What’s for supper? Vol. 150: Now and forever, let it be meat
I see this is a milestone edition, #150. The only conclusion I can draw is I’ve finally hit upon a surefire way to make sure I stick with something: Let it be meat.
A little music, maestro!
I bless the day I found food I want to stay around food And so I beg you, Let’s go and eat.
Don’t take this bacon from one If fat must cling to someone Now and forever,
let it be meat.
Each time we eat, love I find complete love Without this meatloaf, what would life be?
So never leave me starving Tell me that’s beef you’re carving And that you’ll always
Let me go eat.
Ahem. Excuse me. Here’s what we had this week:
SATURDAY Sugar rub chicken thighs, brats, chips
Damien made supper. Good stuff. Chicken rub recipe card below.
SUNDAY Cuban sandwiches, cole slaw, mangoes
Something I’ve been thinking about for a while, Cuban sandwiches. Damien roasted the pork in a low oven, and then I sliced it and layered it on sourdough bread with mustard, Swiss cheese, ham, pickles, and more Swiss, and then grilled and pressed it. YUHM.
The cole slaw was very basic, just cabbage, mayo, vinegar, sugar, and pepper. I just needed to not serve chips or fries for once. The mangoes were good.
Overall, too much sweet in this meal, but I somehow forced myself to eat it.
MONDAY Sausage, mushroom, and cheddar omelettes, home fries
I occasionally make omelettes to order, which is a pain in the neck, but it’s the only way I can come up with a decent omelette for me and Damien: By screwing up many, many other omelettes first. It seriously takes at least seven tries before I know what I’m doing. The first one, I’m like, “Hurr? Is the egg supposed to be in the shell or out of the shell? And is this a pan that one operates with one’s elbows?”
But by the time I get up to the adult omelettes, I am clear: You let the pan heat thoroughly before dropping on plenty of butter; you tilt it to spread the egg out evenly; you sprinkle your fillings on the side that’s less cooked, so you can flip the more-cooked side over more easily; you wait a little bit longer than you think you should have to before folding it over; and you approach the folding part with confidence, even arrogance. Eggs know when you are frightened, and they retaliate by splurting, damn their eyes. Ha!! Because “ei” in German is “egg,” and . . . that’s not a joke. Never mind.
The home fries or oven potatoes or whatever you want to call them are always a hit: Scrub and cut potatoes into wedges, cut some onions into big wedges, and mix it all up with olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika, whatever. Roast ’em up.
TUESDAY Zuppa toscana, apple pie
Tuesday was, of course, (ptui ptui) election day, and the sky wept. It was drizzly and gusty and miserable and so were we all, so it was a good day for soup. It’s such a simple recipe, and you can add whatever you like. I liked olive oil, sausage, onions, red potatoes, plenty of kale, mushrooms, chicken broth, plenty of pepper, and half-and-half thickened with flour. (Recipe card below.)
After I made the soup and read some political commentary, I felt an urgent need to make some apple pie. I used the Fannie Farmer crust recipe, and had some help from my trusty pastry assistant.
Fannie Farmer is usually an honest gal and a straight shooter, but when she says “enough dough for a nine-inch two crust pie,” she’s lying through her teeth. I know this, and yet that’s the dough I made anyway. So I ended up making an open-face apple pie and covering the apple’s nakedness with ice cream.
Thanksgiving is coming. Do you know the pie crust secret? You chill the butter and then grate it on a cheese grater. This makes it so easy to incorporate into the dry ingredients without overworking it. Of course some of us prefer to overwork it.
I don’t really have an apple pie filling recipe. We peeled, cored, and sliced apples until it looked like enough, then added some flour, sugar, and cinnamon and a little salt, then stirred it up and piled it into the dough in the pan.
Then we added some dots of butter on top.
I covered the pie with a metal bowl for most of it so it wouldn’t dry out, and then took it off for the final ten minutes or so to brown up the edge crust.
You know what, let’s call it a galette. That galette got et.
WEDNESDAY Grilled chicken on salad greens with almonds, feta, and cranberries Dominos
Guess who splurged on boneless skinless chicken tenders to cook up easily, and then never put them in the freezer? Hillary! I mean me. I did it. And it went bad. So I sent Damien out for pizza. We all agreed that whatever it is they sprinkle on their crusts (it’s garlic salt), it’s delicious and wonderful. It’s garlic salt.
THURSDAY
Spaghetti and meatballs
I have five pounds of ground beef, but the moths had gotten into the breadcrumbs. That’s what I get for laying up for myself breadcrumbs on earth. So I used what panko crumbs I had, and then made up the rest with an entire jar of parmesan cheese. Yeah, I’ll be doing that from now on. Yuhm.
I make my meatballs in the oven on a pan with drainage (this is an old pic, but it demonstrates how much grease you miss out on when you cook the meatballs this way)
then I transferred them into the IP on slow cook with the sauce, and let it simmer all day.
I also threw in a bunch of leftover sliced mushrooms and some leftover sausage, and life was good, at least while we were eating.
FRIDAY Quesdillas with jalapenos and scallions
Actually, we’re probably headed to Applebees, since my son is in Mama Mia and I remember how important the after-show party at Applebees is, but I sure don’t want to drive into town and back one more stinking time.
Someone remarked that she’s impressed at how often I let the kids help out in the kitchen.
This is something of an illusion, like when you take a picture of yourself on the rare days your hair looks awesome, and then years later you look through pictures and think, “Aw, my hair used to look so awesome all the time!” I will let the little guys grate cheese or mix stuff occasionally, and I will lean on the older kids to finish up meals if I’m out of the house, but in general, I find it very stressful to have kids in the kitchen when I’m cooking.
However, I remember how it was The Fun To Crown All Funs to cook and bake when I was little, so I do force myself to do it occasionally.
We do soul cakes once a year, and I approach it as an activity for the kids that I help with, not as a baking project that I let them help me with. Soul cakes is a good recipe to do this with, as they really aren’t very good, so the stakes are not high. They are basically thick, soft cookies, and have a mildly spicy, cider-y taste. They’re not bad, but they’re just, you know, brown. Sift a little powdered sugar on top and eat them hot.
Anyway! Here are some pictures of the kids making them, which I am posting to make you feel like an inferior mother. They are pictured wearing their church clothes. Usually they dress in stained rags with trashy sequins and immodest Walmart leggings with holes in the knee. Still feel bad? Blame Hillary, why the shit not.
Mix dry ingredients together. Rub all over chicken and let marinate until the sugar melts a bit.
Light the fire, and let it burn down to coals. Shove the coals over to one side and lay the chicken on the grill. Lower the lid and let the chicken smoke for an hour or two until they are fully cooked.
Squeeze the sausage out of the casings. Saute it up in a little olive oil, breaking it into pieces as it cooks. When it's almost done, add the minced garlic, diced onion, and sliced potatoes. Drain off excess olive oil.
When onions and potatoes are soft, add flour, stir to coat, and cook for another five minutes.
Add chicken broth and half and half. Let soup simmer all day, or keep warm in slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Before serving, add chopped kale (and sliced mushrooms, optional) and cook for another ten minutes (or set Instant Pot for three minutes) until kale and mushrooms are soft. Add pepper. Add salt if necessary, but the sausage and broth contribute salt already.
This makes a creamy soup. If you want it thicker, you can add a flour or cornstarch roux or even a few tablespoons of instant mashed potato at the end and cook a little longer.
5lbsground meat (I like to use mostly beef with some ground chicken or turkey or pork)
6eggs, beaten
2cupspanko bread crumbs
8ozgrated parmesan cheese (about 2 cups)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, etc.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix all ingredients together with your hands until it's fully blended.
Form meatballs and put them in a single layer on a pan with drainage. Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes or more until they're cooked all the way through.
Add meatballs to sauce and keep warm until you're ready to serve.
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4 thoughts on “What’s for supper? Vol. 150: Now and forever, let it be meat”
You inspired me to make myself an omelette for breakfast. Usually, I go for over-easy eggs smashed over something, but since I was by myself this morning (and got to sleep in late), I was daring. Spinach, green onion, cream cheese, and Swiss cheese. I didn’t burn or under cook it, for once.
(This is the helpful hints paragraph.) One of the things I do always do well are pies. The only pie crust recipe I ever use is the one in my head from my mother. You need at least two cups of flour (with 3/4 cup shortening) for a two-crust pie. To keep bugs out, freeze your bags of whatever overnight. It’s supposed to kill the the little suckers and their eggs, and then you can store it regularly in an airtight container (assuming, of course, that children know that “airtight” means you don’t put the lids back on in a half-ass manner). The kids will really think you’re off your rocker when they find bags of flour in the freezer instead of the chicken tenders.
I thought the gods were shining on us on election day when, after a heavy rainstorm, the power went out. Yes! An excuse not to vote! Then I heard the generator kick in at the church down the road where we vote. Sigh. Another bright spot – no power, dinner out! Power returns at dinner time. Sigh. It was, indeed, a crappy first- world-problem day.
Such adorable little girls you have!
Ah was the one a-splurgin’ with the meat for tonight’s dinner, but it hit the spot for me. My husband had requested “something in a pita,” and I was tired of our usual options, so I bought some ground lamb and spiced it, made little patties, sauteed them with olive oil until they seemed done enough, and served them on toasted, halved Aldi pita with cucumber, Romaine, and a tzatziki-ish sauce. Here’s the spice blend I mixed with 1 pound of ground lamb – husband thought it spiced them too heavily, but except for wanting maybe a little less salt, I liked it: about 1 tsp each of ground coriander, cumin, and ginger; a pinch or so of cinnamon; about 1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt; maybe 1/8 tsp. or so of black pepper.
Sticking a bay leaf in dry ingredients like rice, pasta, or crumbs will help keep bugs out.
You inspired me to make myself an omelette for breakfast. Usually, I go for over-easy eggs smashed over something, but since I was by myself this morning (and got to sleep in late), I was daring. Spinach, green onion, cream cheese, and Swiss cheese. I didn’t burn or under cook it, for once.
(This is the helpful hints paragraph.) One of the things I do always do well are pies. The only pie crust recipe I ever use is the one in my head from my mother. You need at least two cups of flour (with 3/4 cup shortening) for a two-crust pie. To keep bugs out, freeze your bags of whatever overnight. It’s supposed to kill the the little suckers and their eggs, and then you can store it regularly in an airtight container (assuming, of course, that children know that “airtight” means you don’t put the lids back on in a half-ass manner). The kids will really think you’re off your rocker when they find bags of flour in the freezer instead of the chicken tenders.
I thought the gods were shining on us on election day when, after a heavy rainstorm, the power went out. Yes! An excuse not to vote! Then I heard the generator kick in at the church down the road where we vote. Sigh. Another bright spot – no power, dinner out! Power returns at dinner time. Sigh. It was, indeed, a crappy first- world-problem day.
Such adorable little girls you have!
Ah was the one a-splurgin’ with the meat for tonight’s dinner, but it hit the spot for me. My husband had requested “something in a pita,” and I was tired of our usual options, so I bought some ground lamb and spiced it, made little patties, sauteed them with olive oil until they seemed done enough, and served them on toasted, halved Aldi pita with cucumber, Romaine, and a tzatziki-ish sauce. Here’s the spice blend I mixed with 1 pound of ground lamb – husband thought it spiced them too heavily, but except for wanting maybe a little less salt, I liked it: about 1 tsp each of ground coriander, cumin, and ginger; a pinch or so of cinnamon; about 1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt; maybe 1/8 tsp. or so of black pepper.
Sticking a bay leaf in dry ingredients like rice, pasta, or crumbs will help keep bugs out.