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

Ready in Under an Hour

For years, late afternoon and early evening have been the most stressful time of day for me.  Apparently, I'm not alone.  I read a factoid in a newspaper that stated the hours between 4:00 and 8:00PM are the most stressful time of day for women.  Whether you're a working mom with a commute, or a stay at home mom chauffeuring kids to extracurricular activities, someone's got to put supper on the table and chances are that person is you.  You don't have to rely on frozen food or take out when you need to get supper on the table fast.  Chicken Parmesan is an easy dish to prepare even on the busiest of days.  It's kid friendly, delicious and ready in under an hour!

The recipe I'm sharing differs from other Chicken Parmesan recipes in two ways.  One, the chicken isn't cooked on the stove top.  Not only does this make it healthier, you don't have to keep an eye on the stove while you're working on the rest of the meal.  Two, the chicken isn't put in a baking dish, covered with spaghetti sauce and baked.  Instead, the chicken is coated with a mixture of bread crumbs and spices before it's baked.  This step takes just a few minutes and adds taste and texture to the finished dish.

When you're ready to start supper, put a pot of water on to boil for the spaghetti.  While the water's heating, cut the chicken breasts in half crosswise.

Pound each piece of chicken until it's approximately 1/4-inch thick.  If the pounded piece of chicken is larger than you want, cut it in half again. 

Pounding the chicken is an important component of this recipe.  First, pounding breaks down the fibers which in turn tenderizes the chicken. Second, chicken pieces that are a uniform thickness will cook in the same amount of time.  Third, by decreasing the thickness, you also decrease the cooking time.  Finally, when cooked, you'll be able to cut the chicken with a fork!

Beat two eggs in a bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, combine dry Italian bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

Coating food with both wet and dry ingredients can be messy, but there is an easy way to do it.  Use one hand for the wet ingredients -- the eggs -- and the other for the dry ingredients -- the bread crumb mixture.

Dip one piece of chicken into the eggs, making sure to coat both sides.

Remove the chicken from the eggs and place in the bread crumb mixture, thoroughly coating both sides.

Place the chicken on a greased cookie sheet 

and bake 10 minutes.

Using a pair of tongs, turn the chicken pieces over and bake another 12 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, cook and drain the spaghetti.  Toss the spaghetti with half the spaghetti sauce.

Place the spaghetti in a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.  Put the chicken on top of the spaghetti.

Cover with the remaining spaghetti sauce and sprinkle shredded Mozzarella cheese on top.

Put the pan in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes.

The recipe serves six to eight, but can easily be doubled or halved.  If you're halving the recipe, the remaining spaghetti sauce can be refrigerated and reheated to serve with the leftovers.  Add a salad and some garlic bread and you've got an entire meal ready in under an hour!

Chicken Parmesan

6 to 8 Servings

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup dry Italian bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half and pounded 1/4-inch thick

1 (25 3/4 oz.) can spaghetti sauce, divided

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

hot cooked spaghetti

Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Dip each chicken breast in the eggs and then coat thoroughly on both sides with the bread crumb mixture.  Place chicken on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375° for 10 minutes.  Turn chicken over; bake 12 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.  Toss spaghetti with half the spaghetti sauce; place in a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.  Place chicken on top of spaghetti. Cover with remaining spaghetti sauce.  Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over top.  Bake until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Ways to Use Leftover Ham

Not sure what to do with leftover Easter ham?  Here's two recipes that will make you forget you're eating leftovers!

Broccoli Ham Ring

This entree may look complicated, but it's actually very easy to assemble. Refrigerated crescent rolls are wrapped around a filling made with ham and four other ingredients.  Step by step directions can be found here. 

Ham and Potato Casserole

Any form of cooked ham -- including canned, deli or packaged luncheon ham -- can be used in this layered casserole.  You can make a little or a lot, but be sure to adjust the baking time accordingly.  The recipe can be found here.  

© Margaret's Morsels

A Recipe in Persistence

Every recipe I post is a tried and true family favorite, affectionately known in our house as a "keeper."  Some keepers I've been making for years while others are new additions.  A few became keepers without any changes, deletions or additions, but most recipes require some tweaking. No keeper underwent more tweaking than the recipe I'm sharing today.

My son loves chicken alfredo and, although I've made it for years, he never liked my version.  A few years ago, I found a recipe for chicken alfredo that sounded so good, I went to the grocery and bought the ingredients so I could cook it that night.

I had to tweak the recipe before I even went to the grocery.  The original version called for broccoli, a vegetable my son will not eat.  I omitted the broccoli and prepared the rest of the recipe as directed.  It was good, but it needed more tweaking.  Two years and half a dozen versions later, I ended up with a recipe my family deemed a keeper.

In addition to omitting broccoli, I changed the chicken from boiled -- too bland -- to rotisserie; added salt and pepper; reduced the amount of milk; changed the assembly and cooking directions.  Two of the biggest changes -- using ziti instead of egg noodles and the addition of Mozzarella cheese -- were suggested by my son.

While the ziti is cooking, combine cream of chicken soup with milk, cubed rotisserie chicken, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and Mozzarella cheese.  

Drain the ziti and add it to the soup mixture; stir well to combine the ingredients.

Pour into a greased 2-quart casserole dish and bake until hot and bubbly.

Since I don't add broccoli to the mixture, I steam fresh broccoli to serve either on the side

or on top of a serving.

Normally, I wouldn't be so persistent with a recipe, but I knew I could turn this tasty dish from good into a keeper.  Thank goodness most recipes don't require this much tweaking!  

Chicken Alfredo

4 Servings

1/2 (8 oz.) pkg. ziti

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup (undiluted)

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups cubed rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 cups finely shredded Mozzarella cheese

Cook ziti according to package directions; drain.  Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine soup, milk, chicken, Parmesan, salt, pepper and Mozzarella. Add ziti; stir to combine ingredients.  Pour mixture into a greased 2-quart casserole dish.  Bake at 400° for 30 to 45 minutes until hot and bubbly.

© Margaret's Morsels 

Crock-Pot Cooking

If I had to choose my favorite kitchen appliance, it would be a close call between a microwave and crock-pot.  A microwave is wonderful for cooking bacon, baked potatoes, fresh corn-on-the-cob and popcorn.  It also does a great job melting butter and chocolate and, its most popular function, heating leftovers.

A crock-pot can be used to reheat soups, stews, chili and spaghetti sauce, plus an entire dish can be cooked in it with little or no additional work required.  It's a tough choice, but for the last reason alone, I'd choose a crock-pot over a microwave.

Although I love crock-pot cooking, I haven't posted many crock-pot recipes. Today, I want to rectify that and share one of my all time favorite crock-pot recipes.

The crock-pot version of Chicken a la King isn't that much different from the version cooked on the stove.  Both recipes contain diced chicken with vegetables in a cream sauce.  The most obvious difference is the crock-pot version takes eight hours to cook.  However, there are several advantages to this long cooking time.

First, unlike the version cooked on the stove, the crock-pot recipe doesn't require the chicken or green peas to be cooked ahead of time.  Second, the vegetables -- onion, green pepper and celery -- don't need to be sauteed. Third, you don't have to make and thicken the cream sauce.

To save time,  assemble the ingredients the night before.  Start by combining the flour, pepper, cayenne pepper and -- what makes the cream sauce -- cream of chicken soup.  I use 98% fat-free soup which has less sodium than regular soup.  For that reason, I also add a teaspoon of salt to the mixture.

Add cubed chicken breasts and diced onion, celery and green bell pepper.

Thoroughly combine the ingredients and store the mixture in a covered container in the refrigerator.

The next morning, put the ingredients in the crock-pot and cook on low for 7 1/2 hours.  You may be wondering why the green peas aren't in the crock-pot.  The peas and pimentos are added at the end of the cooking time and everything is cooked an additional 30 minutes.

The peas need to be thawed before being added to the mixture.  I find it helpful to put the package in the refrigerator to thaw when I put the chicken mixture in the crock-pot.

Chicken a la King is usually served with toast points or pasta, but I like to serve it with rice.  Shortly after I add the peas and pimentos, I start cooking the rice.  By the time the rice is ready, so is the Chicken a la King.  Add a salad and you've got a meal that doesn't require a lot of work or a lot of cleanup!

Crock-Pot Chicken a la King

6 Servings

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup (undiluted)*

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

1 celery rib, chopped

1/2 cup chopped green pepper (I use frozen)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen peas, thawed

2 Tbsp. diced pimentos, drained

hot cooked rice

Combine the first four ingredients in a crock-pot until smooth.  Stir in the chicken, celery, green pepper and onion.  Cover and cook on low for 7 1/2 hours.  Stir in peas and pimentos.  Cook 30 minutes longer until heated through.  Serve over rice.

*If using 98% fat-free soup, add one teaspoon of salt to the mixture.

© Margaret's Morsels

Dinner in a Dash

Last week when I posted Pineapple Pointers, I said I'd share a recipe that is delicious with fresh pineapple.  Although pineapple is often paired with pork -- baked ham with pineapple rings, maraschino cherries and a brown sugar glaze comes to mind -- it's also tasty with tuna.

Until I was a teenager, my favorite meal was a casserole my mother made called Chinese Casserole.  I'm not sure how the dish got its name because, other than using soy sauce and rice, there's nothing Chinese about it.

Chinese Casserole is made with everyday ingredients, ready to eat in a little over 30 minutes and, unlike some quick to prepare meals, full of flavor.

The recipe uses what is known in Cajun and Creole cuisine as the "holy trinity:"  onion, celery and green pepper.  

Onion, celery and frozen chopped green pepper

It's a real time saver to chop and measure the vegetables ahead of time. Store the vegetables together in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When it's time to cook, the time consuming prep work will already be done.

All the ingredients will eventually be combined so use a large 10 or 12-inch skillet.  Saute the onion, celery and bell pepper in a little margarine.  Once they're tender, stir the uncooked rice and sauteed vegetables together.  

Add the remaining ingredients.  One of the ingredients is a 10 ounce package of frozen green peas.  I can't find that size package anymore so I add about half of a 12 ounce package.  I would add more, but my husband doesn't like green peas.  The extra two ounces won't affect the recipe so you can add the entire package or reduce the amount of green peas to suit your taste.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent the rice from sticking.  The easiest way I've found to loosen stuck on rice is with a metal spatula.  Turn the spatula upside down in the skillet and push the rice away from you.  The rice should come right up.  If the rice sticks no matter how much you stir, turn the heat down to medium.

Let the mixture boil for 10 minutes while you continue to stir.  The rice starts cooking which reduces the amount of time the dish has to be baked. Pour the mixture into a greased 2-quart casserole dish and bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

The casserole after it's boiled 10 minutes.

The casserole is delicious served with fresh pineapple, but you can substitute canned pineapple chunks or rings.  Put some garlic bread in the oven at the same time as the casserole and you've got dinner in a dash.

Chinese Casserole

4 to 6 Servings

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup diced green pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp. margarine

1 cup rice (uncooked)

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen green peas (unthawed)

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 (5 oz.) can chunk tuna (undrained)

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

Saute the onion, celery and green pepper in margarine until tender.  Stir the rice into the vegetables until thoroughly combined.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.  Transfer the mixture to a greased 2-quart casserole. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Company's Coming: Dinner Edition

When we have company -- either overnight or dinner guests -- I like to serve Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy.  It isn't difficult to prepare, is always well received and is one of my family's favorite recipes.

Normally when I cook something for the first time, I take out the offending ingredients -- the things my family won't eat -- and, in the case of most entree recipes, add a can of mushrooms.  The recipe for Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy has the distinction of being one of only a few in my recipe box that I didn't have to change to suit my family's taste.

The pork chops take an hour to cook, but the time it takes to put dinner on the table can be shortened by doing prep work ahead of time.

Chop the onion and green pepper and store them with the mushrooms in a covered container or resealable plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Combine the dry ingredients -- flour, salt and pepper -- in a resealable plastic bag and set aside.  The pork chops will be coated with this mixture, but it will also be used to thicken the gravy.  For this reason, I use Wondra instead of all-purpose flour.  Wondra, also known as gravy flour, is a finely ground all-purpose flour that dissolves instantly and is unlikely to form lumps.  If you don't have Wondra, use all-purpose, but not self-rising flour.

When you're ready to cook, coat the pork chops with the dry ingredients. The easiest way to do this is to put the pork chops in the plastic bag two at a time.  Seal the bag and shake it until both sides of the pork chops are thoroughly coated with the mixture.  Set the coated pork chops aside and continue the process until all the pork chops are coated.  Don't discard the remaining flour mixture.

Melt the margarine over high heat in a large 12-inch skillet.  Put four pork chops in the skillet; don't put more than four in at once because overcrowding will keep the meat from browning properly.  Cook the pork chops for one minute; turn the pork chops over and cook the other side for one minute.  The pork chops will be light brown and there won't be any pink on the top.  Transfer the pork chops to a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.  Repeat the process with the remaining pork chops.

Notice the color of the pork chops 

after being cooked for one minute.

The rest of the recipe is pretty straight forward.  Saute the onion, green pepper and mushrooms in the same skillet until the onion and green pepper are soft.  Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture over the vegetables, stirring to combine.  Slowly stir in the milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for two minutes or until the gravy is thickened, stirring constantly.

The thickened gravy.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in lemon juice.  Lemon juice may sound out of place in this recipe, but it serves an important purpose. Lemon juice enhances the flavor of food without adding many calories. Pour the gravy over the pork chops, spreading to cover all the pork chops. Cover the pan with foil and bake in a 350° oven for one hour.

Ready to be covered with foil and baked.

The pork chops cook in the gravy which keeps them moist and tender. The gravy is delicious over the pork chops, but it's even better served with a starch, such as rice or mashed potatoes.  Add a green vegetable and you've got a delicious dinner.

I've always had good luck with this recipe which is one reason I like serving it to company.  When our company leaves, I know they leave content, well fed and, more often than not, with a copy of the recipe.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy

6 to 8 Servings

1/2 cup Wondra or all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

6 to 8 boneless pork chops (1-inch thick)

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper (I use frozen)

1 (4 oz.) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained

2 cups milk

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag.  Add pork chops, two at a time, tossing to coat.  Set remaining flour mixture aside.

Melt margarine in a large 12-inch skillet.  Cook pork chops in margarine one minute; turn pork chops over and cook the other side one minute. When done, transfer to a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.

In the same skillet, saute the onion, green pepper and mushrooms until the onion and green pepper are soft.  Stir in the reserved flour mixture. Gradually add milk, stirring to combine.  Bring the mixture to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.  Pour gravy over pork chops.  Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350° for 60 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels