The Porky Pine, A Halloween Meatball...



Porky Pines with Garlic Peas

Growing up my mom would make Porky Pines. What is a Porky Pine? Porky Pines are a meatball with rice cooked inside and served with pasta sauce over the top.

 My siblings and I always gobbled these down; there were never any leftovers. Mom served them with steamed green peas, and salad. This time, I used the garlic butter I made the other day  to season the peas, and it made a nice change.

The first time I made Porky Pines, it was Halloween. There was a huge uproar from my husband, when he saw them cooking in the pot.  He asked to me why are there maggots in the meat. I about died of horror! I had just bought the meat from the commissary and knew it was fresh. I bolted into the kitchen, then almost fell over with laughter, when I realized what he was looking at.

 My picky husband was not too happy about the idea of trying these. However, with coaxing from the kids (who were six and four years old), he tried them. The poor man, remined me of Dr. Suess's Green Eggs and Ham story. His first  bite went down with a gulp and ended with a smile. While they are not his most favorite food to eat, he does enjoy them every so often. 

 Yes, I have changed the recipe by adding more spices.  I hope my siblings will find the change for the better and like them. I have added Garam Marsla, which gives a slight smokey under tone. Also mint gives it a bit of fresh taste, without being minty.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of ground beef, lean

1 cup of uncooked whole grain rice (we use white, brown is acceptable)

1 carrot finely grated, or you can mince (the idea is for the kids (or my dad) not see the carrots)

1 egg, beaten

1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon garam marsla

Water

24 oz Jar of Prego, Heart Smart, Traditional Spaghetti Sauce

*The secret ingredient is 1/2 teaspoon of fresh mint, minced*

Directions:

In large bowl, combine beef, carrots, egg, pepper, garlic and Worcestershire Sauce with your hands making sure all ingredients are well combined.

Using about a 1 cup portion, form mixture into balls and place in a skillet. Once all mixture is formed into balls, add enough water to cover ¾ ways up the meatball. Cover and cook on stovetop at medium high heat until majority of water has cooked out.

Turn down heat to low, pour Prego sauce over meatballs, heat until warm then serve.

This recipe is easy to half if there are just three or less people. If there are leftovers, make a Porky Pine sub for lunch the next day.

Yummy, Chocolate Kahlúa Cake!

Thursday, I was taking my son to school; they were talking on the radio, about most irritating and the most pleasant sounds to people. One of the most irritating sounds is people who smack their lips when eating. This is one of my personal pet peeves.

One of the most pleasant sounds is bacon frying. I was surprised; when my son said hearing birds, chirping in the morning is the most pleasant sound for him. I have to agree with him there, waking up on a sunny day with birds chirping outside your window, is a good start to a day.

This topic of course started us on a conversation of other things like favorite smells. A favorite smell in our house, especially if it is a birthday, is chocolate Kahlúa cake.

My children do not like a traditional birthday cake with frosting. When asked what they want for their cake, they always request Kahlúa cake. Recently for my husband's birthday, he requested not only a Kahlúa cake, but also the death by chocolate brownies. Yes, I did make both for him, how could I refuse?

The death by chocolate brownies with Kahlúa whipped cream was my first post on this blog. The Kahlúa whipped cream can be made to top the Kahlúa cake. I also suggest if you can, make the Kahlúa cake one day before you serve it.

I make this cake in a Bundt pan, if you have a mini Bundt pan this recipe works well for those. You can give mini cakes as presents for coworkers or friends. When using a Bundt pan to make a cake, you have to butter and flour the pan. I would suggest you use a product like Baker's Joy pan spray. With this spray you do not have to flour and butter the pan, it does it all for you. If you do not have this type spray. Butter your Bundt pan, instead of using flour, reserve about a quarter cup of dry cake mix and use it to flour your pan. The reason to use the dry cake mix is when you remove the cake from the pan, you will not have any white residue from the flour on your cake.

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix, I suggest Betty Crocker's pudding in the mix, chocolate fudge cake.

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 6 ounce box of chocolate pudding, I suggest Jell-O Brand

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups Kahlúa liqueur

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

6 tablespoons of Kahlúa liqueur

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Combine the first five ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend well.

Pour into buttered and floured 9 ½ inch Bundt pan. Bake 45 minutes

While the cake is cooking, combine 6 tablespoons of Kahlúa and 1 cup sifted powdered sugar.

 After removing cake from the oven, do not remove from pan.

Powder sugar mixture, soaking into cake

 Take a knife I suggest a slicing blade and poke holes in the cake.

Pour the Kahlúa and powdered sugar mixture over the cake. If the Kahlúa mixture is pooling on top you probably need to add more holes.

Allow cake to cool for two hours in pan before removing.

If you are, making little Bundt cakes after they are cooled, wrap them in colorful cellophane and tie with a festive ribbon to give as gifts.