Jenn Dolari @dolari@driveinsaturday.org

This Week's Meals: Hana-Wanna Meatballs.

This was actually pretty good! I'm not the biggest fan of meatballs beause they're essentially very tiny meatloaves, and that bready texture doesn't work with meat for me. But it's the sauce that saves this and makes it's something I'd absolutely make again.

There's a LOT of pineapple in this, but it and the vinegar give the sauce (and the meatballs) a very sweet and savory flavor that really works. I used crushed pineapple versus tidbits or chunks which made the sauce super thick, and made it part of the meal, versus just a gravy or glaze.

# Hana-Wanna Meatballs

From the Green Kitchen

1.25 pounds ground beef
0.75 tsp garlic powder [meatballs]
0.5 tsp black pepper
1.5 tsp salt [meatballs]
0.5 tsp ginger (grated)
1.0 whole egg (beaten)
0.6666666666666666 cup crackers (crushed)
0.3333333333333333 cup onion (finely chopped)
0.25 cup green pepper (finely chopped) [meatballs]
0.5 cup milk
2.0 tbsp shortening
2.0 tbsp cornstarch
0.5 cup brown sugar
0.25 tsp ground ginger
0.25 tsp garlic powder [sauce]
0.25 tsp salt [sauce]
0.3333333333333333 cup vinegar
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1.0 cup water
20.0 oz pineapple tidbits
pineapple juice (from can)
0.3333333333333333 cup green pepper (finely chopped) [sauce]

Meatballs:
1 - In a bowl, mix the ground beef, garlic powder for the meatballs, black pepper, salt for the meatballs, ginger, egg, cracker crumbs, onion, green pepper for the meatballs and milk.
2 - Roll into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls.
3 - Heat a large skillet at medium heat with the shortening and brown the meatballs. Remove to a platter.

Sauce
4 - In the same skillet, whisk the cornstarch, sugar, ground ginger, garlic powder for the sauce, salt for the sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, water and pineapple juice.
5 - Add the meatballs and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring constantly to keep the meatballs from sticking.
6 - Transfer to a crock pot and add pineapple chunks and green pepper.
7 - Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally.

#thisweeksmeals #cooking

Oooh, which one should I watch tonight? Star Wars is NEVER bad. Maybe I'll watch that one. Star Wars has NEVER let me down before....

No crock pot, no problem.

My laptop in the living room, VNCing into the main computer in thr office, running a virtual machine to run Windows 11.

Russian Nesting Doll Computing.

".......Jackie Chan!"

An early Christmas present from mom, some leather scrunch boots.

I bought my suede ones MANY years ago in Austin, where it was sunny more than rainy. Sadly, when I moved back to Seattle, the rain was pretty bad for the poor things. They got little wear here.

Mom wanted me to get some leather boots for the weather. She didn't want me to get scrunch boots cause "they're out of style." Well...I don't care. I spent 26 years wearing stuff I didn't want, I'm going to wear EXACTLY what I want. 🙂

I'd hope they were here in time for the City Council meeting last week, which was an important one for me. But they weren't (and it was literally pouring rain, we got something like five inches over that week, and we're STILL flooding through town), which is why I wore those flats.

Oddly, I found the EXACT SAME boots in leather as my suede ones, so I'm very happy. I love my suedes, I'm hoping to love the leathers, as well, wear them a little more often than my suedes.

It's not Vindaloo pizza, but it is Vindaloo and therefore I am happy. :)

Nice and hot. :9

WHY IS THERE A WHOLE SECTION FOR FISCHSALATE

When you're the only bridge open over the river for ten miles in any direction....

Yes...yes that's a flood, alright.

One of my favorite lines in all of Television, from Doctor Who's "The Crusade."

Taiwan's look a little more yum....

Sometimes I like to look at Japanese pizza menus and figure out what the wierd toppings would taste like:

Remember that time Iron Chef Morimoto was a little...frustrated...with the judges?

Today I learned that if you put in some frozen veggies and a spoonful of Garlic Chili Paste, you can make any Maruchan ramen into Shin Ramyun. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. :)

Current Mood:

Always a sign of a possible pending power outage - my UPS kicks in despite the power staying on cause it detected a voltage dip.

Weather outside isn't BAD, but it's bad enough somewhere that someone around me lost power. I also heard my printer click a few times, which always happens during a voltatge dip.

Also wierd to see a very young Joel McHale....

David Grohl on an old episode of Almost Live! Soundgarden was on an episode I watched yesterday....

I guess they WERE locals...why not use 'em?

This Week's Fancy Pants Meal: Todd's Grilled Pork Tenderloin (Take 2)

So last week I attempted to make this and failed because I cooked it too long (my meat thermometer said safe pork was 160F and that was WAAAY too long). This time I did it at 145F, and it was PERFECT. And really good, too.

It has a rather sweet-and-salty taste. Wasn't sure that peach and pork would go well together, but it absolutely does. Add a shit ton of butter, and you've got a good meal. Butter rarely fails. :)

I did tweak the recipe a little, mainly because (1) I'm making this with pork loin chops and (2) it wasn't salty enough the first time around. The instructions are fairly vague, too, for a cookbook, so I edited them a bit from the book.

# Todd's Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Cooking with JB & Jamie

1.0 pound pork tenderloin
1.5 oz peach preserves
1.5 tbsp water (glaze)
1.0 tbsp pickled jalapenos (minced)
1.0 tbsp honey
0.125 cube chicken bouilion
0.125 tsp hot water (dill butter)
0.3333333333333333 cup butter (softened)
0.3333333333333333 tsp dill flakes
0.125 tsp garlic minced
2.0 tsp onions (diced)
0.5 tsp garlic powder
0.5 tsp coarse black pepper
0.5 tsp lemon pepper
0.5 tsp salt (seasoning)

Royers Grilling Seasoning
1 - Mix together equal amounts of garlic powder, coarse black pepper, lemon pepper and salt for seasoning.
2 - Set aside.

Royer's Dill Butter
3 - Crush the chicken bouillon cube.
4 - Dissolve the bouillon cube in hot water by cooking it on high in the microwave a 10 seconds at a time until dissolved..
5 - Combine the bouillon mixture with butter, dill flakes, garlic and onion. Mix well.
6 - Set aside.

Peach 'n' Pepper Glaze
7 - Add peach preserves, pickled jalapeños, honey and water for glaze together in a small pot.
8 - Bring to a boil
9 - Pour into a container and set aside.

Tenderloin
10 - Coat the Tenderloin with Royer's Grilling Seasoning
11 - Heat half the Royer's Dill Butter in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat
12 - Place the tenderloin in the heated skillet
13 - Once tenderloin is halfway done, cut center to butterflyand baste with remaining Royer's Dill Butter.
14 - Cook until center is pink and tender. Don't overcook!
15 - Plate on serving dish.
16 - Top with Royer's Peach 'n' Pepper Glaze

#thisweeksmeals #cooking