Gateau Viande (aka meatloaf)

This is cheap and simple comfort food and makes a great sandwich the next day

1 pound "meat loaf mix” (⅓ each of veal, pork and beef)
1 small onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 TBS butter
1 cup bread crumbs or 1 piece of bread chopped fine
1 egg
Salt and pepper
½ cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Heat butter in pan and sauté onion and garlic until soft, 5 minutes. cool.

In mixing bowl, combine meat mix, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and egg. Don’t mix too much but make sure it is mixed.

Form a loaf in Pyrex pan or other baking pan. Pour ketchup over top of loaf.

Bake 30 minutes until fully cooked.

Rest 5 minutes and serve


2-3 servings

45 min

Good with a baked potatoes and peas

Uncle Matt’s Real Deal Chili

Cooking oil
3 lbs. onions, chopped
!0 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 ½ lbs ground chuck
1 ½ lbs ground pork
1/2 jar of Mexican Chili spice
1 TBS salt
1 jar ground cumin
1-2 chipotle peppers
2 28 oz. cans whole tomatoes, crushed in your hand
1 can beer

Heat oil in Dutch oven and add onions. Turn heat to high until they really begin to sizzle, stir and then turn to simmer and cover for 20 minutes.
Remove cover, add garlic, stir and turn to high until onions begin to burn and turn brown.
Add ground meats and stir to break up clumps. Add spices and tomatoes, Stir, bring to boil and then turn to simmer. Cover and simmer for 3 hours. Turn off heat and allow pot to cool. Refrigerate over night.
The next morning, put on stove and turn to simmer. Allow to heat up over time slowly. After an hour or so, Turn heat to high, add beer and after it comes to a boil turn to simmer, until done, a couple more hours.
Adjust seasonings and fish out chipotle.
The chili will benefit from sitting over night again, if you can wait that long.
If it is too spicy, add kidney beans or serve over cooked macaroni.

Chicken and Rice

Simple, filling and good left over

1½ pounds of Boneless Skinless Chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
Cooling Olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
At least 1-2 garlic cloves chopped
½ cup long grain rice
¼ cup white wine
1 14 oz. can chicken broth
½ cup peas (from salad bar or frozen)
½ cup corn (from salad bar or frozen)

Heat oil in pan over high heat. Brown chicken, stirring for 3 minutes. Add onions and stir for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute

Add rice and stir for 1 minute. Add wine and boil until “winey” smell gone, about 1 minute. Add broth, bring to boil and then turn to simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

Add peas and corn and serve


4 servings

1 half hour

Add lemon juice and or red pepper flakes if you have it at end

Buffalo chicken salad

Go to salad bar and make salad of lettuce, tomatoes, corn and cheese. Get ranch or bleu cheese dressing in separate container.

Go to KFC and get 3 chicken strips (or 6 if you are hungry). Discard biscuit.

At home, chop strips into bite size pieces and place in bowl.

Add bottled hot sauce like Crystal or Frank’s to strips.

Toss strips and lettuce together and dress with dressing.

Chicken Noodle or Rice soup

Good for when you have a cold and your mommy is not there to take care of you

4 14 oz. can chicken broth
½ cup carrots (salad bar)
¼ cup celery (salad bar)
¼ cup onion (salad bar)
½ package of wide noodles or 1 cup rice

Add Broth to cold pan with veggies.

bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes

Add noodles or rice and cook according to package.

If necessary add water.

2-3 servings

20 min

You can add cooked chicken (salad bar) if you want.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Just like Saturday lunch at Mom’s

4 slices hearty bread
Good Cheddar cheese, sliced to fit on bread
Butter

Heat heavy bottom pan over moderate heat

Place cheese between slices of bread

Butter top slice and then put buttered side down in pan for 3 minutes.

Butter uncooked side and flip.

Cook three more minutes

Slice sandwich in thirds and serve with pickles.

Serve with Campbell’s canned Tomato soup. Dunking encouraged!

1 serving

10 min

Variations
Add slice of ham
Add sliced tomatoes
Add cooked bacon

Miracle fish soup

This one is real easy and comes together very quickly. Great to impress your friends.

I call it a miracle becasue when it first read the recipe that was the genesis of this one, I said to myself no way this can work. Cold ingredients in a cold pot--yeah, right!

2 pounds cod or hake or haddock
Juice of two limes (at least)
1 teaspoon (at least) red pepper flakes
4 cloves (at least) garlic roughly chopped
1 ½ pounds Cherry tomatoes (parboiled and peeled)
1 large sweet onion roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, somewhat peeled and roughly chopped
2 cans Cannellini beans
1 cup chopped cilantro
½ cup chopped parsley
½ cup good olive oil

Marinate fish in Olive oil, lime juice, garlic and red pepper flakes for at least an hour and up to 4.

Put tomatoes in bottom of cold pot. Add onions, peppers and beans. Add Fish and pour marinate into pot.

Bring to boil and then simmer 20 minutes, until vegetables have softened and released their juices and fish is barely cooked through(about 20 minutes)

Stir in herbs and serve with crusty bread and green salad

6 servings


5 hours, only 1/2 hour cooking

You can use a 28 oz. can of tomatoes instead of the cherry tomatoes

Fish in Foil

You can’t screw this up. Impress your friends!

For each package:
½ lb firm fish like tilapia or salmon
Parsley or cilantro sprig
Slice of Lemon
Onion, thinly sliced
Slice of jalapeño
1 TSP olive oil
One strip of aluminum foil, cut at 6"

Tear off Foil strip

Pour oil near one end

Place lemon, jalapeño, sprig, onion on top of oil.

Place fish on top of vegetables,

Fold foil in half over fish and fold each edge up to seal. This package can wait in fridge until you are ready to cook.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake package on sheet or in oven proof pan for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes to cool.

Put package on plate. Holding on end of the package, cut opposite end with clean scissors and allow contents to slide out onto plate.

Serve with rice, veggie and salad


10 min to assemble, 20 minutes to cook

You can add to packages:
Sliced tomatoes
Chopped mushrooms

Beer Can Chicken

I know. I know. More beer wasted, but this time you get to drink some!

1 3½-4 lb. Kosher chicken (Empire is very good)
Salt and pepper
1 can beer
2 bay leaves
Pam

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Open beer. Drink ⅓. (Hooray for beer!)

Punch a couple of extra holes in top of can. Push bay leaves into can.

Slide the chicken over the can so that the drumsticks reach down to the bottom of the can and the chicken stands upright.

Set chicken into roasting pan and put in oven. Turn oven down to 350. Spray every 15 minutes with Pam. roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees, About 1 hour, and 15 minutes total.

With a large wad of paper towels in each hand, transfer the chicken to a platter or tray, making sure to keep the can upright; let rest for 15 minutes. Using wads of paper towels carefully lift the chicken off the can and onto a platter or cutting board. Discard the remaining beer and can. Carve the chicken and serve.


3-4 servings

2 hours

Baked Potato

1 potato per serving
Pam
Kosher salt
Butter


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray potato with Pam and press into kosher salt.

Bake 1 hour, spraying with Pam every 15 minutes.

Slice open and add butter.

Yields as many as you make

1 hour

Top with:
Bacon chopped
Cheddar cheese
Sour Cream
Plain Yogurt
Pesto
Chili
Lonely Guy Sauce
Sauteed hamburger meat

Aunt Susan’s Fish

Quick Sauté of Sole fillets

⅓-½ lb. Sole fillets (Flounder OK)
Bread Crumbs
Butter

Heat sauté pan over high heat. Add butter and turn to medium. Dip fillets in bread crumbs, shaking off excess.

When butter melted and starting to turn brown, carefully add fillets. Cook on one side for 1 minute. Carefully turn and cook for one minute on the other side. Serve with lemon wedges

1 serving

Goes great with sautéed spinach

Potato soup

This is cheap, easy and really, really good comfort food
1-2 TBS butter
1 Yukon potato, unpeeled and sliced in 1/4” slices
1 small onion diced
1 can broth
Salt and pepper
Melt butter in pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes until softened.
Add Potato and stir to coat. Add salt and lots of pepper.
Add broth, bring to boil and simmer until potato is cooked and crumbling, about 15 minutes.
Serves 1
My family used to argue about whether the potato should be sliced or diced.
Since this is my blog, I went with sliced.

American Chop Suey

Another great one pan meal.

1 lb. ground chuck
Cooking oil
1 onion chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
Red pepper flakes
Pinch allspice (if you have it)
Pinch cinnamon (if you have it)
1½ tsp oregano
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 lb. shaped pasta
½ lb. fresh mozzarella, cut into ½" cubes
Parmesan

Heat oil in skillet and brown meat breaking up into small clumps.

Remove meat and set aside, leaving oil in pan. Sauté onion for three minutes. Add garlic for 1 minute. Return meat to pan, stir in spices, add tomato sauce and water if necessary to cover meat mix.

Simmer 20 minutes.

Boil water for pasta and cook according to instructions. Drain, return to pot. Add meat sauce and mozzarella and stir, till mixed and mozzarella softened.

Serve with Parmesan

2-4 servings

half hour

Almost Meze

Using prepared foods from grocery/deli, make a cheap and hearty meal

From deli:
Prepared Hummus
Roasted pepper cut into ½” slices
Olives

From salad bar:
Tomatoes
Scallions
Cucumbers or Cucumber and Yogurt salad
Carrot

Pita bread

Oil (Pam is helpful)
Dried Oregano
Salt

Warm up toaster oven and set to broil.

Split open Pita and spray with Pam and sprinkle on oregano and salt

Broil until brown on edges

Chop pepper. Put all your veggie ingredients on Pita.

5 minutes

Henry’s Favorite macaroni and cheese

No baking involved. Easy clean up and you can eat it right out the pan. Use a fork please.

1 pound shaped pasta
2-3 TBS butter, softened
1½ cups Grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan

Cook pasta according to package instructions in lots of well salted water.

Drain and return to pan.

Add butter and stir to melt.

Scatter cheddar over pasta and blend gently.

Add Parmesan and blend.

Eat.

1-4 servings

20 minutes

You could sauté a ham steak (it's near the bacon in the grocery) until warmed and then cut into 1/2” pieces and add after cheese. You could also stir in frozen peas

Henry’s favorite pork chops

I always had to make an extra serving...

½ lb. very thin pork chops
Cooking oil
1 TSP rosemary
1 clove garlic
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup white wine

Heat oil in pan to hot.

Dry chops on paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper and rosemary on chops.

Sauté 1½ minutes on each side, pressing into pan to brown well.

Move to plate and cover with inverted plate.

Turn heat to medium, Add garlic and stir for one minute. Add Wine, turn heat back to high and reduce by half. Pour over chops.

Serve with Mac and cheese

1 serving

Best Salad Dressing ever

This is a very good, versatile recipe. In Italian, It’s Salsina Di Pepe Nero

Juice of lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
at least 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS (yes, tablespoon) Freshly ground pepper
½ cup champagne vinegar
1½ cups EVOO

If you don’t have a lemon zester (and why not??) use a vegetable peeler.

Don’t go too deep. Zest before juicing--lemon will be firmer.

Combine all ingredients and let stand at least one hour.

Mix, Strain and dress your salad

2 cups

5 min

Strain all solids out and store in clean peanut butter jar in fridge. Refrigerated it will keep for months