Pasta night

For the longest time, I've always wanted to make meatball and spaghetti. I thought it would be so hard or take a long time. The first I've ever had it was at Ellie's, which was not too bad for a desi restaurant. The meatballs were gigantic though. The second time I had it was when J made it. It was so good that it made it even that much more daunting to attempt my own, fearing that it won't live up to my expectations.


But for some reason, I was craving something other than desi food so much tonight that when Mom asked me to grind the beef, I decided I would just make some meatballs to eat a meatball sub (which I thought was a better alternative to bryani, beef curry and chicken curry once again). So I set to work, got the recipe that J used, spun my own twists to it (mostly because I ended up not having the ingredients lol), and went to work. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty well to me. A and M1 approved as did Mom so I guess I can count this as a success. :D 


And, as always, I'll share the recipe with you all. Have fun!


Equipment

• Large bowl
• Food handling glove (optional, I just don't like the smell of raw meat clinging on my hands)
• Tongs (optional, I used them to turn the meatballs and take them out)
• Measuring tools (spoons and cups)
• A pot that can hot about 4-6 quart of liquid
• Oven
• Stove

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cups stale bread crumb
• 1 cup lukewarm water

Pasta & Sauce

I used a box of spaghetti and pre-made sauce

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Thoroughly mix together ground beef, egg, garlic, cheese, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt. Mix bread crumbs until evenly distributed. Then, add water little by little until the mixture is moist and can hold the shape of small balls. 
• Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray. Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, turning them half way through. 
• Make pasta according to the box's direction, add sauce and stir to evenly distribute the sauce into the spaghetti, then add in the meatballs.

Source 1. Source 2

Tips

• If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs, but avoid adding too much or else the meatballs will be too dry
• As you will see from the sources, adding pork and veal will give it a bit of a different taste. I didn't add it because I don't eat pork and I couldn't find/didn't have Kosher veal.
• When I made mine, the balls were about 2-2.5 inches in diameter so it only took 30 minutes to bake them. How long it takes depends on the size of your meatballs.
• When you take them out, use a cutting utensil to check if the inside is done or not. I made sure there were no redness inside it.

-M

Chewy choco-cookies!

So I finally have a PC again after about 4/5 years. It feels really different from my Macbook but it's nice to have a big keyboard again. I definitely don't miss the fear of getting infected though haha. Anyways, here is the recipe for the super delicious chocolate chip cookies. Now, I've never made cookies from scratch so if I can make them, you can too! It's quite simple and very yummy. Enjoy!


Equipment

• 2 medium/large bowls 
• Sifter
• Electronic mixer or wisk
• Wooden spoon
• Cookie sheet
• Parchment paper (optional)
• Oven
• measuring tools (cups and spoons)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. If using cookie sheet, grease with butter or line with parchment paper
2. In the first bowl, sift flour, baking sofa, and salt. Stir them together so they are mixed. Set aside.
3. In the second bowl, cream together melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. (I used an electric hand held mixer. I creamed them for about 2-3 minutes. I stopped when it was nice and fluffy looking). In the same bowl, beat in the  vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. Then mix in sifted ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt),  it is blended.
4. With a wooden spoon stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
5. On the prepared cookie sheet, drop in 1/4 cup size scoops (for large ones, less if smaller) of the dough 3 inches apart as well as from the edge of the cookie sheet.
6. In the preheated oven, bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
7. Once baked, cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Source

Tips

• Bring the butter to room temperature and then melt it in a bowl by microwaving it at 5-10 second intervals. It's okay if not all of the butter is melted. Stir the chunks and the heat from the melted butter will melt it. You do NOT want to put hot butter in the mixture. It'll cook the eggs!
• Try not to over cream (Step 2). I think too much air in the egg mixture makes it too dry.
• Try to have all the ingredients and equipment gathered together. It's such a hassle to look for something in the middle of cooking or to find out you don't have the ingredient.
• From my research I found out that you can refrigerate the dough for a week and freeze it for about a month or so. If you're going to freeze it, make sure you allow enough time to allow the dough to come to room temperature. 
• If you plan on saving the dough for later, scoop out the dough like you would for baking and refrigerate/freeze them like that so when it's baking time all you have to do is arrange them on a cookie sheet.

Hope you have a lovely time baking and enjoy the cookies as much as I did!

-M

Date night

Tonight's date night was quiet pleasant. As usual, it started with a bit of turbulence but thankfully that was it for the night. We went to the improv at the Hard Rock, drank some, laughed some and left. We tried eating at Olive Gardens (food at the improv was way too much and the selections sucked) but it was packed for a Sunday night so we tried Chili's / Red Lobsters / Fridays. Chili's was also crowded so we settled for Fridays. I was pleasantly surprised at the food quality. Not too bad actually. Then we drove back to J's houses, hugged it up and I headed back home, both of us very happy for the night. It's nights like this or the times I go over to nap or cry that I feel the full blessing that Allah bestowed upon me :) I really hope this blessing continues for the rest of my life :)

-M

Choco Cookies

For the last couple days I've been wanting to make cookies from scratch. I even looked up recipes and everything but just couldn't find the time. First it was preparation for the 4th. Then it was Lilatul Barat. Then one crap after another. But I was finally able to make some last night, some deliciously thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies. It was my first time ever making them and man was it good! I'm quite proud of how they turned out, especially since my picky brother even liked them. I only made two last night because it was already so late but scooped up the rest and refrigerated the rest of the dough the same way they sell it at the store. I can't wait to make more and share some with J. He loves chunky cookies. I didn't remember to take pictures of each step but I do remember what I did and what I used so as soon as I get on a real computer I'll post it up. :)

-M

Bismillah

After spending a whole decade in livejournal, I've finally moved on to here. It's a bit nerve wrecking and I don't feel the same level of comfort or the presence of my old audience.  But this too shall pass and I will become used to it.  So I thought, "what better day to start than on Lilatul Barat?" And here I am with my life story. Here's to the future!

-Mina