A rather special meatball........{Chicken Meatballs with Chicken Gravy}

I love cooking for my friends, I love entertaining. I feel like there is nothing more satisfying then placing steaming bowls of nourishing food in front of those I love and then comes the joy of them enjoying my food. This Saturday I went to my friends Lu and Andy and I cooked for them. Seeing as it was cold and dreary (the joys of living in Blighty) I wanted to make a really comforting dish that warmed our souls and meatballs sprang to mind. Now, I usually go down the Italian route with my meatballs; pork and beef mince or sausage meatballs with a rich tomato sauce. More recently I've opted for my lighter Moroccan version with Turkey meatballs and a vegetable sauce. Neither was quite what I wanted on this occasion and then I remembered a recipe I seen by Tom Kerridge whereby he made pork meatballs and served them with a brown ale gravy. Again this wasn't quite my cup of tea but it was along the right track. So my dear readers I present to you my chicken meatballs with a chicken gravy. They are much lighter than your average meatball and are packed full of flavour, served on mashed potato with a rich gravy they really are something special. As I have mentioned before I have a crazy love for mashed potatoes which my diet pretty much omits these days so it was lovely to have them as a treat.  If I were having these in the week I would make the meatballs and serve them with a tomato sauce and courgette spaghetti which would be just as tasty and much healthier.

Chicken Meatballs with Chicken Gravy

For the meatballs:

460g chicken thigh meat (skinless)

200g chicken breast meat

1 onion, very finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

200g panko breadcrumbs

pinch of dried red chillies

2 TSP dried oregano 

1 TSP dried sage

2 TBSP fresh sage, finely chopped

1 TBSP fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

S&P

For the gravy:

500ml fresh chicken stock

250ml white wine

2 shallots, roughly chopped with skins still on

2 cloves garlic, cut in half with skins on

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

To serve:

mashed potato - I make mine with butter and milk with lots of black pepper

leeks - I used two, sliced and cooked in butter and a splash of wine

in a bit of oil cook the onions until soft and let cool. blend the raw chicken meat in a food processor until smooth and then place in a bowl. add in the cooled onions and all of the other meatball ingredients then get your hands dirty and combine all the ingredients. bring together in a large ball and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 2 and up to 24 hours. once you have chilled the mixture then roll them on to smallish balls about the sized of ping pong ball this recipe should make about 24. then place on a tray, cover with clingfilm and then place back in to the fridge for another hour or so. heat some oil in a frying pan and then cook of the meatballs in batches don't be afraid to get them nicely browned - they taste best this way. Once you have cooked them put them in an oven proof dish and but them in the oven on a lowish heat for 20-30 minutes just so they cook the whole way through and stay warm whilst you make the gravy.

to make the gravy put the wine, shallots, garlic and rosemary in a pan and then reduce down until it is more like a glaze - this takes approx. 10 minutes. add in the stock and then let simmer until you have a nice rich gravy. strain.

to serve add a spoonful of mash potato, top with a spoonful of leeks and 3-4 meatballs. spoon over some gravy to finish.

Linking up with Vicky at Honest Mum

Healthy Weekday Meal #1..............{Moroccan Turkey Meatballs with cous cous}

So to shift those pounds that I speak about in my new years resolutions post, I have started on the JuicePlus+ diet where basically you have meal replacement shakes for 2 meals a day with a "clean and lean" meal in the evening... gradually you come of the shakes and the idea is that change your eating habits as you are learning to adapt a more clean way of eating. So I am 2 weeks into this plan and I have already lost 7lbs and I am enjoying coming up with healthy and tasty recipes.

This recipe is great as it packs in loads of vegetables in to the sauce, it's really flavoursome and it turns what would be a rich dish into something much lighter. you could make this dish would pork or beef mince balls but for optimum healthiness I went for turkey. The cous cous is made how i like it which is to always make it with stock but again this is entirely to my tastes...

Moroccan Turkey Meatballs with Cous Cous

250g turkey mince, rolled into around 12 balls (or you can just buy a pack of ready made turkey meatballs)

1 onion, diced 

1/2 red onion, diced 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced 

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes 

1 carrot, diced

1/2 courgette, diced 

3 large mushrooms, diced

1 tbsp Ras el hanout

1/2 tsp cinnamon

sprinkle of cumin 

2 large tomatoes chopped 

400g chopped tomato (or you could us passatta)

1 dtsp agave syrup (if you don't have this use honey)

olive oil 

125g cous cous 

1/2 stock cube (optional)

1 tbsp sundried tomatoes, chopped

1 dsp sundried tomato oil (from the jar)

put a little olive oil in the pan and then brown of your meatballs - don't worry if they are a little pink in the middle you are going to cook them again a bit later. remove the meatballs and then put the onions in the pan - i tend to add a bit of water here to help soften them rather than more oil. once they have softened add in the garlic and chilli flakes and stir until the garlic becomes fragrant. to the pan add the carrot, courgette and mushrooms along with the remaining spices. after 10 minutes or so add in the tomatoes, 300ml water and the agave syrup. season well. blend the sauce until it becomes smooth(ish) bring the pan to the boil and then drop in the meatballs making sure they are almost submerged in the simmering sauce. turn the pan down low and cover with lid. cook for around 20 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered at the end. whilst the meatballs are cooking away make the cous cous however you prefer - i just cover the stock and cous cous with boiling water, put a plate over the bowl so it steams then after 5 minutes of so I fluff it up and add the oil and sun dried tomatoes. serve the meatballs over the cous cous.