Aunt Betty's Sloppy Joes

 1 lb. ground beef

1c. chopped peppers

1c. chopped onions

1T. sugar

1T. prepared mustard

1T. vinegar

1/2 t. salt

1 c. ketchup

Brown meat until crumbly and cooked through. Drain the grease. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes. Serve on buns.

You can make variations on the recipe. If you don't like peppers than don't use them. If you like less onion don't put in a whole cup. I don't put in the extra tablespoon of sugar because I think the ketchup is plenty sweet already.

Seasoned with Love St. Cletus Parish Cookbook 1988

Baked Beans Weber Style

 1 can (31 oz.) pork and beans with tomato sauce

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 small onion finely chopped

1/4 cup catsup

1 t. yellow mustard

1/2 t. salt

Dash of pepper

3 slices bacon, cut in quarters

Combine and mix first 8 ingredients; pour into casserole. Cover beans with bacon pieces. Center casserole on cooking grill' cover kettle and heat about 45 minutes or until piping hot. Yield 4-6 servings.

This is from the Weber cookbook Barbecuing the Weber Covered Way Copyright 1979 and 1972 by Tested Recipe Publishers, Inc.

I use these basic proportions and add or subtract ingredients depending on my audience. I also cook them down on the top of the stove the day before. I usually don't add bacon because I don't have it around.  I've also added an extra can of straight up beans that have been drained to make it thicker and less runny. Cooking it down thickens up the sauce and mellows the onion. 

Classic Macaroni and Cheese

 1/2 package Creamette  elbows(8oz)

3T. butter

3T.flour

2 1/2 c. milk

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

1/4 c. onion minced

2 c. (8oz) shredded cheese

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1. Cook pasta. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour. Gradually stir in milk.

3. Cook stirring constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens. Stir in salt and pepper. 

4. Add onion and cheese. Stir until melted and distributed throughout the sauce.

5. Add noodles. Spoon into 2 quart baking dish.

6. Top with bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes

Makes 4-6 servings

Recipe off of the side of the box of CREAMETTE noodles.

Here are some of my tricks. Sometimes I use 10 ounces of noodles. 

For the cheese I like to add different types. Last time I used 4 ounces of reduced Colby Jcck, 2 oz. mozzarella and 2 oz. shredded gruyere. That was a hit.

Sometimes I add extra an extra bit of flour and butter and milk. Last time I used 1/4 c. flour and 1/4 c. butter. I softened the onion in the butter before adding the flour and milk.

The basic recipe is great but sometimes you want to tweak it because you are stretching it for a crowd. That's when you can just add more noodles to the sauce. Don't go too far off the recipe or it might get less good and cheesy. 

Marinated Portobello Mushroom Burgers

 

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce $0.12
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar $0.03
  

        1 tsp brown sugar $0.02

• 1/4 tsp oregano $0.02
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder $0.02
• 1/4 tsp onion powder $0.02
• 1 tsp smoked paprika $0.10
• 2 Tbsp olive oil $0.08
• 2 portobello mushroom caps (about 1/2 lb. total) $2.94
• 2 buns $0.83
• 
  
• Instructions
• • In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and a little freshly cracked pepper (about 10 cranks of a pepper mill).
  • Remove the stems from the portobello mushrooms.* Place the mushrooms in a shallow dish, gill sides up. Pour some of the marinade into the gills, then flip the mushrooms and pour the rest over the top. Let the mushrooms marinate for 30 minutes, flipping occasionally.
  • Heat a grill or grill pan over medium to medium-high heat. Once hot, add the marinated portobello mushrooms and cook for about 7 minutes on each side, or until the mushrooms are soft and have released most of their liquid.
  • Build your marinated portobello mushroom burgers on a bun with your preferred toppings. I love the classic mix of mayonnaise, sliced tomato, onion rings, and lettuce or spring mix.

Heavenly Honey Oatmeal Bread

 1 cup quick oats

2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (105-115)

1/3 cup honey

1 T. butter or oil

2 t. salt

5 1/2 cups flour, all purpose

1. Place oats in large bowl. Pour boiling water over oats. Let sit 15 min. or until lukewarm. (105-115)

2. Proof yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Add smidge of sugar to help activate the yeast. Let stand until bubbly about 5 minutes

3. Add honey, butter, salt and yeast mix to the oats. Mix well. Stir in enough flour so dough can be handled. (The oats and honey make this a stickier dough than regular bread dough.)

4. Knead for two minutes. Let rest for ten minutes. Knead again adding more flour as needed. Let dough rise.  Punch down, form into two loaves. Let rise again until high. 

5. Bake at 350 around 45 minutes. Quick temp should be around 200.

St. Bede Abbey, Father Dom

Sage Bread Stuffing

 1 1/2 cups chopped celery with leaves

3/4  cup finely chopped inion

3/4 cup butter

9 cups bread cubes 

1 t. salt 

1 t. dried ground sage

1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. pepper

1/4 cup parsley minced

Chicken broth

Cook and stir celery and onion in butter until tender. In a large bowl in which you have put the bread cubes add the cooked ingredients on top of them. Stir it up. If the bread cubes look dry then add chicken broth and squeeze it through the cubes until you get the consistency of stuffing that you like.

Bale om a 2 quart casserole. Cover and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes

Betty Crocker recipe

Notes: I like to toast the bread in the oven for more flavor. Then I need to add chicken broth to the final product to get to the consistency of stuffing that I remember from my childhood.

My mother used two loaves of ordinary white bread, chicken broth that she dipped the bread into and squeezed out excess moisture. She used 2 medium onions, 1 cup of celery approximately, 1/4-1/2 cup minced parsley, 2 eggs, 1/2 stick of margarine in small bits, 1 t.  salt, 1/4 t. pepper and 1 t. sage.

Working at Casey's I learned that the egg isn't really necessary for the stuffing. Plus it's an allergen for a lot of people so they just didn't put them in. 

I'd like to say that this recipe is a blueprint or jumping off point for stuffing. If you don't like parsley don't use it. If you want to toast your bread go ahead. If you want it mushier than add more chicken broth.

Lemon Curd

 

Ingredients

• 4 large egg yolks (see note)
• 2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
• 1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice (about 2–3 lemons)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons (86g) unsalted butter, softened

Instructions

1. Fill the bottom pot of your double boiler with 1-2 inches of water. (Or use the DIY double boiler method listed in the notes.) Place on high heat. Once the water begins to boil, reduce to low heat to keep the water at a simmer.
2. Place egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt into the top pot of your double boiler. Using a silicone whisk, whisk until completely blended, then continue to whisk as the curd cooks. Constant whisking prevents the egg yolks from curdling. Whisk and cook until the mixture becomes thick, resembling the texture of hollandaise sauce, about 10 minutes. If curd isn’t thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk.
3. Remove pan from heat. Cut the butter into 6 separate pieces, then whisk into the curd. The butter will melt from the heat of the curd. Pour curd into a jar or bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. (This prevents a skin from forming on top.) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Once cool, the plastic wrap can be removed.
4. Refrigerate the curd for up to about 10 days.

Notes

1. Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, you can freeze the curd up to 3-6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before enjoying.
2. Thicker Lemon Curd: For thicker lemon curd, replace 2 of the egg yolks with 1 whole egg. This means you will use 2 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg. Keep the rest of the recipe and instructions the same.
3. Lemon Juice: Do not use bottled lemon juice. Use fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
4. Butter: You can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. Simply omit 1/8 teaspoon salt in the recipe.
5. No Double Boiler? No Problem! If you do not own a double boiler, you can simply place a small heatproof glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water– you will cook the curd in the top pot/bowl.
6. No Straining: I don’t strain the lemon curd. The zest is very tiny and has been cooked, so you can hardly detect its texture. It’s really just there for flavor. However, feel free to run the finished lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve if you want to take the extra step.
7. Notes: This turned out very well. I used it as the filling between the poppyseed cake layers.