Honey Mustard Meatloaf

One of the first things I baked in my loaf pan was a loaf of meat. Before this and this, there was meatloaf.

This recipe, adapted from here, is tangy and sweet. Perfect for any day of the week.

Honey Mustard Meatloaf
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 tsp chopped dried leaf basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs, seasoned
1 1/2 lb ground beef
2 tbsp chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk two eggs in a large bowl. Mix in onion, pepper, basil, salt and pepper. Mix honey with mustard in a small bowl. Add half to the egg mixture, and reserve the rest. Add the bread crumbs, then the ground beef and mix until incorporated. Shape into a loaf. Bake for 30 minutes.

Add the rest of the honey mustard on top of the meatloaf. Sprinkle with green onions. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Served with a leafy salad.

Caramelized Onion, Spinach and Feta Quiche

I've always loved caramelized onions. My mom used to make it with eggs and I could eat the whole platter all by myself, with rice on the side. This quiche is just delicious with caramelized onions. And spinach. And feta. There's layers and layers of flavor. It's good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Great for dinner parties (unless you planned on having leftovers). I got too caught up in the partying and forgot to take pictures of individual slices. Oh well, next time.

Caramelized Onion, Spinach and Feta Quiche

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

8 tbsp chilled butter, diced

4 tbsp iced water

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

2 medium onions, sliced

1 cup frozen spinach, defrosted

4 oz Feta cheese, crumbled

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Salt & pepper

Prepare crust by cutting butter in the flour and salt mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Add iced water until dough comes together. Refrigerate at least half an hour. Roll out the crust for the pan and refrigerate for another half hour. Preheat over to 400. Line the pie crust and add baking beans (or rice). Bake for fifteen minutes. Remove the foil and bake the crust for another ten minutes until golden brown.

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced onions. Sprinkle on salt. Stir occasionally over medium heat for fifteen minutes or until caramelized. Add a layer of spinach, a layer of onions, and a layer of feta in the tart.

Mix eggs and heavy cream in a mixer. Add Parmesan, nutmeg, salt & pepper. Pour custard into the tart.

Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 400 degree.

Cheez-It Macaroni and Cheese

What food would you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? I'm pretty sure my husband would stash a closet full of Cheez-Its. After a week of Chinese buns and melon-y desserts, I decided it's time to make some of Bill's favorites. This recipe fills four ramekins. We each ate two :)

Cheez-It Macaroni and Cheese
Makes 4 servings

2 cups cooked macaroni
1 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded cheddar, divided
1/4 cup Cheezit crumbs

Cook macaroni for 9 minutes in salted water. Drain.

Melt butter in a skillet under medium heat. Add onion and parsley and cook for 3 minutes or until tender.

Stir in the flour. Mix in the milk, nutmeg, paprika, salt and pepper to taste, and cook for ten minutes. Stir in Parmesan, half of the cheddar and cooked macaroni. Pour in a baking dish or four ramekins.

Smash some Cheez-Its, stir in the remaining cheddar, and top it on the mac 'n' cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Serve with hot sauce. Good for stay at home date nights!

Imitation Crab Cakes

I admit it. I like imitation crab. It might sound like heresy coming from someone who lived in South Carolina for a year, but imitation crab is not all that bad. In fact, we have this dish pretty frequently because it's ridiculously easy to make and it looks as good as it tastes. Plus, these are healthy because they're baked! Add some blue cheese for some zing.

Imitation Crab Cakes
Makes 9 cakes

6 oz imitation crab, in small chunks
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 scallion, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 egg
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tbsp dried dill
Salt & pepper
1 cup bread crumbs, divided
4 tbsp blue cheese (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix imitation crab, celery, carrot, scallion, onion in a large bowl. Add the egg and mustard and stir. Season with dill, salt and pepper. Stir in half a cup of bread crumbs. Add blue cheese if desired.

Oil baking pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Form crab cakes and dip them in the remaining bread crumbs. Place on baking pans and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with lemons and tartar sauce. Enjoy!

Turkey Meatball Sandwich

Some things seem difficult until you actually do them. For me, having a pet is one. Now I have two cats. Cooking is another. I like taking on a challenge, but I'm still intimidated by recipes with a long list of ingredients. Making meatballs always seem magic to me. How do they taste so good??

Answer: lots of herbs. Don't mix too much. Just the right amount of bread crumbs so it holds together, but not too dry.

Now that I've made them a couple times, I realized it's simple enough to throw together for a weekday dinner. Get all the ingredients together. Mix in a bowl. Coat it with bread crumbs (this makes a nice crunch that my husband loves). Bake. Done.

But you gotta have good sauce. I love marinara sauce. I'm still experimenting, but this easy marinara sauce is pretty good. Scoop a big heap of it on the meatballs.

Add some grilled mushrooms.

Top it off with cheese. Don't forget the cheese.

Broil in the oven for two minutes or until melted. Add the top back on.

Turkey Meatballs

Makes 15 meatballs

1/2 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 egg

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

2 tbsp olive oil. 

Mix ground turkey, spinach, Parmesan, egg, and spices in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and mix. Make 15 golf ball sized meatballs. Roll each meatball in the remaining bread crumbs. Drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil on a baking pan. Place the meatballs in the pan. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top of the meatballs. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Easy Marinara Sauce

Makes 1 1/2 cups 

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

14.5 oz (1 can) diced tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

Salt & pepper

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and garlic and cook for three minutes, or until softened. Add diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix in oregano and basil. Cook on medium low for thirty minutes. Stir occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turkey Meatball Sandwiches

Makes 4 sandwiches

4 large dinner rolls
1 1/2 cup Easy Marinara Sauce
4 turkey meatballs

4 button mushrooms, sliced and grilled

4 slices provolone cheese

Assemble sandwich: cut roll into half. Add a spoonful of marinara sauce. Then stack the sandwich with meatballs, more marinara sauce, mushrooms, and cheese. Broil in the oven for two minutes or until cheese melted. Put the other half of the roll on top.

Winter Lager Beef Stew

As snow covered upstate New York, I craved this satisfying and soul warming beef stew.

Chopping vegetables is easy and fun now with a never-dull ceramic knife, thanks to my thoughtful husband.

It doesn't hurt that beer is involved either.

Winter Lager Beef Stew

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 lb. stew beef
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery, chopped
3 small potatoes, chopped
1 onion, quartered
1 tomato, chopped
15 cherry tomatoes
1 bottle Samuel Adams Winter Lager
2 cups water
15 whole black peppercorn
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour

Heat the oil on medium high heat. Add garlic and beef. When beef is half browned, add the Worcestershire sauce. Stir until beef is browned, about five minutes. Add beef to a crock pot. Add the remaining ingredients except the flour. Mix and cook on high for 5 hours or low all day. Mix occasionally. Scoop a cup of soup out. Add the flour and stir. Mix it back in the stew. It smells as wonderful as it tastes!

Lasagna With Fresh Pasta

I got a sweet present for Christmas. Not trying to brag here, but I have the best in-laws. It's the pasta attachment for my KitchenAid. I'm super excited about making pasta for the upcoming year. I made some ravioli to test it out. It was so much fun, though the pasta was a little thick for ravioli. Since now I know what to do, I decided to make lasagna for the family.

Here are the instructions for making pasta. The ingredients are just flour, salt, and eggs. The first time I made it the eggs spilled out. Make sure to make a big enough well in the middle of the flour.

Knead the dough just enough to mix the egg with the flour. 

Then the fun part! Watching the dough roll out kind of reminds me of a weaving machine or a newspaper press.

You have feed it three or four time through to make sure the dough is nice and smooth. 

The first few times I fed  it too much dough and my pasta came out extremely long.

To make the lasagna, boil the pasta for two minutes. I cut up my pasta sheets in half, then in thirds length wise to fit my pot. Meanwhile prepare the vegetables for the ragú. I didn't think chopped tomatoes were necessary because of the tomato sauce, but I ended up adding some at the end for color.

Cook the vegetables with olive oil for three minutes. Then add the ground beef and cook for a few minutes until the meat is browned. Stir in the bacon. Then add tomato sauce and red wine. Season with oregano, salt  and pepper.

Make the white sauce by melting the butter in a large sauce pan. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Then add the milk and stir until it boils. Add the ricotta cheese, salt & pepper, and nutmeg. 

Assemble the lasagna by adding a layer of ragú, a layer of white sauce, and a layer of pasta. Repeat again, then top with another layer of ragú and white sauce and sprinkle on the Parmesan. You can bake it now or freeze it until later. 

To bake it frozen, bring the casserole dish to room temperature or set it in an inch of warm water to take off the chill. Bake it covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Take off the foil and bake for another 15 minutes at 375 degrees to brown the top.

Making it ahead of time worked out well. We had a much needed relaxing day after our adventures in NYC, with board games, reading, and TV while the lasagna cooked in the oven.

Here's the ingredient list:

Lasagna

Serves 6

1 tbsp oilve oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tomato chopped

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 lb ground beef

2 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

2 cups tomato sauce

1/3 cup red wine

1 tsp dried oregano

4 tbsp butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cup whole milk

3/4 cup ricotta

1/3 tsp ground nutmeg

salt & pepper

8oz lasagna, cooked

1/2 grated Parmesan

Make the ragú: Cook vegetables with olive oil for three minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Stir in bacon, tomato sauce and red wine. Season with oregano and salt & pepper. 

Make the white sauce: Melt the butter on medium low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Add the milk, stir until it boils. Stir in the ricotta. Season with nutmeg and salt & pepper. 

Assemble with one layer ragú, one layer of white sauce, and one layer of pasta. Repeat. Then add a layer of ragú and a layer of white sauce. Top it off with Parmesan.

If frozen, preheat the oven to 350 and cook for an hour covered, 15 minutes uncovered. If not frozen, cook for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Chickpea and Mushroom Soup

Chickpea and Mushroom Soup

Makes 2 servings

1 tbsp olive oil

6 oz Portobello mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 slice of bacon

1 can (16 oz) chickpeas, drained

2 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp brandy

Salt & pepper

2 slices of Swiss cheese

Cut up Portobello mushrooms.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan on medium high. Saute mushrooms with garlic cloves for five minutes. In another pan, fry a slice of bacon until crispy. Add to food processor with chickpeas, parsley, shallots, garlic and mushrooms.

Process until smooth.

Add the mixture to a medium pot with chicken broth. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stir occasionally. Stir in the brandy. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowls, then add Swiss cheese while soup is still hot. Wait 5 minutes before serving.

This soup is full of flavor! Cut the bacon if you want a healthier version.

Chili and Cornbread

I'm back! It's been too long. Let's start with something easy. How about some chili? Throw some beef and peppers in the pot with spices, and you've got a meal. This time, I added a few nontraditional ingredients as pictured. If I didn't say, you probably wouldn't know I was planning to make chili.

Beefy Chili
Makes four servings

1 lb ground beef

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove

1 inch ginger, julienne

1 green onion, chopped

1 can diced tomato

1 tbsp chili

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red cayenne pepper

Brown beef on medium high. Drain well and add it to a crock pot. Heat olive oil on medium high. Add bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pan. Stir vegetables for three minutes to bring out the flavor, then add to the crock pot. Add ginger, green onion, and the diced tomato with the juice to the pot. Then add the spices and stir. Heat on high for two hours or all day on low. An hour before serving, take the lid off to thicken.

Apparently, according to Top Chef, there's no beans in (Texan) chili. But, Bill thinks it needs some beans. This is a meaty meal. Cornbread balances it out. The Jalapeños give the cornbread a kick. This recipe is loosely based on the regular cornbread recipe in The Kitchen Bible.

Jalapeño Cornbread 

Makes 9 squares

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup polenta

1/2 cup white cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup milk

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 Jalapeño pepper, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking pan (mine was 8x8). Mix flour, polenta, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk the egg, sour cream, milk, and butter in another bowl. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir. Pour into a baking pan and top with Jalapeño slices. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick (or chopstick) comes out clean from the center. It's soft but not crumbly. I love the crispy sides. Watch out for the Jalapeños--they're hot! Serve with the chili. 

Guest Blog: Sausage Mushroom Mac n' Cheese

No matter how good the photographer, some things can't be made to look pretty

Hello everyone! This is guest blogger Bill, Shirley's husband. Today I will be presenting to you my Monday night creation, Sausage mushroom mac n' cheese. It's so easy to cook, even your cat can make it. Although in that case, you might be eating some hairy noodles.

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

2 Italian hot sausages, sliced

5 mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

6 cups water (liquid phase)

1 box Kraft Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 stick butter (box calls for margarine, but let's keep things natural)

1/4 cup milk

1 packet artificial cheese (included with your box of macaroni)

On medium heat, saute garlic. When browned, add sausage slices and cook thoroughly. When sausage is almost done, add mushrooms. Cook a few minutes more and remove from heat. Don't undercook.

Simultaneously, boil 6 cups of water in a medium pot. When at a rolling boil, add macaroni and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally so that darn macaroni doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Drain with a colander and return to the pot. Try not to let all your noodles fall in the sink. 

Add the sausage mixture and the remaining ingredients to the pot. Mix thoroughly. If you are bad at measuring and your sauce ended up thin, let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. Otherwise, serve immediately. 

Recommended pairing: orange juice. Takes the edge off this ultra-savory meal!

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

In an effort to make up for the amount of food I ate over Thanksgiving, I'm going to post some healthier meals. Also, because I haven't been in the kitchen for a week--thanks to the delicious leftovers from the holiday meal--this is from a couple weeks ago.

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

Makes 4 servings

1/2 head cauliflower

1 tbsp chopped rosemary

2 cups sweet potato cubed

1 tbsp rubbed sage

5 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Salt & pepper

1/4 grated Parmesan

Wash and chop cauliflower. 

Season with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Same with the sweet potatoes, only now season with sage.

Puree roasted vegetables in a blender or food processor with chicken broth. You may have to do it in two batches. Add the Greek yogurt. Then return the soup to the stove or cheat like me and use the microwave. Season with salt and pepper, and top of Parmesan.

Serve it with a side salad. This is an Arugula and Romaine salad with Strawberry dressing. Topped with Anadama bread croutons. My husband gave it an A+!

Seafood Casserole

This recipe is adapted from the Tuna and Pasta Bake in The Kitchen Bible. I added imitation crab (yes, I use imitation crab) and homegrown green beans. Instead of whole milk, I used half and half because that's what I had available. It makes 8 servings, or 4 servings in our house. Enjoy!

Seafood Casserole

Makes 8 servings, prep 10 minutes, cook 25 minutes

8 oz pasta shells

1/2 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup cream

1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom

1 can (5 oz) tuna in water, drained

1 medium onion chopped

1 small red pepper chopped

1/4 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup frozen green beans

3 tbsp chopped parsley

4 oz imitation crab flakes, in small pieces

1 cup cheddar cheese

Dash of chili powder

Dash of nutmeg

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cook pasta for 8 minutes. Drain pasta. Using the same saucepan, bring milk, cream, and cream of mushroom to simmer on medium low heat. Stirring occasionally. Add tuna, onion, red pepper, corn, green beans, parsley, imitation crab, and half of the cheddar cheese. Stir in the pasta. Season with chili powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add to an oven safe casserole dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden.