Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

Basic Meatballs, then fit them to any meal

Basic Meatballs, then fit them to any meal

Posted on December 14, 2013 
Filed Under Beef

I have found my meatball recipe. Inside, I’m saying that with a bunch of excited exclamation points at the end. The reasons I wrote it so calmly instead are: because I don’t want to look too excited about meatballs (how weird would that be?!) and because I have friends who get annoyed at people who use a bunch of exclamation points. The reason I’m so happy about it is because meatballs is now officially on my serve-confidently-to-company food list, and the more things I can get on that list, the better.

meatballs menu

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Here are the Baked Potatoes. We love them like this! They are featured here.
baked potatoes with kosher salt

Ok, now for the meatballs. I found this recipe in one of my newest cookbooks. I have used this cookbook ALOT! It is called Simple & Satisfying. It’s extra special because 3 of my friends play a big part in it… Berneice helped head it up, Shannon was the photographer for it, and Freida submitted the most awesome recipe in the entire book (at least in the Main Dishes section… it’s Chipotle in a Bowl and it is SO amazing). Another thing I like about this cookbook is that it has a red coiled binder. I have a bunch of cookbooks that are bound with those and they’re pretty much all black or white, so when I go to the shelf to pick one of those cookbooks, I have to look a bit for the one I want. This one, I can spot the red right away and go to it. It’s the simple things.

Ok, NOW for the meatballs. :)

I’m going to post the recipe here just as Mattie has it in the cookbook, then I’ll add my variations at the end.

Barbecued Meatballs

MEAT MIXTURE
3 lbs. hamburger
1 can evaporated milk
2 c. quick oatmeal
2 eggs
1 c. onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. chili powder

BARBECUE SAUCE
2 c. ketchup
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. onion, chopped

Mix meat mixture and shape into balls.
meatball mixture

meatball1
I used a medium Pampered Chef cookie scoop, then popped them out and finished rounding them.

Place single layer in pan.
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Mix barbeque sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour barbeque sauce over meatballs and bake uncovered. I’ve skipped the boiling step… works great and saves time.

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Bake at 350 for 1 hour. They looked done at 45 minutes, so I jabbed a thermometer into a couple of them and yep, they were done. And no, the oven wasn’t on convection. Maybe I made them smaller than Mattie does. :)
Also, I’m not saying I’m ever last minute or in a hurry or anything, BUT I did somehow discover one of the times that I was making these that if I use convection bake instead of regular and turn the oven to 375 instead of 350, they get done in 20 minutes flat.
????

meatballs4

Just for your serving information, I made a half batch here and with the medium cookie scoop, it made 2 dozen meatballs. We have a family of 5, the 3 kids are all girls (ages 11, 7, and 3), the rest of the meal was baked potatoes, dinner rolls, and veggies, and we ate exactly half the pan of meatballs.  So, if you got lost there, 1/4 of this recipe fed our family of 5 with the meal on the chalkboard above.

VARIATIONS:

— Save time by skipping mixing up barbeque sauce and just pop open a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce and pour over the meatballs. This changes the flavor significantly because the sauce above is sweeter and less tangy than regular BBQ sauce. Still really good, though!

— Spaghetti and meatballs. Trade the chili powder for Italian seasoning and skip the BBQ sauce. Just bake them un-sauced. Heat up pasta sauce and add meatballs to it when they come out of the oven. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.

I, by the way, am not saying these variations are better than the original recipe. The original recipe is what I made first and is what made me decide “ok finally I found my meatball recipe”. It’s kind of a candied meatball and oh so good! I’ll still make them the original way for company and most of the time just for us, unless it’s an Italian meal or I’m in a hurry.

You might be seeing more from this cookbook… I just quickly flipped thro it and saw 12 recipes that I have reviews written beside and I could’ve easily missed some.

Comments

2 Responses to “Basic Meatballs, then fit them to any meal”

  1. Jo on December 14th, 2013 4:36 pm

    That is the exact meatball recipe that I use! Grew up on them even. A few weeks ago when I made them I spilled the garlic poweder into the mix. No one seemed to notice, but they were extra garlic-y tasting. Good to know I can speed bake them. Fast supper!

  2. Shannon on February 14th, 2014 10:15 pm

    Oh, I like this post. :) Madison made meatballs out of that cookbook but I think they were the ones by Sarah. I was never a big meatball fan growing up, but I liked the ones she made. I’ll have to check these out too.

Pioneer Woman’s Sloppy Joes

Just recently, Shannon said, “You oughta put some meat on Kitchen Scrapbook again.” As I thought about it, it did seem like it had been awhile, so just for kicks, I checked… and was surprised… in the last 27 posts, the only thing with meat in it on here was Haystacks! And that’s not a dish where the meat is really monopolized on. So, here we go, something with meat… a main dish, for something different. I know it’s not a CHUNK of meat, but hey, there IS meat here.

One main dish in 27 posts shows you a bit where my interests lie. I don’t churn out full course meals as often as you might think. I like cooking meals, I really do. But you know what I LOVE? Baking, desserts, decorating cakes, and playing around with food. It’s hard to do fun stuff with main course dishes. And main course dishes are necessary… the sweet things aren’t… and we all know that somehow there’s always more fun and passion in unecessary things. I should add in a clause here about meat… I’ve heard and seen enough from the guys I’m around that I DO understand that there is fun and passion in smoking and grilling chunks of meat… but I don’t know a flippin’ thing about doing it, so I’m quite happy to stay on the eating end of it rather than on the fire end of it. :)

This is the first time I’m posting one of Pioneer Woman’s recipes on my site, even though I’ve made quite a few of them. One I still need to try is the cinnamon rolls. I just need to see for myself that it’s just as good or better to sprinkle on white sugar instead of brown sugar just before rolling them up. When I do try them, I think I’ll do some with white and some with brown… and compare. The best part of all that is that it entitles me to TWO cinnamon rolls. ;) Anyway… why am I talking about cinnamon rolls?! Back to the thing of posting a Pioneer Woman recipe on my site… It’s sorta like what’s the point because it’s already posted in much more finery and humor already on her site. It’s not that I feel threatened by her… because you can only feel threatened by people or things that are in your league. ;) So, here is the link to the recipe on her site: Pioneer Woman’s Sloppy Joes. And in case you don’t feel like clicking to go over there, I’ll post it here, too.

I actually just grabbed my cell phone to take pictures of these because, well, my camera battery needed charged. :roll: Also, I made a half batch, in case the quantity in the frying pan looks small to you… you know what I thought of right now, I should’ve made a full batch and put half of in it the freezer for another meal!

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Pioneer Woman’s Sloppy Joes

2 Tbsp. butter
2 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. chili powder (more to taste) I actually cut back on this because I wasn’t sure how much kick it would give it.
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (more to taste)
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
2 Tbsp. tomato paste (optional)
Tabasco sauce (optional; to taste)
Salt; to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Kaiser rolls
Butter

Add butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat and discard. Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, or until vegetables begin to get soft. Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.
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Also add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and Tabasco if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Spread rolls with butter and brown on a griddle or skillet. Spoon meat mixture over the rolls. And then I added a slice of provolone cheese and put it under the broiler for a few minutes.
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These are hands down THE BEST sloppy joes I’ve ever made or eaten! Dancing with flavor. I backed up the spicyness a little and I think it was just right… in my world, sloppy joes aren’t supposed to be spicy. But a little zing was perfect. So, anyway, this will now be my sloppy joe recipe unless I find another one to kick it out of 1st place.

In other news, we’re grilling tonight. Not sure what we’ll grill, but I think I’ll feature it in the next post, whatever it ends up being. The meats we have on hand to choose from are: burger, chicken breast, fish, and a 1.14-lb sirloin steak. Oh, and when I say “we’re grilling”, I am, as usual, using the term ‘we’ very loosely.

What are you grilling tonight? And feel free to use the term ‘you’ very loosely. ;)

Comments

15 Responses to “Pioneer Woman’s Sloppy Joes”

  1. Lydia Jo Martin on July 7th, 2011 2:48 pm

    hmmm… I never made this recipe of PW either. Looks good. I do, however, make her cinnamon rolls all the time. They are like fail proof. But then, I was never very good at making the all yeast kind. The last time that I tried a new recipe for cinnamon rolls they got horrible and I threw the whole pan into the pasture. Wouldn’t you know we got company that evening and the guys were looking around and they saw the cinnamon rolls in the meadow. I died! How embarrassing. Now, I’m going to go see if you have a sweet roll recipe that I should try.

  2. Shannon on July 7th, 2011 2:53 pm

    Awww, Kay to the rescue for something for supper. :) Think I’ll give it a shot if you say it’s good.

    I did the very same thing with the cinnamon rolls. Could not stand to just use white sugar so I did some of both. Can’t quite remember but I think the white was almost better for some reason. Try it yourself and I’ll see what you think. :)

  3. Audrey on July 7th, 2011 3:03 pm

    We are having leftover grilled foods tonight. Chicken and red potatoes.

    We bought a wood pellet BBQ grill about 2 months ago and we are LOVING it. We grill so often. And I love it because it involves Jeremy and no kitchen clean up either!

    Those sloppy joes look awesome!

  4. Cheryl Weaver on July 7th, 2011 3:13 pm

    I just made sloppy joes for lunch and I’m waiting on the man to arrive so we can eat them. I love the idea to broil the cheese. Otherwise I’m quite happy with my recipe which comes from the Byers cookbook. Its worked for fifteen years now.

  5. Freida on July 7th, 2011 3:49 pm

    I can not wait to try these sloppy joes. I liked the recipe I had good enough, but these look better. I just might try them for supper.

    What are we grilling? Next up is tin foils or grilled pizza.

  6. carmen on July 7th, 2011 4:30 pm

    looks divine!! I’m h.u.n.g.r.y!!

  7. Kay on July 7th, 2011 5:32 pm

    Jo, I HOPE you found these raspberry cream cheese cinnamon rolls in your sweet roll search! I make them alot and always keep donut mix on hand just for them. Glad to here PW’s rolls are fail proof! :) LOL about the guys finding your rolls in the pasture! That just made my day!

    So, Shannon, white is better in those rolls?! Now I HAVE TO try them because that still blows me away. Oh yeah… I have an open mind about it… why would you ask? :lol:

    Aug, yep, anytime you can skip kitchen cleanup and get out of making part of the meal, it’s a good thing! Your wood pellet grill sounds like a plan… charcoal briquets are NOT cheap! Oh, maybe wood pellet aren’t either.??? ;)

    Cheryl, can’t beat a faithful-for-15-yrs recipe! But broiling the cheese will only make it better! :)

    Freida, I was just looking at some tin foils recipes this afternoon… we’ve done a little of that for veggies, but I want to do more. Grilled pizza is something we’ve never done. I don’t get how the toppings get hot without burning the crust.??? :eek:

    Carmen, I’m hungry too! And I still don’t know what we’re grilling… gonna decide when Shannon gets home. Obviously, nothing that needs marinated. :lol:

  8. Liz on July 7th, 2011 11:21 pm

    We (using the term loosely as you do) grilled fresh sausage tonight. Meat that came from Lancaster, PA. Or from somewhere in there.
    Sloppy joes look good. I should try them sometime. I have no favorite recipe – it’s called dumping in stuff till it tastes right.

  9. Beth on July 8th, 2011 8:19 am

    We’re having sloppy joes today, but I think there are only 6 ingredients in the recipe we use. This looks like a lot of work! Most people would probably think our Schlabach family is blah, because we (also used loosely) rarely cook with onions or peppers. :) All because our Dad didn’t like them.

  10. Michelle on July 8th, 2011 5:18 pm

    You always make me hungry! I always just dump stuff when I’m making sloppy joes. I should try a recipe sometime so they start turning out consistently. :) And we’re having hot dogs tonight. Because we were going to burn our brush pile. And now it rained. AGAIN.

  11. Sharon on July 8th, 2011 11:22 pm

    tonight we (and usually I use that term loosely, but I really did it, because Troy was tired and napping) grilled steak cubes, onions and mushrooms. I chunk the steak into kebab-size cubes and do the veggies the same, then marinate them a bit, throw them on our grill tray, and they are so good! I like steak that way cause it gets done faster and is much easier for the children to eat. I love adding zucchini to the above veggies, too, but didn’t have any today. Those sloppy joes sound great! Did you really add all that garlic? No wonder they were good. :-)

  12. Karen B on July 9th, 2011 12:39 am

    Made these tonight…YUMMY! I think toasting the buns made them wonderful. We quit eating sloppy joes cause they are so blah…..not these!

  13. Kay on July 9th, 2011 11:17 am

    Liz and Michelle, you guys just dump? My hat’s off to you! I do not do that in cooking! But I admire people who do! ;)

    Beth, if you use minced garlic and onions, it doesn’t take much extra work… the peppers still need to be diced, but it’s worth it cuz you know how I LOVE peppers! :lol:

    Sharon, I thought of doing that exact thing with that 1.14 lb sirloin! We made chicken breast salad then, but we’d have probably just brushed them with olive oil and seasoned them because there was no time for marinating… although it sounds like you didn’t marinate ‘em for very long. I love kabobs.

    Karen, you tried them! Ahhhh, love when people do that! :cool:

  14. Aurelia on July 9th, 2011 11:49 am

    Ok Kay, I read your post and had an instant craving for cinnamon rolls. (I bet you thought I was going to say sloppy joes!!) So, last night I mixed up 1/2 batch of PW’s cinnamon rolls, stuck them in the fridge overnight and rolled them out and baked them this morning. AHHH, what a tasteful experience!!!! Dave classified them as AMAZING!!!! They will definitely be a go to recipe, though they do take a bit of time to mix up til you let the dough rest a couple of times. I love reading your posts.

  15. Leah Anderson on August 29th, 2011 6:38 pm

    I made these tonight! I had all the ingredients except the provolone cheese – so I used shredded mozz. These are hands down the best Sloppy Joes Ive ever tasted! Manwich doesnt even come close! Love your blog!

    Thanks for sharing!

Memorial Day, Charcoal, Cheeseburgers and Gold

Posted on May 22, 2008
Filed Under Beef, Grilling, Main dishes

Hey! We’ve got a guest writer! Since I am not the griller around here (thankfully!), it seems fitting that I also shouldn’t be the writer of the grilling posts, right? So, here is my husband Shannon:

Did you read in the news this week about the restaurant on Wall Street in New York that serves a $175.00 cheeseburger? Yup, you read right, $175.00! It is Kobe beef topped with foie gras, exotic mushrooms and golden truffle mayonnaise. Golden truffle mayonnaise is made from chopped black truffles, truffle oil, and gold flakes. Gold as in “silver and gold”.  So let me get this straight… Some chef in New York decided it would be a good idea to make his gold watch into Miracle Whip? Wow. Remind me not to leave the Midwest.

This is not that burger.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial line between spring and summer (or if you are from up here in Wisconsin, the line between winter and summer).

Cheeseburgers sizzling on the grill… What could be a more sure sign of summer than that?

Cheeseburgers are such a basic food that you don’t even need a recipe. But here is my recipe, just the same.

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh ground beef. Not too lean, 80/20 would be good. I used 85/15 this time. If they don’t have enough fat, they will fall apart on the grill.

1/4th cup chopped onion.

1 chopped jalepeno. Use as much as you like. We like a bit of kick.

BBQ sauce. Your favorite brand.

Lawry’s seasoned salt. Put in as much as you prefer, but don’t be scared to use quite a bit. I use about 2 teaspoons (that is completely a guess, I have never measured). :)

1/4th teaspoon coarse ground pepper.

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Combine the ground beef, onion, jalapeno, 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce, Lawry’s, and pepper in a mixing bowl.

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Shape into patties. This is hand work, no Pampered Chef burger shooter or other cheating! This is a cheeseburger, keep it simple. I made 4 patties this time, but that makes pretty big burgers. Depending on your group, you may want to make them smaller.

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Using a brush, brush a light coat of BBQ sauce on the patties. This is not for flavor as much as to carmelize the suger in the BBQ sauce for a nice “crust”. It may actually work better to do this step just a minute before they come off the grill.

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Grill on a charcoal grill. I almost don’t want to put times here because each grill will differ in temp. I grilled them for about 6 minutes on each side. DONT LEAVE THEM ON TOO LONG! Seriously, the most common way to ruin a good burger is to overdo it. A little pink in the middle is perfect.

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Put cheese on. Leave on grill for an extra minute to melt the cheese. I used provolone cheese. The buns must be grilled.

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Dress to taste. I like tomato, lettuce, Bread and Butter pickles, ketchup, and mustard.

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Ah, now that’s a “God bless America” cheeseburger! Serve with extra napkins.

While you are enjoying your good honest cheeseburger this weekend, remember to feel sorry for some guy out in New York whose self esteem is so low that he needs to eat a $175.00 cheeseburger with jewelry in it, just to prove he can.

Me again: Well, after a grilling post like this, I’m going to close my kitchen for the weekend and be outside. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! See ya Tuesday!

Comments

13 Responses to “Memorial Day, Charcoal, Cheeseburgers and Gold”

  1. esther on May 23rd, 2008 12:32 am

    yum!

  2. Shannon on May 23rd, 2008 6:38 am

    Those look good enough to eat. :) I’m a dumper and pourer kinda person when I make hamburgers. All kinds of things go in but I’ve never put jalepeno’s in mine! Not sure that would go down well here. :)

  3. Berneice on May 23rd, 2008 7:21 am

    Yummy. Tell me does gold melt that easily? I think someone had too much money or was going to confinscate the gold! :)

  4. Arla on May 23rd, 2008 7:29 am

    Wow, Shannon, I think I’ve heard it all, now. Ridiculous comes to mind. Your hamburgers sound yummy although I believe I’d better omit the peppers. BTW, that’s an ordinary charcoal grill I’m seeing on the picture, right? Is there an advantage of a charcoal grill over a gas?

  5. Kay on May 23rd, 2008 8:10 am

    Yup, it sure is a charcoal grill. The classic Weber kettle grill. I also have a gas grill that comes in handy when we are in a hurry. Why charcoal? I can think of three reasons: 1.The flavor is better when a burger or steak is grilled over a bed of coals. 2.Most consumer level gas grills don’t get hot enough to sear a steak properly. 3.I just enjoy the primitive process of starting a fire and making food over it.
    On a side note, the Weber Kettle grill is not an expensive grill, but it does a wonderful job compared to some cheap ones I have used. The basic design of the Weber has not changed since 1952. Shannon (I wonder what I need to do to get my own user name on here)

  6. Jo on May 23rd, 2008 9:09 am

    My dad has always grilled over charcoal…my husband’s family believes in gas. The proof is in the pudding—-er, the burgers & steaks. My dad’s beat the ones on the gas grills hands down. Our own gas grill finally kicked the bucket & we replaced it w/ charcoal—ah, much better!
    My mouth is watering over those burger pics. We’ll be wading into some of our own this wk/end & I can’t wait!

  7. Michelle on May 23rd, 2008 3:06 pm

    Ahh- my mouth is watering! Can I come to your house this weekend? That sandwich looks so good!!It probably doesn’t help matters that I’m really hungry right now. We’re going out to eat tonight and I just might have to order myself a cheeseburger.

  8. heidi on May 23rd, 2008 3:12 pm

    ooohh this looks really good..minus the jalepenos sorry im not a big pepper fan. the rest of it sounds mighty yummy might have to try this recipe this weekend. now im so hungry for a burger. =)

  9. Karen on May 23rd, 2008 10:35 pm

    Loved this post. It made me smile. Milt does all the grilling around here and does it on a small charcoal Weber grill….and declares that charcoal is WAY better then gas….and that Weber’s are WAY better then any of the cheaper makes. The food he makes is wonderful….one of the many reasons I like summer. We have yet to hit 70* here in the Icebox of the Nation. Maybe this weekend??!!!

  10. Patsy Clairmont on May 24th, 2008 6:56 pm

    Okay, so now I am a Shannon fan! I love your info, humor, pics, and recipe.

    You rock!

    Thanks for the smiles and the yummy burger!

  11. Amber on May 27th, 2008 11:59 am

    Awesome looking burger! I think i know what we’ll have for supper! Doesn’t hurt that burgers are my husbands’ fav. food. :)

  12. Amber on May 29th, 2008 3:17 pm

    To make them even better…put mushrooms under that cheese! YUUUMMMM!!!! :)

  13. Kay on May 29th, 2008 3:30 pm

    Great idea, Amber! Can’t believe we didn’t think of that… we put mushrooms on about everything! I’m assuming you mean sauteed, at least I think that would be best.

Beef Open-Faced Sandwiches – use your crockpot, then your broiler

Posted on May 9, 2008
Filed Under Beef

This is one of those things that you CAN’T do last minute because it takes the crockpot, yet it doesn’t take much of your time and you CAN do it on a busy day. Or on a day where you’ll be gone all day… say, if you’d go scrapbooking about every Tuesday or something. And it would also work great for a crowd. And they are just tops!

Hey! Wait! Did someone say scrapbooking? How about we skip the beef sandwiches and just talk about scrapbooking. I love scrapbooking! And someday, I’m going to start putting scrapbooking on here now and then. Scrapbooking recipes, that is. This is, after all, Kitchen Scrapbook. To me, the definition of Kitchen Scrapbook is: The best of both worlds. I have done a few recipes and it’s actually a bit harder than scrapbooking people because there isn’t alot of personality going on, but it’s still a load of fun. But, since I wasn’t actually serious about skipping the beef sandwiches and talking about scrapbooking instead, let’s get on with them…

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There is no recipe, but the ingredients are:

Beef roast
About 1/2 cup of water
Salt & pepper
Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning (or seasoning of your choice)
2 bay leaves
Half of an onion, sliced
Barbeque sauce
Hamburger buns
Shredded cheese

Here’s what I did for a 6:00 supper. Around noon, I put the roast, water, seasonings, onions, and bay leaves in the crockpot and turned it on High. It wasn’t frozen. If you’re using a frozen roast, you may want to start it a couple hours earlier. It was also only about a pound of meat. We have my husband, a 5-yr-old, a 2-yr-old, and me, around here for diners and since I don’t like leftovers, I usually cook small.
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Let it go all afternoon and around 5:00, take the bay leaves out, trim off the fat, and shred the beef. As you shed it, most of the liquid will ‘disappear’.
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beef3.jpg  This is how much barbeque sauce I used. I dumped it in, then put a little water in to rinse out the bottle (I know, so thrifty… I’ll bet I kept from throwing away a whole Tablespoon of sauce!) and dumped that in too. A little more barbeque sauce and a little less water would’ve been ideal for more flavor, but I guess that’s the thing of always just doing it without a recipe… it’ll always get a little different. Plus, to do that, I’d have had to break open a new bottle of sauce, just to get a little more. Oh, what a bother.
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Cover and turn the crockpot to Low.

Around 5:50, toast the buns (I used the toaster). I did not take a bit out of that one piece, part of it stayed with the bun beside it in the bag.
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Oh, now would be a good time to turn the broiler on High.

Top bun halves with some beef.
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Then the cheese.
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Then put them on the top oven rack under the broiler (which has already been turned on High). Let them in there for 1 minute and 20 seconds, then take them out.
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Perfection! Now eat them with a fork.

You could also top it with another toasted bun half if you’d prefer a regular sandwich, as opposed to open-faced. These are really good and very little effort! And it’s a hit around here… both with the cook and the diners.

Comments

5 Responses to “Beef Open-Faced Sandwiches – use your crockpot, then your broiler”

  1. Monica on May 10th, 2008 8:34 am

    I love BBQ beef sandwiches!! I can chunk beef in pints and it’s quick and easy to open up a can and mix in seasonings and BBQ sauce and bake for awhile. I never thought of eating them “open-face” with cheese. I have to try that next time!

  2. Preston Martin on May 10th, 2008 12:15 pm

    WOW that looks good! My stomach started growling and i had to go eat something after I look at the post. The beef I get here taste like it was bad and then was microwaved.

    (for those who don’t know me I am in Iraq as a firefighter)

  3. Kay on May 10th, 2008 12:26 pm

    Replying to Preston: Oh for some of those killer steaks again that you and Shannon would pull off the grill, huh?

  4. Shannon on May 10th, 2008 7:14 pm

    Ummm, looks good. Our girls looooove this sandwiches but they think they have to have their good old munster cheese!!

  5. Jennifer on May 16th, 2008 4:45 pm

    We had this for dinnner tonight! Yum!!! My husband loved it! Really good recipe, thanks for sharing!

Pizza Steak Bake

Posted on March 13, 2008
Filed Under Beef

This was the first time that I’ve ever bought cube steaks. Maybe I’m kind of a creature of habit, but I don’t really venture away from my ‘norm’ too much. In fact, I didn’t even realize until I found this recipe that cube steaks were just thinner steaks run thro’ a tenderizer… at least that’s what they look like.

I should know these things because I used to work at a butcher shop with a meat case/deli out front. But, that was 13 years ago, 2 or 3 days a week, for 4 months, in MS. We ran stuff thro’ the tenderizer, but I don’t remember calling anything cube steaks. Anyway, what still makes my toes curl is thinking about that meat slicer and how we cleaned it. I don’t know how you’re supposed to clean the meat slicer blade, but we’d take a bucket of hot soapy water and a rag, turn it on, and hold the rag against it as it’s spinning around. First on one side, then the other. Any little slip and you’d have had a finger chopped off. I hated cleaning the thing and cringed every time I did. And to this day, 13 years later, I still shivver when I think of it. Oh, we had LOTS of fun working there though… assembly lines of packing meat, getting good at knowing how much burger a pound is, frying thick bacon in the microwave, and Leroy keeping things lively and fun. Ah, good memories! And I still know that when I’m holding raw hamburger, 1 pound is when both hands are around it, but the fingers of the one hand can’t quite touch the other hand.

Pizza Steak Bake …taken from an Easy to Bake, Easy to Make recipe card

1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 beef cube steaks (4-6 oz each)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups (6 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup sliced onion (1 medium)
1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used pizza cheese because I didn’t have mozzarella on hand)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour and salt in a shallow dish.
steak1.jpg Dip cube steaks into flour mixture, coating well. Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over med-high heat until hot.
steak2.jpg Add cube steaks, reduce heat to medium. Cook until browned on both sides, 4-6 minutes.
steak3.jpg Place browned cube steaks in a 3-qt baking dish (9×13 pan worked great).
steak4.jpg Top with mushrooms and onion.
steak5.jpg Spoon pizza sauce over top.
steak6.jpg Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake steaks 30 min.
steak7.jpg Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Continue baking, uncovered, until steaks are fork-tender and sauce thickens, about 30 min. Yield: 4 servings.
steak8.jpg

These were tender, we didn’t need knives to cut it. They were really good and I’ll probably make them again, but next time, I’d add some seasoning in with the flour mixture. Not sure what, maybe some Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic.

Comments

7 Responses to “Pizza Steak Bake”

  1. Shannon on March 13th, 2008 12:29 pm

    Hey, I used to work at a butcher shop too. Didn’t know you did. :) I remember doing all those things you talked about… and yeh, I can still tell how much a lb of HB is. :) Steaks looks good. I like anything to do with pizza.

  2. Kay on March 13th, 2008 12:48 pm

    You worked at Sunset Meats??? With Leroy Murray (sp?)?? I worked there in it’s opening days! (Quite a number of years ago!:-))

  3. Kay Martin on March 13th, 2008 1:07 pm

    Replying to Kay: That’s right… Leroy Murray, and I think it was Sunbelt Meats when I worked there. Phillip K. owned it. I don’t know when it opened, but Leroy must’ve been there a long time. Maybe he still is! :) So, we have the same name. They talked about a Kay down there, relation to Phillip. Maybe that’s you.????

  4. Freida on March 13th, 2008 1:19 pm

    I didn’t know there is a difference between cube steaks and regular steaks. :-) They look good. Might have to try them. I do know the slicer cleaning method you talked about. I cleaned one all the time at a restaurant I used to work at. Scary indeed!

  5. Berneice on March 13th, 2008 7:51 pm

    Thanks for the recipe. We have cubed steaks occasionally, but are not real fond of them. i will have to try this and see if we like them better.
    Did Phillip Knepp own the butcher shop where you worked? Just nosy. I know Phillips.

  6. Ruth on March 13th, 2008 10:07 pm

    Cubed steak is my husbands favorite meat. He’ll take it over any other kind of steak. I’m glad for the recipe. It gives me a new way to fix an old stand by.

  7. barb on March 17th, 2008 9:27 pm

    I made the “Pizza steaks” tonight, but made a few changes. In the flour I added garlic powder, seasoned salt, and black pepper. Also instead of pizza sauce, I used a can of cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup water. They were fantastic. I would definitely make them again. Thanks for the great recipe. Barb

Your crockpot… use it!

Posted on February 4, 2008
Filed Under Beef, Easy meals

roast6

Do you ever feel like a broken record when it comes to meals? Whenever I try to think of something different for Sunday lunch (I mean something dressier than a frozen pizza), my great ideas are always weeded out by “Nah, I’d have to get up too early” or “No, that needs basted while baking and I won’t be here” or “I’d never have time to make that AND get us out the door in time” etc. So, it often ends up being the good ol’ roast, potato, veggies in a crockpot meal. Not that I’m complaining… we love that meal! I’m just sayin’ I do feel like a broken record sometimes when I say, “I guess we’ll do a roast in the crockpot for lunch tomorrow”, even though I try to use a different voice inflection and wording than I did the week before.

One thing I LOVE about this meal is I don’t make it. Who wouldn’t love that?! Really, that’s even better than that meal that I said, “Seriously, I spent no longer than 35 min on this meal!” Here’s the secret: I have a husband who cooks better than I can.  (I am NOT kidding about that!!!!)  Anyway, he puts the frozen roast in the crockpot before we go to bed Sat night. He tries different things with seasonings and flavorings. Yesterday, it was Parmesan cheese, bay leaves, seasoning salt, and b-b-que sauce…
roast1
He puts water in with the roast and seasonings and onion wedges
and turns the crockpot on Low.  roast3
In the morning, around 7:30 or 8:00, he put in potatoes, whole fresh mushrooms, and carrots.
roast2
When we get home from church, everything is perfectly done.
roast4
I usually put some crescent rolls from a popable can (speaking of a broken record, you may know by now that I’m a big fan of those too!) in the oven and set the table and dish everything and… lunch is served!
roast5

Crazy thing is, as easy as that meal is, we still opt for a frozen pizza or grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch sometimes. Or something on the grill in the summer.

What do you usually do for Sunday lunch?

Note to Kitchen Scrapbook readers: There were some interesting comments on this post and I wish they would’ve copied over from my old site when I copied the posts onto Kitchen Scrapbook. It was surprising how many people have a roast on Sunday! Other common lunches were quick things, like leftovers or breakfast foods.

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  Valentine’s Day is coming up!  Stay tuned for a Valentine’s meal post in a few days!

Comments

An Entire Meal of New Recipes

Tired of looking at roses? Me too! Time to dust off this site again and put something fresh on here.

I’m going to feature a full meal today, a napkin folding post soon, and hopefully some inspiration will come by the weekend for some Thanksgiving ideas!

This meal is taken out of the 2003 Quick Cooking Annual Cookbook on pages 8 & 9… I know, I’m like a broken record, Quick Cooking cookbook this, Quick Cooking cookbook that. I just love those cookbooks, and you know why? Because they have PICTURES!!!!

Pepper Jack Meat Loaf

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute (I used an egg)
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup (4 oz) shredded pepperjack or monterey jack cheese, divided (I used all pepperjack cheese.)

In a lg bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, onion, salt, and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Press half of the beef mixture onto the bottom and halfway up the sides of a greased 8″x4″x2″ loaf pan. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheese over meat to within 1/2″ of sides.
meatloaf1
Pat remaining beef mixture over cheese.
meatloaf2
Bake uncovered at 350 for 50 – 55 minutes until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5 min longer or until cheese is melted.
meatloaf4
Let stand for 10 min before slicing.
meatloaf3Yield: 6 servings. We really liked this! It was good for something different, although I still prefer meatloaf with ketchup stuff on top. That pepperjack cheese really gave it some kick. Lexi (who is 4 and a picky eater) said it’s too spicy. Tiffany (who is 19 mos and eats anything) chowed it right down. We ate it with ketchup.

Potato Chip Potatoes

6 medium potaoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
3/4 cup crushed potato chips, divided
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a bowl, combine everything, except 1/4 cup of potato chips; toss to combine.Transfer to a greased shallow 2 qt baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining potato chips. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 40 – 50 min or until potatoes are tender.
potatoesYield: 6 – 8 servings. This was good, but nothing special. We ate it with ketchup because it was kinda blah without anything. It’s a good way to use up those last broken up chips at the bottom of the bag.

Creamy Pea Salad

2 pkgs (16 oz each) frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup diced cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced mozzarella cheese
1 medium onion, chopped (onion AGAIN!)
1 cup mayo or salad dressing
Salt and pepper to taste
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

In a bowl, combine everything except the bacon; mix well. Refrigerate until serving. Sprinkle with bacon.
pea saladYield: 6 – 8 servings. Ok, I’m not even gonna pretend… this was NOT at all good! I don’t like cold peas or raw onions, but I decided to be open-minded and give it a shot, thinking maybe the other ingredients would make it good. None of the others liked it either. I ended up fishing out and eating the cheese and bacon and threw the rest away.

Chocolate Cherry Angel Cake

1 pkg (16 oz) angel food cake mix
1/3 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries, well drained
1 square (1 oz) semisweet chocolate, grated  I put an ounce (at least an ounce ) of milk choc chips in a food chopper.
GLAZE:
2 Tbsp. butter (no substitutes)
1 square (1 oz) semisweet chocolate Again, I used milk choc… I try to stick to the recipe, but with chocolate, whenever I use semisweet like the recipe says, I always end up saying ‘next time I’ll use milk chocolate’. So I’m just going to start always using milk choc the 1st time.
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 to 5 tsp. maraschino cherry juice
Maraschino cherries and fresh mint, optional

Prepare cake mix according to directions. Fold cherries and chocolate into the batter. Pour into an ungreased 10″ tube pan.
cherrycake1Bake at 350 for 40 – 45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan; cool completely. Run a knife around sides of cake and remove from pan. In a saucepan, combine butter, chocolate, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in confectioners’ sugar and cherry juice until glaze reaches desired consistency. Drizzle over cake.
cherrycake2
Garnish with cherries and mint if desired.
cherrycake5Yield: 12 servings. YUM!!!! This tasted as good as it looked! If you like chocolate covered cherries, you’ll like this! Shannon doesn’t like cherries and he even kinda liked it. It would be GREAT for around Christmas time too… doesn’t it look sorta Christmas-y?
cherrycake4

Steak Fajitas

On a more serious note…

This dish, on the other hand (as opposed to the last post), graces our table quite often.

Even the kids love it… at the end I’ll show you how to make it kid-friendly!
fajitakid1

Did you ever have steaks on the grill?
They were just delicious, but you had 1 steak leftover… now, what to do with it.????  If you keep it, it might get tough when you reheat it.  If you throw it away, it might bug you that something you spent good money one just went in the trash.  Here’s what I do: Slice it thin and put it in a bag in the freezer. Then, the next time you make fajitas, pull it out and add it to the other meat.

Steak Fajitas

1 lb or so of thinly-sliced steak (I either buy it thinly sliced or slice a couple steaks up. If I have any left over from grilling, I add that too.)
1/3 each of a green, yellow, orange, and sweet red pepper, sliced into strips (Or 2 or 3 colors, whatever you have on hand.)
1/2 of an onion, sliced and separated
Tortillas
Shredded lettuce (I don’t keep shredded lettuce on hand, I just cut it thinly off of a head of lettuce.)
Tomatoes, cut up
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Salsa

Spray the skillet with cooking spray or use oil, depends on if you want it more healthy or not. I’ve done it both ways.  Add the steak, peppers, and onion. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and seasoning. I use Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning .
fajitas1
About 15 minutes before serving time, turn skillet to about 300. Cover. Stir about every 3 minutes. Fry for about 12 minutes total or until it looks done. While it’s frying, get the other things around… cut the tomatoes, shred the lettuce, etc. Stack tortillas on a plate with a paper towel between each one. Microwave until warm and soft, about a minute or so.
fajitas2

fajitas3

Now you’re ready to eat! How’s that for a ready-in-15-minutes meal! …which is one reason why I like it. If your supper time varies (like ours does), you can get everything cut up and in the skillet awhile, then it’s pretty fast from there. And now, for the kid-friendly version… Cut 3 1/2″ circles out of a tortilla.

Fill it and roll up.
Fits in their hands nice and works great,
fajitakid2
until they start playing with it!
fajitakid3


There are a bunch of different variations to making fajitas, I’m sure. We don’t have the fried rice and refried beans and guacomole (ok, I can’t make that word look right, where’s my dictionary?!). All that stuff would make it more complicated, plus we don’t really like 2 or 3 of those things.

A Meat & Potatoes Meal

Parmesan Potatoes
Glazed Meat Loaf
Salad
Crescent Rolls
mp meal

Parmesan Potatoes   …This recipe was given to me by my friend Karen from MS. She said it’s one of their favorites and I can see why, esp the top layer! Her husband does a lot of grilling, too. Thanks for the recipe, Karen! (She doesn’t have a site, but she visits here.  )

4 medium potatoes, thinly sliced, peeled too
1 sm onion, thinly sliced in rings (Karen said she doesn’t add quite that much, so I didn’t either)
3 T. butter, melted
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt, pepper, 1/8 tsp. garlic powder (Karen said ‘or seasonings of choice’, but I used these)

Place 1/2 of the potatoes in greased pan (9×13 or smaller).
mp potato1

mp potato2 

Top with onion rings

mp potato3 

and remaining potatoes; drizzle with butter. Sprinkle with parmesan and seasonings.
mp potato4

Bake uncovered at 450 for 25 min or until potatoes are soft and brown.

Very good!!! Will definitely make again! I made a half batch so we wouldn’t have leftovers.

Glazed Meat Loaf   …This recipe comes from the 2006 Taste of Home Annual Cookbook.

2 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. milk
1 1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. crushed saltines (about 30 crackers) I used Ritz crackers.
1 c. finely shredded carrots (um, I skipped the carrots, didn’t feel like shredding them)
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. ketchup
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, cheese, saltines, carrots, onion, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
mp meat1

mp meat2 

Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.

Yeah, I know, doesn’t look too appetizing at this point, huh?
mp meat3 

Shape into a loaf. Place in a greased 9×13 baking dish. I made a half recipe and just put it in a loaf pan.

mp meat4

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 50 minutes.
mp meat5 

For glaze, bring the brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 min or until heated through. Spoon over meat loaf.

Bake 10-15 min longer or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160. Drain; let set for 10 min before slicing. Yield: 12 servings.
mp meat6  Ok, I FINALLY found my meat loaf recipe! Over the last several years, I’ve tried recipes hit-n-miss and they all tasted sorta blah. (Same with poor man’s steak.) This one is SO good! It is so moist and flavorful. Sometime, I might even try it with the carrots.  

mp salad  And a picture of the salad … because I always think salads are so pretty. I have a few menus that I make for company and will add this meal now.  

Comments

3 Responses to “A Meat & Potatoes Meal”

  1. Terry Wasson on May 4th, 2008 6:09 pm

    I shop at a small Mennonite store not far from where I live. I buy flour and staples for bread making. The last time I was there I noticed a donut mix and a package of raspberry filling. Do you have recipes for either of these products? I love the smell of yeast and bread rising. Do you have a sweet roll recipe for the filling? I would appreciate any help you can give. Thank you.

  2. Kay on May 5th, 2008 3:16 pm

    Terry,
    Here is a recipe: Raspberry Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

  3. Alicia on May 13th, 2008 7:01 am

    I made this for supper last night and it was so good! Thank you for the recipes!!

Wet Burritos

This recipe came from my mother-in-law. It’s really good!!!!! Try it!

Wet Burritos

1 lb hamburger
1 sm onion
1 pk taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
8 soft tortillas (9 inch)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups sour cream
8 oz grated cheese

Fry hamburger with onion. Add seasoning and beans. Put 1/8 of meat mixture in each tortilla. Roll up. Mix mushroom soup and sour cream. Put 1/2 of it into greased 9×13 pan. Put rolled tortillas in next,
burritos1
burritos2 then put rest of sauce on top, then the cheese.
burritos3  Bake at 350 for 40 min.
burritos4 Serve with sour cream and salsa. It’s so easy to make! With good babies and all, you can go from nothing to eating within an hour! In the 40 minutes it’s baking, you can easily get the rest of the meal around.

We had crescent rolls and salad with it.
burritos salad  I make my own croutons instead of buy them because I don’t like the hard ones that you can’t stab with a fork. It’s so easy… just take a couple pieces of bread, cut them into chunks with a pizza cutter. Put some melted butter in a pan (however much you want, I usually do around a Tablespoon, maybe a little less), then dash a few spices in, like oregano, basil, and onion power, or garlic powder. Throw the bread cubes in and mix them around till they seem to be pretty much coated with the butter. Put the pan in the oven for about 10 minutes, more if you want. Sometime during that time, I take the pan out and shake it around a little to try to get some of the croutons to flip over. They have a crunch, but yet you can stab them with a fork. Perfect!!!

Stromboli

In researching how to make stromboli about 6 years ago, I found there are alot of different variations out there (different kinds, different shapes, braided tops, spiral-rolled, etc. So, I experimented with it and here is the result… a recipe of my stromboli, tried and true, we love it! I’ve only ever made 2 different kinds… pizza and steak. Tonight was steak.

Steak and Cheese Stromboli

1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
14 oz pkg thinly sliced beef Philly steak
Montreal steak seasoning  *edit* or seasoning of your choice
1 tsp. oil
1 green pepper
1/2 of an onion
Handful or 2 of sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup pizza sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Butter
Parmesan cheese

Put the oil in an electric skillet and turn to 300. Cut up green pepper and onion into approx. 1 1/2″ x 1/4″ pieces and fry for a few minutes, stirring often`. Add steak and sprinkle steak seasoning on it
strom1 and fry a few more minutes until no longer pink. Throw the mushrooms in and stir it.
strom2Put it on simmer while you roll out the bread dough into a rectangle about 12″ x 8″ x 1/2″. (This measurement is a wild guess, by the way. ) Spread pizza sauce on it.
strom3Then spoon meat mixture on it, then put cheese on top.
strom4Now, the dreaded part… getting it closed.   Pull the edges up around to the middle (the edges are usually fatter, so it’s got some extra to give) and pinch to seal. Then seal the ends too. If any holes break open, patch them up, or the problem will magnify as it bakes! I always have one hole somewhere somehow.
strom5Then flip it over onto the pan… a quick smooth maneuver would be good here.   Butter the top with very soft butter or melted butter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
strom6 Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
strom7
YUM!
strom8

To make the pizza variation , trade the steak, seasoning, oil, grn pepper, and onion for an 8 oz pkg of pepperoni. Then if your taste buds allow, sprinkle some crushed red pepper on the cheese before closing it up. It gives it extra zip.  Do everything else the same. No frying involved though… that’s handier.

What style and flavor of stromboli do you make?

Comments

2 Responses to “Stromboli”

  1. Amber on April 3rd, 2008 10:43 am

    We love the pizza kind, too and also ham and cheese with mustard smeared on the dough. If you want to try something different to close your dough: spread the toppings down the center and leave about 3-4 in. on either side. Make cuts in the dough about an inch apart on either side. ‘Braid’ the dough strips over top of toppings and brush with egg whites and sprinkle with sesame seeds. :) Love your site!

  2. Tom Barrett on November 23rd, 2008 6:10 am

    Kay, I want to say thanks for the really nice recipe and the great, step by step pictures.

    I’m a fan of anything “Cheesesteak”, and I do make Steak and Cheese Stromboli’s using a puff pastry dough sheet.

    But yours looks great, and I love the idea of putting sauce in the dough.

    great job and thanks!

Fire up the grill!

I’m going to feature our supper last night. Some of us around here have been sick, so suppers haven’t been happening much this week… until last night. We made up for it then!!!!

Grilled Shrimp & Mushrooms
Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Grilled New York Strip Steak
Sauteed Mushrooms
Texas Toast
Veggies & Dip

Our friends who came over last night supplied the steaks… these are, incidently, the same friends I mentioned a couple weeks ago who brought hot ready-to-eat carry-out pizzas over for supper. Anybody else have friends like that?

Grilled Shrimp & Mushrooms

55 large (not jumbo) shrimp
Butter
Lawry’s seasoning salt
Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning
Sliced mushrooms

There is actually no recipe for this… it was created by Shannon. He doesn’t measure ingredients or anything, but I know that it uses pretty much butter and less mushrooms than shrimp. Thaw the shrimp under cold running water. Mix the shrimp, butter, and seasoning all together in a bowl and skewer it on skewers, putting a mushroom on now and then.
grill shrimp
Grill it till browned. You can either serve them on the skewers or slide them off in to a bowl. Serve with cocktail sauce. So delicious! They cool quckly, so it’s a good idea to put them in a bowl that’s been heated up or eat them right away… or both.
grill shrimp done

Stuffed Baked Potatoes (also known as Twice Baked)     This recipe comes from a Weber Gas Barbeque Cookbook (came with our Weber grill).

3 lg baking potatoes
3 Tablespoons softened butter or margarine
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon fresh snipped chives
2 Tablespoons grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup broccoli florets

Wash and dry potatoes. Prick with fork. Bake until done, about 1 hour. (Mine took 1 1/2 hours @ 400, but they were BIG). Halve potatoes lengthwise. Carefully scoop out pulp, reserving 4 shells. (I just cut the top 1/4 off, then let the shell pretty thick. It doesn’t break as easy then when your scoop out the pulp.)
grill shells
Mash potatoes with butter while still hot. Blend egg yolks and sour cream; mix with potatoes, chives, and salt. Mound mixture into reserved shells
grill filled potato
and place in a foil pan.
Place pan in center of cooking grate of gas grill (over indirect/medium heat) and cook until potatoes are heated through, about 20 minutes. Top each potato with cheese and continue to cook until cheese has melted. Garnish top with cooked broccoli florets before serving.    I usually do them in the oven instead of the grill… bake on ungreased cookie sheet @ 375 for 20 min, then top with cheese, bake 5 min longer. Garnish top with broccoli.
grill done potato

Grilled New York Strip Steak

4 12-oz. New York Strip Steak
Lawry’s seasoning salt
Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning

Again, no actual recipe here, but this is how Shannon does it… Trim fat off,
grill trim
then let set till room temperature. Put seasoning on just before putting on the grill. Don’t put seasonings on ahead of time because the salt in them pulls out the moisture. In a charcoal grill, over to the one side, have HOT coals piled up almost up to the grate. The heat should be so intense that you can’t hold your hand there, even for a second. Sear the steaks there for about 1 1/2 minutes, then flip over to regular coals to finish grilling.
grill steaks  How long it takes depends on how much heat there is. Grill until steaks reach an internal temperature of 145 – 150. We like A-1 sauce with our steaks… ok, Ruthie, just some of us do.
grill steaks done

And, you can’t have steak without…
Sauteed Mushrooms

1/4 cup butter
2 8-oz cartons whole mushrooms, washed

I don’t know an actual recipe for this, but this is how I do it… When butter is about all melted in frying pan, put mushrooms in. Fry over medium/high heat stirring and flipping pretty often until they look darker and smaller and done… not sure exactly how to descibe it, ya just kinda know.    Line a bowl with paper towel and scoop mushrooms into bowl. Then, pull the paper towel out from under them and serve them in the bowl. (The paper towel gets rid of some extra grease.)
grill saute mshrm

Texas Toast

Loaf of French bread
Lots of butter
Garlic powder

Again… this is just how we do it. Slice the loaf on an angle into 1″ thick pieces. Spread butter heavily on both sides. Sprinkle garlic powder on top… less for this kind of meal, more for an Italian meal.
grill toast
Put under broiler for a few minutes, but don’t forget about it or you’ll be reminded by smoke curling out of the oven… been there, done that!    When the first side is done, get them out, flip them over, and broil the other side. You shouldn’t have alot of other stuff going on while doing this, like fussy babies or making veggie trays or very involved conversations. Texas toast is what we call this bread, so if that’s an incorrect term, then we’re talking about a different Texas.
grill toast done

Veggie Tray

Baby carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Green Peppers
Ranch veggie dip

Yeah, ok, this was more for healthy looks than anything. The guys didn’t even touch it. It was the only thing on the table not loaded with calories.
grill veg

We didn’t have dessert, but later in the evening, we ate some of the irrestistable Raspberry Cream Cheese Rolls that were left over from when I made them (again already) yesterday morning.

Comments

Mozzarella and Beef Puff

Posted on November 20, 2006
Filed Under Beef, Main dishes

My first entry WAS going to be some for exotic yummy-lookin’ entree or dessert… to impress you all , but 5:00 this evening found me staring in the cupboards, fridge, and freezer. Then, I spotted the “Jiffy all purpose baking mix” box with recipes on it. So, I scanned them and thought the Mozzerella and Beef Puff sounded good.

There won’t be all that many casserole-type dishes on here. Neither Shannon nor I like them… but for different reasons. His reason: the same taste the whole main course, and the throw-everything-in-the-trough effect. My reason: I never know what else to put with it… all the food groups are in there, so do we go double on the veggies or the bread? In my mind, a meal should have at least 3 things on the table. So, if there’s a casserole, I need to come up with 2 more things!

Mozzerella & Beef Puff

Crust:
1/4 cup butter or magarine
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup JIFFY baking mix
3 eggs

Filling:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 can (7 oz.) mushrooms
3/4 cup onion (chopped)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1 to 1 1/2 cups shedded mozzarella cheese (I did 1 1/2)

Preheat oven to 425. Grease 10″ round baking dish. Brown ground beef, onion, and mushrooms. Drain, add seasoning and mushroom soup, and set aside. For crust, bring water and butter to a boil. Add baking mix all at once, beat with wooden spoon until mixture is smooth and forms a ball. Remove form heat. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Spread dough onto bottom and up sides of pan.
s puff crust
Fill w beef mixture. Bake 25 minutes until golden brown and puffy. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5 minutes more. Yeild: 4 – 5 servings.
s puff baked Mine got baked a little longer because my Mom called and I was talking to her when I should’ve got it out. But it turned out good because the cheese got nice and brown around the edges. It’s VERY filling.

My take on it: I’m not going to cut it out of the box to add to my blank cookbook (which isn’t so blank anymore). It was VERY good, but nothing exceptional. The garlic added some pizzazz. A huge plus for it is that it takes very common ingredients and is very easy to make short notice… like, you can grab frozen hamburger out of the freezer and have it fried up in 15 minutes.

To round out this meal, I cooked frozen broccoli (there were no veggies in the main dish) and then we topped it off with banana splits for dessert.
s banana split We don’t always have dessert, but the toppings and bananas and ice cream scoop were some more things to help fill up my ’empty’ table problem, what with having casserole and all!

I should add somewhere on this site, that Shannon is a better cook than me! When Tiffany was born, he worked from home some for the first week and made alot of the meals, and we ate some good stuff!!! Much better than when I’m in charge! Where he shines most is the grill. He grills year-round, but of course more in the summer. He has a baked bean recipe that is just awesome, and he’s famous for those beans among our family and friends. My sister Jan requested them at her wedding and my mom just called me this evening (remember overbaked puff above) and asked if he could make them for our T-giving dinner this year. He also makes a killer pork chop open faced sandwich. I will ask him make a ‘guest appearance’ on here once in awhile!

There are some things in the comments from my last post that I want to come back to sometime, but I’ll leave it at this for now. I’ll most likely be updating before Thanksgiving, so I won’t wish you a Happy Thanksgiving yet! If I don’t make anything before, I plan to make a cinnamon roll recipe that madisonsmom2 messaged to me. I’ll make it for brunch since our T-giving dinner is an early supper (I think to accomodate the hunters). This is not just any cinnamon roll recipe… it’s got a couple ‘surprise’ ingredients in it.   …That was all just to whet your appetites.