Konigsberger Klopse

Try saying that with your mouth full:). I think it means the Mountain King's meatballs in German though there seems to be a few stories as to what and why they are called this.  But let's just stick to what we know - they are meatballs and they are delicious and worth a bit of fiddling around.  I am joining in again this month with The Cookbook Guru book club, and this month's book is by the well-loved Margaret Fulton who is cracking 90 not out.  Her family has produced 3 generations of cooks, including her sister Jean Hatfield, with her granddaughters taking over the mantle in recent times. Their mum Suzanne Gibbs, Margaret's only child is also a well-known cook.  A real family dynasty of fabulous cooks! This recipe is from Margaret's Encyclopedia of Food & Cookery, first published in 1983.  So, long before all the TV shows and the celebrity chefs, Margaret was travelling and searching out new recipes, and demonstrating new dishes in department stores.  (Have a look at her autobiography; it is a great read.  She was a bit of a naughty girl!).  There are anchovies in this dish, which must have sounded pretty wild at the time - in meatballs? - but they are only noticeable as an added saltiness, not a fishy slap in the face.  I am mad about sauerkraut, and always serve these with it as suggested by Margaret, but you could just have mashed potatoes, and some steamed greens.
Margaret's recipe actually calls for simmering the meatballs in a pan of stock, but I like the added flavour and the ease of just whacking them into the oven to bake.   I have also added a few extra flavourings to give it a bit more of a modern twist.

ingredients:

for the meatballs:

750g. of beef mince (or you can ring in the changes by using a mixture of veal, pork and beef)
3 slices of stale, white bread soaked for 10 minutes in cold water, then squeezed out with your hands
1 onion finely chopped
5 anchovy fillets, mashed with a fork
2 eggs
2 tbs parsley, chopped finely
1/4 cup Cornflake crumbs
1/4 tsp lightly dried chilli flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
a few dashes of ground nutmeg
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
about ten grinds of black pepper

for the sauce:

30g. butter
1/3 cup diced onion
1+3/4 tbs flour
800mls stock - take your pick - I used chicken but use whatever takes your fancy
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs capers, rinsed and shaken dry
2-3 tbs sour cream

Method:

Grab a large bowl- in goes the minced meat and all the other ingredients for the meatballs
Give this a really, really good mix with your hands (I use gloves)
Shape into golf-ball sized globes (you should get about 24 meatballs)
Place on a baking tray lined with paper (you will need 2 trays)
Bake for 20 mins. at 180C

Sauce:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan
Add the onion and fry till golden but not brown
Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture, and give it a good stir
Keep stirring while the roux thickens - make sure it doesn't burn
Cook out the flour for a few minutes
Pour in the stock and stir, and keep stirring for a few minutes more till it has thickened
Add the lemon juice and capers
Gently drop the meatballs into the lemony sauce and allow to simmer away for 15 mins., giving it an occasional stir
Stir in the sour cream and serve with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes

gathering ingredients 

ready to mix up and make into balls   

lots of squelchy squishing

here come the balls:) 

rolling rolling rolling, keep those balls a-rolling 

rolled and ready to bake

baked!

Yes they are a bit leaky 'cos I ran out of lean mince and had to use some of the mince I normally feed to the kookaburras!  And why the King and Queen, you may ask?  The Mountain King of course!

saucy ingredients 

adding flour to the butter and onion  

stirring in the flour 

stock added and simmering away  

dropping the meatballs into the sauce (excuse fuzzy night-time shot)

spooning in the sour cream to finish off the dish    

serve with sauerkraut and mash for a very hearty winter's meal 

(Remember that song we all used to sing as kids?)

On Top of Spaghetti

 

On top of spaghetti, 
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball, 
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.

Don't let this happen to you:)

(Lyrics by Tom Glazer).

My Sunday Photo 7 June 2015

this sculpture is called Maddie and Mike and is set in the Broadwater Parklands QLD 

The Balfour Kitchen - review

A former work colleague and I recently tootled off to see a Peter Churcher exhibition, which included that incredibly moving portrait of his mum Betty as she lay dying in hospital.  She instructed him to make it realistic, so he has depicted her looking weary, but unafraid of death.  Many of the paintings were of young, half-naked men in streams of glorious light.  As my friend pointed out, these looked brilliant when you stood at a distance and took in the splendid glow.  After absorbing the beautifully executed artworks, we then decided to head to The Balfour Kitchen nearby which is part of the Spicers Balfour Hotel in New Farm.  They cater for hotel guests and casual visitors, so we were able to partake of the delectable dishes on the menu.  The restaurant (and hotel) is in a lovely old Queenslander house, set in a leafy garden. Even though it is close to the CBD, and near a busy part of Brisbane, there was a sense of serenity and calm as we settled down to lunch.  I took delight in checking out the other patrons; among others, there was a couple consisting of a younger (married) man - (I saw his ring), and an older woman who did not appear to be his wife.  I watched them surreptitiously, though I did see her glance my way once or twice.  Maybe she thought I was taking photos of them, rather than the food!  The hotel is painted dark grey, which sounds odd especially for sunny Brisbane, but in fact it worked well, somehow making the green leaves of the trees stand out even more.

the lovely front door

the light in the front verandah     

green and leafy front garden     

Interestingly, they had linen table napkins, but paper table-cloths.  And very sensible too!  My lean friend is on a special eating plan (to do with health rather than weight), so I indulged alone in main and dessert while he stuck to a main.  You can see why he is lean, and I am mmm...not.  He ever so sensibly started with a pot of tea while I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

such a pretty little pot $4

I love a good glass of Sauv Blanc. $13

delicious crunchy potatoes with mango chutney aioli $12

Wild Barra with kale and chickpea salad $33 

lamb fillet with sweet potato crisps $35

petite rosewater and lychee brulee $8  

I love the flavours of rosewater and lychee so this was a real winner for me.  And it was "petite" so no need to justify having dessert:)  Not that I ever feel the need to do that.  Yes there was the dreaded kale, but not too much so I managed to scoff it down.  Service was unobtrusive, and friendly enough.
The chef brings an interest in Indian food to his dishes, so there was a slight leaning to exotic spices and Indo-Pacific hints.  We both enjoyed our meals, which were well-cooked and tasty.  The Kitchen is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day except Sunday night.



 

How Alice fell down the Rabbit Hole and ate (Chocolate) Cake

Alice? White Rabbit? Mad Hatter? Cheshire Cat?  Yep, you know I mean Alice in Wonderland.  I have an ancient copy of my mum's that she must have loved too.  And for something different, I also have a copy with the wonderfully quirky illustrations by Yayoi Kusama.  It seems that artists never get tired of re-inventing Alice, and Wonderland is a fave for costume parties.  Mr P. and I were off to a book-themed night with Alice being our tables' literary muse.  Mr P. hired a White Rabbit suit, and organised an express delivery from China of a Cheshire Cat onesie for me.  He never does things by halves!  We had massive amounts of fun decorating ourselves and the tables.  Sadly we lost out to a spectacular Hogwarts table who took out the prize for best decorated.  My food contribution was chocolate patty cakes with lashings of buttercream icing.  I like about equal quantities of cake to icing:)  You just make up any chocolate cupcake recipe you have, then add oodles of icing. You can flavour it how you like, and make it any colour you like too!  Here is my method for decorating these little beauties.

buttercream icing:

ingredients:

230g. butter - softened
480g. icing sugar or mixture
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbs cream
1 tsp pillar box red food colouring - yes you read me right - one teaspoon!

method:

Place the butter and icing sugar in a high-sided medium bowl (you don't want it all over your kitchen)
Beat on a low speed with your electric beaters for a couple of minutes till the icing sugar starts to be incorporated into the butter
Turn up the speed and keep beating for around 5 minutes more till it goes all smooth and creamy. For a while there, you think it will never come together but hang on, it does
Add the vanilla, cream and colouring and beat again till you have a gorgeous, deep pink icing
Spread generously over the tops of your completely cooled patty cakes

Some recipes suggest you can use margarine - urgh!, and some say to use unsalted butter but I like salted in my sweet recipes.  Heard of salted caramel before?:)   Happily use icing mixture here; let's not be precious.  Go for it with the colouring.  Why not?  Be bold.  And slather the icing/frosting on top of your cakes.  Personally I can live without the cake bit; just give me luscious icing to lick off.

ingredients 

butter and icing sugar in the bowl  

after a few minutes it looks like this

after a few more minutes, it looks like this!  

look at that gorgeous rosy hue 

getting ready to decorate 

take a small paring knife and cut into the centre of the cake

cut out a little triangle 

stuffing in the M & Ms as a surprise  

now take off the wrapper  

get slathering 

and more slathering  

pretty as a picture 

rows of cute cakes ready for the party 

what the heck! I couldn't resist one more photo 

my tatty and well-loved copy of a 1946 edition  

guess who!

Mr P. as the White Rabbit with a bunny friend  

My Sunday Photo 31 May 2015

chocolate patty cakes soon to be covered with buttercream icing 

Judith Lucy - review

Okay I confess - I love Lucy - Judith Lucy that is.  Who can resist that laconic drawl, that mad Harpo hair and the weirdly attractive clodhopper shoes with the black evening gown?  Well clearly not me. And the venue being the bloody fantastic Powerhouse, this is a winner all round.  Judith was in fine fettle last night, filling us in on her sex life and menopausal symptoms, and her toy boy fella, the one helping her to have the aforesaid sex life. (Apparently the neighbours are admiring of their noisy sexual shenanigans).  Judith did her best to engage (and embarrass?) the audience by checking in with some happy customers who had been indulging in espresso martinis.  Phew did we get intimate with one lucky lady!   Judith was addressing us on the subject of "dick pics";  the lady with her third martini happily told us she had received hundreds, yes you heard right, hundreds of them and yes indeed had slept with some of them after receiving the pics.  Wow!  I was impressed with her stamina and honesty as her current boyfriend was sitting right next to her.  Yep I am clearly out of the loop;  I did not know "dick pics" were a thing.

(author Srinivasprabhu933)

Judith says her best shows come after times of turmoil; I think she was a teensy bit too happy this time.  I mean sure she was funny and even outrageous but just too darn happy to be convincingly angst-ridden.  One of her previous shows some years ago was after she had broken up with a bloke, and yep that was hilarious.  I loved that the audience was made up of young and old, (a few) hipsters, trendy young things, menopausal women, and a whole gamut of middle-class punters.  I love the way she slings out the word "vagina" without cringeing; the way she tells us about taking HRT - "cos I was going crazy"; the Brazilian she had for her tv show, and that she just couldn't help herself but really like Julie Bishop as a woman.  

the Moth

inside the Powerhouse theatre; my fave venue in Brisbane 

sadly no encores

gritty, ruggedly sexy Powerhouse facade:)  

well, it was dark with no lights hence the ghastly photo   

some of the trendy young things 

We had a ball listening to Judith skewer herself and the audience (I could hear the ladies behind us saying how they never bought tickets up the front in case she picked on them).  I feel like she and I are just that little bit closer as I now know about her vaginal problems, hot flushes, and noisy sex life. So yes I love (Judith) Lucy; perhaps like Judith and Julie Bishop, I just can't help liking her as a woman.  

And just for your delectation, here is a recipe from Jamie Oliver for espresso martini:

For one!!:

50 mls vodka

35 mls coffee liqueur

25 mls cold espresso

ice

(some recipes say to add 30 mls of sugar syrup)

Shake madly together and drink (then tell dirty stories about the raunchy photos you have received on your phone).

(author Evan-Amos)

(I paid for this ticket myself cos I just love Judith).  Oh, and why "Ask no Questions of the Moth?"
This is from a poem called The Dullard Sage by a Sufi poet - Farid ud-Din Attar, and refers to the fleeting quality of life.