Italian-Style Beef Rissoles

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you are looking for a substantial meal to serve your family, give this recipe a try before warm weather arrives. A rissole is an extended meat patty that is breaded and fried. Those that are deep fried are especially delicious, but these days health concerns keep most of us from that excess. The ones I've created for this post are pan-seared and baked in a tomato sauce that makes them much like a poor man's veal Parmesan. I use ground beef and Italian spices in my rissoles and I extend them with a small amount of rice. While I've included a recipe for tomato sauce, feel free to use a commercial brand if that better suits your needs and time constraints. It takes about 30 minutes to assemble the rissoles and another 30 for them to bake. If you serve them with spaghetti you'll find these Italian-style patties will satisfy the heartiest appetites at your table. I'm always surprised at how quickly this meal disappears. Here is the recipe for those of you who would like to give them a try. Mangia.

Chicken and Lemongrass Rissoles

This is a quick and easy family meal designed to please those looking to make something outside the pale for dinner. You'll need a few special ingredients (lemon grass and sweet chile sauce) but you should be able to find them in any large grocery store. The rissoles take 15 minutes to prepare and can be on the table in less than an hour. They can also be frozen prior to cooking and pulled from the freezer as needed. If you prefer a lightly colored rissole, scratch the sesame oil and use untoasted sesame seeds. It goes without saying that these are delicious deep fried - we, alas, no longer do that. Children like them, though, in the interest of complete transparency, I must say I watched in amazement as one of my Grandson's picked every single sesame seed from his rissole before going on to eat it and then repeated the procedure with two more. Go figure! Serve on a bun or, if you prefer, with rice or sesame noodles. Simple, quick and inexpensive. Highly recommended.

Chicken and Lemongrass Rissoles

Ingredients:
1-1/4 pounds ground chicken
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup egg substitute
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
1/4 cup Thai sweet chile sauce (i.e. Mae Ploy) + additional sauce to serve as a condiment
1/4 cup finely minced lemongrass
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 cup toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
Garnish: lightly dressed greens, grape tomatoes, orange slice

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Combine chicken, panko, egg substitute, salt, pepper, chile sauce, lemongrass, garlic, orange zest an cilantro in a large bowl; mix just to combine. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions (about 1/3 cup each) and shape into oval rissoles. spread sesame seed in a flat plan. Coat both sides of rissoles with sesame seeds.
3) Heat vegetable and sesame oil in a large nonstick saute pan. When oil begins to shimmer add rissoles to pan and cook for 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a large baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
4) Line a serving platter with lightly dressed greens. Top with rissoles. Scatter with grape tomatoes. Top with an orange wheel. Yield: 8 rissoles.