Chevapi and Crostini

This is an absolute favourite of Bo's, being that he's Croatian/Serbian it's basically a staple. There's a little butcher shop about a 45 minute drive from here that you can get them at, but they aren't hard at all to make, it just comes down to how lazy I'm feeling, lol.

Chevapi

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground pork
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground lamb (or ground pork if you can't find lamb)
1 egg
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbl Vegeta (a Serbian jarred spice mix, optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your grill (if using)

2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.

3. Roll into rectangular mini sausages, 3" long and 3/4" in wide.

4. Place all of the chevapi in a single layer in a disposable foil baking pan and place onto your preheated grill on med-high heat. You can also cook these on a griddle, or in a large frying pan in a couple of batches (try to cook them all at once though, because it takes a bit of time). Turn the chevapi about every 7 or 8 minutes, once that side is well browned and has a slight crust. Be careful not to over cook though.

Note: These are fantastic on there own, but equally good dipped into ketchup or tzatziki sauce. Bo likes to load a bunch into a bun sometimes too for a sand which of sorts.

Make Ahead: After you've formed the chevapi you and just wrap them as a batch in plastic wrap, then put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them for later. I like to do this on a weekend, make a huge batch of them then just pop them out of the freezer whenever we want!

Crostini

This is the easiest way to make brilliant little toasts to accompany a dinner

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bakes Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients:

1 baguette or Parisian loaf
olive oil
Fleur de sel (or sea salt)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees

2. Slice your baguette into 3/8" think (1cm) slices and place on a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet

3. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.

4. Bake for 10 minutes and removing from the baking sheet immediately.

Porcupine Balls and Apple Crisp

Porcupine Balls

Ignore the name, they're just meatballs with rice in them that puffs out the sides, hence the "porcupine" moniker. This is a family favourite, passed down to me from my Nana, but I've tweaked it a lot over the last 4 years and finally have a perfected recipe. Enjoy

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 1 hour

Server: 5 to 6

Ingredients (measurements are a little rough, but this part is very hard to screw up)

Meatballs:

1lb lean ground beef

1 large handful rice

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs (or regular breadcrumbs with Italian seasoning mixed in)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbl milk

Mix all above ingredients in a bowl with your hands until very well combined. The mixture will feel a little wet, but not dripping. If you think it's too wet you can add a bit more breadcrumbs. Roll into meatballs, I usually do them the size of a ping pong ball, and place them into an oven safe baking dish (yeah corning ware).

Sauce:

3 cans tomato soup

2/3 tomato soup can of beef broth

1/2 tomato soup can of water

1/3 c rice

Whisk together all sauce ingredients in the bowl that you mixed the meatballs in (this will grab any of the little bits left behind. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, then spin the meatballs around a bit to cover them in the sauce.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 1 hour in a 425 degree oven. Serve this up with bread to dip in the leftover sauce and you're laughing! Leftovers are fantastic the next day for lunch too! 

 What's left of our porcupine balls. I was hungry, so no photos until we entered leftover territory.

Apple Crisp

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 45 minutes

Serves: 8

This is by far the best apple crisp I've ever had, another of my perfected recipes! Bo and I like lots of topping though, so if you don't you're weird you can cut it in half.

Ingredients:

10 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup water

Put the apple slices into a large oven safe dish (I use a 9" x 13" corning ware). Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the sugar mixture over the apples, then toss to evenly coat. Pour the water over the apples, do not mix. (If you like your apple crisp more juicy, you can up the water to 1/3 or even 1/2 a cup without ruining the crisp, I just prefer mine only a little juicy, with apples that still have some bite).

2 c quick-cooking oats

2 c all-purpose flour

2 c packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter, melted

Whisk together everything except the butter so it's well combined. Pour the butter over the mixture and combine with a fork or your hands (which is way faster), until there are no dry bits left and it comes together is small clumps in your hands. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the apple mixture.

Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes until brown on top and bubbling at the edges. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!