The best kind of mashed potatoes—well for me at least—are
the gloriously golden, smooth-and-lumpy ones that are usually served as sides
to steak or chicken in fancy restaurants. Today, thanks to the oh-so very inspirational Rachael Ray,
I’m making a Golden Cheese Mash, served with an equally cheesy Kofta balls that will leave you just about salivating after every bite.
Golden Cheese Mash
Ingredients
Regular Golden Potatoes
Butter
Cheese (You can use
any type of cheese, but I used a combination of cream cheese and brie cheese
for this one.)
Milk
Milk
Powdered milk
Salt (To taste)
Pepper (To taste)
Note: The ingredients have no measure because all
of these will vary on how you want your mashed potatoes to be. If you want the
super soft and creamy mashed potatoes, add a lot of milk. If you want them a
bit lumpy add more powdered milk than milk and don’t mash them too hard. If you
want the cheese to come out strong, put a LOT of cheese until you can taste it.
Procedure
Heat water in a pot (about two thirds full)
Add the peeled and diced potatoes in once the pot is
hot.
Wait until the potatoes are soft. (It usually takes about
15-30 minutes depending on how high your heat is)
Drain the water from your pot, but leave the potatoes in.
With the heat turned off, add the rest of the ingredients.
(Don’t forget to peel the "skin" off your cheese if you want
the cheese to melt easily.)
Kofta balls
The best kofta balls I've ever tasted so far resides in the infamous Uncle Moe's in Metro Manila. If you haven't heard of it yet, Uncle Moe's is known for their good and affordable persian food and casual dining environment. You go there, get a shawarma or a plate of kofta balls with a side of buttered rice and a cold beer and all your troubles will disappear. (As long as you remember to get the beer.) My sister and I used to come down there after long nights of partying out with friends. This place is also especially close to my heart because this was where my boyfriend took me to on our first legit date—although we still disagree on how legitimate this date was.
A kofta ball is essentially a cheese-infused meat ball in a tomato-based sauce. It's simplicity is what peaks my interest. Comfort food is usually a bit difficult to make, that's why it's often ordered instead of made, but this one was just so surprisingly easy, as it was delicious, to cook up!
My recipe is more italian-tasting than persian to be honest, but I feel as if I did it as much justice as I could. My boyfriend still gives me pains for "destroying" perfectly good beef with each beef patty recipe I make, only because I mix it with different flavours instead of just seasoning the ground beef with salt and pepper, but admits he couldn't have it any better every time it comes out of the frying pan! This mix of ingredients into the ground beef is just how my mother did it, and it's how I love making patties or meatballs. It gives a lot of flavour to the beef and I'm just about obsessed with it. It tastes fantastic.
Ingredients for the meatballs
500g of Ground beef
½ cup of Milk
2 cups of Breadcrumbs
Egg
2 tbsps of Hotsauce
2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce
1 White Onion, Finely chopped
1 Garlic clove, Finely chopped
2 tbsps Parsley, Finely chopped
Cream cheese
3 tbsps of Olive Oil
In a bowl mix all the ingredients together.
Shape them into little balls, enveloping dollops of cream
cheese. (The more cream cheese the better)
Once you’ve got the ball shapes, lightly toss the balls from
hand to hand like you would a soft ball, just to make sure these meatballs are
tightly packed.
Put it into the refrigerator if you will not fry it at once.
Fry the meatballs into a preheated pan with olive oil
Make sure to be careful with the meatballs so they do not
break or fall apart.
Spoons are easier to use when handling meatballs.
Ingredients for the Marinara sauce
Olive oil
1/2 cup of Onions
1 can of Crushed tomatoes
Finely Chopped Basil (to taste)
1 clove of Garlic
1 tbsp Parsley
Hot sauce (to taste)
Salt
Pepper
Procedure
Heat a pan with some olive oil
Add your onions, crushed tomatoes, basil, garlic, and parsley.
Let it cook for about 5-8 minutes.
Add hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste.
While the sauce and meatballs are still hot, mix them together in a bowl (Meat balls first) and serve together with the mashed potatoes!
Suggested Beverage? A cold beer
Cheers!
Love, Ashley
