My Mamma’s Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef

3-4 anahiem chile peppers seeded and cut into cubes or strips

1 red pepper cut into cubes or strips

1 jalapeño pepper seeded and cut very fine

1 large yellow onion chopped

2 large ripe tomatoes chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

handful of parsley chopped

chopped fresh oregano

bay leaf

coriander

cumin

chili powder

paprika

sumac powder

vinegar

worcestershire sauce

unsweetened chocolate powder

1 large can of Contadina tomato sauce

1 can of pinquito beans and juice

1 can of louisianna red beans and juice

olive oil

salt

(You can also add a can of whole black olives if you wish. Mom says this is a Will Blackburn addition.)

 Directions:

Fry onions, garlic, parsley, peppers in olive oil.

Add peppers and fry until start to brown.

Add tomatoes.

Add meat and break up into vegetables.

Add spices.

Add tomato sauce.

Add beans.

Serve over sticky rice (japanese) or shredded cabbage.

My Mamma’s Chicken or Beef with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cubed or 1/2 lb beef sliced very thin

1 small head of broccoli cut into pieces

1 large or 2 small cloves garlic crushed

piece of ginger root cut into small pieces

soy sauce

1 big tablespoon peanut butter

Directions:
Put chicken or beef in bowl and add garlic, ginger, soy sauce and a little olive oil and leave to marinate.

Put a little olive oil in a non stick pan and cook until slightly tender.

Remove broccoli from pan and put aside.

Reheat pan and add a little more olive oil and throw in marinated meat.

Cook over high heat until meat is cooked through (be careful not to overcook beef, it should be just pink).  

Turn heat down and add peanut butter and salt as needed.

Mix well until peanut butter is totally mixed in and then add broccoli and a little water to make a little sauce.

Stir until completey mixed  add more soy sauce or peanut butter if needed.

You can also add a tbs of hoisin sauce as well as the peanut butter if you like it a little sweeter.

(Can also add some sesame seeds just before putting the meat in).

Serve over rice.

Meggie’s Meatloaf

 Ingredients:

3 lbs of ground beef

½ to 1 lb of mushrooms

3 onions

2-3 red peppers

A handful of chopped Italian parsley

1 raw egg

½ to 1 can of tomato soup

spices (oregano, thyme, chili powder )

6-7 oz. of Progresso bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Sauté pepper, mushrooms, onion and parsley together in a little olive oil, and add chili powder, a little curry, a lot of: oregano, thyme, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Add sautéed mixture to the meat and add the Campbells tomato soup and 1 egg and about 6-7 oz. of Progresso bread crumbs (enough to make mixture moldable).

Lightly grease 9 x 13 glass pan. Cook for about 45 minutes. For the last 10 minutes, braise the meatloaf with some more tomato soup.

(Note: Jan bakes at 350° for about one hour.)

Meggie’s Beef Ragout

Recipe Continued:

…is needed. Cover and simmer for one to two hours.

Add potatoes

Season with 1 bay leaf, 1 clove, pinch of thyme.

Cook until potatoes are done.

Uncle Lance’s Beef Stroganoff- Meggie Style

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lb Hamburger
1 Large Yellow Onion
1 package of Mushrooms White are fine, exotic like Chantrells are good too
1 small container of Sour Cream
Beef Stock (probably equivalent to ½ cup of beef broth)
Olive Oil
Dill
1 Small 8 oz can of tomato sauce
Vodka and Sherry
Salt
Pepper

PREP

Dice the onion.
Cut the mushrooms into slices
Mix about a teaspoon of beef stock in warm water till it dissolves

COOKING

Heat Large Sautee pan to medium heat
Add about a tablespoon of OLIVE OIL to the hot pan
Throw in diced ONIONS and SHROOMS and cook till the ONIONS start to turn translucent
Add GROUND BEEF and break up with spoon as it cooks.  Cook till brown!
Add TOMATO SAUCE
Add BEEF STOCK
Add DILL about a tablespoon
Add SALT & PEPPER to taste
Cook to a simmer until liquid thickens
Turn of heat and add enough SOUR CREAM to turn the sauce a light brown color, about half the small container of SOUR CREAM
Mix in about a tablespoon of VODKA or SHERRY once the cooking is done and just before you serve

Serve on Egg Noodles!

Whole meal takes about 15 minutes to make!!

…..☮&♥….LDB

* My mom says that it’s possible to substitute cream for sour cream and garlic for onions.

Auntie M’s Meatballs

This is a meatball recipe that Aunt Meris sent me. She thinks it’s a recipe that she got from Aunt Tina or Grammy Meg, probably originally adapted from a Grandma Cenza recipe.

Ingredients:
3 ¼  lbs of lean ground round hamburger

4 packets of Herb-Ox chicken broth (use this brand!)2 eggs

1 large batch of flat Italian parsley, chopped

grated Locatelli Romano cheese (1 cup?)

~5 slices of white bread (Wonder Bread works really well for this)

salt/pepper

Directions:

1.     Mix one-half cup of boiling water with packets of Herb Ox chicken broth in a small bowl. To this mixture, add the five slices of white bread (leave crust on) and use a fork to mash up.

2.     In a large bowl, add the broth-seasoned bread mixture, the minced Italian parsley, a large amount of grated Romano (several handfuls) and mash together. Then add the hamburger broken into pieces and the beaten eggs, more Romano, and salt and pepper to taste. Use your hands to mix the seasonings thoroughly into meat as quickly as possible (try not to overhandle). Taste the mixture and add more cheese or adjust other ingredients, to taste.

3.     Make into medium size balls (golf ball size) and place in the cover of the fry pan until ready to fry. If meatballs are real sticky, dip hands in water periodically before forming.

4.     Place a generous amount of olive oil into a pan (enough to fry half of a meatball at a time). Let the oil get very hot under a medium to medium-high flame. Dip one ball in to test the oil; if it starts to sizzle the oil is ready; if not, wait.

Fry, not until completely cooked, but until they have a good brown crust on both sides (turning them over once); should take only a few minutes; then take out with a slotted spoon, and place back in cover to drain for a minute. (Alternately, can dry on paper towels to remove more oil).

5.     Baking Alternative: Bake on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. If you wish (not needed although will brown more), your can lightly brush each meatball with olive oil using a pastry brush. Bake one half hour at 350°. Test for doneness.

6.     Put in cooking tomato sauce (when sauce is about halfway done) and cook for about a half an hour. Remove and place them back in pan. Before serving, add a little sauce from the pot to the pan and reheat.

Tips:

1. When making meatball, cook the sauce in an uncovered pot, so that water from the meat will evaporate.

2. Buy good quality meat: ground round or very lean chuck, or even ground sirloin or beef/port/veal mixture.

3. For 1 lb of meat (makes about 9 meatballs), use 1 ½ to 2 packets of Herb Ox and 2 eggs and two slices of bread; for 1-1/3 lbs of meat (12 meatballs), use 2 packets of Herb Ox, 2 eggs and 3 slices of bread.

Note: Bread lightens the mixture and egg makes it heavier.

This recipe makes about 30 large meatballs. Make sure and make a double sauce as the meatballs will use up a lot of sauce.

Veal Meatballs with Lemon Sage Sauce – JDB

This is a recipe for meatballs that my mom tried out tonight and it was a big success! She got the idea by modifying a Mario Batali meatball recipe. It calls for veal but if you can’t find veal supposedly it can also be done with pork or also with a combination of veal and pork (though we haven’t tried these yet).

Ingredients

1 pound ground veal
1 large egg
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 lemons, zested and one juiced
1/2 cup or more grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/4 cup, plus extra for garnish
4 slices white sandwich bread without crusts, soaked in about 2/3 cup milk mashed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped rosemary
All-purpose flour, for dredging
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 sage leaves
juice of one large lemon (above)
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine the veal, egg, garlic, lemon zest, Pecorino, parsley, rosemary and the mashed bread, stirring with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Salt and pepper, to taste.

Using your hands, mold the meat mixture into small meatballs, polpettine, a little smaller than a golf ball. Place the flour in a shallow bowl and dredge each meatball through the flour, shaking off any excess flour.

In a 14-inch saute pan, heat the oil over a medium flame until hot but not smoking. Add the meatballs, and cook over a gentle heat, turning occasionally, until cooked through and golden brown on all sides, about 25 minutes. Towards the end add sage leaves.

When completely cooked, pour the lemon juice over the meatballs, making sure that each meatball absorbs some of the juice and lemon flavor. Serve immediately, add red pepper flakes if desired.