Manipulation in the Kitchen

I would like to thank Tamara (one of my judges) for providing the recipes for this Sunday. She was kind enough to provide me a recipe for both a main course as well as a dessert. While I want to think she is doing this to show her dedication to my blog and her position as the Simon of my judging panel (she is only Simon because she doesn't use the word dawg like Randy nor does she abuse pain pills like Paula) I have noticed that this last week I have received approx 5 emails from her with recipe links and a message like "Hmmm this looks good" or " I bet this is yummy"........If I didn't know any better I would think she was trying to lure me into making them by sending me food porn :-) In all honesty I asked her to be a judge from the beginning because I knew she would keep me on my toes as she is far more experienced in the cooking world than I am. She is my yoda - but a young and good looking version.

Well regardless of her intentions I have taken the bait this week and will be making Moroccan Turkey Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce and for dessert Figgy Date Squares. I must admit this Turkey Meatball recipe has me on edge....it has over 22 ingrediants which is about 21 more than any dish I have ever made. I mean 22 requirements for anything is a lot. Even Eharmony only matches on 20 personality points (which I saw on a commercial only!) What happened to meatballs being a pound of meat mixed with some bread crumbs and an egg? When did meatballs become so freaking high maintanence. This recipe shall be my Excalibur should it turn out as I seriously have never made anything this detailed. Before I started this blog the closest thing I have come to a homemade meatball is spelled BERTOLLI and takes approx 6-8 minutes in a microwave.

Those of you who know me know I am not one to shy away from a challenge so I will accept the challenge and be ready for that meatball recipe by the bike racks at 3pm ready to DOMINATE it and show that Morrocan meatball who's boss.

We will be having a special guest judge this weekend as well. I have called in Tina W to help me out. Anyone who knows Tina understands she is a real ball buster so I think she is perfect to critique these meatballs fairly and objectively:-) She is also my personal hair coloring stylist so I originally lured her over here with the promise of wine and snacks if she would color my hair. It wasn't until she said yes I revealed I would be cooking the dinner and not ordering out so now she is locked in! I am thinking we will do the hair coloring first though - only because I would hate it if she had an allergic reaction to, oh I don't know, uncooked meat and not be able to color my hair...of course her health would be my first concern, but lets be real.....I must look good for my fans and we can't be having tacky roots!

I also owe all of my fans (all 6 of you) an apology as I failed you with dessert this week. I did make these kick ass Pumpkin Cheese Cake brownies but it got crazy with work and I didn't get around to collecting everyone's feedback yet so I will be posting two desserts this weekened - last weeks and this weeks. Look for recipes and photo's from this weekend on Saturday as cooking will commense on Saturday this week in Katia's Kitchen!