Meatball Stew

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love my crockpot. I would love to get one of those new programmable ones with the multiple temperature settings and all the bells and whistles, but really it's probably not necessary. The food I cook in my old one comes out just as tasty and our home smells just as wonderful!

This is a soup that really makes the house smell great and other than peeling a few potatoes and cutting up some vegetables, it is super easy. Did you know that often the trick to successful crockpotting is the layering? I always put the meat on top and the most dense vegetable (like potatoes) on the bottom. That way the meat doesn't get overcooked and also flavors the vegetables beneath.

Another secret is preparing your meat in advance--making sure it's either seared first (to keep the meat from getting tough or stringy) or precooked for a short time (to lock in the flavor). That's why this meatball stew is so great. I generally prepare my meatballs in advance and freeze them. The trick is to cook them for 7-10 minutes before freezing. That way they're ready to toss into whatever you're preparing. I've shared several of my meatball recipes in past postings so take your pick, but the ones I like the best for this meatball stew are the Swedish Meatballs. Their depth of flavor with the combination of pork and beef is just the ticket.

Meatball Stew

3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 cup carrots sliced into ½ inch chunks

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, sliced

15-20 frozen fully cooked meatballs (I prefer Swedish Meatballs)

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed tomato soup

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef gravy

½ cup water

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Prepare the vegetables and layer in the order given in a 5-qt. slow cooker placing the meatballs on top. Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over meatball mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the vegetables are tender.

Lentil Soup

We hope all of you had a loving Valentine's week!

We had such a sweet Valentine's Day! The downside was our choice of steaks but the steak sauce from Nigella that we made could have made a pair of Nikes taste delicious! I just love her.

This week has been a real challenge with work and family demands and just plain human fatigue! Plus, I made the mistake of not planning meals so everything was hit or miss. We must have gone to the grocery store a half a dozen times and usually we go once. That's why planning is so important (and even more so if you're busy). Haven't got time to plan? You just can't afford not to! It streamlines your life, keeps you on budget, and meal prep is a joy instead of a thrown-together-at-the-last-minute fiasco!

Another confession concerns my Friday night Polynesian chicken catastophe. I thought I'd try a recipe out of one of Grandma's more obscure cookbooks. The sure sign of recipe success is the amount of wear on the cookbook. If it doesn't have dogeared corners, scribbles, recipe adjustments, and random math calculations in the corners, it wasn't one of Grandma's favorite books. This one was apparently not one of her favorites. First mistake.

Second mistake: Too much ginger.

Third mistake: Grilling with a new cast iron grill pan...inadequately seasoned

Fourth mistake: Cooking a meal when no one was even home! Why?

Those are all the mistakes I can think of at the moment. Suffice it to say I spent the better part of Friday night scrubbing my new cast iron grill pan with a nylon scrub pad. My kitchen window will testify to that. I had to scrub that on Saturday morning. Ewwww!

On Sunday when we did our weekly fridge cleaning, my dear husband cut up the Polynesian debacle and we sampled a few bites. It actually didn't taste bad chilled and I thought it might be great atop an Asian variety salad. The disaster ended up okay after all.

So that's my week. Just like everyone else, mine don't always work out as expected! Such is life!

I will admit that my lesson learned from no planning last week began with a plan this week--hearty soups will be on the menu and I might even try some bread recipes to go along with them--in the bread maker, of course.

So this week is going to be great...I just know it!

Lentil Soup

1 cup dry lentils
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3 cans beef broth (or 4 cups homemade)
½ can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon pepper

sea salt
1 bay leaf
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
1 pound smoked beef sausage, sliced (opt.)

Rinse lentils thoroughly and set aside. In Dutch oven, heat oil and cook onion and garlic until tender. Stir in lentils, broth, ½ can of tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, thyme, pepper. Add bay leaf. Bring to boiling then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add carrot and celery and bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer again for 20 minutes. Add water if necessary to reach desired consistency.  Cook until lentils, carrots and celery are tender.  If using meat, stir in last and heat through. Add sea salt to taste. Pull out bay leaf before serving. 6 hearty servings.

Layered Mexican Casserole

Here's a mild but hearty "Mexican" casserole that could be spiced up if you have the palate for it. Grandpa wasn't big on spicy food and Grandma always toned things down out of respect for him. This one was a flavorful favorite though and even Grandpa liked it. It's easy, budget friendly, and the servings are generous. Served with a little cornbread and salad on the side, it's a full meal deal. You could probably go meatless on this one too and never notice a difference!

If I were to jazz it up a bit I might sprinkle some pepper Jack cheese on top instead of the cheddar, add a little more chili powder and some hot sauce. That would be all you'd need to warm up a cold winter day!

Layered Chili Casserole

1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons butter
1 large chopped onion
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Dash pepper
4 cups (2 1-pound cans) red beans
1 cup (8-ounce can) tomato sauce
¾ cup crushed corn chips
1/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Brown meat in heavy skillet; spoon into a 2-quart casserole. Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and garlic; sauté until onion is clear. Add spices, beans, tomato sauce, and corn chips. Mix thoroughly and spoon over meat. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 350F oven for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Serves 4.

Hamburger Puffs

I've mentioned before how much Grandma loved puff pastry. This is a dish that she used to make for her bridge parties, so the recipe is versatile in that these could be served as hors d'hoeuvres or a main dinner course. 

By the way, have I mentioned that I still have so much to learn about cooking? This dish is a perfect example.

The difference in the way I made it and the way Grandma used to make it was the size of each serving. She chose to cut little circles with a biscuit cutter, spoon a little meat mixture on top and cover it with another circle. Instead I rolled out the puff pastry dough, cut it in four squares, spooned the mixture onto the square, and sealed it up......the verdict? My method yielded way too much puff pastry! A little is all you need and Grandma's way of doing it was much better. You can try it both ways, but I'm sure you'll agree.

Hamburger Puffs

1 box Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry

1 pound lean ground beef

1 small onion, diced

3-4 white button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 can cream of mushroom soup (or Grandma's homemade)

Italian seasoning

salt and pepper

garlic powder

Thaw puff pastry in refrigerator and roll out each sheet onto floured board. Cut circles with biscuit cutter and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. In large skillet or Dutch oven, brown hamburger with onion, mushrooms, green pepper, garlic, salt pepper and Italian seasoning until onions are translucent and meat is no longer pink. Discard any liquid or fat. Stir in cream of mushroom soup. Set aside to cool. Place spoonfuls of meat mixture onto puff pastry circles and top with another circle. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.

Super Chili

Chili is about the most versatile soup on the planet. You can spice it up if you want it hot or keep the temperature low. With beans, meat, and peppers or without them. Thickened or not. Sky's the limit!

We've posted another chili recipe (Easy Stovetop Chili) which is very good, but this special batch was for the boys on Super Bowl Sunday and it was a hit. Matter of fact, they requested it for next year! Plus it wasn't a budget buster so all around it was a win.

If you have a big crowd, make a lot of it and keep it warm in the crockpot.

Super Chili

1/2 pound of bacon, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2-1 pound ground chuck

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 bottle beer (your choice; we used Guinness)

2 cans (or one large can) tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cans black or red beans

2 tablespoons chili powder

salt and pepper

Cooks the bacon in a Dutch oven or large skillet. Once cooked, discard some of the bacon fat, reserving a little for cooking the onion and garlic. Saute onion, garlic, and red bell pepper then add ground chuck and cook thoroughly until no longer pink.

Pour in bottle of beer, scraping brown bits and incorporating into mix. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 5-10 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes, beans, and chili powder. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer for about 40 minutes. If you double the recipe, you'll need to simmer longer.  Transfer to crock pot to keep warm if serving large crowd.

Serve with Irish Soda Bread.

Lasagna Belmonte

Lasagna has gotten to be a mainstay because it's so filling and hearty. Of course it's also been sorely lost on convenience and there are plenty of frozen ones out there, but they're in no way reminiscent of home made.

The quality of any lasagna is dependent upon the quality of the sauce put into it. That's the key ingredient that has to be good. Grandma would whip up some of her own spaghetti sauce on one night and use up the leftovers in this lasagna dish on another night. The fact that the sauce mellowed a day or so after it was made with the flavors having a chance to fully develop made all the difference.

This particular recipe contains a mini-recipe for a homemade sauce and although it's not the one Grandma used, it's still delicious. If you have your own favorite sauce, by all means use it and eliminate the sauce ingredients and processing altogether.

Lasagna Belmonte

Sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 cans (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
½ cup each dry red wine and water
salt
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp each pepper and sugar


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1-½ pounds ground chuck

12 ounces lasagna noodles
Boiling salt water
Butter
2 cups ricotta cheese or small curd cottage cheese
½ pound mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in wide frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Add meat and cook until browned and crumbly; discard any fat.

At this point you may add in your own sauce, or continue to sauce recipe as follows:

Combine garlic, tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, water, salt, oregano, pepper and sugar. Bring to a boil then cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 1-½ hours.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook noodles in boiling salted water according to package directions. Do not overcook. Drain and rinse with cold water and drain again. 

Arrange one-third of noodles in criss-cross pattern in bottom of buttered shallow 3-quart or 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread one-third of meat sauce over noodles, and top with one-third each of the ricotta and mozzarella. Repeat layering, ending with a top layer of cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake uncovered in 350F oven for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. Serves 6-8.

Irish Part 2--Guinness Irish Stew

Here's part 2 of our "Irish series." (Why wait for St. Patrick's Day?) 

No need for perfumy sprays to make your house smell good...this'll do it. Only difference is that your house will smell like a home. Grandma's always did and generally it was so good you just had to ask what it was in the oven creating the wonderful smell! Usually it was something unique and different like this little bit of heaven in a dish.

I'm convinced that the secret ingredient is the dark, heavy and pungent Guinness Draught. It's pricey but I'm not sure anything else would work--I know Bud or Miller would not. Dear husband suggested Killian's Red or O'Douls, but I'm not sure I'd want to risk a substitution! You can tell I'm no beer expert by any means and, in this case, not very adventurous but I would honestly recommend staying true to this stew's ingredients list. You will not regret it!

Guinness Irish Stew

2 tbsp olive oil

3 bay leaves

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

2-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¾ cup beef broth

½ cup Guinness Draught

1 tablespoon dried chopped parsley

½ pound carrots, sliced (no need to peel)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat and add olive oil and bay leaves. Cook the bay leaves for a moment and then increase heat to high, add the stew meat and brown on both sides. Add the sliced onion and cook for a few minutes until transparent. 

Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary and flour. Stir well until smooth. Add beef stock and Guinness. Simmer, stirring until stew thickens slightly. 

Add remaining ingredients, cover, and place in a 275F oven for about 2 hours. Check periodically and add a little liquid if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste before serving (may not need salt). Serves 4-6.

Try the Irish Soda Bread to go along with this.

Ravioli Soup

It is so beautiful when a week comes together--good meals, good memories, and when all the leftovers are used up.  Our fridge was literally jammed with stuff that we really needed to get rid of, but I am loathe to pour anything down the drain or throw it out. I just hate wasting anything!

With that in mind, I found a recipe in Grandma's archives that literally could be considered "toss-it all-in-soup."  She would have been proud.

• Lean ground beef (how about using up that ground turkey?)
• Onions & garlic (what about all the extra onions and garlic we prepped yesterday?)
• Beef broth (what about the leftover French Onion soup we had the other night? It is mostly beef broth.)
• Ravioli (what about that big bag of them in the freezer we've been meaning to use up?)
• Bread (what about that French loaf that will be brick hard by tomorrow?)

Yes, my friends, I threw it ALL in there...and it was quite simply amazing! Only problem? I may have to make it exactly the same, French onion soup and all!

Ravioli Soup

1/2 lb lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1/2 lb ground pork

1 cup onion, chopped

2 tsp garlic, minced

1 28 oz can Italian tomatoes, undrained

1 12 oz can tomato paste

2 (14.5 oz) cans beef broth (3 cups of French Onion soup here, onions and all)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp Italian seasoning

¼ cup dry bread crumbs (I processed a couple slices of a French baguette)

½ cup Parmesan cheese (fresh), shredded

1 (12 oz) pkg frozen ravioli (14 raviolis)

Brown beef and pork with onion and garlic in non-reactive pan or a Dutch Oven. Combine tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, sugar, Italian seasoning and dry bread crumbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Meanwhile, cook ravioli according to package directions and drain.  Top bowls of soup with ravioli and additional Parmesan cheese and serve with salad and bread.

Hawaiian Meatballs

There's something about peppers and pineapple. Not sure what it is, but it could be called "synergy." Now I know that word was officially deleted off the word rolls several years ago by the word connoisseurs. It was overused and under-explained. Much of the time it was a term used in business about two entities that could work together in perfect harmony, particularly in the case of a merger or acquisition.  Ahem. Sorry, that's my business background rearing it's ugly head!

Now the grand definition of "synergy" (according to Wikipedia) is: "Two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently."

Okay, that pretty much said it. I love pineapple and I love peppers by themselves, but I adore them together and in this dish they are paired to perfection! Plus there's a little sweet and a little sour in a blend that will surely wake up your taste buds.

Now this dish is called Hawaiian Meatballs and it seems that using canned pineapple for a Hawaiian dish sort of flies in the face of a tropical paradise; but in spite of this shortcoming, this one's a keeper and I'm sure you'll agree.

Hawaiian Meatballs

Meatballs:

1 lb. ground chuck or hamburger

1 egg

½ cup crackers, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

¼ cup barbecue sauce

¼ tsp garlic powder or ½ tsp garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced

1 can (20 oz) can pineapple chunks (reserve ½ cup reserved juice for sauce)

Sauce:

½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/ tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

½ cup reserved pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix together the hamburger, egg, crackers, onion, barbecue sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Form into meatballs and place on cookie sheet. Cook for 10 minutes. Do not cook all the way through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

 

Meanwhile whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, soy sauce and reserved pineapple juice. Cook over medium heat until bubbly and mixture begins to thicken. Lower heat and simmer slowly.

Put partially cooked meatballs and pineapple chunks into 9x13 inch Pyrex dish. Lay slices of onion and green pepper on top and pour sauce over all, thoroughly coating meatballs. 

Cook for 30 minutes at 350F. Serve over jasmine rice.

Beef Broccoli Quick Stir

Fresh vegetables were a favorite of Grandma and she knew the less you cooked them, the better they maintained all those wonderful nutrients they contain. This recipe for Broccoli Beef is about as simple as it gets and another "stir fry in the skillet" that Grandma made. 

Four or five ingredients you probably have on your pantry shelf, purchase the rest fresh and you have yourself a healthy and tasty meal.

As an added bonus, this is another one of those wonderful  modifiable (is that a word?) recipes that enable you to accommodate your own particular taste. Add whatever veggies you enjoy! You could add in bok choy, bean sprouts, peppers, or whatever. I will say that with each vegetable you add, you may need to keep a close eye on the level of liquid as the beef cooks. It evaporates quickly, so perhaps a little more beef broth at the ready would be a good idea. If the mix in the skillet ended up too dry, you could add the broth in without diminishing the flavor. 

As a side dish we prepared--now don't be shocked--frozen pot stickers from Costco. No, this wasn't a Grandma dish, but something we thought would be a sensible companion to this meal. Grandma may have done the same thing! (Well, probably not because she would have made the pot stickers from scratch! I'm sorry, Grandma!)  Perhaps a rice dish or an egg drop soup could also be a good side for this. It comes down to the "theme" of the meal and what you have available or what your tastes would appreciate. 

Okay, I went off on a tangent there...back to the pot-stickers! To prepare we followed the package instructions (simmering them in vegetable oil and water for about 10 minutes) and then we took a "detour" and added them to the beef and veggie mix. The result? They turned out glorious because they absorbed that gingery flavor from the sauce we cooked the beef in.

Don't you just love cooking?! What other "art" enables you to be creative and have that creativity result in something that tastes glorious?  I love the arts in general, but I never walked out of the art museum or symphony hall feeling full!!  Maybe that's why Grandma enjoyed cooking so much. It really was a 5-sense experience!

Beef Broccoli Quick Stir

1 lb flank or sirloin steak, cut in strips (against the grain, or use whatever is on sale)

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can beef broth
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup carrot, thinly sliced
3 cups broccoli florets

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat and stir fry the beef together with the onions until beef is slightly pink, but browned on all sides (don't cook all the way through). Add beef broth, teriyaki sauce and ginger. Bring meat and sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer until meat is done, about 10-15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking time add carrots and broccoli; cover skillet again and cook until veggies are bright in color.

Homemade Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes became a favorite of Grandma's (and the rest of us) when the cans appeared on grocery shelves back in the early 70s. However, she thought it would be better from scratch and either concocted this recipe herself or found it somewhere. No matter what the recipe origin, it is right on as far as flavor but not as "runny" as the canned "insta-meal."  Let me warn you that heaped on an onion bun, kaiser roll, a slice of your homemade bread or no bread at all, the mix is amazing and your pickiest eater will sing your praises. The added bonus? It's a super easy fix on a busy week night and you'll all be sitting around the table enjoying a couple of these sandwiches in two shakes of a lamb's tail!

Homemade Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground chuck

1/2 cup onions, diced

1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

3/4up ketchup or catsup

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Over medium heat, brown ground beef. Add in onion and pepper and cook additional 2 minutes. Drain any liquid or grease and reduce heat. Add all remaining ingredients, stirring to mix thoroughly, and simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve on warm onion rolls.

Stir Fry & Sauce

This week I think we're on a theme of quick and easy meals. There is no requirement of a lengthy preparation or laundry list of ingredients for a recipe to be good! Grandma would pull out her George Foreman or a plain old electric skillet to prepare some of her finest meals!

This chicken stir fry is an example of one of those fine dishes...cooked right in a skillet, not a fancy wok or anything like that. Grandma used to tell me that today's popular small appliance is tomorrow's garage sale fodder--and I know only too well how true that is! So no wok. Just a skillet.

The real secret behind a tasty stir fry is to get the freshest vegetables possible and a high quality (homemade preferred) sauce, although too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good either.  Limit the sauce, since the vegetables should be the real star of the show! 

As for the noodles, Grandma didn't use them in her stir fry but our kids love 'em so they're mandatory! 

Prefer no meat? Meatless is certainly do-able and the healthiest option of all. Use vegetable broth when making the sauce.

Modify, modify, modify to your liking, but the sauce is definitely a keeper and you can control the MSG, gluten or sodium by what goes into it. Prepare it the night before so the flavors have time to "ripen." You'll have plenty sauce for at least 2 stir fry meals. You can also use it for a regular marinade even if you're not making stir fry.

Stir Fry Sauce:

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ tsp ground ginger

1/3 cup soy sauce (whatever variety you prefer--gluten free, MSG free, low sodium)

1/4 cup cider or white vinegar

1/3 cup water

1 cup chicken broth (use beef if you are preparing beef stir fry or vegetable if meatless)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight so the flavors are enhanced.   Mix well before using.

Grandma's Chicken Stir Fry

¼ cup canola or vegetable oil

2 large boneless chicken breasts

4 cups of fresh vegetables (broccoli, carrots, bok choy, onion, pea pods)

1-2 packages yakisoba noodles (or your preferred variety)

1 cup sauce (recipe above), divided

Prepare noodles according to package directions (they may have to be rinsed and separated).

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.

Wash chicken and pat dry. Cut into cutlets, strips, or chunks and place in bowl. Pour ½ cup sauce over chicken until oil is heated; brown chicken in heated skillet. Prepare vegetables and add to skillet with cooked chicken. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in noodles with remaining ½ cup of sauce and stir to combine for 1-2 minutes. Stir fry is done when vegetables are heated through and have bright color.