a piece of parchment paper between each tortilla to prevent it from sticking.
Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
Place the tortilla on the preheated skillet and cook for about 30 seconds on each side. Don’t over cook.
Place cooked tortillas on a plate and cover with a tea towel to prevent drying. Repeat for the rest.
Store leftovers covered in the fridge or freeze, again with parchment paper between each tortilla and then in a zip lock bag. They will keep in the freezer for a month.

Enjoy!

Myra XO

Winter Granola with cozy spices

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….WINTER GRANOLA, CHERRIES AND COZY SPICES…..

All the flavours of Winter in a bowl, seriously delicious and good any time of day (or season), although I did make this with cold weather in mind. This spiced winter granola is my favourite comfort food for rainy cold days, and the dried chewy cherries pair so well with the warm spices, honestly self control doesn’t stand a chance here, you’ll find yourself eating it by the handful but that’s ok since it’s full of healthy goodness.

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon star anise, ground
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar or coconut sugar
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried Cherries

I have taken a different approach this time and made a caramel like sticky sauce to stir thru the Oats, so good…

DIRECTIONS:

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar with the water and maple syrup and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Cook for a few minutes to reduce.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the syrup cool slightly.
Add the vanilla.
Preheat oven to 320° F/ 160° C degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Toss the oats, spices. hazelnuts, seeds and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Add the coconut/canola oil to the brown sugar syrup and stir until thoroughly combined.
Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and mix well with a rubber until thoroughly combined. Make sure all of the oats are moistened.
Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.
Rotate baking tray halfway thru.
Allow granola to cool completely in order to get the crunchy clusters.
Now add the dried Cherries.
Store this in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month.

Enjoy !

Myra XO

Morning Glory Muffins

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The best Home made Grab and Go Breakfast Muffins. With all natural ingredients.

Packed with apples, coconut, carrots, walnuts, spice, raisins, and sweetened with maple syrup, basically everything I love in one.

I have added some applesauce instead of oil, making these beauties not only addictively delicious but also healthy and fat free.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 35 mins

Servings: 12

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup all purpose (spelt) flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1 cup oat flour (ground oats)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice (ginger bread spice)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 2 small apples, grated coarsely
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup toasted coconut flakes

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre heat oven to 180 C / 350 F
Line a muffin tin with paper cases.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Mix all the wet ingredients in an other bowl including carrot and apple.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir carefully until just combined. If you still see dry ingredients it’s ok. Don’t over mix.
Now add the raisins, walnuts and coconut flakes, stir just once or twice.
Pour into the muffin cases and place on a rack in the middle of the oven.
Bake for about 23 to 25 minutes.
Test by inserting a dry skewer into the muffin center. If it comes out dry, they are done.
Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the tin and placing the muffins on a rack to cool completely.
You can freeze them at this point in an airtight container or zip lock bag, they will keep in the freezer for up to three months.