Black and white and the meatballs

I’ve accepted a request from a friend of a friend to make some desserts for her daughter’s 21st birthday party.

And the theme is Black and White.

Miss 10 said, “what about that black rice dessert with the coconut milk that you sometimes make. that’s black and white”.

Kalau majlis melayu, ok lah kot I buat bubur pulut hitam.

Ini majlis Mat Saleh yang still so young.

Not many Mat Salehs like the texture of pulut and I dont want to ruin her big day so I think I’ll skip that suggestion, hehehehe.

I think I’ll stick to western desserts yang not so complicated to make Cos I am HOPELESS when it comes to decorating.

They have already asked for my mini cheesecakes with strawberry coulis.

Sebab they loved them so much the last time they had the cheesecakes at our friend’s birthday party.

And they want another dessert to go with it.

And the birthday girl requested something chocolatey.

I’m thinking of making black and white cake pops/ cake balls or something with oreos in it or meringues dipped in dark choc or black n white meringue swirls.

Other than that, I’m stumped for ideas.

Any good suggestions?

I still have a month before the big day but I have to email the person with dessert ideas.

Lainlah kalau I ni memang dessert maker kan, surenya idea bertimbun2, hehehe.

Kalau setakat untuk makan sendiri, boleh lah I buat, tak cantik sangat pun takpe.

Nasib baik lah untuk 60 people aje so tak lah gabra sangat.

Lain lah kalau diaorang mintak I buatkan swedish meatballs like what we had for dinner last night.

Yang ini gerenti I boleh buat dengan senang hati sebab tak payah decorate bagai!

The only leceh part is panfrying them on the stove top sebab mercik2 sikit.

But you can always pop them in the oven for a healthier less mercik version.

But rasa dia lain sikit lah, yang panfried version sudah tentunya lagi sedap.

I used this recipe as my base.

But I increased the allspice to 1/4 teaspoon and I added 1/4 teaspoon of paprika to the mince mixture.

And I also chopped the onion and the garlic in the food processor so they are a bit finer.

We had the swedish meatballs with creamy sauce and parmesan mashed potatoes, with a side of salad.

For the sauce, you can follow the above recipe or you can do it the way I made it.

Use the same pan that you use to cook the meatballs WITHOUT washing it.

And DO NOT throw away all the leftover stuck bits of meat and oil in the pan.

They are the best bits that make your gravy/cream sauce tastes oh so amazing.

Creamy sauce recipe:

-To the pan, on low heat, add about 3 tablespoons of plain flour

- stir it into the oil and crunchy bits and cook for 2-3 minutes until everything is combined together nicely and the flour is cooked.

-if there’s not much oil left in the pan after frying the meatballs, you can add some butter to it before you add the flour.

-if there’s too much oil in the pan after frying the meatballs (which will happen if you use mince that has a lot of fat in it), you might need to drain the oil a bit or else the sauce will be too oily.

-then add some liquid to the pan, around 1 cup. You can either use beef stock, chicken stock or water.

- I used water but I added powdered chicken stock to replace the salt.

-stir and cook until the sauce has thickened a bit.

-add 1/3 cup of cream and stir some more.

-add 2 teaspoons of worcesteshire sauce and taste. If it’s not salty enough, you can add chicken stock, beef stock or salt.

-let it simmer for about 5 minutes and it’s ready to be poured onto the meatballs.

 

Some people put the meatballs into the sauce in the pan because they want the meatballs to soak up the sauce.

But I prefer pouring the creamy sauce onto the meatballs on top of the mashed potatoes.

You can put as much sauce or as little as you want .

I still think this is much better than the IKEA’s meatballs!

Habislah kena lahar! Hahahahahaha