Bitterballen -party snacks from the Netherlands

Bitterballen - the croquette-like meatballs which are very popular in the Netherlands. I don't think anyone in the Netherlands actually makes them but instead only eats them at the pub. 

In case you are ambitious and want to impress some Dutch freinds try this recipe out. Thanks to Cooks.com for the recipe. 

3 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. flour
1 c. milk
1 tbsp. very fine minced onion
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. chopped parsley, fine
1 1/2 c. finely chopped cooked meat
Bread crumbs
2 egg yolks, beaten with 2 tbsp. water
Fat for frying
Mustard

Melt butter, stir in flour and add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, to make a very thick sauce. Add onion, meat, parsley, nutmeg, salt and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Spread mixture on cookie sheet to cool. Shape into small balls (1" to 1 1/2" diameter). Roll in bread crumbs. Dip in egg mixture, making sure they are completely covered. Roll again in bread crumbs. Let them stand for 1 hour until completely dry. Deep fry until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Serve with mustard.

Organic meatballs

Dear Bloggies, the cookbook project is back on and above is a pic of Momma Dolce's secret meatball recipe made with organic ground beef. That is the only way I like ground beef!

The lovely Jake spent a day with All Things Dolce to take photos of 14 dishes I whipped up for him. He left with a bag of food and a full tummy as usual and we in return got some amazing shots (the above is from my dinky camera).

More photos to follow and more blog posts to come now that a very busy period has passed. Le Dolci has been very busy, we just had a fantastic Cupcake Masterclass this past Friday - see photos here   

It was a wonderful evening with cappuccinos and cupcakes and lots of lovely ladies making cakes for their children and husbands (who were babysitting!). Another cupcake class date will be set shortly. Thanks to our lovely friends at our favourite Italian deli in London - we heart Alimentari!

Off to bed bloggies. I hope Londontwon is less soggy tomorrow for my mini purple broccoli plants to get some much needed sunshine.

Sugo with soul
Sugo (tomato sauce) as made in the Dolce kitchen.
The basis of all Italian cooking, tomato sauce. From the lonely red tomato you can make an abundance of recipes that are traditional to Italian cooking. Boiled, peeled, fried, baked, sliced and diced the tomato provides the base for some of my favourite Italian foods -pizza, pasta and bruschetta. The meatballs are also ones that were made by Momma Dolce and have been in demand in the UK and Canada. They were almost frozen and delivered by airplane to some demanding customers, but I wasn't sure if I could explain to customs if I did get caught what I was doing with frozen meatballs in my case?! Meatball secrets will come in another post.

Anyway -tomatoes are supposed to be great for your health. So learn how to make a nice tomato sauce, it is easy - just use fresh ripe tomatoes or buy canned tomatoes from the shop (with no extra ingredients) saute some onion and garlic, add the tomatoes a little bit of water, salt, pepper, basil and oregano and let simmer until smooth (about an hour)....you may need to add a little sugar to remove some of the acidity but try and buy good quality canned tomatoes and voila, a great sauce is ready for all your cooking needs.

Hard to believe but tomatoes came to Europe in the sixteenth century and were generally avoided because they were believed to be poisonous...luckily the Europeans figured out what to do with the little red rounders.