Bron's meatballs

Look, seriously, everyone has their own meatball recipe. Obama has one, my ironing lady has one, and I'm pretty sure the toad that's sitting in my backyard right now has one. And we all think ours is the best. Of course we do.

Which is why I'm going to share my meatball recipe with you, because I genuinely believe it to be the best.

When I was growing up, a child of the 70s, they weren't called meatballs. That was too American. My mum called them rissoles. She'd mix together mince, an onion, a squirt of tomato sauce and a sprinkling of something terrifying generic called "all purpose seasoning". She'd serve them up with potato and pumpkin mashed together (seriously) and diagonally cut green beans. I thought the boredom would never end.

Mine are a bit more fun, and rarely served with potatoes and beans. I made these ones on Christmas Eve, hence the addition of the dried cranberries. We made hamburgers, with melted vintage cheese, chipotle chutney and lettuce. You can make a salad, a pasta sauce or a casserole with these. Make them tiny enough and serve with toothpicks as a canape.

(PS has anyone noticed that when I'm not at work, I blog more. Mmmmm. I think there's something in there, don't you?)

Ingredients

250g best beef mince you can get - pay the money, please pay the money
250g pork mince
2 eggs
1 cup raw rolled oats
½ cup sour cream
50g pine nuts (raw)
chopped fresh curly parsley
1 onion, chopped finely
150g tomato paste (or thereabouts)
dash of Worcestershire sauce
½ cup dried cranberries - optional
plain flour and vegetable oil - for frying

Method

Put a good covering of vegetable oil in a shallow frypan and heat. I use two frypans so I can cook the whole lot in one go. You can also get out your big electric pan if you want, that works nicely too.

Put a cup of plain flour on a dinner plate and sit it by the stove.

Get the biggest bowl you have, toss everything in, take off your rings, wash your hands well, then get amongst it. Mix it, squish it, turn it around and mix some more. If it is really wet, throw in another half cup of oats.

Now for the fun. Start to shape your meatballs to as little or as large as you want. You can make them round like a golf ball, or flat like a pikelet. Depends on what you want to do with them.

Cook them on a medim-high heat (you want to hear that oil sizzle) for about 6-8 minutes, then flip for another 4-5 minutes.

Drain on paper towels then use your imagination. I usually eat one straight from its resting spot on the paper towels, and tell everyone that I'm merely testing to see if it's cooked through. No one believes me.

Goats cheese and eggplant dip

It's my job to supply the nibbles on Christmas Day. As well as bloody presents for everyone. We are heading over to Portside at Hamilton for lunch, which is a relief, because they get to do the washing up. My parents, bless them, couldn't see the sense in a $250/head lunch at the casino, despite the fact that I thought it was brilliant. My dad likes to control the wine list, you see, and he would rather shave off a homeless man's beard and use it as a loofah than be part of a wine buffet.

So it's bubbles and nibbles at my folks house down in Manly to open the presents, then off to lunch, then all going well, back home for a swim and a snooze, with a late evening viewing of Love Actually.

This dip is a first-timer for me. I made it last night, it is dead-set simple and the flavours are really subtle. My luddite brother might even have some. Good thing my family don't read my blogs.

Thanks to eat365.com.au - I found this recipe from their Instagram page.

Happy Christmas everyone, and forgive the cliche, but peace on earth xx

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
150g of plain goats cheese
Lemon zest (about half the lemon but you be the judge)
2-4 tablespoons plain Greek yoghurt
To serve: chopped Italian parsley, cranberry sauce, dried cranberries, toasted wholemeal pita bread

Method

Pop on the oven to preheat to 180°C.

Cut the eggplants in half lengthways and pop them on the baking tray, skin side down. Roast for about 45 minutes then let cool.

Scrape the eggplant flesh into your food processor, had a good whack of the yoghurt (again, you be the judge as to how runny you want things), all the goats cheese and the lemon zest.

Whiz it baby.

Pop into a bowl, throw over the parsley, top with a good dollop of cranberry sauce and scatter the dried ones around. Get arty and spill them over the sides onto the resting plate. You can slush around a bit of olive oil too, if the inclination hits you.

Serve with pita break chips. These are so easy. Using your hands, tear the pita breads into cracker-size pieces, scatter in a single layer over a baking tray (no need for paper) and bake at 180°C for about 10 minutes (keep an eye on them). The leftovers will store well in an air-tight container in your pantry.