Peasant Bread

1-1/2 t yeast
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1 c very warm water
2 c flour

In 1 cup Pyrex measuring cup combine yeast, sugar, & salt. Add water. Mix. Combine mixture w/ flour in medium size bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon just until combined then put towel over the top of the bowl and let it rise for 1 hour. Scrape dough out of bowl and put on a greased (I simply spray it with Pam) cookie sheet or pie dish. Let rise 1 more hour. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Turn down heat to 350° and bake for 20 more minutes. Brush top with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven and sprinkle salt lightly over the top (I use a course sea salt but any salt will work). This recipe can easily be doubled.

Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 egg whipped
1/4 - 1/2 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. oatmeal (doesn't matter if it is quick oats or not)
3/4 c. evaporated milk (the secret ingredient)
1 t. salt
pepper (opt. I put in 1/4 t.)

Mix all together in a bowl (I squish it all together with my bare hands, it is less messy and works best for me) and put in loaf pan. Add topping and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Makes 1 meatloaf.

Topping
1/4 - 1/3 c. ketchup
1 T. mustard
2-3 T. brown sugar

Mix together in a small bowl and spread over meatloaf before baking.

This is a great meal to take to others because it cooks at the same temperature and for the same amount as baked potatoes and stays warm until it reaches its destination. When I grew up this was always served with baked potatoes and creamed corn. This is the only meatloaf I love. My mom said she got it off the side of a Quaker Oats box in the 1970's.

Yummy Pork Chops

4 servings

4 pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick (about 1-1/4 lbs)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 tsp honey

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place pork in ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches.
3. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over pork.
4. Cover and bake about 45 minutes or until pork is slightly pink in center. Uncover and bake 5 minutes longer.

This is super yummy and we love to have this with some good ole' mashed potatoes and a steamed veggie!

(From Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook)

Pasta Pomodoro

Pasta Pomodoro
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pasta-Pomodoro/Detail.aspx


Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages angel hair pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 (10.75 ounce) can low-sodium chicken broth
crushed red pepper to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.Pour olive oil in a large deep skillet over high-heat. Saute onions and garlic until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-high and add tomatoes, vinegar and chicken broth; simmer for about 8 minutes.
3.Stir in red pepper, black pepper, basil and cooked pasta, tossing thoroughly with sauce. Simmer for about 5 more minutes and serve topped with grated cheese.

Beef Tamale Skillet

We love this one and it is SUPER easy!

1 lb extra-lean ground beef
2 cups chunky-style salsa
1-11 oz can Mexicorn (drained), or 3/4 can of regular corn
6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips
2 Tbsp water
1-1/2 cups nonfat shredded cheddar cheese

Cook ground beef and drain. Add salsa, corn, tortilla strips, and water; toss to mix. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over top, cover, and cook on medium-low heat until cheese is melted.

Sausage Rice Casserole - Parker style

SAUSAGE RICE CASSEROLE
From the kitchen of Bret Parker

1 lb Italian sausage (in the tube)
1/3 c. sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¾ can water
1 beef bouillon cube
2-3 stalks of celery
Rice

Cook rice separately.

Cook Italian sausage and then add all ingredients until heated through. Mix sausage/sauce mixture with the rice.

Rakott Krumpli

Hey all. Has this blog died? I think so. But, I'm going to give this a try anyway, because last night (not to toot my own horn), I made the best dinner. That's right. And I'm going to share it with you here.

Presenting a Hungarian classic -- what I think of as comfort food for the Hungarians. I read somewhere that you can rarely order this in a restaurant...that it's an at-home classic. Well, I didn't hit too many restaurants when I lived in Hungary, so I wouldn't know. BUT, I do think it's yummy and filing, and relatively inexpensive to make. My recipe is what I learned from a Hungarian, so there's no real written down recipe. You know those kind of recipes. So, no exact science to it, but it's pretty easy anyway.


Hungarian Rakott Krumpli

7-8 Potatoes
10 Eggs
16 - 20 oz. sour cream
Vegeta or other seasonings
Some milk
Cheese
Oil
Kolbasz (sausage. whatever you like. This time I used turkey sausage and pepperoni to add a bit of spice)

Ok...here goes it. Boil the potatoes in their skin. In the meantime, boil your eggs to make them good and hard-boiled. When the potatoes are done, let them cool so you can handle them. Now, you're going to peel the potatoes, but if they are still a bit warm, the skin just peels off by rubbing your fingers along it. Slice the potatoes long way.

When eggs are done, let them cool, and peel them as well. Slice them long ways.

Cut up your sausage to however thickness you'd like.

In a separate bowl, mix your sour cream with some milk to thin it out a bit. I add my seasoning with my sour cream concoction. I use Vegeta because I have it, but any kind of seasonings here will compliment the dish...seasoning salt, parsley, oregano...play around with it.

Now, time to layer. Put a layer of potatoes on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Next, layer some of the hard-boiled egg. (I like a lot of eggs). Then a layer of sausage. Once I have those basic layers down, I put little dollops of the seasoned sour cream mixture over the top. And who doesn't love cheese? So sprinkle a bit of that on top too...but just a bit because it'll be really rich if you do. You don't even need to add cheese. It's still good and less expensive. Then do the layers again. I usually end up with about 3 layers, but it's a pretty full casserole dish. When I'm all done, I sprinkle a bit of paprika (optional) and some more seasoning and put a tiny bit of oil over top. The oil could probably be omitted, but living in Hungary where many of them eat pure oil (practically!), I guess it's just habit.

I usually put tin foil over top and bake at 350-400 for about 40 minutes. Yummy yummy. Serve with some kind of veggie side dish and some fresh baked bread. mmmm Enjoy your Hungarian experience.

The cost of this meal is relatively inexpensive. The bulk of it is potatoes and eggs...cheaper items. The sausage, depending on what you buy, will definitely add more to the cost ~ but it's a pretty dense and filling meal. We had it for dinner last night and have 1/2 the casserole dish left. Definitely a 2 meal dinner.

Jo etvagyat! (or if you prefer...Bon Appetit!)