Spaghetti and Meatballs

I saw a recipe in the Oct 2011 issue of Esquire for meatballs. It was in their Eat Like A Man column in the Man At His Best section. The recipe sounded good but it served 8 to 10 so I didn’t pay much attention at the time. Then in yesterday’s Sunday paer Parade Magazine, there was a recipe for spaghetti sauce. That made me thing of the meatball recipe and I started craving spaghetti and meatballs. So looking at both recipes and then looking at some I already had, I made this one up and it came out great.My wife said it was a little sweet and I thought a bit spicy, but it was really good and it made some great meatball sandwiches with the leftovers.

At dinner, my wife and I had a conversation about my blog. She says if we ate like this all the time, we would be obese. She is absolutely correct. We only eat like this about once or twice a week. The rest of the time we watch calories and eat pretty healthy. Plus, we work out. The old saying is something about Eat to Live or is it Live to Eat. Hey, I say why not both! One is considered body fuel and the other is a luxury. Today’s recipe, as most of mine do, fall in the luxury category.

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Meatballs

1 lb hamburger
½ minced onion
½ tbsp minced garlic
¼ cup parmesan cheese
½ tspn each of parsley, rosemary, oregano, and black pepper
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tspn Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup milk

Sauce

½ tbsp each oregano, garlic, and basil
¼ cup sugar
2   8oz cans tomato sauce
1 jar (24 oz) prepared spaghetti sauce (I used Prego)
½ cup water

Mix all the meatball stuff together and form into meatballs.  I made ten but4, 8, or 12 would work too depending on how big or small you want them.

Cook in ¼ inch hot oil browning on all sides.
Remove the meatballs from the skillet and place in a cooking dish.
Try to use one deep enough to cover the meatballs with sauce.

Mix all the sauce stuff together and pour over meatballs.
Cook at 350 degrees for about an hour.
The meatballs should reach 160 degrees with a meat thermometer.

Serve over spaghetti or make into meatball sandwiches.
Either way, put parmesan and /or mozzarella on top.

Oh yeah, that’s good stuff! Enjoy!

Meat Loaves – Let’s Do the Time Warp

Here are two different meat loaf recipes. I like them both. The first is one from the back of the Lipton French onion Soup Mix. My wife has made this one since before we met. It’s a great recipe,l but it’s just not the best for sandwiches from the leftovers. It’s just a little to crumbly. So the second one is my Mom’s recipe. This one is great for leftover sandwiches.

Lipton Onion-Mushroom Meat Loaf

1 envelope Lipton Onion-Mushroom Soup Mix
2 lbs ground beef
1 ½ cups fresh bread crumbs
2 eggs
¾ cup water
1/3 cup ketchup


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In large bowl combine all ingredients.
In large baking pan, shape into loaf. Bake one hour (or until done)

Mom’s Meat Loaf

1 minced onion
1 ½ lb hamburger
2 eggs
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Enough corn meal to hold it together (or mix corn meal and bread crumbs for less firm loaf)
Shape into loaf and place in roasting pan
Place two strips uncooked bacon on loaf
Mix together one can tomato soup with one can ketchup and 1 can water. Pour over top of meat loaf.
Bake 1 to 1 ½ hours at 350.

Ok, since we’re talking meat loaves. Here’s one more that’s a little different.

Stuffed Meat Loaf

1 ½ lbs hamburger
1 cup wheaties
1 cup crackers
1 egg
1 medium chopped onion
¼ cup ketchup
Salt and pepper
Maybe just a little garlic

Make a loaf where you can fill with stuffing. Make sure to save enough for a lid, to seal in the stuffing

Fill with stuffing
combine
8-10 cubed slices of bread
10-15 chopped or sliced olives. I like green with pimento, but I’ve used black.
1 can mushrooms
½ cup chopped green onion
1 stick melted butter

Bake one hour at 350 degrees.

There ya have it, three great meat loaf recipes.

Enjoy!

Rotisserie Chicken

Sometime in the early 90’s, Kenny Roger’s Roasters opened in our area.  I fell in love with the place.  Great chicken and fantastic sides.  Then they all disappeared.  Last I heard, they didn’t have any in the US.  They have them in Asia.  I really miss the place.  That stuff was so good Seinfeld did a whole episode about it. Kramer and Newman got addicted to it.  Funny stuff.  I miss Seinfeld and Kenny Rogers.

So, I started experimenting looking for a recipe for chicken at home.  I do like Kentucky Fried and Knott’s Berry Farm has the absolute best fried chicken.  Then El Pollo Loco and Juan Pollo both have really good stuff.

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In 2008, when I retired, as a gift I got a bbq grill with a rotisserie.  I use the grill constantly and the rotisserie about four times a year. I haven’t had a bad chicken from it yet.  So my recipe today is rotisserie chicken.

There’s only two of us at my house so I buy a five pound whole chicken and we have lot’s of leftovers.  I figure it would serve four easy.  My brother and his wife came to visit then a friend dropped in to see them, so suddenly I’m cooking for five and I cooked two at once.  We’re pretty big eaters (the men anyway) and we pigged out and still had lots of leftovers.

A trick I learned is to brine the chicken.  Brining chicken and other meat is simply soaking it in salt water.  It tenderizes it and keeps it moist during cooking.  What happens is the salt causes the meat to absorb water.  I recommend it plus you can also call this a marinade and add your herbs and spices.  I would brine it even for frying.  For rotisserie chicken, I use 1 cup salt and a gallon of water.  I let the chicken soak for about eight hours.  My friend tells us that when she worked at knott’s, they would soak the chicken all night in the brine.

I mix up a ½ cup oil (or butter) with ¼ tablespoon each salt and pepper and a full tablespoon paprika for basting.  I have added lemon, garlic, orange and/or lemon juice.  It gives the skin a little different flavor but the chicken stays about the same.

Use a pan beneath the chicken to catch the drippings.  That way, when you run out, there’s still plenty to keep basting

Put it on the skewer, tie up the legs and wings, and let it cook until the chicken is 180 degrees in the breast and thigh.  On my grill, it takes about 2 to 2 ½  hours.  Mine has an infrared back burner.  My friends tell me that without that it doesn’t take as long. One guy does a beer can chicken the same way.  I haven’t tried it.  He says 45 minutes.

I do know this though, it sure is good! Let me know if you come up with any interesting marinades or soaks.

I hope you enjoy it.