May
08
Meatloaf with Mashed potatoes.
The gelatin helps keep the meatloaf more moist and keeps it from splooging out grease onto the pan.
- 1 onion, diced fine
- 2 tsp garlic, minced fine
- 1 tsp dried or 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 c steak sauce or 3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 c dried bread crumbs or crushed crackers
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tsp unflavored gelatin (optional)
- salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
Topping:
- 1/4 c ketchup
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sauté the onion until translucent and add the garlic and thyme right at the end and cook until fragrant. In a medium bowl, mix the egg, onion mixture, and steak or Worcestershire sauce. Add the breadcrumbs, beef and pork, gelatin salt and pepper and mix until just mixed. Don’t overmix or the meatloaf will get a funky texture.
Place the meat mixture on a cookie sheet and form into a rough square about 2 inches thick.
For the topping, mix all ingredients, and spread over the top of the meatloaf.
Bake for 1 hour.
Tags: bread crumbs, brown sugar, egg, garlic, gelatin, ground beef, ground pork, ketchup, onion, steak sauce, thyme, vinegar, worcestershire sauce
Mar
23
This is a really easy recipe, and despite the name, requires no actual barbecuing or grilling. Chicken leg quarters were 79¢ a pound at the store, so this seemed like a good option.
- 4 chicken leg quarters (drumsticks and thighs attached)
- 1 bottle favorite barbecue sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- hamburger buns or bread
- garnishes, such as pickles, onion, lettuce, cole slaw, etc.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Arrange chicken on a sheet pan, and add salt and pepper as desired. You can coat the chicken in sauce now, but if you do, I would add some foil so it doesn’t burn. I usually add the sauce at the end, though, because the chicken exudes quite a bit of liquid, and will make the whole thing runny.
Remove the chicken from the oven after about 2 hours, or when it is fall-off-the-bone tender. Let it sit until it is cool enough to handle and remove the meat from the bones and place it in a bowl. Reserve the bones and any leftover liquid for soup stock later.
Shred the chicken with your fingers or 2 forks. Add barbecue sauce to taste and serve.
Mar
01
Maybe “ghetto” is a bad choice of words. “Ghetto” was originally a term that referred to the portion of Venice that Jews were compelled to live during the Middle Ages. Lox, of course, is slices of cured salmon served with cream cheese and bagels that is a staple of an Ashkenazi Jewish diet. Lox also is used to refer to smoked salmon, though this is technically incorrect; lox refers to cured, unsmoked salmon in the strictest sense. But, since this is my dear Jewish mother’s recipe, and she used “lox” to refer to smoked salmon, and Mom always knew best, this is what I am calling it. Mom loved smoked salmon with cream cheese and bagels, but we were too poor to afford the expensive smoked salmon when I was a kid, so this was her ingenious substitute.
- 1 – 15 1/2 oz. can pink salmon, bones and skin picked out (unless you like these)
- 2 packages cream cheese, softened
- 1-2 tsp. liquid smoke
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and spread on toasted bagels.
Here are some additional ingredients that I have added over the years, which I think enhance the experience:
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 tbsp. minced capers
- 1/2 c. grated or finely diced red onion OR diced green onion
- 2 tbsp. minced fresh or 1 tbsp. dried parsley
- salt and black pepper (freshly ground) to taste
Of course, if you want to make a non-ghetto version, use a small fillet of natural smoked salmon.
Es gezunterhayt! (Yiddish for “bon appétit”)
Tags: black pepper, canned salmon, capers, cream cheese, green onions, lemon juice, lemon zest, liquid smoke, parsley, red onions, salmon, salt
Feb
02
I really like this technique for cooking steaks. I picked it up from the Amateur Gourmet. Nice and browned on the outside edges and barely bloody on the inside. Salt and pepper your meat for a minimum of fifteen minutes before cooking. Heat your pan to the highest setting with about one tablespoon of butter for every eight ounces of steak. Try and use a regular stainless steel pan because Teflon is no good for browning. Place another pad of butter on top of the steak and cook covered for two to four minutes. Flip and cook the other side for the same amount of time and you’ll have a medium rare steak in under ten minutes.
- steak
- salt
- black pepper
- butter
To make it like a Dutch Steak, top with the following, and broil. Leave your steak nice and bloody if you plan on adding this topping. It should only need two minutes on each side.
- Mix together the following:
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon sweet hot mustard
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan
Jan
26
Bing goes your kitchen.
Recipe results are pulled from a variety of recipe websites including MyRecipes.com
and Epicurious.com. Each recipe will result will show the source or name of the site, user ratings, and a measure fat and of calories. You can filter recipes by convenience, type of cuisine, occasion, ratings, course and main ingredient. Unfortunately, the recipe feature doesn’t show up for every query. I typed in macaroni and cheese as well as spaghetti and meatballs, I didn’t get the recipe results for either search term.
Techcrunch has an article about a new feature in Bing related to recipes. It looks pretty slick. Originally I wasn’t all that sure about the awesomeness of Bing, but this recent addition is definitely a good reason for me to use Bing other than image, video and travel search. Google hasn’t performed too well when it comes to recipes.
This play on words comes from a recent Microsoft advertising campaign called “Bing goes the internet“.
Jan
26
Microwaves are never my first choice for cooking. That said, I developed this recipe for when I want to cook something fresh at work, in 10 minutes on my break. The only implements in the breakroom are a microwave and a toaster. Why be a slave to reheating leftovers or a frozen dinner when you can impress your coworkers with something fresh? The great part is the ingredients cost about $6 – $8 and makes about a dozen sandwiches — much less than buying 12 McMuffins from McDonald’s.
- 1 English muffin or 2 slices of bread
- 1 egg
- 1 slice bacon
- 1 slice cheese
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
Place the English muffin or bread in the toaster. Line a plate with those napkins you still have from the last time you got take out. Place the bacon on and microwave for 1 minute. Crack the egg in the bottom of a bowl, and beat with a fork. Remove bacon when done and discard the napkins. Put the egg in the microwave for 45 seconds. It should be almost done. Place the cheese slice over the egg and microwave another 10 seconds. When the muffin or toast is done, butter it, and add the egg-cheese and bacon.
Alternate: Sausage breakfast sandwich
For this, skip the bacon part of the above recipe. Add some sausage to the bottom of a bowl, pressing it into the bow’s bottom. Crack the egg over it beat with a fork. Microwave for 1 minute. Add cheese. Continue to microwave until sausage is done. Finish as above.
Jan
22
- 1 1/2 pounds ground meat
- 1/2 cored and peeled apple
- 1/4 diced potato
- 1 cup oats
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 1/2 diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- dash of thyme
- 16 oz prepared red cabbage with apple bits
- paprika
Mix everything except the cabbage and paprika in a bowl. Knead until every item is distributed evenly. Place cabbage on bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle paprika. Spread meat mixture on top of cabbage. Cover and cook in oven for one our at 350 degrees. Forty minutes in, feel free to drain. With ten minutes left, cover with sauce.
Sauce for meatloaf
- 4 tablespoons minced onion
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 4T of brown sugar,
- 4T vinegar,
- 2T Worchestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon basil leaves
Simmer everything in a small sauce pan and stir constantly. Serve with meatloaf.
Jan
21
Mashed potatoes without butter (poor man’s mashed taters)
- 3 russet potatoes
- 4 garlic cloves
- bay leaves
- sprig of thyme
- vegetable stock
- salt
- black pepper
I made these because I didn’t have any butter.
Boil some water. Add salt, bay leaves and thyme. Quarter potatoes and place in boiling water. Boil until you can squish a piece of potato between your forefinger and thumb, easily. Make sure to use tongs and cold water before attempting to handle the hot potato. While the potatoes are boiling, cook the garlic in a little bit of oil to soften. Once the potatoes are cooked use either a large fork or a potato masher or a wooden spoon or whatever works best for you. Add the garlic and slowly add stock while mashing. The potatoes will fluff up and absorb the moisture so just add more stock as you mash until you reach the desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.
