Category Archives: Recipes

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Baked Macaroni and Cheese (McCall’s)

Had this for dinner last night.  Quite tasty, even in its present format, however, I would suggest upping the cheese in the sauce by 1/4-1/2 c cheese.  It could definitely have been cheesier.  I also doubt I actually used the stated amount of salt and pepper, as I sort of eyeballed fresh ground for our tastes.  (Less salt, probably a little more pepper.)  Also seemed it would go well with some garlic added somewhere in the process, which we will probably do next time.

1 pkg (8 oz) macaroni

1/4 c butter

1/4 c flour

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 c milk

2 c (8 oz) grated Cheddar Cheese

1 large tomato, thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 375.  Cook macaroni as package directs, drain.

While that is cooking, melt butter in medium saucepan.  Stir in flour, salt, and pepper, until smooth.  (Make a roux, essentially.)  Gradually stir in milk.  (Very gradually, especially at the beginning.  Once it starts to become liquid again, you can go a bit faster.)  Bring to boiling, stirring constantly, and then simmer 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Stir in 1 1/2 c cheese and the macaroni.  Pour into a 1 1/2 quart, shallow casserole (works quite well in a not shallow one, too).  Arrange tomato slices over the top.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown (or until cheese is beautiful and melty and the sauce is boiling around the noodles.)

(4-6 servings)

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Country French Toast (Cooking with Bourbon)

This should be called French Toast Grog or something along similar lines.  Next time we make it, I am definitely cutting back on the amount of bourbon used.

1 loaf of thickly sliced bread (depending on the sort of bread and size of loaf, you may have to double the wet ingredients)
4 eggs, beaten
1 – 1 1/2 c milk
2 oz Bourbon
2 T sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

For topping:
2 T butter, cubed
2 T sugar
2 T cinnamon

Grease baking dish, put slices of bread in it.
Mix:  eggs, milk, bourbon, sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Cover and allow to soak overnight in the fridge.  Warm 30 minutes before baking.  Dot with butter.  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the top.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, or until eggs look set.

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Lamb and Vegetable Casserole (McCall’s)

This was lovely.

2 T oil

2 lb lamb shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 medium onions, sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed (I used a handful)

1/2 c raw regular white rice (we used jasmine, and yes, it works from raw)

1 lb potatos, pared and very thinly sliced

4 tsps salt

1 1/2 tsps curry powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 lb zucchini, sliced

9 oz artichoke hearts

2 cans (1 lb size) tomatos

Preheat oven to 350.  In hot oil in large skillet, saute lamb cubes, until browned well on all sides.  Remove lamb as it browns.  Add onion and garlic to drippings in skillet; saute until golden.  Return lamb cubes to skillet, mixing well.  In 3 qt casserole, place in layers by thirds:  the meat mixture, rice, potatoes, salt, curry powder, pepper, zucchini, artichoke hearts, and tomatos.  Bake, cover, 1 1/2 – 2 hours until lamb and potatos are tender.

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Spaghetti Sauce (Betsy Codier)

Originally my grandmother’s, it has seen a few tweaks since then.  Not the least of which is the semi-math equasion nature of the recipe now.

Start with deciding how many pounds of meat you want to use.  Typically, I use half some form of beef, half some form of italian sausage. A “normal” batch starts with about 1 1/2 lbs of meat, a fridge-filling-stick-some-in-the-freezer batch is double that or more.

So, take your amount of meat, and double it.  This becomes your “X” number.

X Carrots, chopped

1/2X to X stalks of celery, chopped

X Peppers (colour dictated by flavour preference), chopped

X Onions (small to medium), chopped

Canned Tomatoes – this one depends entirely on how thick you want your sauce.  Generally works out to 1 large can per pound of meat, without worrying about saving half cans.  I use whole tomatoes, and squish them over the sauce before putting them in.  Helps to break them up, and messy fun, too.

Tomato Paste – For colour, and entirely optional.

Meat – as above

Olives – By feel/to taste/until it looks right

Mushrooms – 1/4 to 1/2 X lbs, halved and sliced

Saute/Add in the following order, in enough oil to keep from sticking:  onions, celery, garlic, meat, spices part one, carrots, peppers, canned tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, tomato paste, spices part two.

Spice Suggestions (not necessarily all at once):  Salt, Sugar, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Parsley, Marjoram, Anise, Black Pepper, Cayenne, Paprika

Simmer for at least two hours on low heat.  6 or more is preferable.  Best next day.

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Sour Cream Cheesecake (Rombauer’s)

Make Zwieback crust, line pan with it.  Chill the crust.

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix well and pour into crust:

2 beaten eggs

3/4 lb soft cream cheese

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp lemon juice or 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Bake 20 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Cool to room temperature.  Heat oven to 425.

Mix well and pour over cake:

1 1/2 c sour cream

2 T sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Bake 5 minutes.  Cool.  Refrigerate 6-12 hours.  (Lean much further to 12.)

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Savory Lentil Rice Casserole (Saturday Evening Post Family Cookbook)

Another experiment.  So much of what I’ve read indicates that Americans eat too much meat and not enough of a number of other things.  My housemates are confirmed meatatarians, but they are willing to experiment with a vegetarian meal or two a week.  This one passed with flying colours, with both of them going back for multiple servings.  This recipe claims to be a serving for one, but given the amount that happened when I upped all the ingredients for four servings, I don’t think that’s accurate.  We had leftovers for at least 5 more servings past the dinner I made it for.

1/2 c cooked lentils (measure the lentils, then cook them)

1 c brown rice, cooked (cook the rice, then measure it)

Beef bouillon (My guess was 1/2 c per serving)

1 raw, chopped onion (I added some garlic, too, as for the most part, putting onion in a recipe like this feels weird with no garlic.)

1/2 c canned tomato juice

Pinch basil (I added some black pepper, as well)

Mix lentils, rice, and onion (and garlic, I pressed it).  Add basil (and pepper) to taste.  Add liquids, mix well.  Put in casserole dish.  Cover and bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

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Kheema (Madhur Jaffrey)

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 inch by 1 inch chunk ginger, peeled and chopped

4 T vegetable oil

1 2″ stick cinnamon

4 whole cloves

4 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1-2 hot peppers

1 T ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 large canned tomato or 2 small, coarsely chopped

2 lb ground beef or lamb

3/4 – 1 tsp salt

1 T lemon juice

Blend onions, garlic, ginger with 3 T water into a smooth paste.

Heat oil (medium).  When hot, add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay, red peppers.  When peppers turn dark, add paste from blender.  Fry about 10 minutes, stirring pretty constantly, sprinkling water if it starts to stick.  Add coriander, cumin, turmeric, fry another 5 minutes.  Add tomato, fry another 2-3, add meat and salt, fry on high heat 5 minutes.  Break up meat and brown.  Add 1/2 c water and the lemon juice.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Lower flame and simmer an hour.

This was pretty nifty.  And there seem to be about a hundred ways one could use this basic stuff… with vegets added as you cook it initially, or in tandem with other things.

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Rice with Spinach (Madhur Jaffrey)

2 c long grain rice

3 tsp salt

1 1/2 lb fresh spinach or 2 packages frozen

6 T vegetable oil

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp garam masala

Wash rice and drain.  Cover with cold water and 1 tsp salt.  Leave for 2 hours.

If using fresh spinach:  Fill a 4-6 quart pot with water.  Add 1 tsp salt, and bring to a boil.  Trim and wash spinach thoroughly.  Wilt the spinach by dropping it, a little at a time, in the boiling water.  As the spinach wilts, remove to a colander, and rinse with cold water.  Press water out, and chop very finely.  If using packaged spinach – prepare as per directions, then drain and squeeze.

In a 3-4 quart oven and flame proof container, heat the oil, add the onions, and saute on medium 5 minutes or until golden.  Add spinach and garam masala.

Preheat onion to 300.

Drain rice and add to spinach mixture with 2 1/4 c water and 1 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut aluminum foil to fit top of pot snugly.  Cut a half inch diameter hole in the center.  Put in over for 30 minutes.  Check rice.  If not done, cook another five.

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Pickled Zucchini (Rombauer’s)

Cut into thin slices:  2 lbs zucchini, 2 peeled onions

Cover with cold water and add 1/4 c pickling salt.

Let stand 2 hours, then drain.

Bring to a boil for 2 minutes:  3 c cider vinegar, 2 c sugar, 1 tsp celery seed, 2 tsps mustard seed, 1 tsp turmeric.

Add vegets, remove from heat, and let stand for 2 hours.  Heat to boiling point and cook for five minutes.  Pack in sterile jars.  Seal and process.

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Beef Creole with Potato Puffs (McCall’s Great American Recipe Cards)

Last night’s dinner.  Went over rather well, especially when my partner’s reaction to the picture of the dish was twitchy and involved commentary about how the “potato puffs” looked like fungal growths.

<strong>Beef Mix:</strong>

1 lb ground beef

1/2 c chopped onion (I used around a cup)

1/2 c chopped green pepper (I used a whole pepper, probably came out to around a cup)

1/2 c chopped celery

1 pkg frozen peas, partially thawed (The recipe called for 10 oz, the package I used was 14)

1 T flour

1 tsp chili powder (I used a tsp and a half)

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 c catsup

1 c tomato juice (since we get the small set for drinking cans, this ended up being 11 oz)

1 T Worcestershire sauce

<strong>Potato Puffs:</strong>

1 1/2 c mashed potatos

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp grated onion

1 T parsley flakes

1/3 c dry bread crumbs

1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375.

In large skillet, over medium heat, slowly brown beef, leaving it in large chunks.  Add onion, green pepper, and celery – cook, stirring until it is aptly cooked for your tastes.  Add peas.  Blend flour with chili powder, salt, and pepper – quickly stir into the meat mixture.  Add catsup, tomato juice, and W-sauce.  Cover, simmer five minutes, or until you have the potato puff mixture ready.

In medium bowl, combine all the puff ingredients, blend well.

Put the meat mixture in a 2 quart casserole (3 quart if you increased amount the way I did).  Drop tablespoons of puff mixture into the meat mixture.  Cover.  Bake 30 minutes.  You can also do everything up to actually putting it in the oven, and then hold off beginning cooking until close to mealtime.  However, if it cools down, add 15-30 minutes to the cooking time.

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