Sicilian Sweet and Sour Meatballs and The Dinner Divas

If you ever moved to a new state you know how difficult it is to make new friends. It's hard enough on children but eventually they make friends in school, during sports and other after school activities. If you're an adult it's even harder. There really isn't anywhere to meet people if you have moved to a state where you don't know more than one person. This was my problem when I moved to New Jersey with Steve. I decided to be brave and reach out to people on the Internet and join some groups. I'm a busy girl these days. The group that is closest to my heart is "The Dinner Divas". We are a group of young women who get together once a month and eat wonderful homemade food that we have made. Each month one of us hosts a themed meal of our choice and the rest of the members contribute an appetizer, dessert or wine. I've made some great friends through this group and I hope it's something that we'll continue for years. I'd like to take this time to thank my Dinner Divas friends, you guys are great! I truly appreciate the commitment that everyone makes to the group each month and always look forward to seeing my friends!

If you have any questions about how to start a dinner group in your own area feel free to email me at myitaliangrandmother@hotmail.com.

This past weekend Janet hosted a Sweet and Savory themed dinner. My job was to make an appetizer so I decided on Sweet and Sour Meatballs. A friend's mother used to make these but I never made them myself and didn't have a recipe. I looked it up online and found a recipe from Sicilian Home Cooking. Check it out. I have adapted the recipe to meet my tastes which was my basic meatball recipe with some raisins and pine nuts mixed in to continue the sweet and savory theme and used their directions for making the sweet and sour onions. I made them Swedish meatball size but of course they can be made larger.

The result was awesome! I'm really excited about this recipe and I plan on making this more often! So, without further adieu, here is my recipe!

Sicilian Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 lbs ground beef (85% lean)
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup milk
1 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup bread crumbs
Garlic powder and onion powder
1 handful raisins
1 handful of pine nuts

Sweet and Sour Onions:

2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virigin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

Sprinkle beef with garlic powder and onion powder. Just enough to lightly cover meat. Then add all ingredients, mix to combine. Form meatballs and fry in olive oil. Set aside and drain on paper towels.

Add onions to pan and season with salt and pepper. Sauté onions in extra virgin olive oil on low heat until they become tender. Do not allow them to brown.

Stir in vinegar, sugar and water.

Return meatballs to pan and gently toss in sauce. Let them cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and cool. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Sicilian Sweet and Sour Meatballs and The Dinner Divas

If you ever moved to a new state you know how difficult it is to make new friends. It's hard enough on children but eventually they make friends in school, during sports and other after school activities. If you're an adult it's even harder. There really isn't anywhere to meet people if you have moved to a state where you don't know more than one person. This was my problem when I moved to New Jersey with Steve. I decided to be brave and reach out to people on the Internet and join some groups. I'm a busy girl these days. The group that is closest to my heart is "The Dinner Divas". We are a group of young women who get together once a month and eat wonderful homemade food that we have made. Each month one of us hosts a themed meal of our choice and the rest of the members contribute an appetizer, dessert or wine. I've made some great friends through this group and I hope it's something that we'll continue for years. I'd like to take this time to thank my Dinner Divas friends, you guys are great! I truly appreciate the commitment that everyone makes to the group each month and always look forward to seeing my friends!

If you have any questions about how to start a dinner group in your own area feel free to email me at myitaliangrandmother@hotmail.com.

This past weekend Janet hosted a Sweet and Savory themed dinner. My job was to make an appetizer so I decided on Sweet and Sour Meatballs. A friend's mother used to make these but I never made them myself and didn't have a recipe. I looked it up online and found a recipe from Sicilian Home Cooking. Check it out. I have adapted the recipe to meet my tastes which was my basic meatball recipe with some raisins and pine nuts mixed in to continue the sweet and savory theme and used their directions for making the sweet and sour onions. I made them Swedish meatball size but of course they can be made larger.

The result was awesome! I'm really excited about this recipe and I plan on making this more often! So, without further adieu, here is my recipe!

Sicilian Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 lbs ground beef (85% lean)
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup milk
1 eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup bread crumbs
Garlic powder and onion powder
1 handful raisins
1 handful of pine nuts

Sweet and Sour Onions:

2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virigin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

Sprinkle beef with garlic powder and onion powder. Just enough to lightly cover meat. Then add all ingredients, mix to combine. Form meatballs and fry in olive oil. Set aside and drain on paper towels.

Add onions to pan and season with salt and pepper. Sauté onions in extra virgin olive oil on low heat until they become tender. Do not allow them to brown.

Stir in vinegar, sugar and water.

Return meatballs to pan and gently toss in sauce. Let them cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and cool. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Caponata

Back when I lived in Brooklyn there was a restaurant we would frequently go to called Joe's of Avenue U. It's very casual Sicilian fare that was inexpensive and delicious. This is where I tried Caponata (sometimes called Caponatina) for the first time and fell in love with it. The best way for me to explain what Caponata is, is by calling it an eggplant stew. It is prepared in the same manner that one would use to make beef stew. The veggies are sauteed in oil and liquid is added to simmer them in. However, this does not take hours to make like a meat stew would, so that makes it even better for me.

The recipe I used belongs to Steve's grandmother Rose. I have never met her but I'm sure she would be happy to know that someone is making her caponata. There are many variations of this dish, some include zucchini or peppers but this one is very simple. I think the next time I make it I will add pine nuts (pignoli) and raisins. I am almost positive that those two ingredients were in the first caponata I have ever had at Joe's. Since then there have been new owners and they do not use the nuts or raisins and it's still good but I love the sweetness that the raisins give the dish. A lot of Sicilian recipes use sweet and sour ingredients together.


Grandma Rose's Caponata

2 lb unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1” cubes
½ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3 ½ oz. tomato paste
1 cup water
1 lb green olives, salted and pitted
2 oz jar of capers, unsalted and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1 heaping tsp. sugar
¼ cup wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and celery, cook until almost tender. Remove ions and celery and place in a bowl. In same skillet, sauté eggplant until light brown. Remove. In same pan, over med flame, cook tomato paste and water, stir until dissolved. Add olives, eggplant, capers, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to a boil over high flame. Lower flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and vinegar. Stir and cook for ½ minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Makes 2 quarts. Sterilize jars before using. Cover tightly.
Keeps in refrigerator for 6 weeks.


There are only a few very minor changes that I made to this recipe.

~ I used canola oil instead of olive oil because the eggplant absorbs the olive oil too quickly. Then have to keep adding oil and you end up with oily eggplant. Just use whatever oil you would normally use for frying.

~ I added a little more sugar and vinegar than the recipe called for. I'm sure Steve's grandmother, like Nanny, didn't use standard measuring cups so the measurements that we have are just a guess. Nanny's measuring cup was a mug. So it's very difficult to get exact measurements but all you need to do is taste and adjust. Not a problem.

~ I also cooked the eggplant at the end for a little longer because either I cut the eggplant too big or the time given was just an estimation. Again, just taste it and you can tell if the eggplant is cooked all the way through.

This dish is best served cold or room temperature with a couple of pieces of good Italian bread for dipping.

Enjoy!

Caponata

Back when I lived in Brooklyn there was a restaurant we would frequently go to called Joe's of Avenue U. It's very casual Sicilian fare that was inexpensive and delicious. This is where I tried Caponata (sometimes called Caponatina) for the first time and fell in love with it. The best way for me to explain what Caponata is, is by calling it an eggplant stew. It is prepared in the same manner that one would use to make beef stew. The veggies are sauteed in oil and liquid is added to simmer them in. However, this does not take hours to make like a meat stew would, so that makes it even better for me.

The recipe I used belongs to Steve's grandmother Rose. I have never met her but I'm sure she would be happy to know that someone is making her caponata. There are many variations of this dish, some include zucchini or peppers but this one is very simple. I think the next time I make it I will add pine nuts (pignoli) and raisins. I am almost positive that those two ingredients were in the first caponata I have ever had at Joe's. Since then there have been new owners and they do not use the nuts or raisins and it's still good but I love the sweetness that the raisins give the dish. A lot of Sicilian recipes use sweet and sour ingredients together.


Grandma Rose's Caponata

2 lb unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1” cubes
½ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3 ½ oz. tomato paste
1 cup water
1 lb green olives, salted and pitted
2 oz jar of capers, unsalted and drained
salt and pepper to taste
1 heaping tsp. sugar
¼ cup wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and celery, cook until almost tender. Remove ions and celery and place in a bowl. In same skillet, sauté eggplant until light brown. Remove. In same pan, over med flame, cook tomato paste and water, stir until dissolved. Add olives, eggplant, capers, onion, celery, salt and pepper. Mix well. Bring to a boil over high flame. Lower flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sugar and vinegar. Stir and cook for ½ minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Makes 2 quarts. Sterilize jars before using. Cover tightly.
Keeps in refrigerator for 6 weeks.


There are only a few very minor changes that I made to this recipe.

~ I used canola oil instead of olive oil because the eggplant absorbs the olive oil too quickly. Then have to keep adding oil and you end up with oily eggplant. Just use whatever oil you would normally use for frying.

~ I added a little more sugar and vinegar than the recipe called for. I'm sure Steve's grandmother, like Nanny, didn't use standard measuring cups so the measurements that we have are just a guess. Nanny's measuring cup was a mug. So it's very difficult to get exact measurements but all you need to do is taste and adjust. Not a problem.

~ I also cooked the eggplant at the end for a little longer because either I cut the eggplant too big or the time given was just an estimation. Again, just taste it and you can tell if the eggplant is cooked all the way through.

This dish is best served cold or room temperature with a couple of pieces of good Italian bread for dipping.

Enjoy!