Make Three Pepper Spicy Meatloaf, full of flavor and moist without being dried out. Great with mashed potatoes and Cowboy salad.
Winter
Cranberry Brown Betty
This is fast becoming a staple Thanksgiving dessert. I don’t like pumpkin pie, and mince-pie is wonderful for Christmas, so this has the one for this holiday. It’s very simple to make with only a few ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
You will want to use Panko breadcrumbs because they are large and very dry. Broken up bread will not absorb enough of the juices to make a nice top on this. Breadcrumbs that come in a can will not work either, as they are too small, and you would just have a cranberry pudding instead of a Brown Betty.
Warm Grape-Nuts Breakfast – Healthy and Comforting
Warm Grape-Nuts Breakfast is great on a cold day when you don’t have a lot of time but want something filling and good for you.
Pasta Fagioli Soup
When the stars make you drool
Joost-a like pasta fazool (Pasta Fagioli)
That’s amore
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you’re in love
When you walk in a dream
But you know you’re not dreamin’, signore
‘Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that’s amore
Pasta Fagioli Soup
We all remember Dean Martin singing That’s Amore, either on television if you’re old enough, or in the movie Moonstruck if you’re not. It was raining here today in Glendale, and I had a PTA meeting to go to, so I thought that soup would be an excellent idea.
I have a wonderful book, The Mafia Cookbook, where I know I can get very authentic Italian recipes. This soup can either be an appetizer, having very little meat, as it is in the book, or you can add meat like I did and have a full filling meal.
Well, let’s get started.
New School Hamburger Gravy
When I was in grammar school at Cheremoya Avenue Elementary School in Hollywood, California, about once every two weeks we had Hamburger Gravy and Mashed Potatoes. I really loved that dish, it was my favorite. All the other stuff was pretty bland, and actually kind of nasty, especially the paper thin cheeseburgers. For years and years, I have been trying to replicate the special taste of that gravy, and have been pretty much successful.
Years ago, when I first met Chef John Farion, he treated some friends and I to dinner at another chef’s restaurant on Melrose . I ordered the filet mignon with blue cheese sauce. It was truly fantastic, and I have been pairing blue cheese with beef ever since. I guess I’m not the only one, even Carl’s Jr. now has a steakhouse burger featuring blue cheese.
I get my blue cheese at the Armenian stores, for several reasons, 1) because the cheese is of a superior quality, 2) because it is much less expensive than the major chain supermarkets, and better quality. I just bought a half a pound brick a few days ago, and it was sitting in the cheese drawer waiting to be the star of some dish.
I had an epiphany! Why not make hamburger gravy and add blue cheese at the end? I tried it, and it was, well, fantastic! This was much, much better than the gravy I had had when I was a child. Now, just because Spane gave it a big thumbs up, I can’t guarantee that every child will like it as much as we did.
Chicken Croquetas
Chicken Croquetas Croquettes are very tasty and make a great appetizer. They are also a wonderful way to use up leftover chicken. If you’re tired of chicken salad, this is the way to go.
Hungarian Pork Chops – an Old Favorite Comfort Food
I love discovering recipes for foods that might not be trendy such as Hungarian Pork Chops.
Scrambled Burger Quiche
Scrambled Burger Quiche is my take on one of my favorite meals. Many years ago, we used to go to a restaurant that had something called Scrambled Burgers. I loved them, being a mixture of ground beef, spinach, onion, and cheese. I thought that combination would make a wonderful quiche.
Boston Baked Beans – Crock Pot or Instant Pot
This recipe for Boston Baked Beans used to be with the Myriad Deviled Eggs, but I thought these were good enough to have their own spot. I will show two methods, the crock pot method and the Instant Pot method.
Barbeque Salads – Red Cabbage and Steamed Red Potato
My friends, Amber and Stevie invited me over for barbecue this evening. I love it when Stevie barbecues – he has a great big drum barbecue and he has my Weber until I drag it home some day. He said “I have a lot of meat, do you girls want to make potato salad?” and …