May 2015 – Buen provecho…2022

Swedish Meatballs with Pasta

I was looking for something quick for dinner and I came across our giant bag of meatballs from…you guesses it…Costco. What to do? I didn’t want a tomato sauce for a change and I didn’t want to make a sauce from scratch. I wondered about that can of Campbell s mushroom soup? The result of my search was this quick recipe (ONLY if you use frozen meatballs…LOL)

Swedish Meatballs with Pasta

The Meatballs… (oh, just go buy some!)

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

The Sauce

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Mushroom Soup (regular or golden)

2/3 cup (1/2 soup can) water

2/3 cup (1/2 soup can) milk

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 green onion, chopped (about 2 tablespoons) or 2 teaspoons dried chives

1 teaspoon jarred minced garlic

Pasta of your choice! IF you insist…

Thoroughly mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion powder, dash Worcestershire and egg in a large bowl and shape the mixture into small meatballs. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until they’re well browned. (OR nuke the frozen meatballs a few minutes) Pour off any fat.

Stir the soup, water, milk, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire, green onion, garlic and artificial sweetener in a medium bowl. Add the soup mixture to the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the meatballs are cooked through and the soup mixture thickens.

Pour over pasta…

Vegan Watermelon Pizza

Just bring a dessert..don’t you just hate that comment from a hostess? Just kidding, but that was the invite last week where we were meeting up with our dear vegan friend and a few others for cocktails and drinks. What to bring? Uhm…we had a watermelon. We use Pinterest… Do we have any berries and coconut? Do we have peaches or mangoes? This sounds perfect…and it was so good we have made it twice since!!!

Vegan Watermelon Pizza Dessert

• 1 watermelon (we used the round seedless ones)
• 1 peach or mango
• Cherries (about 10) (you could skip these if you don’t have any fresh ones)
• Fresh mint
• Toasted coconut
• Sauce:
• 5 strawberries or a combination of berries
• Squeeze of fresh lime juice
• Couple of mint leaves

raspberry sambucca or possible coconut rum?
Instructions
1. To make the sauce, place the strawberries or mixed berries, a squeeze of lime juice, and some mint into a blender. Puree until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors accordingly.
2. For the watermelon pizza, slice your watermelon in half (not lengthwise!) Cut out 2 1-inch thick “wheels” from the watermelon. Lay the watermelon circles down and cut into pizza slices. Spread desired amount of sauce onto the “pizza.” Arrange your toppings onto the watermelon and serve.

Since we had no peaches, we used some frozen mango slices we had, along with some frozen sliced strawberries. The second time around we used fresh raspberries. Oh yeah…one more thing. The second time around we used a few drops of raspberry sambucca in the sauce….great for an adult party!

New England Clam Chowder

When I was a teenager on the farm I worked at a Gun Club on Sundays setting skeet traps. Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants, using shotguns, attempt to break clay disks mechanically flung into the air from two fixed stations at high speed from a variety of angles. My mother was a weekend cook and one of the women who prepared clam chowder for the competitors, using cans of clams and water…yuck! I detested this version. Later on in life I came to love New England clam chowder. Recently I came across this recipe which turned out very well.

New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks (reserve tender leaves) trimmed, quartered lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 (10-ounce) cans chopped clams in juice
1 cup heavy cream or Media Crema
2 bay leaves
1 pound Idaho potatoes, cut into 1/2- inch cubes I cheated and used canned potatoes chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour to distribute evenly. Add the stock, juice from 2 cans of chopped clams (reserve clams), cream, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring consistently (the mixture will thicken), then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Then add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until clams are just firm, another 2 minutes.

Recipe courtesy Dave Lieberman

Classic Meatloaf and Sauce

I know..comfort food in the spring??? This one is for our friends in Newfoundland where it is still snowing in May…ugh…

Classic Meatloaf & Sauce (modified from Food Network)

Ingredients

1/2 lb.each lean ground beef and pork
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped Vidalia onion
1/2 cup chopped green or red bell pepper
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, tomato paste, onions, green pepper, oats, egg, salt, and pepper. Shape the mixture into a loaf and place it in a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard. Slather the glaze on top of the meat loaf and bake until the meat loaf is firm and cooked all the way through, about 1 hour. Serve hot.

From my childhood days I remember how great meatloaf is cold too!
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/aunt-peggys-meat-loaf-recipe.html?oc=linkback

Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Soup

Thanks again to Costco for selling those huge packages of sliced mushrooms…what to do? Make soup…and it was awesome! Thanks also to Taste of Home website…link at bottom. BONUS…it makes a great sauce for chicken if you have leftovers. I also added some to some rice after it was cooked…

Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Soup
Ingredients
• 10 bacon strips, diced
• 1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 quart heavy whipping cream (or Media Crema if you live in Mexico)
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
• 1-1/4 cups shredded Swiss (or Provolone) cheese
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons cold water
Directions
• 1. In a large saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings. In the drippings, saute mushrooms and onion until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in cream and broth. Gradually stir in cheese until melted.
• 2. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt, pepper and water until smooth. Stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Garnish with bacon. Yield: 8 servings (2 quarts).