Ground Beef Stuffed Peppers II

An Easy and Tasty Entree for Dinnertime. 

My mom made Stuffed Peppers when I was young and this recipe is close to her's.

...and there's just something about the Love that goes into a dish which makes it even better.   

Ingredients:

3 large green or yellow bell peppers

5 cups water, Boiling, Salted

1 lb lean beef, Ground

1/4 cup onion, Chopped, 1 small

1/2 cup celery, Chopped

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup instant rice, Uncooked

1/2 cup water

Directions:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut each bell pepper lengthwise in half.
• Wash the insides and outsides of the peppers after removing the seeds and membranes.
• Cook the peppers in the boiling salted water for 5 minutes then drain and set aside. Cook and stir the meat, onion and celery in a large skillet until the meat is brown.
• Drain off the excess fat. Stir in half of the tomato sauce and the remaining ingredients, heat to boiling then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.
• Place the peppers, cut sides up, in an ungreased baking pan 9 X 9 X 2 or 8 X 8 X 2-inches.
• Spoon the meat filling into each of the pepper half evenly and then cover the pan with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 25 minutes then uncover and top with the remaining tomato sauce and bake an additional 5 minutes

Meat Loaf and Roasted Plum Tomatoes

This recipe from The Foothills Cuisine of Balckberry Farm.
Delicious yet humble, meat loaf was usually made with bits of whatever scraps of meat were left over from previous preparations and meals, and it was often extended with bread crumbs.
Mountain families canned as many tomatoes as possible during the summer so that when winter came, they could reach into the pantry and pull out a jar of “put-up” summer. If you lack a similar supply, reach for a can of store-bought good-quality plum tomatoes.

For the meat loaf:

1 tbsp. flavorful fat such as bacon fat or butter, or grapeseed oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1½ lb. ground beef
8 oz. bulk pork breakfast sausage
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup sour cream or crème fraîche
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. ground mace
2 ½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tbsp. heavy cream
Mushroom Ketchup (recipe link) , for glazing and serving

For the roasted tomatoes:

2 tbsp. pork fat or other flavorful fat
12 whole canned peeled Italian tomatoes, drained
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 3-inch fresh thyme sprigs
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To prepare the meat loaf, in a medium skillet, heat the fat over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Scrape into a large bowl and let cool. Add the beef, sausage, eggs, sour cream or crème fraîche, Worcestershire, mace, garlic powder, bread crumbs, and cream and mix thoroughly but gently, without overly compacting the meat.

On a rimmed baking sheet, mound the meat mixture into a loaf that is about 10 by 5 inches.

Bake until the center of the loaf registers 150°F on a meat thermometer, 40 to 50 minutes; about 15 minutes before the end of cooking, brush some of the mushroom ketchup over the top of the meat loaf (and begin the tomatoes; see the next step). Remove the meat loaf from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 450°F. Let the loaf rest for at least 10 minutes.

To prepare the roasted tomatoes, in a large ovenproof skillet, heat the fat over medium-high heat until it sizzles. Add the tomatoes, turn to coat them in the fat, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and arrange them in a single layer. Tuck the thyme sprigs and garlic among the tomatoes.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the tomatoes are very soft and lightly charred on the bottoms, 10 to 12 minutes. Discard the thyme and garlic. Serve hot.

To serve, slice the meat loaf and arrange on warmed plates with the tomatoes alongside. Pass the ketchup.

Ann Romney’s Meatloaf Cakes

Had to post Ann Romney’s Meatloaf Cakes recipe after the Meatloaf endorsed Mitt.

Ann will make a wonderful First Lady and bring an American Dynamic back to The White House.  

 

 

Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 small meatloaf cakes (3 to 6 servings).

For the meatloaf cakes:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
4 slices bread, crumbled into small pieces or 3/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons seasoned salt

For the sauce:

1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

For the meatloaf cakes: Heat oven to 350ºF. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, crumbled bread or breadcrumbs, egg, onion, lemon juice and seasoned salt. Mix lightly but thoroughly and shape into six small loaves. Space evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes; meanwhile, prepare the sauce.
In a small bowl, mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, cloves and allspice. When the meatloaf cakes have baked for 15 minutes, brush each loaf with sauce and return to the oven. Continue to bake until the meatloaf cakes read 165ºF in the center when tested with an instant-read thermometer, about 20 more minutes. If desired, serve with scalloped potatoes and steamed vegetables. Pass additional sauce separately.

Swedish Meatballs

Seen here used as a Wonderful Casual Meal served over steamed rice; but the recipe can be easliy multiplied for Buffet or used for a Party Appetizer.




Ingredients:

1 cup evaporated milk, divided
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
dash pepper
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups double strength beef broth ( I used 2 bouillon cubes in 1 ½ cups hot water)  
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation: 

Heat a skillet and add a little olive oil. Sweat onions with a pinch of salt until translucent. Set aside to cool.Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup evaporated milk with breadcrumbs. Stir to combine and set aside for several minutes. To the breadcrumb mixture, stir in onions, yolk, salt, allspice and pepper. Add meat and mix until just combined. Shape meat mixture into 1-in. balls. In large skillet, melt butter and cook meatballs. Remove from skillet (you may want to keep in a warmed oven).
In same skillet, cook flour (add more butter if necessary) 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in beef broth and simmer to thicken. Add remaining 3/4 cup evaporated milk and heat through. Season to taste. Return meatballs to skillet, and add lemon juice.

Beef Wellington

Calm down.  This Wonderful Dish isn't that daunting once you've made it a couple times.
Your guests, however, will praise your ability in the kitchen.



The Secret for This Recipe is to have a butcher give you a great cut of tenderloin.  Do Not Buy what's in the display cooler, have it custom cut.
Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef tenderloin fillet
• Salt and pepper
• Canola, grapeseed, or olive oil
• 1 lb mushrooms (we used half cremini, half shiitake)
• 4 thin slices ham (Parma ham if you can get it) or prosciutto
• 2 Tbsp yellow mustard (we used Coleman's Original English Mustard)
• 7 ounces puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)
• 2 egg yolks, beaten

Method:

1 Preheat oven to 400°F.



2 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large pan on high heat. Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper. Sear the fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned (hint: do not move the fillet until it has had a chance to brown). Remove the fillet from the pan and let cool. Once cooled, brush the fillet on all sides with mustard.

3 Chop the mushrooms and put them into a food processor and purée. Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Scrape the mushroom purée into the pan and let cook down, allowing the mushrooms to release their moisture. When the moisture released by the mushrooms has boiled away, set aside the mushrooms to cool.




4 Roll out a large piece of plastic wrap. Lay out the slices of ham on the plastic wrap so that they overlap. Spread the mushroom mixture over the ham. Place the beef fillet in the middle, roll the mushroom and ham over the fillet, using the plastic wrap so that you do this tightly. Wrap up the beef fillet into a tight barrel shape, twisting the ends of the plastic wrap to secure. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.



5 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry sheet to a size that will wrap around the beef fillet. Unwrap the fillet from the plastic wrap and place in the middle of the pastry dough. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten eggs. Fold the pastry around the fillet, cutting off any excess at the ends (pastry that is more than 2 layers thick will not cook all the way, try to limit the overlap). Place on a small plate, seam side down, and brush beaten egg yolks all over the top. Chill for 5-10 minutes.

  
 

6 Place the pastry-wrapped fillet on a baking pan. Brush the exposed surface again with beaten eggs. Score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife, not going all the way through the pastry. Sprinkle the top with coarse salt. Bake for 25-35 minutes. The pastry should be nicely golden when done. (To ensure that your roast is medium rare, test with an instant read meat thermometer. Pull out at 125-130°F for medium rare.) Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice in 1-inch thick slices.