A Recipe Revival

Not too long ago, I read an online article about seven forgotten dishes that should be brought back to life.  Over the years, I've written about three of these dishes.

Meat Loaf:  The Sweet and Sour Meat Loaf recipe I shared in 2014 is a twist on the classic.  It's not your grandmother's meat loaf!

Salisbury Steak:  A fancy name for a humble hamburger patty.  The version I wrote about three years ago calls for the sauce to be baked with the meat.  Mix, shape, bake and serve.

Tuna Noodle Casserole:  I shared this classic six years ago.  Unlike the recipe from years gone by, this one is cooked in the microwave, except for the pasta.

Click here to see the rest of the list and rediscover a dish or two you might have forgotten about.

© Margaret's Morsels

Slow Simmered

Every January, I make it a point to share a crock-pot recipe in honor of National Slow Cooking Month.  With my husband's surgery earlier this month, January almost got away from me this year.

I like to vary the recipes I share and not post similar recipes close together. However, I'm going to break that unofficial rule today and share another recipe that uses ground beef.  It's quite different from the Sweet and Sour Meat Loaf recipe I posted earlier this week.

Homemade spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite cold weather recipes.  It only requires a little prep work, is quick to assemble and can easily be doubled.  It's also the best spaghetti sauce I've ever eaten!  Over the last 20 years, I've adapted the recipe to suit our tastes.  The easiest adaptation I made was to move the sauce from the stove top to the crock-pot.  If you're making one batch of sauce, you'll need a 3 1/2 to 4-quart crock-pot. If you double it like I do, you'll need a 6-quart crock-pot.

Although I don't brown roast beef or chicken before I cook them in a crock-pot, I always brown ground beef before using it in a crock-pot. Spaghetti sauce doesn't take as long to cook as roast beef or chicken, so I want to make certain the meat is fully cooked.  Browning the meat beforehand gives me that peace of mind.  It also gives me the opportunity to drain off the grease so it won't be in the finished sauce.  The easiest way to drain the grease is to set a colander inside a large bowl and pour the meat mixture into the colander.  I let the meat drain while I prep the other ingredients.

Grease from two pounds of extra lean ground chuck.

Once the grease is drained, the meat and onion are combined with the remaining ingredients.  Unlike many spaghetti sauce recipes, this one doesn't use crushed or diced tomatoes.  It uses tomato sauce and tomato paste instead.  It can be difficult to get all the tomato paste out of the can, so I want to share a trick my mother taught me when I first started cooking. Open one end of the can of tomato paste.  Leaving the lid in place, turn the can upside down and open the other end.  Remove this lid, turn the can upside down over your mixing bowl or pan and use the lid on the other end to push the tomato paste out of the can.

The sauce is seasoned with oregano, garlic powder and a package of Italian style spaghetti sauce mix.  Sometimes I can't find Italian style spaghetti sauce mix so I use a package of thick and zesty spaghetti sauce mix instead.

A little bit of sugar is added to the sauce to help cut down on the acidity of the tomato sauce and tomato paste.

The only other ingredients are the liquid and canned mushrooms.  To give the finished sauce more flavor, I drain and reserve the mushroom liquid, adding enough water to it to equal the amount called for in the recipe.

 Liquid from two (8 ounce) cans of mushrooms.

Mushroom liquid and water for a double 

batch of spaghetti sauce.

If you don't like mushrooms, you can leave them out and just add water to the sauce.

Once everything is thoroughly combined, cook the sauce three to four hours on high, or six hours on low until the sauce is heated through.  The last 30 minutes of cooking, I fix the pasta and garlic bread and assemble the salad.

I always double this sauce so I can freeze some to use later in the year. To do this, I refrigerate the sauce overnight so it's completely cold.  The next day, I ladle the sauce into a freezer safe, resealable plastic bag, making sure I date and label the contents.  The sauce expands as it freezes so don't fill the bag completely full; leave about an inch of headspace.  To save space in the freezer, I freeze the bag flat.  I have a chest freezer so it's not always easy to find a spot to lay the bag flat.  To solve this problem, I put the bag on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer overnight.

The next day, the bag looks like this:

To use the frozen spaghetti sauce, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight.  It can be reheated on the stove top or, what I do, in the crock-pot.  Either way, you'll need to add some additional water to the sauce when it's reheated.

I've often wondered why January is National Slow Cooking Month.  I finally decided it must be because a lot of people only use their crock-pots in the summer when they don't want to heat up the kitchen.  National Slow Cooking Month is a great way to remind people to use their crock-pots in cold months too.   Even better, use this time saving appliance all year round!

Spaghetti Sauce

4 Servings

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste

1 (1.5 oz.) envelope Italian style spaghetti sauce mix

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. crushed oregano

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1 (8 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces, liquid drained and reserved

reserved mushroom liquid and enough water to make 1 1/2 cups

Cook and stir the ground beef and onion in a large pan until the meat is brown and the onion is tender; drain.  Combine the meat and onion with the remaining ingredients.  Cook in a crock-pot for 3 to 4 hours on high, or 6 hours on low until the sauce is heated through.  Serve over hot spaghetti. Recipe can be doubled.  Leftover sauce can be frozen.

© Margaret's Morsels  

Marvelous Meat Loaf

A couple of years ago, my brother, who was visiting from out of town, was sitting in the kitchen while I fixed supper.  He asked what I was cooking and I replied, "Meat loaf."  He was silent for a moment and then asked, "Are you using mom's recipe?"  I laughed and told him I wasn't.  From my peripheral vision, I detected a sigh of relief.  Our mother was a wonderful cook, but there were two dishes she made that left a lot to be desired. One was macaroni and cheese; the other, meat loaf.

After I got married, I tried numerous meat loaf recipes and, although more flavorful than what my mother used to make, none were good enough to earn a regular rotation on our dinner table.

Ten years ago, after I got home from having surgery, a friend brought us a delicious dinner that included meat loaf.  It was the best meat loaf I'd ever eaten!  She shared the recipe with me and I've been making it ever since. I still remember how nourishing that meat loaf was to both body and soul so, when my husband had surgery last week and asked me to make meat loaf for him post op, how could I refuse?

Sweet and Sour Meat Loaf uses a lot of the same ingredients as my mother's recipe.  So why was my friend's meat loaf better?  Like most food, personal preference plays a role, but it also comes down to what is and isn't in the meat loaf.  Let's look at the anatomy of a meat loaf.

• Meat:  The main ingredient is ground meat.  The meat can be beef, pork, turkey, lamb or a combination of meats.

• Vegetables:  Chopped onion, green pepper, celery, carrots, mushrooms or canned diced tomatoes are common additions. They add flavor and, depending on the size, texture.

   

• Liquid:  Liquid is needed to keep the meat loaf moist.  Water, milk, beef broth, catsup, barbecue sauce, tomato sauce or Worcestershire sauce are often used.

• Binding:  These are the ingredients that keep the meat loaf from falling apart.  Eggs are traditionally used in combination with bread crumbs, oats, crushed crackers or uncooked packaged stuffing mix.

• Seasonings:  You can season meat loaf with herbs and spices you like, but make sure whatever you use goes well with the rest of the ingredients.

These five elements are true of every meat loaf recipe I've ever tried. However, some recipes call for additional elements.

• Filling:  Cheese or other ingredients are often placed in the middle of the meat loaf.  Half the meat mixture goes in the baking pan, the filling is added and then topped with the rest of the meat mixture.

• Topping:  Toppings can range from as simple as a jar of brown gravy or a squirt of catsup, to bacon strips draped across the loaf, to a combination of ingredients that can be added at the beginning or towards the end of the cooking time.

No matter what ingredients you put in meat loaf, the best way to mix it up is with your hands.  It's messy, but it's the best way to tell when all the ingredients are combined.  This is important because you don't want to overmix the ingredients.  Overmixing produces a tough meat loaf.

Once the ingredients are combined, they can be baked in a square pan, loaf pan (regular or miniature), muffin tins or shaped by hand into an oval shape and baked in whatever size pan you have.  Depending on the size pan you use, you may need to increase or decrease the baking time.  I like to bake meat loaf in a 9-inch square pan.  When I serve it to company, though, I like to use a meat loaf pan.

A meat loaf pan is nothing more than a loaf pan with a removable rack.   The rack serves two purposes.  One, it allows the fat to drain from the meat while cooking.  Two, the handles on the rack make it easy to lift the meat loaf from the pan and transfer it to a serving platter. 

My friend's recipe doesn't use a filling, but it does use a delicious topping that is added the last 10 minutes of cooking.  The topping is made with tomato sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, granulated sugar and Dijon mustard, but it can be customized to suit your taste.  If you want it sweeter, use more sugar; spicier, use more Dijon mustard.  Through trial and error, I found that we prefer the topping with less vinegar and granulated sugar than called for in the original recipe.

Sweet and Sour Meat Loaf is an easy recipe to make on a busy day, but also fancy enough to serve to company.  It's a nice comfort food to take someone who's had a baby, lost a loved one or, like my husband, is recuperating from surgery.

Sweet and Sour Meat Loaf

6 Servings

1 1/2 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 cup oats (uncooked)

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Topping:

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (I use 1 Tbsp.)

1/2 cup sugar (I use 1/4 cup)

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Combine meat loaf ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix well and put in a greased baking pan.  Bake at 350° for 50 minutes.  Combine topping ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.  Pour over meat loaf and bake an additional 10 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Not Your Usual Steak

If potatoes are the workhorse of the produce department, ground beef is its equivalent in the meat department.  Ground beef can be used for sandwiches, meat loaf, chili, soup, spaghetti sauce, casseroles, pizza, meatballs and even as a filler in bean dishes to name a few.  One of my favorite things to make with ground beef is Salisbury steak.

Salisbury steak -- named for its creator, Dr. J.H. Salisbury -- isn't a steak in the normal sense of the word, but a mixture of ground beef, onion and seasonings that's shaped into patties and either fried or broiled.  It's typically served with gravy.

For many years, I used a recipe that called for the meat to be grilled and the gravy to be made separately on the stove top.  It was good, but I had to time things carefully in order for the meat and gravy to be done at the same time.  Several years ago, a coworker gave me a recipe for Salisbury steak that calls for the meat and gravy to be cooked together in the oven.  

The original recipe called for 1/3 cup bread crumbs.  This left the cooked meat patty with an extremely soft texture which made me think it wasn't cooked through, even though it was.  I increased the bread crumbs to 2/3 cup and, although the texture was firmer, it wasn't as good as I'd hoped.  I finally added a full cup of bread crumbs and the texture was perfect.  If you prefer a meat patty that's not as firm, reduce the bread crumbs, but don't use less than 1/3 cup.  The bread crumbs help bind the ingredients together.

Combine 1/4 cup cream of mushroom soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, salt and pepper in a large bowl, mixing with your hands only until combined.  Don't overmix or the finished product will be tough.

Shape the mixture into four patties.  I make them round, but if you want them to resemble a steak, elongate the patties into an oval shape.  Place the patties in a greased baking dish.

Combine the remaining soup with Worcestershire sauce, water and mushrooms.  Spread the mixture evenly over the patties.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for one hour.

I like to serve Salisbury steak with macaroni and cheese which is baked at the same temperature as the meat.

Salisbury steak will never be mistaken for T-bone, New York Strip or Porterhouse, but it's an inexpensive and easy way to elevate ground beef from ho hum to wow!  Not only that, cleanup is minimal with this tasty one dish recipe.

Salisbury Steak

4 Servings

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup, divided (undiluted)

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp. water

1 (8 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained

Combine 1/4 cup soup, ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg, salt and pepper in a large bowl; don't overmix.  Shape into 4 patties and place in a greased 9-inch baking pan.  Combine the remaining soup with Worcestershire sauce, water and mushrooms; spread the mixture evenly over the patties.  Bake uncovered at 350° for 60 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Beating the Holiday Hustle

Life gets busier in December.  In addition to everyday activities -- working, taking care of families, driving carpools, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, paying bills, attending sporting events, meetings, school functions and church activities -- tis also the season for cookie swaps,

decorating,

sending Christmas cards,

wrapping packages, 

giving gifts from the kitchen.

When busy days get even busier, you don't have to eat out or rely on frozen food or take out for a fast meal.  The recipe I'm sharing today is ready in less than an hour.

A few years ago, a friend gave me a recipe for goulash.  When I heard the name, I immediately thought of the traditional Hungarian dish which is a kind of soup or stew.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this goulash, unlike its namesake, is actually a casserole.  Although the preparation is different, both recipes share some similarities.

• Meat:  Both versions use beef, but the casserole uses ground beef instead of stew meat. 

• Vegetables:  The soup or stew usually has potatoes, onions and tomatoes, although some versions use a larger variety of vegetables.  The casserole uses onion, canned pork and beans and, in place of tomatoes, a can of tomato soup.  Make sure you use pork and beans and not baked beans which are flavored with additional spices.

• Pasta:  Some versions call for traditional goulash to be cooked with pasta while other versions serve the dish over cooked pasta.  The casserole uses macaroni which is combined with the other ingredients before baking.

• Spices:  The soup or stew is seasoned with paprika -- a bright orange-red spice made from ground up sweet peppers -- which can range from mild to hot.  The casserole gets some heat from a couple of tablespoons of chili powder.

Although there are similarities between the dishes, there's also one noticeable difference:  cheese.  The top of the casserole is covered with shredded Cheddar cheese before it's baked.

The casserole is baked in the oven for 30 minutes.  I add a salad and garlic bread for an easy meal on a busy day.  Not only is this quick to prepare during the holiday hustle, it's also a warming meal on a cold winter night.

Goulash

6 to 8 Servings

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. chili powder, divided

1 cup elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

1 (15.75 oz.) can pork and beans

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can tomato soup (undiluted)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef, onion and 1 tablespoon chili powder; drain. Combine the ground beef mixture with the macaroni, pork and beans, soup and remaining 1 tablespoon chili powder.  Put in a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Skillet Sensation

I love recipes that are cooked in one pan.  Not only are they usually easy, clean up is minimal.  A lot of recipes claim they're one pan meals, but that's not always the case.  Sometimes there's an ingredient that needs to be cooked separately.  The recipe I'm sharing today -- Hamburger Macaroni Casserole -- is cooked from start to finish in one pan.  The only thing you need other than the ingredients is a large pan that has a lid; I use a 12-inch skillet.


Brown the ground beef in the pan and remove it to a bowl using a slotted spoon.  Normally, I drain the drippings when I cook ground beef.  However, two to three tablespoons of drippings need to stay in the pan.  If you have more drippings than that, discard the excess.


The reason this recipe is a one pan meal is the macaroni isn't cooked separately.  The uncooked macaroni goes into the drippings with the onion and green pepper and is cooked until the onion is soft.

Cooking the macaroni, onion and green

pepper in the drippings.

The meat and remaining ingredients -- diced tomatoes, catsup, water, salt and pepper -- are added to the pan.  If you want a spicier casserole, substitute a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies for the diced tomatoes.  This is too spicy for me so I give the dish a little kick with a dash of cayenne pepper instead.


Put the lid on the pan and simmer for 25 minutes or until the macaroni is cooked as desired.  Stir the dish every 7 to 8 minutes to make sure the macaroni isn't sticking.  If the macaroni sticks, turn the heat down.


I like the casserole plain, but you can add cheese.  The cheese makes a pretty topping plus adds some flavor.  When the casserole's done, remove the pan from the heat.  Sprinkle shredded Cheddar or Mozzarella over the top and put the lid on the pan until the cheese melts.


If you want to make this a one dish meal, serve the casserole from the pan.  Add a salad and some garlic bread and you've got a meal that's not only a skillet sensation, but a taste sensation as well.

Hamburger Macaroni Casserole

4 to 6 Servings

1 1/2 lb. ground beef

1 (8 oz.) pkg. elbow macaroni (uncooked)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes (undrained)

1/2 cup catsup

1 cup water

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

shredded Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese to taste (optional)

Brown ground beef in large pan.  Remove beef from pan using a slotted spoon.  Discard all but two or three tablespoons of drippings from the pan. Put the uncooked macaroni, onion and green pepper in the drippings and cook until the onion is soft.  Return beef to the pan and add the remaining ingredients, except cheese.  Cover and simmer 25 minutes or until macaroni is cooked as desired, stirring every 7 or 8 minutes to keep macaroni from sticking.  If using cheese, add it when the casserole is done.  Remove the pan from heat.  Sprinkle cheese on top of the casserole and put the lid on the pan until the cheese melts.

© Margaret's Morsels