Friday. 11/09/2015. 'Beef Meatballs in Guinness with Horseradish Dumplings'

The recipe is from 'Feel Good Food Autumn 2015', Page 100.


From the picture in the magazine, that recipe looked like the proper call for comfort food. I am very partial to one pot wonders but also meatballs and a good old Guinness. As my partner loves his dumplings, the recipe seemed to invite me: 'Come you know you want to try me.'







There is, I must confess, something calming and soothing preparing meatballs. Although you can find some excellent shop bought ones, I like doing them from scratch. It gives you more control onto the mince meat used from the percentage of fat content to the texture of the mince you desire. 

Rolling those little balls of goodness, I did made one small change about the process. I didn't incorporated the finely chopped onions raw. I softened them first till they are translucent but not brown. Then let them cool before putting them in the meatball mixture. The reason for that comes from experience and having tasted in the past onions which didn't cook properly within meatballs. It's rather a precaution than a necessity but I prefer it that way.

Something I never cooked with before was suet.  This was the first time I used it while learning how to make dumplings. My partner helped me doing the dough by sprinkling flour on my hands until the dough reached that proper consistency. I thought his help was invaluable, yet if he was not here, there  is a simple trick I would do: just having a plate with a bit of flour in it on the ready for my sticky hands to dive into.  

We went for a creamy horseradish sauce instead of a hot one which had very good reviews on-line. It worked beautifully well for our tastes. It gave the right kick without killing everything on its path. We aren't big fan of horseradish in my house but I aim to correct that by growing it, one day in the very near future. Somehow, put a seed in the earth and watch it grow. It reconnects you with the simplest things. But it also reattached you with certain plants, vegs and fruits. It's a little of gardening magic which transforms the stubbornness of one to an actual: 'yes, let's give it a go on the plate.' 

Our Potatoes harvest.

I have been growing many things since about three to four years now. The yearly one that will never fail to make a come back in my garden is the humble potatoes. I had a few left over spuds to use up: baby potatoes from this years harvest. They were a lovely addition to that recipe. If you add potatoes make sure they are small or cube them if not. Also put them early in the recipe, for you need a good 20 mins for spuds at least.  

Always taste what you are doing hence you will know for sure when something is ready or not. The master chefs are your taste buds for the all the cooking ranges in the world are different, therefore time and temperature varies from one another ever so slightly. The indications on any given recipe is just that: indications. You are the fine tuner to adapt them to your own cooking facilities. So dive in, be the master and commander of your stoves. You want to have that dish, that baby, arriving safely on the table, so watch its journey and taste it all the way through. 

Thyme in my garden.

Now in recipes, I do look for ingredients which I have already growing in my garden. The one in there was thyme.  I must say I love herbs and can only recommend to anyone to use their windowsills to grow them to make their meals sing to their palates. Thyme was not lost in that dish, it sang its aromatic tune, tone perfect. 

In our star scale, the dish rated a high five despite not being a looker on the plates. It was comfort food at its best. It will make a comeback in this household.