40 Days and 40 Nights

This week's meal is going on my personal list of favourites. If you've ever had a really, really long week (haven't we all?) that ended in a really, reeeeally long day and all you wanted to do was go home, crack open a beer and enjoy a really yummy, filling, no-fuss meal - then this is the week for you. It feels like a junk food meal, full of carbs, comfort food and even ice cream at the end, but it is far healthier and doesn't leave you with that horrible greased-up bloated feeling you get after devouring a whole pizza. Not that I've ever done that. Ahem. Anyway,  introducing my new favourite Friday Night Special, the Meatball Sandwich, Pickled Cabbage, Chopped Salad and Banana Ice Cream!

The meatballs are pretty straight forward and in terms of technique there isn't really anything new here to begin with - you throw your mince and your flavour items into a bowl (in this case it was wholegrain mustard and basil, amongst other things), give it a really good mix and then shape the meatballs before throwing them into a frying pan to cook. When they're almost done you add pancetta to the pan and stick it in the oven - I honestly think this is the move that makes the whole dish. Pancetta is awesome for flavour and the oven cooking seems to crisp up the meatballs a little more. Delicious!

The meatball sandwiches are a great opportunity to let other people do the work - I chose to just throw everything on the table and let our guests build their own sandwich. This way everyone got more of the bits they loved and less of the stuff they didn't want. Swiss cheese, pancetta, meatballs, cabbage salad and chopped salad - everyone had a different combination on their plate. The cabbage salad was really lovely, so much flavour and so much purple! It gives a really refreshing edge to what otherwise might have been quite a heavy sandwich. The chopped salad was super simple but was really fresh and tasty. It is made just the way that it sounds - you chop stuff, and turn it into a salad. Simple!

And to finish it all off, banana ice cream! It is delicious, I can't wait to make this one again and experiment with some other fruits for flavour. Some of the bananas weren't quite ripe enough so it did give the ice cream a bit of a sharp taste, but it was so creamy and lovely nobody seemed to notice. Add to that the yummy shortbread sugar biscuits and it was just a really yummy dessert! It really didn't take much effort to make the dessert, except for the fact that my blender decided it didn't want to chop frozen banana. If not for that this dessert would have been ready in about two minutes flat (with the bananas being frozen in advance, that is!). 

So there it is, meal number 40. We're on the home stretch now, with only ten delicious meals to go! Next week is the one meal we have not been looking forward to - out of the whole book, just one meal we really didn't want to have a crack at! It is Liver & Bacon, Onion Gravy, Smashed Potato, Dressed Green and Berry & Custard Ripple. We have come to the conclusion that subbing out the liver and subbing in some lovely lamb backstrap is the way to go. Because even though I am game enough to try lots of foods that are unfamiliar, and I have been told by many that liver is just so wonderful and delicious, I find it really hard to believe those people when liver doesn't make a common appearance on their home menus. So I'm saying no to the organ meat and saying yes to substitution! Hooray!

Til next time - Bon Appetit!