ALBONDIGAS SOUP 02/25/2010
 Here is the soup...complete but not cooked.  The onions and celery have been cooked, the broth is in and so is the tomato sauce.  Add in Taco seasoning...  Add in meatballs...  Add in potatos and cook till done...about 20 minutes on medium heat. Albondigas Soup (Mexican meatball soup) 1 lb meatloaf mix, rolled into balls 1 in dia. (see meatloaf mix) 1/2 cup miniature carrot pieces 1 stalk of celery sliced 2 baking potatoes, large dice 1 onion sliced 2 trays of broth, or two cans chicken stock (see broth recipe) 1 small can tomato sauce 1 package Taco seasoning Put a small amount of oil in bottom of pot. Add onions, celery, saute till translucent. Put broth, tomato sauce, water if needed, Taco seasoning in large pot. Heat to boiling. Add meatballs, carrots and potatoes. Simmer 20 minutes, till potatoes and meatballs are cooked through. Serves 4. Serve with salad and cornbread. MEAT LOAF MIX 02/23/2010
 This is an ALMOST finished pot of Mexican meatball soup. OR...Albondigas Soup. It is easy to make and wonderful to eat on a cold night with some cornbread. Years ago, I worked in a 4-color House. It has to do with printing, but before it goes to press. We did all the color-separations for a series of cookbooks by Sunset. The company sent us a bunch of different cookbooks as a gift. I got to take about 20 cookbooks home for free. One of those cookbooks was called "Make-a-Mix" cookbook. It had many "mixes" like meatloaf mix, pancake mix, salad dressing mix, and several recipes for each "mix". I liked the idea of being so versatile. It has stuck with me ever since. My meat loaf recipe makes meatballs. Meatballs make spaghetti and meatballs, meatball sandwiches, Mexican meatball soup, Meatloaf, Shepherds pie, and Lasagna, to name a few. You can change the spices to make it Italian or Mexican. Also, you can make big batches of the stuff and freeze it for a quick meal later. This is good when you get the meat on sale. Sometimes the stores put London Broil on sale real cheap. If you ask the butchers, they will grind the London Broil for you. It is hamburger with VERY little fat. Fat is where the flavor is. So spices help. That means this type of meat needs to be used for other than hamburgers...they would be really dry. Chili, bolognese sauce, meatballs work the best. Especially if you add a little ground pork. So, today I show you meat loaf mix. THEN I can show you the other recipes. The Lad loves my meat loaf. It is one of the few things he will eat as a left-over.  MEATLOAF MIX 1 pound of ground beef 1/2 pound pork sausage 1 medium onion, diced med-small 1 stalk celery, diced 2 cloves garlic, put through a garlic press 2 eggs, mixed well 2/3 cup instant rice salt and pepper NOTE: Instead of rice, you can use crackers, bread crumbs (either the packaged type or make your own) and you can soak in some milk...about 1/2 cup. It makes it more moist. Also...it gives you a little flexibility about what you can use to "bind" the meat loaf together. You can use cereal too. Like Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Corn, Wheat, or Rice Chex...just crush them up a little first. I love recipes that are flexible! Mix all ingredients well by hand. Meatloaf: Spray a square pan with non-stick spray. Press meat mix in pan. Form it so it is all about the same height and make a seperation around the edge of the pan. Pour on a small can of tomato sauce to cover the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1hour and 15 minutes. Serves 4 adults. I bake some potatoes at the same time and serve with a salad. The Lad loves this very dinner. Double Pie Crust 02/19/2010
 Here are some little pie crust cups that are a very versatile conveyance of yummy goodness. They can be filled with sweet or savory deliciousness. Chocolate cream, lemon pudding, coconut cream, butterscotch, chicken, beef, or turkey pot pie filling. You are only limited by your imagination. They are big enough to share if you only want a little "taste" and if you want more, it is a Big bite...for one.  Start out with 2 cups of flour, sifted, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2/3 cup of shortening (I prefer King Arthur All purpose flour and Crisco shortening), and 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter. NOTE: This is my favorite pastry blender. The wire type is better than the type that has thick metal bent over. The wire type is much easier to clean. It is indispensable in making pie crust because it really blends the fat and flour into small pieces, which are needed to make flaky crust. You can also use it to make excellent deviled eggs. (Recipe to come soon.) Another note: To make really flaky crust, you need to keep all your ingredients very cold. So I put my flour in the freezer, and my shortening in the fridge. The water needs to be very cold also, so put it in the freezer, use water that has been in the fridge, or put ice in some water.  Put the fat in a big bowl.  Add flour and salt.  Take the pastry blender and work the fat and flour together. It is important to work fast so it doesn't warm up too much. You need to blend it into very small pieces. Do it now, because after you add the water, the less you work it the better. Otherwise it gets tough.  This is how it should look when you are done. Crumbly, little pieces. Now would be the time to add the water. Six to seven Tablespoons of ice cold water. I use seven Tablespoons because of my altitude and the fact I live in the desert. Start out with six and if it seems too dry add the last one. This is important because you can add but you can't take it out.  Here is the dough. This is a recipe for a double pie crust which means you have enough for two pieces, either two pies or a top and a bottom crust. This is half the recipe. As you can see, I have it on a floured surface and it is an oblong shape. I want it oblong because I am making smaller crusts than a normal pie. I don't want the dough to be tough so I want to "work" the dough as little as possible from now on.  Roll the dough to a little more than 1/4 inch thick, and long enough to make three circles per 1/2 crust recipe. I am using a cereal bowl for a cutter.  This is a extra large muffin tin that I have turned upside down and sprayed with non-stick spray. I molded the crusts around the cups and cut off any crust that hangs over too far. You don't want the crusts to touch. They will puff up a little.  Bake them in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes...until they are nice and brown. They pop off from the muffin tin easily and then I cool them on the rack. Fill them with whatever makes your skirt fly up. These got chocolate pudding. A few days later. Then we ate them up as fast as we could. That is why there isn't a picture. Maybe next time. Double Pie Crust 2 cups of flour 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup shortening 2 Tab butter 6-7 Tab ice water Blend fats, salt and flour till it is small pea size pieces. Add water and mix just till incorporated. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness or a little more. Fit to pan (either cut for these muffin cups, or a regular pie tin). Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or till golden brown. Cool and fill with whatever you want. Enjoy! *-------------------* As an after-thought...it came to me that you can use a cookie cutter to make smaller circles and use the really small muffin tins the same way. (the 24 muffin size). Then you can put your "filling" in a piping bag and squirt it in the cups. THAT will stop any of that messy business going on outside the pastry cup. This makes it nice to take to a party as a "dish to pass" and displays well on tier plate, serving dishes. |