Tag Archives: comfort food

Meat Loaf Bourguignon…Perfect For El Nino Weather!

Meat Loaf Bourguignon
A perfect supper for one of those El Nino nights!

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Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 large yellow onions
1-2 shallots
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups crushed salted crackers
½ cup finely minced walnuts
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ pound Cheddar cheese, cut in slices
Parsley sprigs
* Use the Cuisinart to chop onions, garlic, parsley, and walnuts.

IMG_0765-001Now let’s get to cookin’

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl combine onions, garlic, parsley, and mix well. Add all the dry spices, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard. Slowly pour in the red wine and crushed crackers. Add the ground beef, pork and eggs. Lastly, add the minced walnuts. Knead the mixture well to mix thoroughly.

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Try not to overwork the meat, your meatloaf will turn out tough.

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Divide the mixture in half and form each half into a compact loaf. Place the cheese on top of both loaves. Gently pinch the loaves together, leaving room for air to pass through. This allows the cheese in the middle to melt.

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When I tried this recipe for the first time, my cheese didn’t melt all the way. Of course it was still delicious! Remember to pinch together loosely.

Place in a glass Pyrex dish or a small roasting pan. Place on middle rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Set your timer for 30 minutes and check the meatloaf. Turn the oven to 350 degrees if you feel like the top is browning too quickly.  Ovens are super tricky and vary in heat, so use your best judgement.

Remove for the oven and let sit for about five minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice the loaf and arrange slices on a warm platter. Garnish with parsley sprigs.  Two sides that I love to serve with this dish are, roasted herb carrots and red potatoes. This recipe can easily be doubled if you have a larger family or simply want leftovers.

So get the family together on a Sunday afternoon, for some good ole’ fashioned togetherness and yummy food!
With Love and Peace in my heart,
G-

Carroll Shelby’s Chili…Make it Hot or Not!

 IMG_8499 chili bowl

This is one of my favorite chili recipes and is perfect for a cozy Sunday night!

Ingredients

1 package Carroll Shelby’s Chili Mix

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

6-8 garlic cloves, crushed

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can organic tomato sauce

2 cups filtered water

2 cans white kidney beans

1 can organic pinto beans

2 lbs ground beef or turkey

2-3 sprigs of garden herbs on-hand, rosemary, French thyme or winter savory

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It’s chili makin’ time folks so let’s get to cookin’!

In a large stockpot, on medium heat, brown the crushed garlic cloves.  Slowly add the ground beef (or turkey) and garden herbs.  Break up the meat with a wooden spoon.  Brown the meat until evenly cooked.  Drain some of the fat juices from the meat mixture.  I like to leave just a tad as this is where most of the flavor comes from.

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In a food processor chop the green peppers and onions; set aside.  You can chop these ingredients by hand but it is much faster using a chopping device.  The Cuisinart mini-prep is a great tool to use here.

Slowly add the tomato sauce and water to the meat, stirring until ingredients are combined.  Add the chopped peppers, onions and kernel corn.  Add the kidney and pinto beans and stir well.

Once all the ingredients are fully combined, add the Carroll Shelby’s spices including the masa.  The masa will make the chili become thicker in consistency.  You can always add a little water to the pot if you feel that it is too thick.  If you’re looking to make a mild chili batch, my advice is to only add half of the cayenne pepper packet.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Setting up a toppings bar is a super fun way for children to try different veggies.  Toppings I like to offer are:  sliced avocado, chives, sour cream, shredded mild cheese, chopped onion and chopped tomato.

Most of these items can be purchased at one of my favorite shopping spots, Trader Joe’s.  You can find the Carroll Shelby’s chili mix at any major grocery store.  For the single mamas, freeze any leftovers you may have.  Like I often say, you’ll be glad you did on those “What a day” kinda days!  A batch of chili is great to make the day before you plan to serve.  This will allow time for the flavors to meld together.  Warm buttered tortillas or a nice fresh green salad work well for side dishes.

Watch our YouTube videos on our channel: GinaMisty – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RNf4FN5rMw

Happy Cooking Friends!

Yours Truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-

Albondigas Soup…A Witchy Weather Favorite!

This is a wonderful soup recipe that will get children to eat their vegetables!

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Ingredients

1 ½ pounds ground beef, 85% works just fine

1 cup fresh bread crumbs or store bought

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

6-8 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons minced fresh mint

3 teaspoons salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

4-6 tablespoons olive oil

1-2 green peppers, seeded and diced

3 medium yellow or sweet onions, diced

6-8 carrots, sliced

6-8 celery stalks, sliced

1 quart water

1 ½ cups red wine (optional)

2 cans chopped tomatoes or 2 cans tomato sauce

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1-2 teaspoons dried oregano

Let’s get to cookin’!  How to prepare this tasty soup:

Line a baking sheet with non-stick Reynolds wrap and set aside.

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In a large bowl combine the ground beef, broken into bits with a fork, bread crumbs, egg, parsley, 3 crushed cloves garlic, mint leaves, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Mix the ingredients with a fork or your hands.

Lil Chef Making Meatballs!

Lil Chef Making Meatballs!

Form the meatball mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter. Roll each ball lightly in the flour and set on the baking sheet.  In a large sauce pan cover the bottom of pan with olive oil.  Brown the meatballs over moderate heat for about 10-12 minutes.  Remove the meatballs and set aside.

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Remove some of the meatball drippings out of the saucepan and throw away. Brown the remaining crushed garlic in saucepan.  Sauté the green pepper, onions, carrots and celery for about 8-10 minutes.

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In a large stockpot add the water, tomatoes or tomato sauce and stir together until mixed. Add the red wine, vinegar, sugar and dried oregano and mix well.

Slowly add the meatballs to the soup mixture. Mix all the ingredients together well.  Cover the skillet and simmer the soup for 1 ½ – 2 hours.  The longer the soup cooks the better the flavor!

You can use pre-made bread crumbs or make your own. I use fresh bread crumbs whenever possible.

Give it a try…make your own bread crumbs:

Take 4-5 slices of fresh bread and remove crusts. Cut bread slice in half.  Using your hands crumble the bread slices into a medium size bowl.  That’s all, pretty simple!

I love to serve warm tortillas, buttered if desired, as a side dish. A fresh green salad also works wonderfully here.  Don’t forget the fresh vegetables for salad toppings.  This soup also makes for great leftovers.  Single moms, freeze the leftover soup and take out when you have “One of Those Days!”  You’ll be glad you did!

The red wine gives this Albondigas soup a very gourmet taste.  If entertaining for adult guests, I would definitely add the red wine.  Some children may not like the wine flavor as much so add a tad more water, if you choose to omit the wine.

Happy Cooking Friends!

Cozy nights call for yummy soup!

Cozy nights call for yummy soup!

Yours Truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-

Spaghetti with Vegetable Meat Sauce…all covered with cheese!

Ingredients

A Fabulous Fall Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

3 lbs Roma or On the Vine tomatoes

1 28oz can Roma tomatoes (unsalted)

1 package white mushrooms

2 green peppers

1 lb carrots

1 large yellow onion

I bunch fresh basil

8 garlic cloves (minced)

Salt and pepper, to taste

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Sprigs of garden herbs: rosemary, winter savory, French thyme (for sauce and meat)

2 lbs ground beef, 85% works fine

1 16 oz ( 1lb) packaged spaghetti noodles

Parmesan cheese, grated

Little Isabella mixin' it up!

Little Isabella mixin’ it up!

I love to cook this recipe for the little munchkins. It’s a great way for them to eat fresh vegetables without even knowing it.  If you own a food processor, Cuisinart, this tool will come in very handy to mince the vegetable melody.

How to prepare this wonderful comfort food:

In a large stock pot add ¾ water and bring to a boil. Score tomatoes and place them into the boiling water.  Boil for about 5-10 minutes.  You will begin to notice the skins of the tomatoes starting to peel off.  In a large bowl prepare an ice bath (water and ice cubes).  Drain the water from the tomatoes and transfer them to the ice bath.  When cool to touch, peel the skins off.  Place the peeled tomatoes in the food processor.  You should get a nice liquid sauce.  Transfer tomato sauce to a large bowl.

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In a food processor mince the mushrooms, green peppers, onion, basil, 4 garlic cloves and garden herbs. You can combine the vegetables together in processor to save time.  Transfer the chopped vegetables to a medium bowl and set aside.

minced veggies

Place the remaining minced garlic and garden herbs in a sauce pan on medium heat. Brown for about 3 minutes.  Add the ground beef and brown until thoroughly cooked.  Drain the juices as needed.  I always leave a small portion of meat juice as that is where the flavor comes from.

Add the browned meat and chopped vegetable melody to a large stock pot. Slowly add the tomato purée to the meat sauce.  Add the olive oil stirring until fully combined.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer on low for at least one hour.  The longer the better for maximum flavor.

Boil the spaghetti noodles according to the directions on the package. Drain water and place noodles back into the pot.  Gradually add the meat sauce to the noodles.  Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese on top of your spaghetti as much as your little heart desires.  In our family we sprinkle a lot!!!

Garlic bread or a garden salad make fantastic side dishes. Most of these ingredients you can purchase at Trader Joes.  This is a great dish for leftovers.  You can also freeze any meat sauce that remains.  Frozen sauces come in super handy when a mom has “one of those days!”

Enjoy this fun video of my dear Isabella using her Cuisinart skills in the kitchen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_7o1iBQbZQ

b smiling while serving

Yours truly with Love and Peace in my heart,

G-