Braised Pork Ginger Meatballs in Coconut Broth

Such weird times right now.
Everyone's home, everyone's self isolating... trying to get a handle on the Covid-19 pandemic. We're bored, we're stressed, we have to cook our own dinner...

The first time I made this was for our daughter and her boyfriend (now husband!). Everyone was instantly saying YUM!  Spicy, tangy, healthy and satisfying.  This hearty meatball soup is so comforting and warm... like a nice hug that you can't have right now.
This is a quick and easy recipe that comes together in under 30 minutes.

If you didn't have ground pork,  you could use ground chicken or turkey too.  I haven't tried it with beef, but heck, why not?

I was inspired by this recipe on Smitten Kitchen.

Serves 2-3 
Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 pounds ground pork

1 large eggs

1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tablespoon fish sauce

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Broth:

One 13 1/2-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

2 cups chicken stock 

1/4 cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 fresh red chiles or jalapeno, thinly sliced, plus extra for serving 

1 cup fresh mushrooms, quartered
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced 

Finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 lime

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)
1-2 tsp of garlic red pepper paste (optional)

A handful of fresh cilantro sprigs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

A few handfuls of baby spinach

I mixed all the ingredients together for the meatballs and used a small cookie scoop to make meat balls... they look a bit like meat "splats", but I was in a hurry. You could definitely take the time to roll them into round balls.  Use a small scoop... these were a bit big when eating the soup and maybe half this size would have been better.  I think next time about 1" meatballs, bite size!

Cook meatballs at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Go ahead and start the broth while the meatballs cook.

I prepped all the veggies (below).  You can use a different selection of veggies.... if you don't like mushrooms, you could use asparagus, zucchini or more bell peppers. Use what you have.... Got it? Cook it!

While the meat balls are cooking, go ahead and combine all the ingredients for the broth.

Add the meatballs and bring to a quick boil. Serve at once with more lime, as desired.

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Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs

It's been a while since I updated my blog, but lately I have been feeling inspired again! These eggs are spicy and delicious, I highly recommend.

Last Friday I did a Cabi party at a friend's house and she did these marvelous Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs.  Now, I am not always a fan of Deviled Eggs, but these were fantastic.  I knew I had to make them for a family function today!  Here's the link I used, but I did take some poetic license and change up a couple things.

One note, without getting into the Mayo vs. Miracle Whip debate... if  you like your eggs sweeter you can use Miracle Whip, but if you want tangy/no sweetness, then use mayo.

These eggs went really, really fast at the function today. Someone people weren't paying attention and did not get one. LOL!

I forgot to picture the Old Bay Seasoning below...

Make 24 pieces
Ingredients:

12 eggs, hard-boiled

1/3-1/2 cup mayo

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp. horseradish

Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or 1 1/2 Tbsp pickle juice

2 tsp. hot sauce

1/2 tsp. celery salt

Salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp. old bay seasoning

Garnish Ideas:

Pickled Coins, sliced olives and/or capers, for garnish 

Celery leaves

Place eggs in a large pot and cover with about an inch of water. Place pot on stove and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and cover with lid. Let sit for 11 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove eggs from pan and place in a bowl of ice water. OR, use my link on Perfect Hardboiled Eggs

When cool enough to handle, peel eggs. If possible at this point after the eggs are peeled, refrigerate the eggs for a couple hours or overnight.  Sometimes if the eggs are a little warm, the egg whites can break or split. When chilled, cut eggs in half. Scoop yolks out and place in a medium bowl.

In the bowl with yolks, add mayonnaise, tomato paste, horseradish, lemon or pickle juice, hot sauce, and celery salt and mix until well combined (I had to use my stick blender to get them smooth, but people probably won't care if they are lumpy). Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a piping bag.

Place old bay seasoning on a small plate and press cut side of eggs into seasoning. Place eggs on a plate and pipe filling onto each egg. Top with a pickle or olive slice and celery leaves as garnish.

Don’t have any Old Bay seasoning?  Here’s a recipe that is pretty close!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons celery salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pinch dry mustard

1 pinch ground nutmeg

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