North African Meatballs

Melissa D'Arabian's North African Meatballs from her first season of Ten Dollar Dinners were on our weeknight dinner list last week. Prep took a little longer than I would have liked; it's the forming of the meatballs that kill you! I made mine a little too large and ended up closer than 20 to 32-- as a result, the meatballs didn't hold together well. Next time I may try to make them smaller, but I may also try and bake them in a mini muffin tin instead of cooking in a skillet. I think they'll stay together better and will also be healthier since they won't be cooked in oil. If I do that, I'll start with the meatballs and make the sauce while they are cooking. The good news? The sauce has an amazing sweet/spicy flavor. Served with some boxed couscous, this tasted like exotic takeout and definitely not like inexpensive ground beef and tomatoes!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti Bolognese is my favorite thing about fall. There is literally nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon than to sit on the couch, watch football and smell this sauce cook. It's drizzling out today, so I almost feel like we're there.

The only tricks to this recipe are time and a big pot. It takes a while to prep all of the ingredients, and then a few hours for the flavors to come together. After we eat, I'll also typically put together a lasagna with some of the leftover sauce and put it in the freezer. So for the two of us, this recipe will last for 4-5 meals.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

I have a couple of different rosemary roasted potato recipes that I use. Rosemary roasted potatoes are a great simple side that really showcase potatoes without outshining your main dish. This Barefoot Contessa version takes longer to make as you only bake the potatoes, as opposed to boiling and baking a la Jamie Oliver. However, it's a great company dinner side because you can assemble it a few hours in advance, put it in the oven an hour before, and focus on cleaning the kitchen. By the time your guests arrive, the only evidence is the smell of rosemary.

$30 Chocolate Chip Cookies

The title is only kind of a joke-- the chocolate disks called for by this famed NY Times recipe will be around $12 at Central Market, plus when you add in the specialty flours, the ample amount of butter and sea salt, you end up with not cheap cookies. I have to put in this warning, because once you make these and serve them to your family and friends, they will refuse to eat any other kind of chocolate chip cookies you make. These cookies literally ooze chocolate and fall apart in your hands. They are actually the best chocolate chip cookies in the whole world.

Roasted Chicken and Bow Tie Pasta Salad

I have kind of a crazy obsession with chicken salad. This Cooking Light pasta is basically a waldorf chicken salad pasta, and you have to think of it like that to not think that adding grapes to pasta sounds ridiculous. I cooked the chicken breasts ahead of time in a crock pot, but there's a decent amount of mise en place here so it still takes 30 minutes or so to make even if you have a fancy instant boil burner. Additionally, the pasta is better room temperature or cold, so allow a few minutes for your pasta to cool down. Add a bit of oil to the bow ties to keep them from sticking if you want them to cool while you assemble the rest of the dish (as opposed to preparing and sticking in the fridge).

Creamy White Bean and Herb Dip

From the depths of my recipe file (Feb/Mar 2009 issue of Fine Cooking), bean dip that looks like hummus!

This bean dip recipe is versatile and easy. I used bagel chips and crudites as dippers, and one friend also suggested it as a sandwich spread. The dip has a good flavor, but not so much flavor that you'd have to stay away from seasoned dippers. Note, though, that I left out the anchovy filet because it seemed ridiculous to use one anchovy filet and throw the rest of the filets in the can away. I do have one green bean recipe that secretly uses anchovies, so I may try the dip with anchovies the next time I make that. It will stay good and taste good for several days.

Most important thing about this recipe: the "serves 6 to 8" is misleading. I'd make half a recipe unless you are (a) actually serving 20 people and (b) have no other dips or snacks to serve them.

Oven Roasted Beef Brisket and Barbeque Sauce

Two recipes for the price of one!

First, the brisket. Brisket was on special at Central Market this week, so I sought out recipes from the Food Network website and found this highly rated Paula Deen recipe for the oven. The amount of spices was, to say the least, alarming. Once I passed the spice mountain hurdle, the recipe was nearly foolproof, even though it didn't provide a meat temperature. To cover the pan, I used foil, which is fairly treacherous with a hot roasting pan. My burned arm would like for me to brainstorm a new solution for new time.

Second, the barbeque sauce (which I refuse to spell "barbecue"). As it turn out, the brisket was delicious just dipped in pan juices, but the barbeque sauce served to add a nice tang. Both Real Simple and bon appetit featured homemade barbeque sauces this month and I tried the Real Simple version first. This version is sweet and vinegary, although a little more on the vinegary side. I've determined that it would be fantastic on meatloaf.