Showing posts with label family favourites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family favourites. Show all posts
I took the opportunity the other day to make another recipe using some of that delicious Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce I was sent last week. I had in mind to make my Cheeseburger Skillet Dinner for supper one night and decided to add some of the sauce to it with most delicious results!
I have been making Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta for years and years. It has always been a favourite of the missionaries when they come over for supper.
JACK DANIELS BBQ SAUCE RANGE
All suitable for VEGANS (except for the HONEY BBQ GLAZE)With Jack Daniel’s Sauces, it’s easy to surprise and delight family and friends. Simply serve up luxuriously sticky, glazed chicken wings and ribs, add depth to ‘low and slow’ dishes like pulled pork or beef brisket, or use the sauces as a delicious dip for fries, wedges and veggies.
The latest addition to the range is Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Honey™ Barbecue Glaze, which is infused with the soft flavours of the popular Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Honey™ Liqueur, giving the glaze a smooth hint of honey.
Each Jack Daniel’s Sauce is virtually fat-free with around 40 calories per typical 25g serving. Each of the sauces is suitable for vegetarians. Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauces are available nationwide from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Waitrose, RRP £2.00. Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Honey™ Barbecue Glaze is available in Waitrose and Tesco stores nationwide RRP £1.99
This skillet meal is such a family friendly favourite of ours mine. True, my husband would like it better if it was made with potatoes, but somehow I don't think potatoes would give you quite the same delicious results. And I love potatoes!
I think this only really works with pasta or some sort, and today it was elbow macaroni.
Its a texture thing really. I really think the only way to go with this is using macaroni. Oddly enough when I was a child I hated any kind of pasta with minced beef in it. The differences in the texture used to make gag.
I think I was an expert at getting minced beef out of any hole that would hold it. At the end of a meal, the macaroni would be all gone, but there would be a tidy pile of hamburger bits sitting on the edge of my plate.
Now that I am an adult I find that if I leave the meat in larger lumps and brown it really well, I can tolerate it very nicely.
I have actually come to enjoy it, but then I do use extra extra lean ground steak.
Like I said, this is very family friendly and something children really enjoy, and normally men as well. It contains nothing too out of the ordinary.
This time I substituted some of the Jack Danielle's smooth original sauce for the Worcestershire sauce in my regular recipe and I have to say it worked, really, REALLY well!
Just gave that sauce a little bit of extra tangy zip. I left out the herbs as well because I thought they might jar with the sauce.
We didn't miss them. Not one iota.
I like to use a strong cheddar because it has a lot of flavour and you don't really need a lot of it to get the same flavour impact that you might get using a larger quantity of a milder one.
So less calories and fat that way.
I do use tinned tomato soup in this. I like Heinz. Its always been my favourite when it comes to tinned tomato soup.
That's just a personal preference. You can use whichever one you like most.
There is bacon in this, yes . . . try to use the leanest streaky bacon you can find. Drain it well and pat it dry with paper towels, you can cut back on the fat and calories also.
I also like to use a good dry cure bacon.
Having said all that however, this is never ever going to be on any list of healthy options when it comes to eating, but it does make a wonderful, economical and delicious once in a blue moon treat!
BBQ Bacon, Cheeseburger Skillet Dinner*
Serves 4
Serves 4
This is one of those great family style dishes that not only tastes delicious, but is also quick, easy. It also freezes very well.
235g uncooked elbow macaroni (2 cups)
500g extra lean minced beef (1 generous pound)
225g streaky bacon (1/2 pound)
1 small onion, peeled and minced
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tin of tomato soup
120ml hot water (1/2 cup)
65g Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce (1/4 cup) salt to taste
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
180g extra strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 1/2 cups)
Cook the pasta in lightly salted water according to the package directions until tender. Once tender, drain well and then stir into the beef mixture. Add 3/4 of the cheddar cheese and stir it in to melt, then sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top and allow to melt. Serve right from the pan with lots of crusty bread and a tasty salad on the side.
If you are looking for a meal that is quick and easy, delicious and economical, and one that your family will love, look no further. This fits the bill on all fronts.
I like to serve it with a salad on the side. Do note that it also freezes very well and you can freeze it in single serving sized portions to pop out from the freezer for when someone is going to be on their own, or home late or even to take for lunch at work were they can just pop it into a microwave!
If you would like to see the original recipe you can find that here. That was actually the last time I made this, so five whole years ago. That really is once in a blue moon!
Also with there only being two of us, and no missionaries to feed, this time I cut the recipe in half so that it only made 4 servings instead of 8. I sent the leftovers next door, and there were NO complaints!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I never had a cinnamon roll made with yeast dough the whole time I was growing up. My mother always made them with biscuit/scone dough and we loved them.
They were a real treat. I did the same thing for my children, and I am happy to say that my children are still doing this for their own kids. A tradition that has passed down through three generations!
This is Luke and Gabriel enjoying the fruits of their father's labours! Yum! So, what does this have to do with Cheese and Garlic Scrolls eh? (Like my Canadian touch there?)
Well, nothing except that the basic biscuit/scone dough is the same, which goes to tell you something . . . in case you didn't know this fact already.
A good biscuit/scone dough can be the basis for a multitude of creations! You can roll or pat it out to a rectangle and spread it with pretty much anything and you will end up with a delicious bun to enjoy anytime, anyplace, anyhow. Win-Win-WIN!!
Today I spread it with a garlic butter mixture and sprinkled cheese on top, two kinds, rolled it up, cut it into slices and baked it and presto-chango!
You have a mighty tasty bun to serve with some soup, or a salad, or (true confessions) even on their own, just because they are so darned good you cannot resist them!
These are so tender and flaky. They have just the right amount of flavour all on their own. No need to butter or spread them with anything additional. They are perfect just as they are.
Hot, cold and in between. On the first day, on the second day, and yes . . . even the third day . . . if they last that long.
There are only two of us and they do last us a bit more than one or two days, but if you have a larger family I seriously doubt you will have them around much longer than a day.
However, it is nice to know that if you do, they will still taste fabulous!
*Cheese and Garlic Scrolls*
Makes 12
Flaky and delicious. Perfect to serve with soup or stews. Perfect anytime! Best served on the day.
a bit more of softened butter for topping (about 1 TBS)
a couple more TBS Parmesan for sprinkling on top
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F gas mark 4. Butter a 10 inch pie dish. Set aside.
Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into bits and drop into the floru mixture. Cut in using a pastry blender until the mixture resembled small peas. (You can also use two round bladed knives, making a cutting motion against each other.)
Add
the milk and stir together to make a soft dough. Pat out into a 8 by 12
inch rectangle. Mix together the softened butter, garlic, basil,
oregano and onion powder. Spread this over the dough. Sprinkle evenly
with both cheeses.
Roll up tightly from the long end until you have a
12 inch sausage, pinch the ends together. Cut into 12 equal slices and
place into the baking dish. Spread with a bit more softened butter and
then sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Serve warm.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. Serve warm.
I don't care what else you are making for supper tonight, you need to run out into your kitchen and bake these today! Your family will be most appreciative!!! Bon Appetit!
My husband doesn't quite understand our North American obsession with meatloaf. Its not something he grew up with.
On the other hand for we North Americans, meatloaf is somewhat of an institution. It is what I would call comfort food at its best!
Its not something which really photographs well, but hey ho. Don't just this book by its cover because it is absolutely delicious!
Brown food never photographs well. I have always struggled with it. That doesn't mean it doesn't taste good. I've never met a brownie I didn't like, brown or not. And brownies are notoriously hard to photograph!
This version of meatloaf is a bit different than the usual meatloaf. For this recipe, you season your meat and pat it out to a rectangle.
You then cover it with a type of onion stuffing mix. This is made from simmering onions in beef stock, and mixing that with dried bread crumbs.
A layer of grated strong cheddar cheese gets sprinkled over that. I favour a nice strong cheddar for the best and most flavour.
You roll the whole thing up like a jelly roll. A big, fat, meaty jelly roll. Or Swiss roll if you would rather . . .
It gets baked in the oven until golden brown. I always like to glaze my mealoaves for an extra special touch.
This one is no different. I glazed it with a mix of tomato ketchup and maple syrup, for a bit of sticky yum yum.
More cheese is melted on top and then it gets served cut into slices with whatever your favourite sides are. You could serve gravy with it, but we like tomato ketchup!
Chill any leftovers and then serve the next day, thinly sliced and popped into sandwiches for a tasty lunch! Scrummo!
*Stuffed Meatloaf*
Serves 6
80ml beef stock (1/3 cup)
150g bread cubes (about 1/4 inch) toasted (2 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp each onion, and garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme, rubbed
Mix the meat together with the egg, onion and garlic powders, salt, pepper and thyme. Pat out into a 14 inch by 8 inch rectangle on a piece of cling film. Cover with the bread crumb mixture. Sprinkle evenly with 120g of the cheese (1 cup). Starting from a short end, roll up tightly. Place seamside down into an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch loaf dish.
Bake uncovered, for 55 minutes. Whisk together the maple syrup and the ketchup. Brush over top, then sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until glazed and the cheese has melted. Let stand for a few minutes before cutting into slices to serve.
I love comfort food meals like this. I served it with scalloped potatoes and mixed vegetables, but mash would go equally as well, or yes . . . mac and cheese. Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Lasagne is not a dish that I make very often. First of all because it is somewhat labor intensive and secondly because there are only two of us in our house and one of us hates pasta for the most part, although I do keep working on him!
It wasn't something that my mother ever made for us when I was a child. I was pretty much an adult before I had any other than the Chef Boy Ar Dee kind. You used to be able to get it in packaged mixes, like the pizza one or the spaghetti one. I actually used to like them. I have not had one of any of those in years and years so I can't say if it was because I had bad taste, or if they actually did taste alright! It was probably more a case of never having had the real thing, so not having anything to compare it to!
Occasionally I like to make a vegetarian lasagne, and this is one of my favourite ways to do it. Unless I am having company, I tend to break it up into two casseroles, so that I can freeze one to haul put at a later date. Lasagne is one of those dishes that lends itself perfectly to this!
I don't know how other bloggers get those beautifully photographed square edged photos of their lasagnes. I have never ever been quite able to master that. Perhaps its because I am too greedy and wanting to dig in right away!
In any case, this is a delicious vegetarian version filled with cougettes (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes, and onions, with a ricotta and spinach cheese filling and a topping of rich bechamel.
I thought I would be fancy this time and topped it with some sliced fresh tomatoes that needed using up, prior to baking. I thought they looked really nice and they went very well with all the other flavours.
You can leave them off if you would prefer or if you don't have any. This version of lasagne is very, VERY good. Rich and delicious. I usually serve some crusty bread and a salad on the side.
*Vegetarian Lasagne*
Makes 12 servings
This
is fresh tasting and delicious. If you like you can prepare this in two
separate dishes, and freeze one (unbaked) for later on.
For the sauce:
2 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
2 medium courgettes, washed, dried, trimmed and diced (zucchini)
2 medium red bell peppers, trimmed, deseeded, and diced
1 medium aubergine, trimmed and diced (eggplant)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes in juice (28 ounces or 796ml)
1 large handful each chopped basil and parsley
For the ricotta filling:
300g of baby leaf spinach (10 ounces)
1 medium free range eggs
475g ricotta cheese (16 ounces)
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
230g grated mozarella cheese (2 cups)
180g grated Parmesan cheese (1 cup)
For the bechamel:
2 TBS butter 50g of butter
2 TBS flour 40g plain flour
360ml milk, heated ( 1 1/2 cups)
1 vegetable stock pot or cube
45g of grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)
2 TBS butter 50g of butter
2 TBS flour 40g plain flour
360ml milk, heated ( 1 1/2 cups)
1 vegetable stock pot or cube
45g of grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)
You will also need:
24 sheets of no-cook lasagne (in North America 16 lasagna noodles, cooked)
115g of grated mozarella cheese (1 cup)
2 medium tomatoes sliced
First make the bechamel. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Once it begins to foam, whisk in
the flour. Slowly whisk in the warm milk, whisking constantly. Whisk
until the mixture begins to thicken. Whisk in the vegetable stock
cube/pot and the cheese. Make sure these are well combined. Taste and
adjust seasoning as required with some salt and black pepper. Cover and set
aside.
To make the vegetable sauce, heat teh
oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and pepper flakes,
stirring occasionally over medium heat, until softened. Add the
courgettes and aubergine, bayleaf, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring, until the edges of the aubergine are golden. Stir in
the tomatoes and bring to a boil. You can add a bit of hot water if it
is too thick. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for about half
an hour. Stir in the basil and the parsley. Set aside.
To
make the ricotta fillling, wilt the baby spinach in a hot skillet. (I
just use a pair of tongs and keep picking it up and turning it until it
is completely wilted. It doesn't take very long.) Squeeze as much
liquid as you can from it, cool and then chop. Beat together the eggs
and the nutmeg. Stir in the ricotta, spinach, mozarella and Parmesan.
Preheat
the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a 13 by 9 inch deep baking
dish. Spread a dessertspoon each of the bechamel and the vegetable
sauce in the bottom of the dish and top with 1/4 of the noodles. Spoon
1/3 of the remaining vegetable sauce over the noodles. Top with another
1/4 of the noodles. Top with another 1/3 of the vegetable sauce and
top with the ricotta filling. (Dollop it over the top and spread out as
best you can.) Top with another 1/4 of the noodles and then top with the
remaining vegetable sauce. Place the remaining noodles on top and
spread the bechamel cheese over top to cover. Sprinkle with the
remaining mozarella cheese. Evenly space slices of tomato on top.
Cover
loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for a
further 20 to 25 minutes, until heated through, golden and bubbling.
Let stand for 20 minutes before serving. Cut into squares to serve.
To
freeze - Make the casserole in two separate baking tins, 9 inch square
in size. Omit the sliced tomatoes from the one you want to freeze.
Cover tightly with foil and then place into an airtight freezer bag,
label and date. Freeze. When you want to bake it, remove it from the
freezer to the refrigerator the night before and allow to thaw overnight
and proceed as above.
I actually baked this one day last week, but looking at the pictures I am wanting to drag the other half out of the freezer and bake it for our tea tonight. MUST resist! Bon Appetit!
I have often found that it's the simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure . . . things like marmite on hot buttered toast, bread and jam, or macaroni and cheese . . . when I worked down South for the family I cooked for, every meal had to be a production. There was no such thing as simple or ordinary. Even a grilled cheese had to be something extraordinarily out of the ordinary . . . seriously. But then again, they were paying me to cook for them, so I expect they wanted some bang for their buck, and I didn't really mind. I enjoyed it very much.
And as you can imagine, however . . . with every day meals being so outrageous . . . things got really complicated when there was a dinner party to plan and cook for, or even a simple ladies luncheon. Every meal, every occasion, every time . . . had to impress. I used to enjoy getting home and just letting my hair down and going simple . . .
I admit that I enjoy a bit of fancy once in a while . . . to celebrate something special, or on holidays, but most days I do so much more enjoy simplicity. I don't like things to be complicated or terribly involved.
It doesn't matter to me what I have for supper. I don't need to have Filet Mignon every night, just so long as what I am having tastes good, and I have enjoyed the journey to get there.
Meals such as this simple recipe I am showing you here today for Spaghetti and Meatballs are my favourite types of dishes. With this you get the ultimate in satisfaction and flavor without having to jump through multiple hoops or using a multitude of ingredients.
Economical. Tasty. Simple. Satisfying. Well flavored meatballs in a
well flavored and simple sauce. What more could you ask for? The
Toddster had his with mashed potatoes. To each their own . . .
*Spaghetti and Meatballs*
Serves 4
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 small onion, peeled and grated
about 4 TBS olive oil for frying
For the sauce:
2 TBS olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed a bit
400g tin of chopped diced Italian tomatoes in tomato juice (14 ounces)
about 4 to 6 fresh basil leaves, torn
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup red wine
1 TBS soft light brown sugar
pinch cloves
salt and black pepper to taste
pinch cloves
salt and black pepper to taste
To serve:
350g spaghetti (about 12 ounces)
2 TBS butter
grated Parmesan cheese to serve
First make the meatballs. Soak the bread in the milk, squashing
it with your fingers until it completely breaks up. Put your meat into a
bowl along with the parsley, cinnamon, cumin, squashed bread, grated
onion and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix thoroughly with your hands. (This is very
cathartic I find.) Shape into about 24 small balls, about the size of
cherry tomatoes. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add
the meatballs and brown. Give them a shake every few minutes so that
they roll around and brown evenly all over.
While
the meatballs are cooking make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a
saucepan. Add the garlic. Cook until you can smell it and then dump
in the tomatoes and basil. Season with some salt and pepper and cook
for about 10 minutes. Add the brown sugar, cloves, some black pepper
and the red wine. Give it a good stir and then add the meatballs.
Simmer, uncovered, for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until the
meatballs are tender and the sauce has thickened nicely. Taste and
adjust seasoning as required.Serve spooned out over hot buttered spaghetti with a fresh grating of Parmesan cheese on top. Garlic bread is nice with this too.
Any leftovers are splendid fryed up in some butter the next day. Just saying! Its how I roll! Bueno Appetito!
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