What Would MacGuyver Do?

Q: What would MacGuyver do?

A: Whatever he needed to!

I'm not going to pretend like I spend a lot of money on great ingredients to cook fabulous, restaurant quality meals, seven nights per week.

The truth? I rarely do.

The simple fact is that I don't often have the money for it!  Don't get me wrong, if I was able to put Fois Gras and Lamb Chops on the table, I would be rocking it.  Instead, I am often basing my meals around what was on sale, and what I have left in the kitchen.

This doesn't mean that you can't prepare tasty food - it means you have to be creative.  You have to think like MacGuyver.  To think like MacGuyver, you have to understand a few things:

Flavors:  

What goes together?  What doesn't?  If your goal is to prepare food that people enjoy, you can't just go through your cupboards and throw stuff into a bowl and call it a meal.

My good friend Chris would tell you a story of when we were 19, and in our first apartment after leaving our parents' house.  I had always enjoyed cooking, but I had no real world experience with it, so the realization that I had been spoiled for so many years by my mother's well stocked kitchen was a real slap in the face when I made a tragic Spaghetti-O casserole (yes, you read that right).  I still can't get that taste out of my mouth, and it's been 16 years.

Ingredients:

What are flavors made of?  Sure, basic ingredients are obvious.  Basil tastes Basil.  Lemon tastes like Lemon.  When we're talking about a meal though, how about Chili?  When I think about Chili, I think Meat, Beans (depending on where you're from!), Cumin, Chili Powder, Oregano, Onions, etc...  When you have a basic understanding of what the food you are thinking of is made from, it enables you to recreate it.

Substitutions:

How can I make a dish without all the ingredients I know I need?  Simply put, I can't.  What I can do is make a new dish, inspired by the dish I have in my head.

Using my Chili example - What if all I have for meat is a couple Country Pork Ribs?  No problem! I could either cube them up and stew them in the chili, or I could cube them up and run them through my food processor for a few seconds.  Quick ground meat!  I do that pretty often, honestly, because I like the cooked texture which is a little more 'meaty' than ground beef or pork.

So with all that said, there's a reason I bring it up.  Yesterday, I forgot to take the chicken I was going to cook, out of the freezer before I left for work.  When I got home, there was no way it was going to defrost in a timely enough fashion, so I abandoned the chicken dish I had in my head and regrouped and came up with this ground meat recipe (because it defrosts faster), that consists mainly of substitutions.

Sweet n' Sour Meatballs

1-2lbs meat (i used a combination of ground beef and a country rib like I mentioned above)
1.5 cups of Breadcrumbs (I used 4 slices of wheat bread in the food processor for a couple seconds)
1 cup of Ketchup
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 small onion (diced small)
salt/pepper
2Tb White Vinegar
1Tb Parsley
1 Egg

Preheat the oven to 400.

THE MEATBALL

In a medium to large bowl, mix together the meat, breadcrumbs, 1/2 of the Ketchup, the egg, onion, salt, pepper, and Parsley.  I like to make fresh breadcrumbs for meatballs because they help them stay moist, so if you're using the dry kind, soak them in a bit of milk for a few minutes before adding them.

Once everything is mixed up well, form them into little golf balls and put them on a sheet pan...into the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on how big they are.  When you're checking to see if they're done, don't be fooled...these will be super tender, it's best to cut into one to see if it is cooked through.

SWEET N' SOUR SAUCE

While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the sauce by adding the remaining ingredients (1/2 cup Ketchup, 1/4 cup Brown Sugar, 2Tb Vinegar) into a small sauce pot over medium low heat.  Stir until everything is dissolved, then turn it down to low and simmer it, stirring occasionally until the meatballs are done.

When the meatballs are done, take them out of the oven and toss them with the sauce in a bowl (I just wash the same bowl from earlier - less dishes!)  These work well as an appetizer, hors devor, or a main course over some kind of rice.