Hammerberger Loaf

This is really my rip off of Rachel Ray's cheeseburger meatloaf, but since Natty calls it Hammerberger Loaf, that's what we're going with. In an effort to a) control portion size and b) ensure there were leftovers for dinner later in the week and for the freezer, I made these in a muffin tin. I found it worked much better than I anticipated, probably because there are so many wet ingredients in this recipe. I ended up with nine mini loaves. I served with smashed skin on potatoes and sautéed cabbage.


Hammerberger Loaf
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 white onion, grated
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tblsp sweet relish
1 egg, beaten
4 oz cheddar cheese, cut into small chunks
2 slices american cheese, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
Mix ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon into a large greased muffin tin. Cook at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165. Done. Easy!

Quick Goulash

After being totally stuck for something to make for dinner, I turned to Facebook for some suggestions. When I got "ground beef and peas," I was inspired to make goulash. I had actually set out to make goulash last week, but couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called and had to ask my mom over the weekend. So, it was a perfect suggestion. I ended up looking up a few recipes and settling on a variation of Rachel Ray's.


Quick Goulash
1 lb ground beef
2 small carrots, sliced
2 cups cut up orange peppers (I had these delicious little guys, so I just sliced them in half and then into strips)
1 small onion, chopped
3 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tblsp flour
1/2 box elbow macaroni
1 cup chicken stock
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
salt and pepper
Brown ground beef and carrots in a soup pot over medium high heat. (If you're using lean beef, drizzle a bit of olive oil in as well.) Add peppers, onion, and spices. Stir to combine. While that is cooking, start cooking elbow macaroni to package directions. Sprinkle flour on beef and veggies. You might need a little more than a tblsp depending on how much fat is in your mixture. Add stock and deglaze pan. Add tomatoes with their juices to the pot. Break up tomatoes. Bring to boil and let sauce thicken. Add macaroni and let it soak up the sauce for a few minutes.

Gruel

Gruel is basically what I call any dinner made out of the assorted leftovers in the house. The basic formula is fresh or frozen veggies + cooked meat + something to create sauce + rice product. It's also nice since it uses only one pan and combines all your major food groups. I'm sure it's not worthy of posting, but since it was quite tasty, I figured, what the heck! This variation leaned Italian, which isn't surprising since basically everything that sounds appealing to me during this pregnancy is Italian, but you can make it take on whatever flavoring you are in the mood for by adjusting the sauce you create and the seasoning.


Gruel
olive oil
1/2 lb browned turkey
2 small zucchini, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large can chopped tomatoes
Handful fresh basil and parsley, chopped
Crushed red pepper
1 batch brown rice (I go for the boil in bag variety since I have some sort of block about cooking rice)
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and brown turkey. Add zucchini, onion, and garlic and let brown lightly. Add tomatoes, stir to combine, and let simmer for a few minutes. Add basil, parsley, red pepper (to taste), and rice. Stir to combine and adjust seasonings.

Stromboli?

So, I found a pie crust in my freezer that I knew wouldn't actually become a pie anytime soon. I also had some browned loose Italian sausage. I wasn't sure how to bring these two things together, but I gave it a go anyway. I'm not sure I can call it stromboli since it's made with a pie crust, but I don't know what else to call it. Next time I'll make it with a pizza crust and call it stromboli without hesitation! Recipe bonuses - it tricked Natty into eating spinach and it can easily be made vegetarian.


Sausage and Spinach Stromboli
1 frozen pie crust
1 batch pizza sauce (here's one recipe) or other thick red sauce
1/3 lb. browned loose mild Italian sausage
2 large handfuls chopped spinach
1 small carrot, sliced
1/4 small onion, sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Stretch pie crust out slightly on greased cookie sheet. In a saute pan, heat olive oil and add carrot and onions. Cook until tender. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Spread pizza sauce on pie crust. Top with sausage, spinach mixture, and cheese. Carefully roll pie crust into a tube. Place in 400 degree oven and cook until lightly browned (mine took about 45 minutes). Slice and serve topped with remaining warm pizza sauce.

Turkey and Red Pepper Roll Ups

This is a take off of one of Rachel Ray's recipe. Next time I will not make them with phyllo dough. Phyllo dough gets on my nerves. I'm sure it's delicious and all, but by the time I've torn those thin little sheets of dough apart and tried to get them back into one sheet by applying gobs of butter, I pretty much just want to throw it out the window. Next time I will try with pie shells or something. Pretty much anything but phyllo dough.


Turkey and Red Pepper Roll Ups
1 lb ground turkey
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tblsp tomato paste
1 or 2 large roasted red peppers, chopped
salt and pepper
phyllo dough (if you have the patience for it)
2 tblsp melted butter
Mix together ground turkey, scallions, cheese, garlic, tomato paste, red peppers, and salt and pepper. Put in a ziploc bag with one corner cut off. Lay down one thin little piece of phyllo dough. Brush with melted butter. If you're as bad at this as I am, you then need to fix the dough. Put one more piece of phyllo dough. Brush with melted butter. Repair tears. Curse phyllo dough. Top with one more piece of phyllo dough. Butter. Repair. Curs. Threaten to order carryout. Then one more piece. Squeeze turkey mixture out along long edge of phyllo dough - approximately 1/2 inch from edge. Roll up the phyllo. Brush with butter. Repeat to make a second roll up. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Stuffed Cabbage

Have you ever noticed how gigantic the heads of cabbage are at the farmer's market? I'm always amazed, but can't stop myself from buying them. Having already used my standard cabbage accompaniment (ham steak) in another dish, I decided to try my hand at stuffed cabbage instead.

Stuffed Cabbage
1 package boil-in-bag brown rice
1 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 egg
squeeze of tomato paste
10-15 large cabbage leaves
14 oz can diced tomato
1/2 cup white wine
salt & pepper
Cook rice according to package directions. Mix ground pork, beef, onion, garlic, egg, salt, pepper, tomato paste, and cooked (and cooled) rice in a mixing bowl. Blanch cabbage leaves until they are limp enough to bend, but not fully cooked. In the bottom of a baking dish, mix can of tomato, 1/3 can (approximately 1/2 cup) of white wine, and salt and pepper. Lay a cabbage leaf flat on the counter, mound pork mixture in middle, fold in sides, and roll. Place seam side down in sauce. Continue until all mixture is used. Cook at 400 degrees for one hour or until internal temperature reaches 160.

Ideas for next time - spice up meat mixture, add spinach and cheese to meat mixture, make more sauce, etc.

Mmm Mmmm... Shepherd's Pie

I don't know what the policy is on reposting recipes created by known chefs, so I will abstain. But, I will direct you to go to the Rachel Ray daytime talk show site and search for the stretch a buck shepherd's pie. You will not be sorry. Especially if you are feeding an army! It literally overflows our large cast iron pan and makes enough for us to eat it at four different dinners.

Stuffed Squash

This week was apparently new squash week at the farmer's market - even the farmers had not tried all of them! I asked about the different kinds and one was supposed to be good for stuffing. I've never stuffed a squash or, to the best of my knowledge, eaten a stuffed squash, but I figured it couldn't be too much different than stuffing a pepper and since I had leftover white rice from Chinese food the night before, I took the chance.

Stuffed Squash
1 black fuji squash (it looks like an acorn squash, which are also apparently good for stuffing)
1/2 lb. ground turkey
1 sliced onion
3 cloves garlic
14.5 oz can diced tomato
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup cooked rice
2 tsp dried basil
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Cut squash in half, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Once oven is preheated, put squash in while the stuffing is cooking. Over medium heat, cook turkey, sliced onion, and garlic until turkey is cooked and onion is soft. Add diced tomato. At this point, I realized that I would end up with enough stuffing for at least two squash (four halves). Whoops! Add peas, cooked rice, and basil. Add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. Remove sqash from oven and stuff with generous portions of stuffing. Return squash to oven and cook until squash is tender, approximately 30 minutes.