Ramblings of a Tainted Mind

I make meatloaves large because I actually enjoy meatloaf sandwiches more than the meatloaf itself! This way there is plenty. You can half this recipe if you don't want so much, and lessen the cooking time a bit.

Ingredients

Mix together and set aside
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal flakes

3 pounds lean ground beef
4 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger

Topping:

1 cup of ketchup + 2 tsp chili sauce and/or 1/2 cup of brown sugar if you want it sweet. (I don't like it sweet, but I can make it like this for Corey who does, and then just cut off the sweet part.)


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 5x9 inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, mix the last 6 ingredients and then add the softened oatmeal and milk. Shape into a loaf. Pour the ketchup mixture on the top of the loaf.


Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours or until juices are clear.

This is a recipe inspired by a historical one from the Ni'matnama, a book written in the late 1400's. I am not familiar in a scholarly fashion with historical foods from this time and place, but I went to a workshop this past Gulf Wars where this recipe was redacted. I thought the finished flavor was extraordinary, and wanted to play with a modern interpretation to make at home. I dropped the asofoetida because I can't deal with it personally, and I'm making lots of leaps in preparation. It seems like a LOT of spices, but it tastes wonderful, trust me. Happily, my husband loves the flavor, and he is a guy that is hard to swing toward non-American foods.


First, I use a couple of pounds of lamb bones and a small onion (or 1/2 a large one)to make a stock. You don't have to do this, you could just use the meatballs and it will flavor the broth. I happen to go to a Halal butcher and he gives me the bones from the lamb I buy. So no need to waste it if you buy your meat from a butcher.

Strain the stock well and get rid of the bones and any bottom bits. Add water to the stock until you have about a gallon. No need to measure, just eyeball it. Peel and chop the boiled onion and put it back in the stock. Return to a slow boil. Add to the broth:
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves

Meatballs:
About 2 pounds of lamb, ground
2 tbsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp.cardamom
1 tbsp. ginger
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp anise seed
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup lime juice

If you do not have these spices, a good curry powder from an international store will probably make a good substitute, but I would buy some turmeric and add extra.

Roll up the meatballs, keeping your hands damp with lime juice as you work. (Do not do this if you have a cut on your finger! Use gloves or phone a friend. hehe)

Drop the meatballs in, and cook at a slow simmer for about a hour. Remove from heat. Add a tablespoon of black pepper and salt, another 1/4 cup of lime juice, 1/4 cup of ghee or butter and a handful of cilantro if that is your fancy (it is mine!)

During the meatball cooking process, you can put in rice or any veggies you have around, it's a good way to clean out the fridge. Today I used basmati rice, some sliced button mushrooms and some celery.

Serve with roti or naan.

Made this up today, and they are yummy.


2 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

3-5 dates, chopped



Heat oven to 350. Place paper baking cups in muffin tin. In large bowl, beat eggs, oil, milk and vanilla with wire whisk until well blended. Add flours, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stir until moistened. With spoon, stir in bananas and dates. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from muffin cups.

I've never posted a lasagna recipe? Really?

Lasagna was always part of the holidays for me as a kid. Dad would drive me up to Long Island and we would stay at my grandmother's house for a week or so. Christmas dinner was always lasagna, meatballs and sausage, scungili, fava beans and a bunch of crazy Italians gabbing loudly. I like my lasagna saucy, but not spicy. If you want it spicy, use mild or spicy sausage instead of sweet.


This year I split my time in the kitchen by making meatballs and sauce on Christmas eve, and serving meatball subs. This way I still had meatballs the next day but my knee got a break.

Jill's Lasagna

Sauce:

1 package sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1/2 yellow onion chopped fine
tablespoon of minced garlic
olive oil
1 can tomato paste
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil


cheese filling
1 large container whole milk ricotta (Never, ever put cottage cheese in lasagna. Don't make me hurt you.)

1 tube goat cheese (chevre) <<<<<-----secret ingredient! Shhhh!
3 eggs
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil

1 package of mozzarella/provolone shred mix, or a package each of sliced.
Parmesean/romano cheese mix. The best you can find.
1 box lasagna noodles (I like Barilla)

Use a good large pot and brown the sausage in a bit of olive oil over medium high until it isn't pink anymore, then transfer it to a bowl and put in more olive oil and cook the onions until they are glossy and the edges are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the 2 cans crushed tomatoes and the paste. Stir until warm and add the sausage and herbs. Heat until bubbles come up and turn the heat to low. Cover.

Take your baking dish (mine is Pyrex and 15 x 10 x 2 1/2)and fill it with hot tap water, and set the noodles in to soften up, about 20 minutes. I used to cook the noodles and dry them on towels, but this tip saves me a LOT of time and aggravation, and comes out just fine. I have tried the dry method and it makes the lasagna too dry in my opinion.

Make the filling. Just mix everything together. I like to use a potato masher for this. Then put the filling in a gallon size Ziploc and cut off one of the corners. How much easier is this than trying to layer with a spoon? Ooodles easier. Trust me!

Remove the noodles and pour out the water from the pan. Preheat to 375.

Now the fun part. First, take a ladleful of sausage-free sauce and put it on the bottom of the pan. Now you have to figure out how many noodles you will have per layer. For my pan, it was 5 noodles per layer. Do not try to fill the entire layer with noodle, they will expand quite a bit as they cook in the sauce, so leave a space between.

Noodles/sauce/cheese filling/mozz-prov/parm-romano.

Make layers, leaving enough sauce and mozz-prov/parm-romano for the top.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or so, until the top is bubbly and lightly browned.


Meatballs and Sauce for Meatball subs

Sauce is the same as above, but no sausage. Start on the meatballs once you get the sauce on low.

Meatballs

3 pounds ground chuck (or 1/2 lamb 1/2 pork, or whatever you have in the freezer)
a large handful of bread crumbs. I use ground croissants, they are awesome!
3 eggs
1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley, or 1/4 cup dried
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3/4 cup parmesean romano mix, best you can find
1/2 cup hot tap water <<<<-----secret ingredient! Shhh!

Mix the meatballs and heat up a skillet to medium heat with a bit of olive oil on the bottom. Roll the meatballs about 2 inches or so in diameter and place them in the pan. Turn them gently until they are lightly browned on all sides and drop them into the sauce. Cover and cook on low for an hour or so. Stir often.

I never really post here anymore, because I've been over at Facebook. The weird thing is, I don't really like Facebook, but everyone is there so I am too. I used to have a paid account here, and let it lapse because there was no point, but today I realized that I do still want to keep my recipes here at least, so here is one I made today that is yummy. I used some other recipes for inspiration, but pretty much made this one up on the fly!

Easy Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes and Peas(Corey's Favorite!)

Patties:
2-2.5 lbs lean ground beef
3 eggs
small handful bread crumbs
sea salt
pepper
Mrs. Dash or any herbal spice mix you like

Mushroom Sauce:
2 teaspoons of butter
Box of fresh sliced mushrooms (save time!)
1/2 yellow onion, diced small
teaspoon roasted minced garlic
2 cans golden mushroom soup (Not cream of mushroom!)
splash of milk
2 cups beef bouillon

Mashed potatoes:
1 small bag of red potatoes
milk
butter
salt
pepper

Peas:
1/2 bag of frozen peas (keep it simple!)
butter
water
season to taste

Mix the patties together in a bowl and set aside. Saute the onions, garlic and mushrooms in the butter in a skillet over medium heat until the onions are caramelized and the mushrooms are glossy. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes so they cook fast, and put them in a stock pot with enough water to cover and a dash of salt. Boil for about 15-20 minutes and set aside, still in the water.

Remove the onions and mushrooms to a bowl and fry the patties in the skillet, about 3-4 minutes per side. You will probably have two batches of patties. Meanwhile, mix together the sauce ingredients with the onions and mushrooms. When patties are done, stack them back in the skillet, and pour the sauce over them, wiggling the pan and making sure all the patties are covered. Bring to a bubble and then cover and cook on low for 30 minutes.

While that cooks, drain the potatoes and mash them with milk and butter and whatever seasonings you like. Make sure you add enough milk so the potatoes are soft. Boil up the peas in a saucepan with a little water, butter and seasoning.

I don't get to do as much cooking as I used to, but when I do I try to make it special. On New Year's I have been making spinakopita triangles, which Corey loves, so I will be making those later on. Corey made a bit more smoked salmon than we could eat, and even though it keeps well I want to use it up today so I am making it into burgers using my recent secret ingredient-breadcrumbs made from croissants. You must try this! The burgers are cooking right now and the smell is OMG amazing! We make salmon burgers often, but I think these smoked ones will be amazing!

This morning I've been thinking about family. It's kind of hard sometimes for me, because I've chosen to be on my own and without family for so long, but now that I am older I yearn for it on special occasions. I usually hang out with friends and that's great--I have the best friends in the world. And maybe I'm looking for something that just doesn't exist; some fantasy family unit that is always supportive and present when I want them to be, and minding their own business the rest of the time! But every year I say I'm going to contact the members of my long lost family through Christmas cards, and then I don't. Maybe I'm afraid of them ignoring me as I've ignored them for so long? Maybe I'm just not sure I want to open those doors and find out that they are nothing like me--I mean I don't expect them to be dreadlocked hippies, but if they are all super conservative homophobic bigots ( and they very well may be), then where do I go from there? Then I'm stuck in the same boat with a lot of people I know, who put up with things their family says because they are family and the don't want to make waves.

Of course I have family members that I do keep contact with, but they live far from me so I don't get to really visit with them, other than online. My mom, of course, who stops in to read my journal and takes the time and trouble to visit us from time to time. The whole reason I'm even on Livejournal is because of my cousin Howard, and I keep in email contact with JoAnne, my half sister, and up until a few years ago, I kept up with Rosemary, my other half sister, but when she OD'd, she lost a lot of memory and I'm not sure if she feels comfortable around me anymore.

I'm not really sure what I long for. It's like I want tradition, I come up with new ones all the time! But at the same time, I want to be free to change the rules whenever I like. Like today. Smoked salmon burgers on New Year's Day. I just enjoyed one on a mini pita with lettuce, tomato and dilled cream cheese. Awesome.

Fuck tradition!

( Smoked Salmon burger recipe. )

So, I really love the fried dumplings you get from some Chinese places. I'm actually kind of picky about them, and I know which restaurants have the best. But the trouble with dumplings/wontons is that you never really know what's in there. I'm pretty sure they are pork and spices, but I decided to try and make my own version that are somewhat healthier. Plus, they will be nice for bento lunches too!


So here's my version, and let me tell you, they are yummmy! Also, this makes a lot of dumplings, and then you have filling left over, which I pan fried into patties. You could probably half everything and fill up a package of wonton wrappers no problem.



Four nice sized leeks
Half a bag of carrots, roughly chopped
sea salt to taste


One tube of turkey sausage
Three eggs
a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
a teaspoon of ginger paste
a teaspoon of chopped garlic

wonton wrappers
vegetable oil
bowl of water



Fill a stock pot about halfway with water and put it on to boil while you prepare the leeks. Pull off the outside leaves and rinse well, remove the bottom of the stalk and cut into thick slices. Boil these and the carrots for about 45 minutes, until everything is super soft. Then strain off the broth (I freeze this for later use) and try and squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible. Then add some sea salt and crush it up with your hands until it is all mushed up.

Add the sausage, eggs, cilantro, ginger and garlic and mash up well. Then lay out your wrappers on a cutting board or something. I do about 9 at a time. Put about a teaspoon of the filling in the center of each one, then wet the forefingers of each hand and paint a little sweep of water along two adjoining sides. Then just fold them over, pinch the corners, and you have little triangle dumplings, ready to go.

Put about three tablespoons of oil in a pan and put in a layer of dumplings. You want to brown them on one side, which takes a couple of minutes on medium high heat for me. Don't turn them over! Just add about half a cup full of water and cover as they bubble, for about a minute. This steams the filling and the top of the dumpling really well. Then remove the top and cook until the water is just about gone. Done!


To dip them, I like a traditional sauce made from soy sauce, white wine vinegar, ginger and green onions.

I've hardly been online at all, I've been listening to downloaded stuff, lectures (right now, one that analyzes Dante's Commedia), audiobooks and TV shows I'm catching up on. I've become engrossed in the world of torrents! I've not gotten much else accomplished, except that I did finish the Gryffindor scarf for Rose and she seems to like it, which is good. I have lots of other things I want to make before the end of the year, and I still want to do some dance work as well.

Oh man, I'm getting pudgy again too. Happens every year, and it's so hard to stay on top of it when the weather is so gloomy. Today I made pan fried salmon, buttered carrots and wild rice, along with the kefte recipe I've been working on since mom was visiting. I didn't write about that here last week, so I'll do that now.

I was telling my mom that I've been enjoying leek soup lately, and she asked me if I ever made leek patties. I'd not heard of them, but apparently my great grandmother used to make them. So, I had to try and figure out the recipe, because I do try to keep up with family recipes as well as I can. I started with one that I found online, and then started adjusting.

The spinakopita recipe from my mom's mom is really the only thing I have from that side of the family, so I was eager to have something else to work with. Unlike the Spinakopita, the kefte are very easy to make, and since Corey loves them I've made them twice already and plan to make them periodically. It isn't often I find a veggie recipe he likes.

Almost Joya's Kefte (leek patties)

6 large or eight regular leeks, trimmed, cleaned and sliced into 1/2 pieces
1 russet potato, diced small
1-2 packages matzoh ball mix, or about 1 cup of matzoh meal+salt, pepper and garlic
2 eggs, lightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying

Cover the sliced leeks in a pot with water and boil for about 45 minutes, add potatoes, and boil for another 15-20 minutes. The leeks and potatoes need to be super soft and mushy. Drain them in a colander until cool, and press with a spoon until most of the water is removed. transfer to a bowl and mush up well. Add matzoh mix and eggs, and mix very well. Let stand for five-ten minutes and heat up a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet on medium high. Shape the mixture into smallish patties and fry until deep golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Super easy. Super yummy. Mom says they are close, but not quite there, so it needs more work. The ones I make have less leeks than she remembers, but you know, leeks are expensive since no one cooks with them that much!

I also found out that my ancestors on mom's side spoke Ladino. I just assumed that they spoke Hebrew or Yiddish, but Ladino is far more interesting! My mom's people are Sephardim (when I was a kid I thought we were named for the Seraphim, LOL), Jews originally from Spain that settled in a place called Monastir, which was once part of Turkey, but now is called Bitola in Macedonia. The language of Ladino is a mixture of Castilian, Yiddish and Turkish, and the music is really all that's left of the language these days. Very interesting music, which I may dance to one day. It is sort of like Middle Eastern meets Flamenco and Fiddler on the Roof. :-)

So I feel a little closer to mom's side of the family, which I didn't know all that much about before, except for the fabulous webpage about us:

http://www.cassorla.net/El_Cass.html

.

Greek Chick Pea Salad Recipe

This recipe serves: 8
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 16 ounce cans chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
3 plum tomatoes, diced
3 celery stalks, finely diced
3 scallions, sliced thinly
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
8 basil leaves, chiffonade (shredded)
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 3 lemons
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions
1. Combine the chick peas in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. Toss well and taste for seasoning.
2. Serve at room temperature or chilled. (This recipe can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days).

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Calories 162
Protein 5 g
Total Carbohydrate 25 g
Dietary Fiber 9 g
Sodium 452 mg
Total Fat 6 g
Saturated Fat 0 g
Percent Calories from Fat 30%
Percent Calories from Protein 13%
Percent Calories from Carbohydrate 57%

I made this up today because I was craving ratatouille but didn't feel like turning the oven on. One of the ladies who comes by to get her hair hennaed has just opened a nursery, and she brought me some lovely yellow squash. I had no zucchini, but next time I make this I will get some. I figured that some other people out there might be looking for things to do with garden vegetables, and it just doesn't get any easier than this.



Easy Stovetop Ratatouille

four small yellow squash, sliced
one large vidalia onion, sliced
chopped garlic
one can whole pitted black olives
one small can mushrooms
one can of stewed chopped tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
4 leaves fresh basil, chopped
olive oil
one healthy shake of Mrs Dash
sea salt
black pepper


Put some olive oil in a large skillet, as Rachel says, 'a couple of times around the pan". Put in the squash, the onions and the garlic, and cook on medium high until they are tender as you like. I prefer my veggies to still have some firmness, but the onions to be see through, so about three to five minutes should do it. Then add everything else and simmer for about five minutes more.

Boom. Done. Yum.