Recipe: Italian Meatballs

Posted on February 13, 2024 by arah

Every time I think of meatballs, I am reminded of the scene in Lady and the Tramp where they are sharing a meatball and spaghetti dinner. It makes the meal so romantic and the meatball wasn’t just meatball, it became a sign of affection. Anyway, I didn’t grow up eating meatballs. My mom didn’t have time for that, she had an army of 6 kids to feed! It was ground beef in red sauce. I grew up thinking meatballs were hard to make. I know now that they are easy, makes a ton and are great for freezing.

Zaycon Foods- meatlballs

And so, without further ado, I give the easiest meatball recipe from our awesome in-house food man, Matt H:

Meatballs are a great thing to keep in the fridge. Super versatile, fast, easy and well, dern it, people like them.
What I don’t like is the list of ingredients on store bought meatballs. When I was at the market, the package listed no fewer than 21 ingredients. 21!

These have 8 including Salt & Pepper AND they are 93/7 Zaycon Ground Beef, but the best part is that YOU decide what goes into them for your family.
Zaycon Foods-meatballs Ingredients:

- 2 lbs of 93/7 Zaycon Ground Beef
- 2 Eggs
- 3/4 cup Breadcrumbs
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
-1 teaspoon Onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Zaycon Foods- meatballs
Your hands are your best tool, so scrub them up and get all up in it. Mix all the ingredients until smooth consistency. I used a medium sized portion scoop then smoothed them into balls, then onto a baking sheet lined with parchment for easy cleanup with a cooling rack on top. Zaycon foods-meatballs Bake in a 375 oven until done about 20 minutes. If you’re going to make a large quantity, allow them to cool, then freeze in a single layer on a sheet, then after they are frozen, put into large freezer bags.
TIP! If you’re wanting to stretch your ground beef and nobody in the family is sensitive to soy products, you can extend the beef by adding textured soy product, available in either the bulk section or health food section of your market.

I think next time I get a case, I’ll turn one full 10 pound chub into meatballs. They freeze great and are ready in seconds.

Zaycon Foods-meatballs

Matt H.

You can head over to the Zaycon Foods website for information on our ground beef and many of our other beef products!

Recipe: Cream with Strawberries

Posted on February 12, 2024 by arah

Zaycon Foods- strawberries and cream Sometimes the most wonderful things come out of the simplest of ingredients, “amazing” needn’t come from complicated.

Speaking of ‘complicated’, that’s where our story begins.

When my bestie wed her hubby, they had the wedding in Daegu, Republic of Korea. This was a combination of ‘simple’ and ‘complicated’. It was a small wedding with only 8 of us there including the bride and groom, but we had a rock solid 50 nuns serving us “Sister Act” all in Korean. I’m not taking creative license here either, at one point I heard them singing “My God” just like in the movie. Perma-grin.

Anyway, that was the wedding and it was uh-MAZE-ING, but after the fact, the bride and groom (bless their hearts) realized that they didn’t have the wedding license in Korea, so after we all got back to Seattle, they got the license and we took some pics at Gasworks Park and then headed off to dinner with a few friends that weren’t able to come with us to Daegu.

The restaurant that we had the Seattle wedding dinner at was new to me. No menu, the chef just came around and served us what he was in the mood to cook. Great fun. The owners were ethnic Malaysian Chinese, but the cuisine was Italian so there was some serious fusion going on and it really kept us on our toes. There were a total of 19 courses and a bill of $1,600, so listen up folks. This is a valuable recipe.

As the dinner was winding down, the deserts started. I only remember one out of the 4 or 5 that we had. I only need to remember the one, because it was life changing.

The waiter placed a small glass filled with strawberries and cream in front of me. It looked basic. I was really quite full at this point, but was determined to see it though. That first bite and my eyes got as big as saucers. I turned to the bride “OMG! Have you tried this yet?” that’s when I saw the look on her face. She had.

When the chef came through at the end of our experience, I motioned for him to come closer. “Look here” I said “I know and understand that you’re not going to give me the recipe for this (I waved my hand over my empty glass), but PLEASE tell me what’s in it.

Then as the giggles at my ignorance subsided from my dinner mates, the chef actually told me. With jaws agape, I memorized what he told me. On my way home, I stopped by the grocery store and purchased my supplies because I had to figure out how to make this.

Since he gave me no measurements, I’ve just always done it to taste so that’s how it will be relayed to you.

-Strawberries
-Sour Cream
-Brown Sugar (I use Dark Brown)
-A very good vanilla (I use homemade, because I like the vanilla seed specks), or a vanilla bean
-Grand Marnier Liquor

**If you are uncomfortable using liquor, please substitute with just a drop of orange extract. The extract will not have the depth that the Grand Marnier has, but you’ll want that subtle bright flavor. It keeps people guessing.

There you have it. This would be fantastic over any berry, really.

Complicated simplicity. Consider yourself changed.

Matt H

Recipe: lemon strawberry rolls

Posted on February 10, 2024 by arah

With Valentines Day just a few days away, I wanted to post something fun and easy that would be perfect for a Saturday morning breakfast with the ones you love….ah, how sweet. Zaycon Foods-lemon strawberry rolls

These rolls can be made with frozen bread dough, which cuts down quite a bit of the time. I use my moms all-use bread recipe, and I’ll be sharing that with you here as well! In fact, you can be a super cheat and use store bought lemon curd too, I won’t tell. Zaycon Foods Mama’s bread recipe:

2 Tablespoons yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 cups hot water

let sit for 5-10 minutes to get the yeast activated

Add 5 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. If super sticky, add up to 1 more cup of flour. knead in mixer for 5 minutes.

Let set for 30 minutes.

Lemon Curd: (This is a lot easier to do that you think)

3/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup sugar

Zest of 1 lemon, good fun for the kids. My kids love to use fun kitchen tools.

1 cube cold butter, cut it up so it melts faster

3 egg yolks

You are going to need a double boiler, you can make one with a saucepan and a metal mixing bowl if you don’t have one. Bring water to a boil in the saucepan, you don’t want it to touch the bottom of the metal bowl, so be sure not to fill it too high. Once its to a boil, turn down the heat and put the metal bowl on top and add to it:

sugar, lemon juice and zest and egg yolks, mix together. You need to whisk the entire time its on the heat. It will start to thicken and stick to your spoon, take off the heat and add your butter a pad at a time until melted. cover and let cool until you are ready to use it.

Putting it together:

Roll out your dough to fit an 11×17 sheet. I like to bake on parchment or a silicone baking mat. You need to spread your lemon curd out across the dough and sprinkle with diced strawberries. Roll the dough like your making cinnamon rolls. This is going to get really messy, cut 1 1/2 inch sections off your dough log. I use dental floss. Its really easy and cuts fast. This size should cut about 12-15 rolls per log.

Bake 350 degrees for 22 minutes.

glaze:

I like to make a super simple sugar glaze with powdered sugar, a little milk and melted butter. I eyeball this part. I melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add about a tablespoon of milk to about 1/2-3/4 powdered sugar. If its too thin, I add more sugar, too thick, add milk. I drizzle this on the rolls while they are still hot.

These are not too sweet or too lemony and a nice change from chocolate, and I am a HUGE fan of chocolate. I think it would be fun to play around with different flavors. Maybe try a peach curd with raspberries or how about orange curd with a honey drizzle.

Recipe: Pasta Carbonara

Posted on February 4, 2024 by arah

8 to 10 slices of Zaycon bacon, cut into pieces
1 box good spaghetti, cooked al dente
2-4 teaspoons of minced garlic
4 of the freshest eggs you can get your hands on, beaten
Freshly cracked black pepper
coarse salt (Kosher will work fine) for pasta water
A smallish wedge of parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese finely grated (make sure you grate your own, otherwise you get that powdery coating on it and it fouls this recipe up) maybe 6 ounces?

In a sauté pan, put the cut up bacon and a little water, (1/3 to 1/2c) cook until the water evaporates and the bacon begins to sizzle. You want the bacon to be brown and cooked and slightly sizzley, but not crispy – that’s what the water is for – it makes it tender. Add the minced garlic and find a place to sit down, because your pan contents will make you weak in the knees. Cook until you just can’t stand it anymore and you completely forget this is hot bacon and then I burnt my fingertips snatching a piece. There won’t be enough fat to remove – this is Zaycon Bacon we’re talking here. Set aside your bacon mixture.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, cheese & pepper

Cook the pasta in salted water while the bacon is cooling. This is why I said go with 8-10 slices because you will lose bacon. It’s going to happen, so make peace with it.

When you strain your pasta, reserve about a cup of the pasta water and slowly whisk about half into the egg mixture. In goes the bacon/garlic followed by the hot pasta. Toss until everything gets nicely coated and the sauce thickens.

This is EXACTLY how I cooked the pasta in the picture and I’m here to tell you, the second I was done taking the picture, I scarfed that.

Matt H.

Keepin It Fresh: Sweepstakes

Posted on February 2, 2024 by arah

Chicken Soup for the Soul is known for their books full of uplifting stories, but did you know they have a food product line with broths, sauces and meal builders?

We are BIG fans of Chicken Soup of the Soul and have teamed up with them on an awesome giveaway where you can enter to win not just your favorite Zaycon Foods products, but also Chicken Soup for the Soul’s books and products from their food line! You can enter here!

If you just can’t wait to win, you can go HERE and see what products are coming in your area.

Good Luck to you!

Tag Archives: zaycon recipes

Recipe: Italian Meatballs

Recipe: Cream with Strawberries

Recipe: lemon strawberry rolls

Recipe: Pasta Carbonara

Keepin It Fresh: Sweepstakes

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