pot roast 22

This must be at least the 22nd time I have made this version of pot roast, and iot still ranks high as a favorite with the hometown crowd . . .

Swedish meatballs

Serves 6.

For meatballs, mix together:

1.5 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup rolled oats
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon cardamon
salt and pepper to taste
moisten with a little milk, if mixture too dry
(Optional: add 1/2 chopped white onion for zestier flavor)

Shape mixture into small balls.

Brown meatballs in large skillet.

Add 1 quart water and simmer meatballs.

To make brown gravy:

When water is reduced and meatballs cooked thoroughly, reduce heat and add 3 cups milk to skillet.

Continue cooking at low temperature. While stirring sauce, sprinkle in 3/4 cup flour as thickener.

Stir as sauce thickens.

Serve meatballs with sauce over egg noodles. (Prepare noodles according to package directions.)

Bon appetit!

***

Review:

Everyone liked this recipe.

3 forks for bland, but good

wagon wheel beef soup

This was a spur-of-the-moment lunch item one recent October day . . .

Serves four.

Heat a large can Campbell's Vegetable Beef Soup, per directions on the can.

In a separate saucepan, prepare 1 package wagon wheel pasta according to the directions on the package. (We tried the mini wagon wheels by Barilla. The pasta size matched the soup very well.)

When the pasta is cooked, drain thoroughly.

Add to the hot Vegetable Beef soup and stir thoroughly.

Top with generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Serve and enjoy!

***

Review:

Rating: 4 forks
My diners loved the recipe.

taco pie

This pumpkin face is happy because today's surprise entree came out great!
It is another of the,
"Oh my gosh, I thought we had all the ingredients (when we didn't)" successes.

My intent was to make soft-shell tacos. Bought the ground beef, onion, diced tomates, taco seasoning, cheddar cheese. (We had flour tortillas in the refrigerator.)

Recipe:
4 Servings:

Taco filling

• Heat 2 Tablespoons sunflower seed oil (or your favorite vegetable oil) in a large skillet.


• Add 1 pound low-fat ground beef and 1/2 diced white onion.


• Cook until meat completely browned.


• Add 1 can diced tomatoes.


• Add 1 package Taco Seasoning and 2/3 cup water.


• Simmer.
  
  

(Now would have been the time to pull out the flour tortillas and get ready to assemble soft-shell tacos. As it turned out, I had only 2 tortillas in my refrigerator, not enough to feed our hungry crew. And I didn't have the patience to wait for pasta or rice to cook.

So I reverted to plan B:

Grits --

• Boil 3 cups water in a saucepan.


• Add 3/4 cup grits, stirring constantly.


• Cook grits about 5 minutes, or until thickened.


• Pour grits into 4 bowls.


• Top each bowl of grits with several ladles of the simmering taco filling.


• Melt slices of cheddar cheese on top of the taco filling.
  
  Tastes great with lemonade!
  

***

Review

4 forks -- Everyone wanted seconds

best beef stroganoff

Really good!

For four servings:

• Slice 1 pound lean steak

into small,thin stir-fry pieces.

• Dice 1/2 onion.

• Heat about 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil in large skillet. (Sesame oil is my favorite!)

• Add steak pieces and diced onion to oil. Stir as they cook.

• While steak and onion are cooking, heat a saucepan of water to rolling boil. Cook 1 pound dry pasta according to package directions. Drain. Set aside.
  

• When steak and onion are cooked through, add 1 cup sour cream and about 1/4 cup prepared mustard to mixture in skillet. Heat until warmed through, stirring constantly.

Serve cooked pasta into soup bowls. Top with ample beef stroganoff topping.

Enjoy!!

***

Review:

5 forks for yummy taste.
Everyone ate seconds.

As the

skinny wheat bread wraps

Here's something different -- a wrap recipe derived from sheer necessity!

(Turned out we had no corn tortillas, no flour tortillas, -- in fact, no flat bread of any sort and a meal to prepare. What to do?)

Here's our solution:

• For each wrap, get out one slice whole wheat sandwich bread.

• Use a rolling pin to carefully roll each slice of bread flat. Make it completely skinny. These are the skinny whole wheat bread wraps.
  

• Spread the skinny bread wraps with cream cheese and mustard.

• Sautee 1/2 yellow onion and 1/2 pound ground beef until the onion is translucent and the beef is cooked and crumbly.
• Sprinkle cooked ground beef and onion mixture on prepared skinny bread wraps.

• (Or omit beef and use sauteed vegetables for vegetarian version.)
  

• Lay a Kosher dill pickle spear on top of each prepared skinny bread wrap as a surprise element.

• Roll it up.

• Secure with a toothpick, if you wish.

Delicious!
***

Review:

5 forks for flavor
4 forks for attention-getting presentation

cold roast beef sandwich

Plain food for plain folk. A summertime staple:

• Get out two slices sandwich bread per sandwich.

• Spread one half of each sandwich with mustard.

• Spread the other half of each sandwich with mayonnaise.

• Layer each sandwich with:

lettuce or fresh spinach,

roast beef slices,

provolone cheese

dill pickle slices

Serve on highly decorated paper plates.

Enjoy!

asparagus soup

This quick and easy soup received rave reviews. In spite of the summertime weather, diners went back for refills. Why was it such a hit?

I think it was entirely due to Tchaikovsky. I set the table, poured drinks, served the food, lit a couple votive candles -- and tuned the music to a classical mix. It happened to feature Tchaikovsky.

The conversation immediately turned to the dining experience with many happy expressions of enjoyment. Although pleased, I knew it wasn't really about my experimental-style cooking. It was about Tchaikovsky.

Try eating this soup with a sandwich on the side and the famous Polish composer's music filling the atmosphere and see if you agree. Let me know if Tchaikovsky is the "missing ingredient" in your home cooking . . .

Recipe for Asparagus Soup (makes about 6 servings)

• Put together in a blender: 2 cups cold cooked fresh asparagus and the water it was cooked in. (I used leftover refrigerated cooked fresh asparagus from the night before)
  

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 1 can Campbell's brand beef noodle soup

• additional cold water, if needed, to have enough soup for 6 servings

• 2 teaspoons corn starch

• Blend.

• Pour soup from blender into saucepan.

• While stirring constantly, heat thoroughly. The cornstarch will thicken the soup.

• When heated, put a lid on the saucepan and remove from burner.

• Serve immediately.

***

Review
5 forks for taste
4 forks for appearance
5 forks for presentation

Chili spaghetti

Chili spaghetti is a hearty entree for a hungry crowd. It is also a great way to use up leftover chili from the previous day.

Chili may be made with or without meat. When I use meat, I use 1 pound lowfat ground meat for every 4 servings.

In a large stove-top pot, brown the ground meat with onion and sweet peppers, both red and green if you like. (If you are making vegetarian chili, simply omit the meat.)

When the ingredients are sufficiently sauteed, add your favorite canned chili beans to the browned, ground meat (or the sauteed onion and sweet peppers, for vegetarian chili). Add canned diced tomatoes or tomato sauce. Canned sweet corn or hominy is good to add, too.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and chili powder.

Before serving, cook pasta per package directions. Drain pasta and mix with the heated chili.

Serve onto shallow bowl plates with Parmesan or cheddar cheese topping.
chili spaghetti makes a great entree for meals with diners arriving throughout the evening.

Serving suggestion:

Great with hot corn bread!

Rotel hamburgers and fruit salad

It started out simply. Kelly decided to make Rotel* hamburgers. Easy.

She mixed Rotel tomatoes with:
hamburger meat,
garlic powder,
red pepper,
salt and black pepper.

Meanwhile, I helped out by broiling the hamburger buns

Kelly shaped hamburger patties and browned them in the skillet. Then she added the juice from the Rotel tomatoes and enough water to simmer the meat until done.


Meanwhile, I forgot the broiling hamburger buns. They scorched.
I started over, broiling a new batch.


















* Rotel tomatoes are a spicy canned tomato product manufactured by Conagra. Click the link to read more about them.


Kelly served the hamburgers with a fruit salad of fresh grapes and tomato wedges. (The tomatoes were vine-grown, hydroponic, from Canada -- so ok'd by the FDA to eat raw.)


Delightful !

cube steak with Asian vegetables

We had an appreciation dinner for Sherman, who was leaving for a summer job in another part of the country.

Dinner was austere, but yummy!

The main course was cube steak with Asian stir-fry vegetables.


Very simple to prepare because the steak is thin and mechanically tenderized:

• Brown the cube steak on both sides in a large skillet.

• Add a little water (about a cup or so) and simmer until the meat is cooked to taste.
  

• While the meat is cooking, quickly microwave a package of frozen Asian-style stir fry vegetables.
  

• When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the meat in the skillet.
  

• Mix together and heat through.

• Serve cube steak topped with the stir fry vegetables and broth. Season with soy sauce or steak sauce.
  

Enjoy!

Ersatz beef stroganoff 1.0

I suggested making beef stroganoff for dinner and got a wide range of responses. The majority favored the notion, with the following comments:

"Don't use onions! I can't stand them!"

"I hate the meat! Can we have it with only noodles and sauce?"

and

"We're out of noodles!"

• 
  

Ahhhhh, the sweet inspiration of Ersatz cooking!

Ersatz (German) means a substitute or replacement for the real thing.

Ersatz cooking is to cook your best using strictly what is on hand -- without getting too hemmed-in by the deficiency of ingredients in the pantry.

We speedily composed two recipes on two consecutive nights (see companion recipe- ersatz beef stroganoff 2.0, posted below):

First recipe:

ersatz beef stroganoff 1.0

Ingredients

patties of ground beef (instead of pan-fried strips of steak)
hamburger buns to match (instead of noodles)
onion slices
pickles (ersatz for onions for non-onion-eaters)
mustard (ersatz for sour cream sauce)

Instructions

Cook hamburger patties in skillet
Assemble hamburgers with mustard, pickles, and onions

Serve.

• 
  

Maintain a good attitude about aspiring to cook beef stroganoff!

It is the thought that counts!

Strange Dinner

We were running late yesterday, being Sunday and all that. As I chatted on the cordless phone about 7:30 p.m., I watched the sky blacken, clouds pile up, and the wind blow roughly outside. Lightning make all the house lights flicker, and disrupted the cordless reception. I hung up just as we plunged into darkness.

"Were there any weather bulletins?" I asked the children who had been watching a DVD in the room with our weather radio.
"Yes, there were two, . . . We turned the radio off."
YIII!, I thought, "What did they say?"
"There is a tornado watch and a tornado warning. But the warning's for Ottumwa."
(A mere 25 miles away)
"Go down to the basement! I'll get Mimi!" I said, racing upstairs. The house creaked loudly, like metal rubbing against metal. When I reached the second floor landing, I could feel the floor moving. The house veered strangely.
"Mimi! Come to the basement! Mimi!" I shouted before running downstairs, Mimi racing behind me.

Through a spot of glass in the basement door we could see the wind whirling in great arcs, making haze of the heavy rain.

It felt like an eternity, sitting in he dark listening to the wind. Guy alluded to ghosts (remarks poorly received). Boo sang Amazing Grace, and we all joined in.

The wind decreased within about 20 minutes of the electrical outage. We went upstairs, lit a candle, found a flashlight, reported the electrical outage to our utility company on a cell phone . . . and started waiting. As night settled in for real, it was obvious that we would have to "make do" for dinner -- without opening the refrigerator, or using the stove and microwave.

Guy and I peered into the pantry shelves with a mini-flashlight. Funny how dark and forbidding the deep recesses of the shelves looked . . .

I suggested peanut butter sandwiches -- and was immediately overruled by the teens in the crowd! We settled on Underwood roast beef spread, extended with mustard and chopped dill pickles into a spread. Guy chopped the pickles with a huge knife and great enthusiasm by candlelight. Kelly tried to join him in the fun, leading to the formulation of Mom's First Rule of Cooking:

No fighting over the sharp knife!

The sandwiches were splendid! We washed them down with warm canned V8 juice from the pantry. We practiced creating limericks and short stories by candlelight. Guy brought up ghost stories again.

Mimi's ride came and she left to go back to college. The rest of us camped in the music room. As lightning flashed outside and plastic glow-in-the-dark stars illuminated the ceiling, Boo played great piano classics from memory. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata never sounded so good!

Food is definitely about the people. And the moment.

The electricity came back on at 6-something this morning.