American

MANHATTEN MEATBALLS

Serves 4
Preparation 15 mins
Cooking 35 mins

Ingredients

1 thick slice Italian-style bread, crusts removed
Milk, to soak bread
650mg (1lb 5oz) veal mince (or combination of pork and veal mince)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Plain flour, for coating
2-3tbsp olive oil
2 x 400g (13oz) tins chopped tomatoes or 500ml (16fl oz) ready-made fresh Napoli sauce
2 cloves garlic, peeled
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Break the bread into pieces and soak in a little milk. Squeeze dry, crumble and place in a large bowl. Add the mince, chopped garlic, parmesan, parsley, lemon zest and beaten egg, and mix well. Season with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Shape into balls 5cm (2in) in diameter. Roll them in flour and shake off any excess. At this stage you can refrigerate for up to 4 hours, if desired.

Add the chopped tomatoes or Napoli sauce and whole garlic cloves to the frying pan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Return the meatballs to the pan and transfer to the oven. Cook, turning them occasionally, for 20 minutes. Remove the whole garlic cloves before serving.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

AMERICAN PANCAKES

Serves 4-6
Preparation 25 mins
Cooking less than 10 mins

Ingredients

135g/4¾oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml/4½fl oz milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.

(For extra-fluffy pancakes substitute self-raising flour for plain flour and still use the baking powder)

Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.

Chose from a variety of typically American foods to serve with the pancakes, including; lashings of real maple syrup, bacon, extra butter, fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream or caramelised apple slices and thick double cream.

For a variation try adding a large handful of fresh blueberries to the batter before cooking and add one teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the buckwheat batter.