Last week was chaotic

So last week was really chaotic.  Some dinner happened and some did not.  This has me thinking that if the season is fully underway during outdoor track with more meets, this cooking plan is going to be way ambitious for me.  I'll give it a couple of weeks and see how realistic it is to cook 3 nights a week.  I am leaning toward changing the days I cook or going to twice a week.  I have saved some money doing this so I am encouraged in that respect.  I have also managed to lose some weight by just being religious about taking my vitamins which do include probiotics, again if I take them religiously.  I have noticed my fingernails are stronger, my hair has grown more (it is now just below my waist if I have it down) and again I've dropped about 12 pounds.  I think it is the combo of all the elements of my life.  Track is in full swing, I'm making food that is generally minimally processed, I'm drinking more water and taking my vitamins like a good girl. (My mom would be so proud of me!)

OK, that said, this week I'm making Meatballs with Creamy Rice (a new recipe), Oven Fried Chicken and Kofta Kari.  We are not dining with our friends this week, sadly, but the two recipes we are having later this week were recipes I have made for them before.  They are yummy so they bear repeating in our repertoire.

Meatballs with Creamy Rice Skillet Supper comes from A Betty Crocker monthly magazine from who knows when.  When it was part of a book, it came from page 41.  It wants me to use frozen meatballs, but I'll make my own using my Swedish Meatball recipe.  Needless to say, I'll do that first and then finish the cooking of the meatballs within the directions of the recipe.  I won't need them to thaw, but I'll still cook them for the allotted recipe time to coincide with the time the meatballs would normally need to cook.  I've adapted the recipe accordingly.

Meatballs and Creamy Rice Skillet Supper

1½ lb. ground beef
½ c. grated onion
2 slices bread, crust removed broken into crumbs
1/3 c. milk
2 eggs
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
⅛ t. nutmeg
Pinch allspice
1 T. sunflower oil
1 c. uncooked regular rice
1 can cream of celery soup
2½ c. water
1½ c. carrots, diced
   
   Combine the ground beef, onion, bread crumbs, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and allspice in a bowl.  Form 1 1/2" meatballs from the beef mixture.  Brown in a 12" skillet in the oil.  When the meatballs are browned on all sides, remove from the pan and set aside.
   In the same skillet, mix the rice, soup and water.  Heat to boiling; reduce the heat to medium-low.  Cover and cook 5 minutes.
   Stir in the carrots and meatballs into the rice mixture.  Cover; cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until the rice and carrots are tender and the meatballs are done. Serves 4-6.

The recipe for Curried Shepherd's Pie...

This is the recipe for Wednesday, but I'm making it tonight.  It is actually from Woman's Day Magazine, Dec 1, 2009.  I have made the following changes to it:  I use 2 pouches of Idahoan Baby Reds.  I will used Tikka Masala sauce from Aldi of all places.  I would use my own curry sauce recipe instead if I have time to make it.  We do not as a general rule eat sweet potatoes in our house.

Curried Shepherd's Pie

1 bag (24 oz) Ore-Ida frozen Steam n' Mash cut sweet potatoes
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
16 oz bag mixed vegetables
15 oz jar jalfrezi or other curry cooking sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 c. water
2 T. each butter and sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground ginger
Heat broiler.  Microwave the sweet potatoes as directed.  Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add ground beef and onion; cook, breaking up the meat, 5 minutes or until browned.  Stir in the vegetables, curry sauce and tomatoes with the juice.  Simmer, covered, 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.  Mash the sweet potatoes with the remaining ingredients until smooth.  Drop spoonfuls of mashed potatoes on top of the meat mixture., spreading to cover most of the top. Broil 3-5 minutes until top is lightly browned.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.  Serves 6.

Recipes this week.. Two kinds of pie... Mom's Chicken Pot Pie and Curry Shepherd's Pie

My recipes this week end with two kinds of pie...Mom's Chicken Pot Pie and Curry Shepherd's Pie.  We are starting the week with Poor Man's Beef Stroganoff.  I'm going to date myself here, but I do remember when I first acquired this recipe, I remember the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore Show where she is in the grocery store and is agonizing over the ground beef as if to say "Should I or shouldn't I?"  Agonizing a bit more and tosses it in  anyway as if to say, "What the heck!".   Not sure why I have that image, but I do.  Anyway this is super simple and I use Greek yogurt for sour cream at this point in my life.  It's great with either one.

Poor Man's Beef Stroganoff

2 T. butter
1 small can mushrooms (again this would never fly in our house)
1 medium onion, minced
1 lb. ground beef
garlic salt
1 c. sour cream

Melt the butter in a large frying pan.  Add the mushrooms and saute 3 minutes.  Add the onion and saute until yellow.  Add the hamburger, and season with the garlic salt.  Fry until well done and no pink remains.  Add some of the meat mixture to the sour cream.  Incorporate the sour cream mixture into the meat mixture and cover.  Simmer 5 minutes further.  Serve over hot cooked noodles.  Serves 4.
This recipe is gluten free...I really never thought about it.  You could serve it over arepas or rice to maintain it's gluten free-ness.

Wednesday we are having dinner with friends, so a dinner swap will happen and I'll cook on Thursday.  This is a favorite of Miss K and Miss M. DH doesn't like the topping, but I'll make him a couple of Banquet pot pies and he's happy as a clam. (What does that really mean?  I often wonder how happy clams really are...)

Mom's Chicken Pot Pie

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can milk

1 c. frozen veggies

1 c. cooked chicken, chopped

2 c. biscuit mix

1 1/3 c. milk

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Dash garlic salt

Mix the soup, milk, frozen veggies, and chicken together in a 9” x 13” baking dish.  Mix the biscuit mix, milk, cheddar cheese and garlic salt in a bowl.  Spoon the batter over the soup mixture.  Bake at 400° for 35-40 minutes.

** The shape of your dish will determine how thick the topping will be.

Serves 4
I've used cream of celery soup or cream of onion as well.  Both work well especially if the cooked chicken you are working with is well seasoned.

I'll post the Curried Shepherd's Pie tomorrow or Tuesday.

Monday, Monday...Some recipes for this week

I remembered I had to make the Cream of Celery Condensed Soup before I made the Curried Beef Loaf for tonight's dinner, so here it is.  This is the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, Bobbs-Merrill 

Company, Inc., Indianapolis/NY, (1931) 1981, 23rd printing

Cream of Celery Soup

1 T. butter

1 c. or more chopped celery with leaves

⅓ c. sliced onion

2 c. chicken or vegetable stock

1½ c. milk

1½ T. cornstarch

½ c. cold water

Melt the butter.  Add the celery and onion and sauté about 2 minutes.   Pour in the chicken stock and simmer 10 minutes.  Strain the soup.  Add the milk and bring to the boiling point.  Dissolve the cornstarch in the water.  Add to the hot soup gradually.  Bring to the boiling point.  Stir and simmer about 1 more minute.  Makes 4 cups.

Lorri’s Hack for making Condensed Cream of Celery Soup

Follow the recipe but use 1 c. of chicken or vegetable stock.  When you strain the soup, strain through a food mill and process the solids and add to the soup to use as a thickening agent.  Also only add ½ c. of milk to the stock.   Continue as directed afterward.  This gives you a bit more than a can of condensed soup to work with.  For a standard recipe you will use 10 ½ oz. or 1 ⅓ cups.

So I make the soup before I make the Meatloaf recipe so it is ready to go.

Here is Dinner Monday...Curry Beef Loaf

Curry Beef Loaf

2 lb. hamburger

1 t. salt

¼ t. pepper

¼ c. rice

10 ½ oz. can cream of celery soup

1 egg

¼ c. water

1 t. curry powder

¼ c. onion

1 T. parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Combine the beef, salt, pepper, rice, ½ of the soup, egg, curry powder, onion, and parsley.  Mix thoroughly.  Pack into a greased 9 x 5” pan or cast iron skillet.  Spread the remainder of the soup over the top of the loaf.  Bake for 1 ½ hours.  Serves 6

Recipes & a more complete calendar

The calendar looks so much better!  Anyway,  here are the recipes for the week. 

Curried Beef in Pastry

2 c. all purpose flour

1 t. salt

2/3 c. butter

1 egg yolk, beaten

1/2 c. milk

1 small onion, diced

1-2 T.  oil

1/2 lb. ground beef

Salt & pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 t. curry powder

Dash sugar

1-3 T. Ketchup

1/2 t. cornstarch

1 T. dried breadcrumbs

one egg, beaten

     Combine the flour, salt, butter, egg yolk and milk.  Form into a ball and set aside in the refrigerator.  Cook the onion in the heated oil until limp. Add the beef, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until beef is browned (4-5 minutes).  Add the garlic, curry powder, sugar and ketchup.  Cook and stir another minute or two.  In a small bowl, make a paste of the cornstarch and 2 t. water.  Add to the meat mixture; cook 1 minute.  Remove from the heat; stir in the bread crumbs.  Taste and adjust the seasonings; refrigerate covered.  (The filling can be prepared ahead of time and either refrigerated for a few days or frozen.)      

     To assemble, roll out the crust into a long rectangle.  Place the filling using one heaping teaspoon at a time in mounds along one of the long sides of the dough one inch apart and 1 inch from the edge.  Dip a pastry brush in water and moisten a circle of dough around each mound.  Fold the other side of the dough rectangle over lengthwise.  Press down around each mound to seal.  Using a cookie cutter or a glass to cut each mound with a covering of dough.  Place the rounds on a greased cookie sheet and brush the tops lightly with a beaten egg.  Bake in a 325° oven until browned, about 35 minutes.

Makes 16 appetizer servings or 4-6 dinner servings.

Day one of the World Tour...Singapore noodles. Day two's recipe Pastichio

 

Dinner was so yummy!  There is an incredible amount of prep that goes into Singapore Noodles, but it is so worth it.  I spent my afternoon as my own Sous Chef.  Once everything was prepped (mind you I had no idea how many guests would show so I prepped enough for 3 recipes), I relaxed for a bit, waited for the guests to arrive and find out if there were any allergies I needed to be aware of.  There were no allergies and I only had to make 1 recipe's worth of dinner.  I boxed up 2 bonus dinners and served the rest.

Speaking of Sous Chef, one shortcut I can think of is for the julienned carrots.  I always make carrot sticks every week for DH to take in his lunch that he brings to work.  I used carrot sticks that I had left from Friday for the julienned carrots.  It was easy to just chop the sticks into 6 smaller pieces.  I'm sure commercial carrot sticks would work the same way, and it would save a step in your dinner prep.

Wednesday is Pastichio.  Miss M was asking me tonight what it was, but I do remember her liking this the last time I made it. This was one the whole family loved.  Again it's another labor intensive dinner, but so worth it when you have time.  It's break and so I have that kind of time now.  I also know I will really appreciate the bonus dinner on January 12th! :) 

This could be put in two different dishes and baked at the same time and one could be frozen intact for another day, reheated in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350° making it two 6 serving dinners.  That was me when I had a fuller house.  Now I'm content to serve this to company first and then portion out bonus dinners for later.

Pastichio

1½ c. unsalted butter, divided

6 rounded T. flour

1 qt. milk, heated

2½ c. grated Parmesan, divided

9 eggs, divided

Salt & pepper to taste

1½ lb. elbow macaroni, cooked

2 large onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2½ lbs. ground beef

½ 6 oz. can tomato paste

½ c. water or tomato juice

½ t. ground cinnamon

Dash nutmeg

           Melt 1 c. butter in a large saucepan.  Add the flour and stir until golden.  Gradually add the hot milk, stirring constantly over low heat until the sauce is thick and smooth.  Stir in ½ c. of the cheese; cool.  Beat 6 eggs; stir into sauce.  Season to taste.  Melt the remaining butter in a large skillet.  Sauté the onions and garlic until golden.  Add the ground beef, stirring until the meat is browned.  Don’t pour off the fat.  Add the tomato paste, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper (to taste).  Stir and simmer for 20 minutes.  To the macaroni, add the remaining 3 eggs and a handful of cheese.  Butter a high sided 9 x 13 or 10 x 15 pan.  Spread with half the macaroni.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Pat the mixture down.  Add the meat, spreading to cover.   Sprinkle with more cheese.  Top with the remaining macaroni and remaining cheese.  Press down.  Spread the cream sauce on top.  Bake at 350° until firm and golden, about 1 hour.  Let stand 10 minutes.  Makes 12 servings.

Birthdays, Chicken and Meatloaf (without the yucky red sauce)

     So it's birthday season in our family and we are celebrating today.  I wanted to post the recipes for tomorrow and Wednesday as well.  Monday is Lime Chicken.  I have only made this once during our 38 years together, so I guess you could say it's been a while.  I remember it was from before we had kids and when I was working on a hand written binder of recipes that would one day turn into a cookbook.  It may still, but now you'll have a couple of recipes from the beloved "Green Binder".  

     Wednesday is Meatloaf with Brown Gravy.  The kids and I would have the 'Blue Plate Special' at Barbara's Kitchen in Edgebrook back in the day.  They would get Meatloaf most of the time.  (Turkey was available as well, but the Meatloaf was the favorite)  Now, I will tell you our kids were middle schoolish when we had it at home for the first time because my Dear Hubby (DH) told me in no uncertain terms that he hated meatloaf.  I found out he hated the "red stuff" on top.  Good thing I grew up with a Swedish Mom and she never put a topping on ours and served it with brown gravy.  Again...he said it was like sliced meatballs.  So glad that some leopards can change their spots. 😍

Lime Chicken

1 c. rice 

2 c. chicken broth

1 ¼ lb. boned chicken breast halves

¼ c. flour

1 t. salt

¼ t. pepper

6 T. butter (divided)

2 T. honey

1 large clove garlic, sliced

4 thin slices lime (divided, with 2 slices cut in half)

½ c. dry white wine

9 oz. frozen pea pods

     Cook the rice according to the directions using the broth instead of water.  Coat the chicken with the mixture of the flour, salt & pepper.  In a large skillet, melt 4 T. of the butter with the honey, garlic and 2 of the whole lime slices.  Add the chicken, cook over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning once.  Add the remaining 2 T. butter and the wine.  Bring to a boil.  Add the peapods; reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 min. or until the peapods are crisp-tender.  Garnish with the remaining halved lime slices and serve over the cooked rice.  Serves 4.

Swedish Style Meatloaf

¼ c. chopped onion

½ c. bread crumbs (cracker crumbs work too)*

¼ t. nutmeg

½ t. garlic salt

½ c. milk (can be rice milk)

1 egg

1 ½ lb. ground beef (or half beef/half ground pork)

    

     Preheat the oven to 375°.  Mix well the onion, crumbs, nutmeg, garlic salt, milk and egg togther in a medium bowl.  Add the ground meat and incorporate well being careful not to over handle the meat.  Place in a 9 x 5" loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.  Remove from oven and  let rest 10 minutes before slicing, using a serrated knife.  Serve with brown gravy.  Serves 6.

* I've used crushed rice crackers to make this recipe gluten free.  It works really well.

Brown Gravy Mix

This recipe (Beef Gravy Base) is from "Fix it Fast Cookbook" from the Better Homes and Gardens series, Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, IA, 1979.

1 ⅓ c. nonfat dry milk powder

¾c. flour (rice flour works here also)

3 T. instant beef bouillon granules

¼ t. dried thyme, crushed

½ c. butter

2 t. Kitchen Bouquet or powdered Caramel Coloring

     Combine the dry milk powder, flour, bouillon granules, and thyme.  Cut in the butter and Kitchen Bouquet until the pieces resemble cornmeal. (If you are using the powdered Caramel Coloring, combine that with the dry ingredients.) Store a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.  Makes about 3 cups of mix or enough for 6 cups of gravy.

     To prepare the gravy:  In a saucepan, slowly blend 1 cup of cold water into ½ c. of the gravy mix.  Cook and stir until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.  Cook for 1 more minute.  Makes 1 cup prepared gravy.

Back to the Plan...and a recipe

     Last week was weird dinnerwise at the end of the week.  I made the dinner swap on Wednesday for Thursday.  That worked well.  Friday was a whole different story.  I had planned on Rogan Josh, but 1, there were leaves to get up before the snow coming on Saturday and 2, there was the concert at school.  DH went for a run and was going to quickly shower and then wanted to go out for dinner after the concert.  He thought it was starting at 6 pm.  I checked, but too late to start Rogan Josh for dinner, to find out that it started at 7.  I needed at least half an hour just to marinate the meat.  Not happening.  I switched gears and thanks to the Saffron Road World Cuisine Company, I was able to make Tikka Masala.  I chopped up fresh chicken, carrots, onions and some bell pepper, sauted the mixture, added the sauce and continued simmering. At the end of prep, I decided it was not enough gravy for DH, so I added 1 cup of plain yogurt to the sauce, being careful not to boil the mixture so it won't separate.  The rice in the rice cooker took longer than making the Tikka, so that was all we had to wait for.  Dinner was done in time and I was able to put away the leftovers (I know...the very thing I'm trying to avoid!) before we left for the concert.

Then last night, there was a basketball game that DH wanted to see, but he also wanted to meet friends for pizza.  So much for the bonus dinners.  Well, that means more lunch.  The snow got in the way of our friends meeting us, but we went anyway, bought a huge pizza so we'd have leftovers (mostly for Miss M) to bring home.

This week will be more normal I hope.

Tomorrow's recipe is a fan favorite, except for Miss K.  Curried Meatballs with rice has to be the most oft requested dinner when I ask.  I can't blame them, the meatballs are awesome and the rice can stand alone.

Curried Meatballs with Rice

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/2 c. tomato sauce
1 1/2 t. curry powder
1/2 t. salt
2 T. oil
1/4 c. chopped onion
2 c. beef broth
1 c. rice
1/8 t. ginger

Mix well the beef, crumbs, sauce, curry and salt.  Shape heaping Tablespoonfuls into meatballs.  In a skillet, turning occasionally, brown the meatballs in the oil.  Push them to one side; saute the onions about 5 minutes or until tender.  Stir in the broth, rice and ginger.  Roll the meatballs on top of the rice mixture.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, stirring occasionally, and simmer 15 minutes or until the rice is fluffy and the meatballs are done.  Serves 4.

Awesome curry and a recipe for tomorrow...

Tonight's dinner was awesome.  I used uncooked chicken so I cut it into 1" cubes and sauted it in a bit of oil before working with the onions and celery.  I packed up 3 bonus dinners for later and served the rest.  It was just the two of us for dinner so I put aside the leftovers for Miss M to have for lunch tomorrow.

I will be doing a cooking swap since we are going to our friend's house for dinner on Wednesday.  Tuesday's dinner will be lunch either Tuesday or Wednesday.  It's the Turkish Pilaf.  I'm inclined to have it for lunch tomorrow as that will make more room in the freezer for my bonus dinners. 

The Recipe for tomorrow comes from the interwebs.  Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole is a recipe that gets made 3 ways:  Quick, Semi Homemade or From Scratch.  I'm going to do from Scratch and will sub celery for the mushrooms since DH doesn't like them. Also for the sliced cheese, I'll use shredded since it's what I have.

Cheesy Ground Beef Casserole
3 T. unsalted butter
1/4 c. minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. minced white button mushrooms celery
3 T. flour
1/2 c. cream
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
2 c. water
1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef
1 c. carrots, sliced
Cheddar or Colby Jack Cheese, sliced-9 slices
1 c. long grain white rice

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray an 8 x 9" baking dish with non stick spray.  In a medium pan over medium heat, add the butter and melt.  Whisk in the onion, garlic and mushrooms celery.  Add the flour, whisking constantly and cook for 30-60 seconds.  Add the cream and broth slowly and cook until thick.  Season and remove from the heat.  Place the cream mixture, rice, water, beef and carrots into the dish and stir to combine.  Bake for 90 minutes, add the cheese and bake for 5 minutes or until melted.  Serves 4-6.

December's list of recipes

So I've got the next recipe list for December put together.

14. Curried Chicken with Rice
15. Cheesy Ground Beef with Rice
16. Rogan Josh
17. Curried Meatballs with Rice
18. Dopiazah
19. Carolina Ribs
20. Curried Lime Chicken
21. Meatloaf
22. Roast Chicken
23. Singapore Noodles
24. Pastichio
25. Dusted Pork Chops

The plan is the same.  Cook Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Pack up bonus dinners for the freezer before serving dinner, label them with the serving date.  Serve dinner and have nothing to refrigerate when the meal is over.  Depending on what the meal is, I'll package it as a dinner for one or as an entree and a side dish.

Some days I end up with bones from our meat.  I freeze them and save them until I get enough to make soup stock (about 3 pounds).  I also freeze my vegetable scrapings to add to the making of the soup stock. Then I get bonus soup and stock for other recipes.  I love free meals!  Add a salad or a sandwich or just some crusty bread or crackers and voila!  Instant meal!  

This list gets us through the winter holidays which is great.  We have a two week break from school, so I'll likely clean out my freezer(s) [we actually have more than one, but I want to get it so we can just function with one chest freezer and move the extra fridge down stairs. I know, I know.]

Here's the recipe I promised: 

Swedish Meatballs

1½ lb. ground beef

½ c. grated onion

2 slices bread, crust removed broken into crumbs

1/3 c. milk

2 eggs

1 t. salt

½ t. pepper

⅛ t. nutmeg

Pinch allspice

2 T. vegetable oil

1/4 c. flour

1 c. water

            In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, bread, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice.  Form into 2 inch meatballs.  Brown the meatballs in the hot oil in a 12" skillet on all sides.  Into the juices, mix in 1/4 c. flour.  Whisk in 1 c. water to make gravy.  Bring to boil; reduce heat to simmer and simmer 5 minutes.  Add more water if the gravy gets too thick.  Serve with egg noodles.  Serves 6.

Turkish pilaf is next on the calendar.  I do use my rice cooker to prepare the rice.  I just find it easier since my rice cooker has a nonstick surface.  My rice cooker is small though and will only make 2 cups of raw rice at a time.  I'd like a bigger one, but this works and fits on the shelf in my cabinet.  This is usually able to all come together as soon as the rice cooker shuts off.

Turkish Pilaf
1 c. long grain rice
2 T. beef bouillon granules, divided
4 t. cinnamon, divided
3/4 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, sliced
1 T. butter
1 t. pepper
1/2 t. curry powder
3 T. lemon juice
3 T. minced parsley
3 T. Butter, melted
1/2 t. salt
Cook rice according to the recipe on the box, but add 1 T. of the beef bouillon and 1 t. of the cinammon.  Saute the meat and onions in the butter in a large skillet, just until no pink remains.  Stir in the pepper, curry powder and the remaining bouillon granules and cinnamon; cook 2 minutes longer.  Add the rice mixture to the meat mixture.  Stir in the lemon juice, 2 T. of the parsley and the butter.  Cover; simmer 5 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary, adding the salt.  Garnish with the remaining parsley.
Serves 4. 

I also don't use parsley.  My family wasn't big on it when I was growing up, so I leave it out most of the time.  I'll be cooking this on Tuesday instead of Wednesday because we are having friends over for dinner.  Wednesday will be our first harvest of the frozen dinners

Until tomorrow with Friday's recipe!  

Today's aggravation and Tomorrow's recipe ~ Kofta Kari

Dinner was a little aggravating today.  I had to tweak the recipe twice.  It takes way longer to bake at 375.  I bumped the temperature up to 400 and had better results.  When I added the vegies halfway, I lost a good bit of the liquid which aggravated me.  Good thing it was a holiday with no practice or work.  I'd have been even more aggravated!

The rice was good and lemony!  Baked rice has a kind of creamy texture and paired with the pork chop it is awesome!  Which got me to thinking how tame in flavor and texture it really is.  My how our tastes have evolved!  You could totally substitute chicken breast in this dish. It would be equally yummy!

Here is the recipe for next Monday.

Kofta Kari

1 lb. ground beef

2 large onions, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

2 t. ground turmeric

2 t. chili powder

2 t. ground coriander

1½ t.  ground cumin

1 t. ground ginger

2 t. salt

1 egg, beaten

Vegetable oil for deep frying*

½ c. ghee

1 c. water

Mint or coriander leaves to garnish

          Put the beef into a bowl and add half the onions, garlic, spices and salt.  Stir well, and then bind the mixture together with the egg.

          Form the mixture into 12 small balls.  Heat the oil in a pan until very hot.  Add the meatballs a few at a time and deep-fry for 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and set aside.

          Melt the ghee in a heavy pan, add the remaining onions and garlic and fry gently until soft.  Add the remaining spices and salt and fry for a further 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the meatballs and turn gently to coat with the spices, then add the water and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes.  Serve hot, garnished with mint or coriander leaves with rice.  Serves 4.

         

          *I do not deep fry these.  I just pan fry them.  We also don’t garnish anything with fresh coriander; I’ve been blessed with the “soapy” gene that will make the dish taste like soap to me.  My younger daughter has that as well.

From "The Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking," Octopus Books Limited, 59 Grosvenor St., London, UK, 1980.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce...

This is how my Mom made Spaghetti Sauce when we didn't have fresh tomatoes from the garden.  We had a massive garden when I was growing up and Dad grew tomatoes, peppers and basil. Dad was an organic gardener in the 70's.  We had so many tomatoes and peppers that we would be able to process sauce at the end of the season that would take over our freezer downstairs.  It. was. awesome.  I have fond memories of putting the cooked sauce through the food mill and cranking that contraption until we had gallons of sauce.  Mom would use that instead of the canned sauce as it was not thick enough on its own.  I do remember asking my Dad the silliest question when I had a garden of my own.  He laughed when I asked how much water you add to the tomatoes when starting to make the tomato sauce.  Of course you add none, tomatoes are mostly water.

Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

½ lb. ground beef

1 diced onion

1 clove garlic, pressed

6 oz. can tomato paste

15 oz. can tomato sauce

¾ t. Italian seasoning

½ t. basil

½ t. salt, optional

Brown the ground beef in a skillet until no pink remains.  Add onion and garlic and continue to sauté until the onions are transparent.  Remove from heat and mix in the tomato paste.  Transfer the mixture to a saucepan.  Stir in the Tomato Sauce.  Heat to boil over medium high heat; reduce the heat and simmer over low heat.  Add seasonings and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.  Serve over hot cooked noodles.  Serves 4.

Keema for Everyone!

This is a favorite dinner of those who are currently in the nest.  Miss K finds it spicy, but I think if we just cut out the cumin and reduced the chili powder and black pepper, she'd have a change of heart.

This recipe comes from "The Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking," Octopus Books Limited, London, UK, 1980.  It was one of the first cookbooks I bought when first married.  It now has the requisite splatters on the well loved recipe pages and the binding is starting to break.  It is from the India, Pakistan and Bangladesh chapter.

Keema
(Spiced Minced[Ground] Beef)

1/4 c. ghee*
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 t. turmeric powder
2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. cumin seeds
1 t. salt
1 t. ground pepper
1 lb ground beef

Melt the ghee in  a pan, add the onions and garlic and fry gently until soft.  Ad the spices and seasonings and fry for a further 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Addthe beef and fry, stirring, until browned.  Continue frying untilt he meat is cooked and the curry is dry.  Serve hot over rice.  Serves 4.

*clarified butter ~  I've used butter with no issues
Frugal Tip:  I also add peas to this as well as cubed potatoes to stretch the meal.

Salibury Steak...or Flat Meatballs?

This wasn't our first recipe for Salisbury Steak.  I had one where I added either chopped onion or dried onion to the recipe.  Sometimes I still do.  When our little one was younger, she used to call this "Flat Meatballs"!  Love to have this with egg noodles and corn.  Love it because I can feed our family this for about $5 total (without the mushrooms, of course) including the noodles and corn.

Frugal Tip:  The bread crumbs are never store bought.  I save the heels of my bread and either break them up with my hands or whirl them in the food processor. 

Salisbury Steak

1 lb. ground beef

⅓ c. dry bread crumbs

½ t. salt

¼ t. pepper

1 egg

1 large onion, sliced and separated into rings

1 can (10.5 oz.) condensed beef broth

8 oz. sliced mushrooms**

2 T. cold water mixed with 2 t. cornstarch

Mix the beef, crumbs, salt, pepper, and egg.  Shape the mixture into 4 oval patties, each about ¾” thick.  Cook the patties in a 10” skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until brown, about 10 minutes; drain.  Add the onion, broth and mushrooms.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until the patties are done, about 10 minutes.  Remove the patties from the skillet; keep warm.  In the same pan, heat the onion mixture to boiling.  Stir the cornstarch mixture into the onion mixture.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Serve the gravy over the patties.  Serves 4.

** This would never fly at our house; fortunately, it’s great without the mushrooms!

From:  Betty Crocker 1-2-3 Dinner, General Mills, Minneapolis, MN, 2001