16 posts tagged “ground beef”
Burgers are one of those things I really love, but rarely make. I guess I just never think of them as an option when I'm making a list of dinners for the week. But the other day, I was wandering aimlessly around Whole Foods when I saw Ezekiel buns in the freezer. Now, I have loved Ezekiel bread for the longest time. Recently, I came across Ezekiel wraps, and have been hooked on those for lunches. And now I have found Ezekiel buns. Oh, Food for Life, I will have to put you right up there with Kashi on my list of irrestistible product manufacturers.
It's no secret that I love Mexican and Tex-Mex flavors, so I went that route with these burgers. I spiced the burgers pretty simply and subtly, stuffed them with cheese, and made a chipotle ketchup of sorts. Here's a suggestion - cut your cheese into smaller chunks so it actually melts while the burger cooks. Not that I am complaining about running into a big chunk of cheese mid-dinner, but a little melty goodness would be better.
I confess I was a little lazy with the chipotle ketchup. Normally I would start any stovetop condiment/sauce/etc. with onions and or garlic but I really didn't feel like doing much chopping. I mean, I was already trying to make something relatively easy by throwing ingredients into one bowl. But, it still tasted great. So by all means if you are more motivated than me, add the onions and garlic. But I don't think they're necessary.
Tex-Mex Burgers with Chipotle Ketchup
Makes 4 burgers
1 lb. ground beef or sirloin
1/2 cup sliced scallions
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. aleppo (or other) chili powder
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
ground pepper to taste
2 oz. monterey jack or cheddar or whatever kind of cheese you want
Chipotle Ketchup
1-2 chipotles in adobo (depending how spicy you want it)
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. brown sugar
salt and pepper
Make the ketchup, by combining all the ingredients into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for a few minutes to marry the flavors, and taste for seasoning. Set aside to cool slightly as you make the burgers.
Mix all the ingredients for the burger (except the cheese) into a bowl. Divide the mixture into 4 parts and stick a piece of cheese in the center of each part, pressing around it to seal it in.
Grill or broil the burgers until done. Garnish with anything you'd like.
Honestly, why is it that I am always compelled to make things for blog events that look like ass? I feel like I am always sticking a disclaimer on my entries that says, "Sorry this doesn't photograph well, but I promise it tastes good!"
OK, so, to be a broken record, this is precisely the case with this recipe. There are so many food blogging events that I've been wanting to participate in lately but have been so busy I haven't had the chance. I made it a point, though, to participate in Savory Pies, an event hosted by my friend Ivy at Kopiaste.
Now, you know me. You know I eat pretty healthfully most of the time. Pies are not so healthy. I mean you could make them with phyllo, which is much better than typical crust, but then you have to use all that butter between the layers. And for whatever reason, I can't justify the cooking oil spraying between each layer instead of the butter or oil. I mean, I am healthy but first and foremost I am Greek! That's borderline blasphemous. :)
That said, the only thing I might change in this is to add a little more fat to the crust. I was trying to keep this relatively low-cal which is why there is only 2T of fat in it, but let's be honest, more fat = tastes better. Otherwise, this is a nice dinner version of everyone's favorite dip--the 7 layer one! I decided to make the crust with cornmeal - something I love in my plasto - because corn just goes so well with Mexican/Tex-Mex dishes. This looks like a long process but it's really not bad. You can make the beans while your crust bakes and your ground beef mixture right after. And, since everything is already cooked, the final baking of the pie is really only to melt the cheese. I went ahead and used the same pan for the beans and the meat and I already had the food processor out for the pie crust, so why not use it for the bean layer, too? This made for some easy cleanup on my part.
7-Layer Pie
Crust - Layer 1
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup masa harina or regular flour
1 T cold butter
1 T canola oil
pinch of salt and a little ground pepper
cold water or milk
Preheat the oven to 375.
Combine the corn meal, flour, butter, oil, salt & pepper in a food processor and pulse to combine. Slowly add a little cold water or milk until the consistency is such that you can pinch some of the mixture with your fingers and it sticks together a bit.
Spray a deep dish pie pan with a little cooking oil and then press the mixture into the dish to form a crust. Prebake for about 12 minutes and then set aside.
Black Beans - Layer 2 (<--- Mmm, isn't that a pretty picture? LOL)
This is the same way I make beans as a side, but this time I pureed them for more of a refried bean-like consistency.
1-2 tsp. canola oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 cup chicken broth
squeeze of fresh lime juice (optional)
Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the oil to a shimmer. Stir in the onions and cook until tender. Add garlic and tomato paste and saute an additional minute. Add the beans, chicken broth, bay leaf, cumin, chili powder and oregano. Simmer to combine flavors. Squeeze fresh lime juice in mixture if desired. Pulse the mixture in your food processor until it is a spreadable consistency. Of course you don't HAVE to do this, but I just felt this was more dip-like.
Ground Beef - Layer 3
1 lb. ground beef or sirloin
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1.5 tsp. cumin
1.5 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
1/3 cup beef broth
salt and pepper
Brown the beef and the onion together until the beef is cooked and the onion is translucent. Drain the fat. To the pan add the garlic, sauteing until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low until thickened. Season to taste if necessary.
Cheese - Layer 4
1 cup shredded cheese
After you have layered the crust, beans, ground beef & cheese, bake the pie in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and everything is warmed through. Top with the remaining layers:
Sour cream - Layer 5
1/3 cup sour cream
Tomato - Layer 6
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
Olives - Layer 7
1/3 cup sliced olives
Okay, you got me. This piece doesn't have sour cream on it (yet) because it was a leftover piece. Nor is it reheated. Congealed cheese, anyone? And the pic above? The reason it's so close up is because I didn't want to store the remaining pie with the sour cream on top. Who wants to eat hot sour cream when reheated? Not me.
I can't believe my blog has gone on this long without mention of keftedes. It's just unacceptable! Keftedes are the ever-so-famous Greek meatballs that often grace the typical Greek's table at any hour of day. They can be appetizers, sides, snacks, or a main dish. A bigger version of a kefteda is often called a bifteki - that's about the size of a hamburger, but not as flat.
Now, you know I'm all about making things healthy whenever possible right? I'm all over reducing the amount of oil and butter in a recipe, swapping out certain ingredients, etc. I'd even suggest baking meatballs instead of pan frying them when you are making something like spaghetti and meatballs. So you'll just have to trust me when I say - you are going to want to pan fry these babies. It's just the right thing to do, ok? Do not let me catch you baking a Greek kefteda!
When I was young, keftedes and homemade French fries were one of my absolute favorite meals. When I was young, I was a fat kid. :)
The other day, I paired the keftedes with a relatively lighter Greek-style potato salad (coming to a future Vox post near you) and green salad. So now that your sides are nice and healthy, you are going to feel just fine about the pan frying.
Keftedes (Greek Meatballs)
1 slice of bread
milk
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 an onion, finely diced or grated
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
1 heaping tsp. dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper
flour, for dredging
olive oil, for pan frying
Put your slice of bread into a bowl and then pour milk into the bowl. Allow the bread to soak up the milk as you are prepping your other ingredients. Squeeze the bread to get rid of some of the milk, and then discard the remaining milk, keeping just the soggy bread.
Add the beef, egg, onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper to the bread. Mix everything together (with your hands - what Ina calls "a cook's best tools") but don't overmix. Then, shape into meatballs--any size you want.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Dredge the meatballs in flour, shaking off the excess. I find the easiest way to do this is to put some flour in your hands and then bat the meatball back and forth. When the oil is hot, add your meatballs and pan fry them until they are cooked through (working in batches, if necessary).
For as much as I enjoy food, I can pick what are probably my two favorite dishes with little hesitation: Greek-style stuffed cabbage with egg-lemon sauce (lahanodolmades avgolemono) and roasted lamb with tomatoes and orzo (arni youvetsi) with lots of grated myzithra. But, I tend to not make these dishes at home and wait for my yiayia to make them when I visit Michigan (she takes requests, of course). Tom is not that crazy about cabbage, so I usually make youvarlakia, which are almost the same thing as the dolmades but without the cabbage. And roasting lamb just doesn't make much sense when there are only two people in the household. So, unfortunately, I don't eat my two favorite meals all that often.
But, lucky for me, Tom *will* eat anything. In fact the only thing he doesn't like is Grape Nuts cereal, which he professes tastes like gravel. He likes almost everything else, and things he feels just sort of "eh" about (like cabbage), he will still eat. And hey, I can always eat the cabbage from his plate if he doesn't want it (much like I did with my dad's plate, when I was younger).
I have been majorly craving some lahanodolmades (LA-hah-no-dole-MAH-thes) lately, so I decided to make these. In general "dolmades" refer to stuffed grape leaves whereas "lahanodolmades" are stuffed cabbage (lahana = cabbage). I much, much, much prefer lahanodolmades with avgolemono over the tomato sauce many versions of stuffed cabbage tend to have. Plus, it's really the only way we made them in my family. These are really easy to make vegetarian by simply removing the meat. Normally I don't thicken my avgolemono with flour or cornstarch but that's because generally I am making something more soup-like whereas this is more sauce-like so I do add the cornstarch here.
Stuffed Cabbage with Egg Lemon Sauce (Lahanodolmades Avgolemono)
Serves about 4
1 cabbage
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup white rice
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, finely diced or grated
fresh dill, to taste--but don't be stingy!
fresh parsley, to taste--again, don't be stingy!
1 tsp. salt
ground pepper to taste
2--2.5 cups chicken broth or water (I use a combo)
Avgolemono
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add some salt. Meanwhile, peel the outermost leaves of the cabbage off and then, with one hand on the cabbage to steady it, use a small paring or utility knife to cut around the core of the cabbage. Pop the core out with the tip of your knife (basically you will have a hole in your cabbage). Then, add the cabbage to the boiling water and boil until the leaves are tender, about 10-12 minutes. Carefully peel the cabbage, layer by layer, reserving the leaves. If they are big, feel free to cut them in half.
In a pot or dutch oven (I just use the same one as I did for the cabbage), put some sort of layer of vegetables on the bottom. You can use some of the leftover cabbage leaves, onion, lemon slices...today I did a combo of all three because my onion was too large to use all up in the meat mixture and I had some torn pieces of cabbage.
Lightly mix your ground beef, rice, beaten egg, onion, dill, salt and pepper until the ingredients are incorporated. Lay a cabbage leaf flat on your work surface and place about a tablespoon or so of the meat mixture at one end of the leaf. Tuck in the sides of the leaf and then proceed to roll it up. Place the rolled up cabbage seam side down on top of bed of veggies. Continue stuffing/rolling the remaining cabbage and placing them next to each other in the pot. When you have one layer completed, make another layer of the stuffed cabbage.
After you have made all your rolls, pour water or broth into the pot. The cabbage rolls shouldn't be submerged completely, but you should be able to see the liquid coming up from the sides. I also place an inverted plate on top of the rolls, to keep some pressure on them so they don't open during cooking. Bring the broth to a boil and then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 60-75 minutes, until the cabbage is very tender.
To make the avgolemono, mix together the eggs and lemon juice and then add the corn starch to make a slurry. Take a few ladles of the broth from the cabbage rolls (I like to take out all or most of the rolls before doing this, just because it makes it easier on me and you can also pull out things you don't want to eat, like if you used lemon slices), and slowly add it to the egg-lemon mixture, beating continuously. Then, add the avgolemono into the pot, again stirring continuously. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutritional information per serving (using extra lean ground beef): Calories: 324 / Fat: 13.5 / Carbs: 18.2g / Protein: 33.5g
We Greeks are pretty simplistic when it comes to ingredients. I would venture to say that 95% of savory dishes are made with either tomatoes or lemons, and always with oregano. Desserts? Well, it just isn't a Greek dessert if it doesn't have nuts and honey. Not that I'm complaining. I love all of those ingredients and I love the simplicity of Mediterranean cooking.
Soutzoukakia (soo-tzoo-kah-kya) are one of my husbands and my favorite Greek dishes. I haven't made this dish in quite some time, as I tend to think of it as more of a fall or winter meal for some reason. When Tom suggested it for dinner, I just had to make it. Growing up, we always ate soutzoukakia over mashed potatoes. However, I have also seen them served over rice. I haven't personally tried them that way, but I still think I prefer potatoes :) The one thing we were missing tonight was some crusty bread to sop up all the tomato sauce.
As a complete side note, if you happen to be wondering, the suffix "aki" or "akia" in Greek means little. I mention this because you may have noticed that my youvarlakia also have the same suffix. Paidakia, for example, means little kids. If you wanted to call me "Ellaki" it would mean...well, little Elly, I guess. :)
Soutzoukakia
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, finely minced or grated (reserve 2-3 Tbsp).
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley or 2 tsp. dried
1 egg
1-2 Tbsp. bread crumbs (optional, my grandmas don't add them)
olive oil
1 large (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can water
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 (good) pinch sugar
salt and pepper
corn starch slurry (optional)
Mix together the beef, onion, garlic, salt, oregano, parsley, egg, pepper to taste and breadcrumbs (if using). Form the mixture into elongaged oval-shaped meatballs.
Heat olive oil in a pan and pan-fry the meatballs until they are browned on all sides (you don't have to cook them through). Remove. You can probably bake the meatballs instead if you want, but simmer the sauce longer and maybe use a little beef broth in place of the water to add some depth to the sauce.
To the pan, add the 2-3 Tbsp onion (and more oil if necessary) and cook until translucent. Add the tomato sauce, water, bay leaf, cumin, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture to a low boil and add the meatballs. Simmer about 10-15 minutes. If you want a thicker sauce, add a corn starch slurry at the end.
Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.
Youvarlakia! Youvarlakia are little Greek meat and rice balls in avgolemono, or egg lemon, sauce. If you've ever had avgolemono or chicken lemon rice soup, it's pretty much the same thing but, you know, with meatballs instead of chicken :)
This is a really simple dish, and pretty healthy, to boot. You can make this more or less soup-like depending on your preferences. Just reduce or increase the amount of broth accordingly.
And can you believe I have now voluntarily tempered eggs for 2 days in a row?
Youvarelakia
1 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, divided
4 cups broth
1 lb. extra lean ground beef (and not just for the nutrition, but so you don't get a greasy broth!)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
3-4 Tbsp. fresh parsley or 1-2 T dried
fresh dill, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
4 eggs, divided
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)
Cut the onion in half. Finely mince or grate one half and put in a medium sized bowl.
Dice the other half of the onion. Add butter to saucepan or small casserole/stockpot to melt. Add the diced onion and cook until translucent. Add the broth to the pot and bring to a light boil.
Meanwhile, make the meatballs. To the grated/minced onion, add the beef, salt, parsley, dill, ground pepper, uncooked rice and 1 beaten egg. Form the mixture into 1" meatballs (you will get around 25 or so).
Drop the meatballs into the broth. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20-25 minutes, until meatballs cook through and rice is done. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk the 3 remaining eggs with the lemon juice until combined.
Slowly drizzle 2 ladles of the broth from the meatballs into the egg/lemon mixture, stirring continuously so as not to scramble the eggs.
Slowly pour the egg/lemon/broth mixture back into the meatballs, again stirring continuously as you do so. Season to taste again, if necessary.
Serve meatballs with a ladle of sauce (or as much as you want).
Nutrition info per servings (4 servings). Note: I used 96% lean beef, but this calorie information is using 93% lean. Calories: 361 / Fat: 15.2g / Carbs: 25g / Fiber: 1.1g / Protein: 32.7
Here we are, nearing the end of July, and this is only my 6th blog entry for the month. Hopefully I can squeeze one more in there before we go to Seattle next week for a whopping 7 total entries!
Tonight, I made a tamale pie. Apparently tamale pie was somewhat of a staple dish in the 1940s-50s but I have never had it. In fact, I'd never even heard of it until recently. I really love tamales--and I really wanted to find some more uses for my masa harina--but tamales are quite labor intensive and basically every recipe calls for lard, which I am not willing to use. So, I searched for an alternative and came across something called a tamale pie. It seems like most of them, however, are made with cornmeal or cornbread mix so I went with the basic idea of the recipes I found online and used a masa crust (and of course I made up my own filling).
Now, I have no idea what a tamale pie is supposed to taste like or how authentic my filling was. Of course, I'm pretty sure tamale pie isn't exactly "authentic" to begin with. But, this turned out pretty well if I do say so myself :) I actually think I might prefer this with some chicken so I will try that next time around.
We had this with some southwestern roasted green beans. All I did here was toss some fresh green beans in a little oil and southwestern seasoning. I then roasted them for the last 15 minutes along with the pie (perfect timing--you can cut/prep your beans after you put the pie in the oven instead of trying to do everything at the same time). I'm not usually one for pre-mixed spice combos since I tend to have all the ingredients on hand to make my own mix, but southwest seasoning and Italian seasoning always seem to find their way into my cabinet, and they get a fair amount of use.
Masa crust
1.25 cups masa harina (corn flour)
1.5 Tbsp cold butter
1/2 cup corn
3 Tbsp milk
ground pepper
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup chicken stock (you probably won't use all of it but it's good to have in case)
In a food processor, process corn, masa, butter, baking powder and pepper until butter is incorporated. Add milk and pulse process to just combine.
Mix chicken stock with masa mixture until a smooth, spreadable--not pourable--dough forms. I think I ended up using about 3/4 cup stock tonight. Add more stock as you feel necessary.
Tamale Pie Filling
1 pound ground beef
1 small to medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1 (4.5oz) can diced green chilis
1/2 cup corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup salsa
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar, jack, colby, etc. (whatever kind of cheese you want)
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 375.
Brown ground beef together with onion. Drain excess fat.
Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add remaining ingredients, except cheese. Simmer for a few minutes to combine flavors.
Pour filling into large pie pan or 8x8 baking dish.
Sprinkle with cheese, and then spread the masa crust over the top. Spray with cooking oil.
Bake about 25-30 minutes or until crust has set and filling is bubbly.
This doesn't photograph all that well since it has no bottom crust and doesn't really hold together well. But I'm sure you could make this with a bottom crust, if you wanted to. I would just increase the masa mixture, place half of it in the pie pan and pre-bake it for 10 or so minutes before adding the filling and top crust.
I used 93% lean ground beef, 2% cheddar and nonfat milk. For six servings, the nutrition is as follows:
Calories: 404 / Fat: 13.5g / Saturated fat: 6g / Carbs: 40.2g / Dietary Fiber: 7.3g / Protein: 29g
It's not often that my husband requests a meal. Typically, I ask him what he feels like eating the following week and 95% of the time the answer is "I don't care" or "Let me think about it" and he never does. (The other 5% of the time, he asks for chicken marsala.)
So when Tom actually gave me a suggestion for once, I had to make it. Sure, he picked lasagna, one of the more fattening and annoying to assemble things on the planet. But still, it was a suggestion and we hadn't had lasagna in a really long time. It sounded good to me, too.
To lighten the lasagna up a bit, I used 95% lean ground sirloin for the meatsauce (sort of counteracted by my use of supah-fatty sausage but that's OK), low fat ricotta, low fat mozzarella and whole wheat lasagna noodles. We had this with some sauteed spinach (extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice).
Elly's Lasagna
1 lb. lasagna noodles
1 (15 oz) container Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
parsley, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
1 batch meatsauce (recipe follows)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Boil lasagna noodles in salted water until al dente.
In a small mixing bowl, mix together ricotta, romano, beaten egg, black pepper and parsley.
Spray a little oil over a large baking dish. Spread a thin layer of meatsauce over the bottom and then layer the lasagna as desired, alternating noodles/ricotta/meatsauce. End with a thin layer of meatsauce.
Top with mozzarella cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10.
Meatsauce
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground sausage or 2 Italian sausage links, casings removed
1/2 can (3 oz) tomato paste
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef broth
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
oregano, to taste
basil, to taste
parsley, to taste
salt (a tsp or so, to taste) and pepper
In a large saute pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add the sausage and ground beef, crumbling and browning. Drain.
Add the remaning ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Simmer covered (or uncovered, for a slightly thicker sauce) for an hour or longer.
I actually found out we were going to our friends' for lunch, so I ended up doing everything up until the simmering part and then throwing it in the crockpot on low until I was ready to assemble the lasagna later. I knew I wouldn't want to do all that work after getting home from lunch. This is the first time I have done meatsauce in the crockpot and it turned out wonderfully.
If you make 8 slices (and they are definitely good sized), this comes out to about 500 calories and 20g fat per slice which really isn't THAT bad for lasagna. It would be a lot less fat without the use of sausage but 1. my husband loves sausage so I had to include at least a little and 2. sausage was buy one get one free at the grocery store. Those BOGOs always get me!
I could not get a good picture of one piece to save my life. Aren't the first couple slices always the sloppiest?
Tonight I decided to make Swedish meatballs for the first time. I have always really liked them, but for whatever reason, never really thought to make them. I got a recipe from Allrecipes, for which I alread had all the ingredients on hand. Since I can't follow a recipe to save my life, I modified it a bit. Here is my version.
Swedish Meatballs, adapted from allrecipes
1 cup evaporated milk, divided
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Dash pepper
1 pound ground beef
1 Tbsp butter
1.5 cups double strength beef broth or bouillion dissolved in hot water
2 tablespoons all-purpose flou
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Heat a skillet and add a little olive oil. Sweat onions with a pinch of salt until translucent. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup evaporated milk with breadcrumbs. Stir to combine and set aside for several minutes.
To the breadcrumb mixture, stir in onions, yolk, salt, allspice and pepper. Add meat and mix until just combined. Shape meat mixture into 1-in. balls.
In large skillet, melt butter and cook meatballs. Remove from skillet (you may want to keep in a warmed oven).
In same skillet, cook flour (add more butter if necessary) 1-2 minutes.
Slowly whisk in beef broth and simmer to thicken.
Add remaining 3/4 cup evaporated milk and heat through. Season to taste.
Return meatballs to skillet, and add lemon juice.
We had this over whole wheat egg noodles tossed with some poppy seeds, and a salad on the side.
Unfortunately I only got a few pics before my battery died, none of which were particularly good :P
Tonight I tried my hand at pastitsio and it was delicious! The only thing I did wrong was use rigatoni because it made it hard to make the pieces look pretty/stay layered when sliced. Bucatini is the standard noodle used for this, but I couldn't find any. Ziti or penne is definitely a better choice than rigatoni.
Because I have made Greek meatsauce several times before (and I like my version), I asked my grandma just to tell me what she does for the bechamel, and the pasta if anything. Then I put on my best translator/thinking cap (kind of hard when the woman uses HER glasses/cups as measures, and not actual measuring utensils!) and went to town on this.
I basically went by her "recipe" for the bechamel but added a little nutmeg and a little less flour (hers called for a cup of flour for 1/2 stick of butter which I think would have been a clumpy mess, but then again, I tend to not be the best when it comes to making a roux or cream sauce).
The best thing is that I thought this would be SO high calorie when I entered it into Sparkpeople. I also thought I would get about 8 servings but we will get 10 easily, if not 12. It turns out to be about 400-500 calories (using 90% lean ground beef and 2% milk). per serving depending on whether you get 10 or 12 servings.
Kefalotyri cheese can often be found at places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and some grocery stores in the ethnic section. Myzithra is a little tougher to track down but it is, by far, my favorite cheese for pastas. If you can't find either, I recommend using a strong, salty, fairly hard cheese like a romano.
Pastitsio
Pasta
1 lb. medium tube-shaped pasta, like ziti
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup mizithra, grated
2 tbsp. butter
Cook pasta until just al dente in salted water. Melt butter and toss with pasta, cheese and beaten egg.
Cream/Bechamel
6 tbsp butter
2/3 c. flour
4 cups milk
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup mizithra, grated
3/4 cup kefalotyri, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1 egg yolk, beaten
Melt butter in large saucepan. Add flour and whisk. Cook about 1-2 minutes to remove raw flour taste.
Stir in milk and bring JUST to a slight boil. Continue to simmer until thickened, and sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Remove from heat.
Allow to cool slightly before stirring in cheese and eggs.
Meatsauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 lbs. ground beef
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
2 cups water
1/2 can diced tomatoes (I don't normally add this but I had it leftover from the okra)
1 cinnamon stick (or about 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
8 whole cloves or allspice (or a mixture, ground is fine but I don't have it!)
1.5 tbsp dried parsley or 1/4 cup, fresh
salt (about 2 or so tsp), pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in skillet. Add onions and cook a few minutes before adding in beef. Brown beef and drain.
Return beef to pan and cook about a minute with the minced garlic.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer for an hour, seasoning to taste.
Assembly
Grease a large lasagna pan or baking dish. Layer half the pasta mixture, the entire meat mixture, the remaining pasta and then the cream. (At least this is how you are supposed to do it, I had a huge pan so I couldn't really layer half the pasta and just made the entire first layer pasta, which makes it harder for the bechamel to separate).
Sprinkle with 1/4 cup grated kefalotyri and 1/4 cup bread crumbs.
Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes. Allow to cool about 10 or 15 minutes to stiffen/set.
We had this with some Greek-style okra, which I make exactly like I make my green beans.
