Famous Family Meatloaf

Ingredients

2 large eggs

¾ cup milk

⅔ cup fine dry bread crumbs

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 TBSP finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp salt

½ tsp dried leaf sage or 1½ tsp fresh sage, finely chopped

⅛ tsp black pepper

1½ pounds lean ground beef, lamb, or pork

¼ cup ketchup

2 TBSP packed brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

INSTRUCTIONS 

• In a medium bowl combine beaten eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, sage, and pepper. Add ground meat. Using clean hands, mix lightly until well-combined. Lightly pat mixture into an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.

• Bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees.  Spoon off fat.

• Combine ketchup, sugar, and mustard in a clean bowl; spread over meat. Bake for 10 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into eight or ten slices. 

NB: This is the meatloaf from our kids' childhood. Lots of memories. Traditionally served with freshly made applesauce and freshly mashed potatoes. 

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Per serving (1/8 of recipe):

Calories.   ~254 kcal

Protein.      ~20 g

Carbs.         ~10 g

Fat.             ~15 g

Fiber.          ~0.5 g

Sodium.     ~450 mg

Chicken and Pumpkin Tin Foil Stew

Ingredients, per serving:

¾ cup cubed pumpkin. I used frozen.

½ cup frozen corn.

½ cup leftover chicken, cubed.

1 cup cubed carrots.

¼ cup dehydrated tomatoes, cubed.

3 cloves fresh garlic, coarsely chopped.

1 small under-ripe Scotch bonnet pepper, seeds & placenta removed, chopped finely.

1 TBSP pesto. I used frozen.

1½ tsp dried mushroom powder

½ tsp smoked salt.

1 tablespoon olive oil.

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste.

One tablespoon butter.

Instructions:

• Mix everything except the butter together till seasonings are evenly distributed.
• Place butter in the middle of a sheet of aluminum foil. Deposit the mixture on top of the butter, and wrap to a log shape, sealing the edges. Turn the resulting aluminum foil log over, and wrap again in a second layer of aluminum foil.
• Grill over medium high for 20 or 30 minutes, until you can smell things cooking. (Alternatively, roast in the toaster oven.)
• Unwrap, serve and enjoy.

Ham & Tater Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• ½ TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 1 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 lb. Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and diced (approximately 4 cups)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 teaspoon roasted garlic powder
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• dash cayenne or lemon drop pepper, more or less to taste
• 2 cups chicken broth, low-sodium
• 1½ cups milk, divided
• 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked ham, diced small.
  

Instructions

1. In a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, add the oil. Once hot, add the onions and celery and saute for 3-4 minutes until they start turning clear. Then add in the garlic and continue to saute for another minute or two.
2. Add the peeled and diced potatoes, salt, and pepper to the pot.
3. Pour the chicken broth over the potatoes and make sure that they are covered, adding additional water as needed.
4. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until fork tender.
5. While the potatoes are boiling, pour ¼ cup of milk in a large bowl and whisk in the flour until smooth. Pour the remaining milk in the same bowl; set aside.
6. Optional: Once the potatoes are fork tender, use an immersion blender to partially blend the mixture - you want about 1/4 blended to make a creamier soup.
7. Add the milk mixture to the pot and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Add the sharp cheddar cheese and diced ham. Continue to simmer until the cheese is melted and ham is heated through, stirring constantly.
9. Remove from the heat. Serve immediately with additional cheddar cheese, green onions, and bacon on top.

Twice Baked Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

 

1 smallish sweet potato. 

1 egg

1 stick of celery. Diced small (¼”)

¼ cup diced onion.

1 strip of bacon, diced, cooked

2 oz cheddar cheese. Shredded. Divided.

¼ teaspoon (more or less) curry powder.

¼ teaspoon (more or less) roasted garlic powder.

½ teaspoon dried sage.

Salt and pepper to taste.

3 oz roasted chicken, diced small.

Directions.

Peel and roast the sweet potato until it’s soft.

Cook the bacon. Sauté the onions and celery to soften them.

Mash the cooked sweet potato with the egg in a bowl. Mix in celery, onion, bacon, chicken, spices and half the cheese.

Fill a soufflé dish or other oven-safe bowl with the mixture.

Bake at 350⁰ oven for 25 minutes, or until the dish is cooked through.

Ten minutes before you’re done, top with the rest of the cheese. Let it melt and bake on top.

Chicken Shepherd’s Pie

This might serve four if you have a salad with it.

Filling Ingredients:

½ cup pearl onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

½ large (or one whole normal-sized) chicken breast, roasted, diced.

1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup (NOT reconstituted)

½ cup frozen beans, cut into 1” pieces

2 fresh carrots (¾ cup), diced and steamed until beginning to get tender

¾ cup frozen corn

1 frozen cube pesto

Butter for frying

Layers

1 medium baked potato, cooked, but firm, sliced thin (3/16”?)

4 or 6 slices of bacon, baked crispy, crumbled

1 cup “Mexican Shredded Cheese” (yellow & white)

Topping

1 ½  cups all-purpose flour

1 ½  teaspoons baking powder

1 ½  teaspoons kosher salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 ½  cups whole or 2% milk

Instructions:

In a 10” cast iron frying pan, fry the onions and garlic until beginning to get tender. Add chicken. When it’s hot, add soup. When that gets warm, add veggies and pesto. Simmer for a bit to let it thicken. Stir a bit, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Preheat to 375⁰. Mix the topping. It’ll whisk up nicely, and it will be runny.

In the frying pan, layer the potato over the filling mixture, and spread the cheese over the potatoes. Then pour the topping on top, covering it all.

Put on a tray in the oven (your pan will likely be pretty full!). Bake for 45 minutes, or until brown on top. 

Review: This was really pretty darned good. I very much like the biscuit crust on top. Might need a little more pepper and other spices, but this is a keeper! 

I may need to learn how to halve this recipe.

Personal Ham & Pumpkin Quiche

Per serving:
A 6" ramekin. Or an oven-safe cereal bowl.
2 fresh eggs, large
2 TBSP milk
1 thin (1/4") homemade bread.
2 oz or so of chopped ham
1 TBSP chopped leek
1/3 cup shredded pumpkin
1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
thin slices of summer sausage.
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Instructions:

Coat ramekin generously in olive oil.
Cut the bread to fit snugly in the bottom of the ramekin.
Whip eggs by hand. Add milk and whip by hand until smooth and even.
Stir in ham, leek, pumpkin, Jack cheese. Add to ramekin, on top of bread.
Top with summer sausage (or julienne and add to mixture) and Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees until the top begins to brown (about 15 minutes)
Cover with tinfoil and continue baking until a fork comes out clean.

Ugly Rice

The Gulf Coast states have their Dirty Rice. This is my Ugly Rice.

Ingredients:
1 tsp coconut oil

¼ pound Jimmy Dean sausage, cut to ¼” cubes.

¼ cup dried mushrooms

¼ cup dried vegetables.

2 TBSP red onion, chopped,

1 TBSP tomato paste

Heat coconut oil in cast iron frying pan. Cook sausage to “mostly done” stage. 

Add remaining ingredients, and mix well. 

Place mixture in rice cooker. Add:

3 slices bacon, cooked, cut into ¼” slices.

¾ cup rice blend mix

½ tsp roasted garlic powder.

¼ tsp red pepper powder

¼ tsp roasted paprika powdered

⅛ tsp curry powder

A little pepper may be nice. I used white pepper.

2 – 2½ cups water.

Yeah, it's really ugly. But it's really good. But this is not a "lite" or a diet meal. This is Guy Food.

French Cake

I haven’t tried this with layer cake (with frosting). I wonder if that would be a mess.

I made some white cake in a small bread pan the other day, to go with some epic chocolate ice cream. It turned out that the ice cream didn’t need something alongside it (except a spoon), so the cake has just sat there for a day or two.

I cut  the cake into half inch wide slices, dredged them in a mixture of eggs (I have too many of these!), yogurt, and a little milk. I seasoned the eggs with salt and a bit of cinnamon, though next time, I may add some powdered sugar.

Then I tossed the slices into a hot, greased frypan, and cooked it for a couple of minutes each side.

Pull ‘em out, add peanut butter (and maybe this is the better place to add the powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar) and enjoy with a good cup of hot coffee.

And bacon. Serve with bacon.

Roast Beef & Barley Stew

Ingredients with instructions:

¾ pound (give or take) beef. Pick your favorite kind. I used boneless beef ribs.

Sear the beef on the available sides. I season it a bit during this: pepper, dried onion.

I like searing it while it’s frozen; the meat doesn’t cook much while searing. Place the seared beef in the bottom of a small-size crock pot and pour over it:

1 bottle dark beer (I used Stockyard Oatmeal Stout)

1 cup vegetable juice. This one was tomato based, with celery.

Turn the crockpot on high while you go to work. When you return, use forks to shred the beef.

And add ½ cup pearl barley. Add some spices: Basil, allspice, cayenne. More basil than cayenne.

I just liked the Stockyard Stout swirling around with the
vegetable juice. I forgot to photograph the finished meal.

Add some flavoring components: we used 4 cloves of garlic (peeled, whole) and three sticks of celery (chopped up), three carrots, chopped, and half an onion, also chopped.

Cook on high (no lid) for another 90 minutes or so. Or put it into a saucepan and boil it pretty hard. We boiled most of the liquid out, making it a fork meal. Really flavorful.

Fed four, with side dishes.

Mini Meat Pies (Clean Refrigerator)

Mini Chicken 'n Broccoli Pies

Filling Mixture

1          tablespoon vegetable oil          

1          lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces    

1          medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)         

1          cup frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained         

½         teaspoon salt   

¼         teaspoon pepper          

1          cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)    

Baking Mixture 

½         cup homemade baking mix       

½         cup milk           

2          eggs    

           

Process:
First, mix your filling ingredients.

While they're sitting there, happily sharing flavors, mix the baking mix with milk and eggs. Mix these ingredients together, and put a little less than a tablespoon in each greased muffin cup. If using mini pie-pans, a bit more.

Next add your filling. Add about ¼ cup of the mixture to each muffin-size cup. If using mini pie-pans, you'll need about ½ cup of filling ingredients.

Finally, top it off with one more tablespoon of the homemade baking mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375º. They should pop out of the pan easily. Plate, garnish & serve.

Also consider:

     Creative variations: Cheeseburger, pepperoni pizza, 
   breakfast sausage & mushroom (pictured), BLT. 
      Be creative with your thinking

   Thai Chicken Mixture: 

  1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

¼ cup sliced green onions (4 medium)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ teaspoon Thai red curry paste

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

Ideas for Chopped Salad

The idea behind a chopped salad is pretty basic: chop greens and stuff into smaller pieces. This makes the salad more dense physically, which results in greater flavor density. The result is that the salad is easier to eat, because I can get a whole mouthful easily, and more flavor (and nutrition) per bite. 

I've come to the conclusion that fundamentally, the recipe for a chopped salad is this: "Clean your refrigerator. Chop it with lettuce. Garnish. Serve."

Here are some ideas for chopped salad:

Ruth's Chris Chop Salad

Ruth's Chris Steak House:

Julienned Spinach radicchio & iceberg lettuce.  (3:1:6 ratio) [Comment: they mold the dressed salad in a piece of (clean) PVC pipe. Looks cool.]

Hearts of palm

Green olives

Sliced mushrooms

Sliced red onions

Diced boiled egg

Blue cheese crumbles

Chopped cooked bacon

Croutons

Lemon basil dressing

Other Interesting Ingredients:

1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup fresh or frozen corn, cooked and cooled

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed

3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack

tortilla chips or strips (optional)

Lemon Basil Dressing:

2 tablespoons Pommery mustard

Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

16 basil leaves, very thinly sliced

Coarse salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Caesar Salad, GuyFoods Style

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive or macadamia nut oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
2 strips thick-cut bacon, in small cubes
¼ cup roasted chicken breast, chopped fairly small.
1 brown egg
2 TBSP shredded (not ground) parmesan cheese

3 large leaves of romaine lettuce, cut into strips.
¼ cup goat cheese or feta cheese
¼ cup homemade croutons, small (or store-bought croutons, quartered)
2 TBSP (or so) of creamy Caesar salad dressing.

Heat up a cast iron skillet with the oil. Add bacon. Fry until fairly done and add chopped garlic. When the garlic softens, add the chicken. When the bacon is done, the garlic and chicken will beginning to get brown.
Add one egg and scramble until bacon and garlic is coated. When the egg is pretty well done, add parmesan cheese and remove from the heat.

In the meantime: prepare the lettuce, place in a fairly large bowl. Crumble the goat/feta cheese into the lettuce, and add the croutons. Add dressing and toss. Add egg/bacon/chicken mixture and toss some more.

Serve with a nice amber ale.

Manly Meat Rolls

I like to have something quick to grab when I have just a moment for a meal. This is the perfect thing to make if your freezer goes out and the meat you had in there thaws.

Crust (sufficient for two meat rolls):
4 cups Bisquick
1 cup milk (adjust as needed)
3 TBSP garlic powder
2 TBSP onion powder
3 TBSP Italian seasoning
1 TBSP chili powder
(I use a double recipe and make 4 meat rolls at a time.)

Sauce, per meat roll:
¼ cup Alfredo sauce (more or less to taste) or
¼ cup bleu cheese salad dressing

Filling: Select as you like:
1½ pound sage sausage, browned
½ cup sliced carrots, pre-cooked
¼ cup sweet onion, sliced, microwaved until soft
½ cup fresh whole spinach leaves
¼ cup frozen corn
¼ cup chopped, frozen, broccoli
4 ounces sliced pepperoni
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

¼ cup shredded or diced mozzarella cheese
¼ cup shredded or diced cheddar cheese

Freshly ground pepper

Freshly ground lemon spice mix
(I tend to make each one differently; my favorite includes sausage, any two kinds of cheese, carrot, onion, a frozen veggie or two, and a lot of spices.)

Use 4 or 5 of the above for each meat roll.

Roll out the dough, spread the sauce, add ingredients, roll up the meat roll, transfer to a large cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Top with butter and cheese, or other interesting things from the ingredients list.

Cook at 375 or 400 for 20 - 25 minutes, or until browned on top and 140 degrees inside. Set aside to cool. When completely cool, slice into 2" slices, and put each in a separate freezer bag.

When you're hungry, take one out of the freezer, microwave it for a minute or two, grab a bottle of iced tea, and eat on the run.

Fried Spaghetti and Awesome Sauce

In a cast iron frying pan, fry

2 slices bacon, chopped until it’s about halfway cooked.

Add:

1 clove garlic, chopped

¼ cup chopped sweet onion.

Cook until the bacon is nearly done; the garlic & onion should be only partly done.

Add:

1 serving of cold, leftover spaghetti. Stir it in with the onions, garlic & bacon. When it’s warm, add:

1 large dollop Awesome Sauce, pre-heated in the microwave.

Stir until the Awesome Sauce is thoroughly mixed in with the spaghetti etc. If desired, add some shredded cheese. When the whole concoction is well mixed, form it into a (thick) pancake kind of shape.

Turn the heat to medium high, and let it completely brown on the bottom. Then flip over and let it completely brown on the top.

Serve on a plate. Top with shredded cheese if you like, or maybe a fried egg. Or maybe both.

Alfredo Hash

4 oz cooked chicken breast (leftover barbecue is excellent for this!)
4 oz cooked potato (leftover barbecued potato slices are excellent!)
Olive oil
1 tsp fresh basil and/or oregano, very finely chopped, or herbs to taste.
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Butter for frying
3 oz alfredo sauce (I like Newman’s Own)
1 egg

Uses (2) small (cast iron) skillets or frypans.

Heat a small cast iron skillet, melt some butter and fry the garlic a little; probably doesn’t need much more than just heating up.

Dice the chicken breast and potato into ¼” cubes. Drizzle with some olive oil and add salt & pepper, and the basil & oregano. Add them to the butter & garlic as the garlic is beginning to think about getting whether it ought to begin browning. Turn down to medium heat and cover; cook unmolested for 5 or 10 minutes. Stir once and re-cover to cook several more minutes.

Heat second skillet. Melt some more butter.

Add the alfredo sauce to the hash and stir well. Turn heat down to low.

Fry an egg in the second skillet: over medium (boiled to medium will also work). When it’s done, chop it into the hash. Serve with fresh hot coffee, some orange juice and a side of toast.

Huevos Chili Pepperoni Fajitas

Per serving:
¼ cup diced onion
½ cup chili con carne
15-20 slices pepperoni, cut shoestring style
1 large egg
½ cup shredded Colby (or cheddar) cheese
1 large wheat tortilla
2 leaves romaine lettuce, sliced lengthways

Heat a tablespoon of bacon grease (or butter & oil) in a small frying pan. When it’s melted, toss in the diced onion. As soon as they start to cook, add the shoestring pepperoni shreds. Fry the mix until the onions are cooked, but not brown, about 5 minutes.

Add the chili, fry, stirring, until the chili is heated through and the onions and pepperoni are mixed throughout the chili, about 5 minutes. Crack the egg into the middle of the chili and immediately break the yolk and scramble slightly into the chili.

Begin heating the large tortilla in a large frying pan or griddle. When the bottom of the egg is cooked, scramble some more. Repeat until the egg is cooked through.

Cover half of the tortilla with half of the shredded cheese. Scoop the whole mixture onto the cheese-covered half of the tortilla. Lay the shredded lettuce on top of the chili mixture and cover with the other half of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over and cook on both sides until cheese is melted and both sides are browned.

Serve immediately. Top with sour cream and salsa if desired.

Roast Beef with Barley

1 hunk of beef: 2 to 3 pounds.

6 or ten cloves of garlic, minced.

1 medium size sweet onion, minced.

14 oz beef broth

half a cup of barley

salt & pepper (to taste)

olive oil

spread a light coating of olive oil on the roast and salt & pepper fairly heavily. The oil keeps the seasoning attached. Season both sides. Sear both sides in a medium hot cast iron frypan. Remove from the pan and set it aside.

Fry the garlic and onion in the frypan with the beef drippings, until transparent and tender. Add the beef broth and heat to boiling.

While that’s heating, pour the barley into the bottom of your crock pot / slow cooker, and set the roast on top, cutting it in half if needed. When the broth with onions/garlic is hot, add to the crock pot. Turn the crock pot on high.

Cook for 3 hours, or until both barley and beef are done through.

Enjoy! Expect leftovers.

Roast Beast Hash

Serves one hungry guy, or two gentle ladies, though this is probably not really “lady food.”

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces of roast beef, sliced shoestring style.
• 1 medium potato, shredded with a coarse cheese shredder.
• ¼ yellow onion, thin sliced.
• 1 egg.

Spices:

• Salt & pepper, generously.
• Cajun spice mix.
• ¾ tsp dried oregano.
• ½ tsp dried basil.
• ¼ tsp dried garlic.
• 1½ tsp chipotle pepper sauce

Directions:

Slice it all up thin. Stir it up in a large mixing bowl. Add spices. Stir it up some more.

Pre-heat a good ol' cast iron frying pan. (Lesser frypans are acceptable if you don't have a well-seasoned black iron pan. Save up your nickels and get one at Goodwill for two bucks.)

Get the pan nice and hot; heat up a TBSP or so of olive oil, and add a little butter for flavor, and turn the heat down to medium. Pour in the whole concoction, and press it down firmly. Cover and let it cook until it’s medium brown on that side.

Flip it once, recover, and brown the opposite side.

When it’s done – and it should be one firm piece, like a large pancake – then add a bit of butter to the frying pan, and fry an egg to go on top of the hash.

This is pretty good if you don’t make bland. This needs to be kind of spicy. The egg on top is optional, but highly recommended.

Easter Steak Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Less subtle, more manly nourishment than the Bacon Stuff Chicken Breasts described earlier. These came about as a discovery resulting from Easter. We (aka "I") barbecued steak for thirty people for Easter dinner (why be a slave to tradition?), and it seems that thirty pounds of New York Steak was a bit much. The steak had been cooked to medium rare, having been gently seasoned with salt, pepper, some garlic powder, and a little of a commercial steak rub, then refrigerated for a couple of days. Serves 2 hungry guys. (Is there another kind of guys?)

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, defrosted and sliced open (butterflied)
1 leftover Easter New York Steak (see above), cut into 1/4" strips
2 TBSP bacon grease
2 tsp mango papaya jam
4 oz sharp white cheese (we used a sharp cheddar made from raw milk)
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 TBSP shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste (don't be overly shy)
1 tsp brown deli mustard

Butterfly the chicken breasts, salt & pepper the insides. Cover one side with mango papaya jam and Parmesan cheese. Lay the slices of cold steak over the cheese. On the other side, layer chili powder, rosemary, and sharp white cheddar cheese. Close the chicken breast. Stall for time until your wife leaves the kitchen; then coat the outside - top and bottom - with bacon grease. Add pepper or a pepper mix to taste. Grill on a hot grille for long enough that the chicken is cooked and the steak is hot: it was about 7 minutes for me in one of those George Foreman Grilles, and the bacon grease all melted off anyway, except that the taste was still in the chicken, and it held the pepper in place pretty well.

Review: I kind of figure that chicken calls for a light beer (like an amber ale, or a German hefeweizen), and that steak calls for something darker: an oatmeal stout would have been good with this New York steak (except that it was a family gathering at Easter). A Dunkel (dark hefeweizen) would be good here, or a dark Czech lager like Krušovice. The steak stuffed chicken breasts were wonderful: not at all over-the-top for a meat lover, though my sweetheart looked at me oddly when I talked about adding bacon next time.