Cream Dried Beef on Toast (aka Chipped Beef on Toast, or Shit on a Shingle)

When I was little, my Mom used to make this for breakfast every year on Easter. I would get so excited to get the egg hunt over with so that we could eat! I couldn't get ahold of my Mom for her recipe, so I had to improvise it on my own. I thought it tasted almost exactly the same, so I guess I got it close enough. This was a HUGE hit with my boys. My husband said, "Oh, yum!" FOUR times during the course of his meal and my monkey ate almost all of his. Enjoy!


Cream Dried Beef on Toast:

1 jar dried beef, rinsed and diced
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 cup butter (you can use a butter substitute, I did)
1/4 cup flour
approx. 6 cups of skim milk
1 cup whole milk (to make it creamier)
salt and pepper to taste

1) Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low-medium heat. Wisk in the flour and let it cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly (if your roux constantly tastes gritty or like flour, you're not letting your flour cook long enough).

2) Slowly add in the milk, a little at a time, stirring very often until thickened. Allow the sauec to thicken before pouring all of it in. You may need more of less than recipe calls for, depending on thickening.

3) Add in the dried beef and allow flavors to combine for about 5 minutes over low heat, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4) Add eggs and cook additional 3-4 minutes, allowing flavors to combine.

Serve over toasted bread. Enjoy!

French Onion Salisbury Steak

No longer merely a nasty TV dinner, this adapted Salisbury Steak recipe was an instant hit at our house and will definitely make its way into our usual meal rotation. Enjoy!

(This recipe has been made Muslim-friendly with the omission (with substitution) of pork and alcohol... Enjoy! :))

French Onion Salisbury Steak:

1 pound of ground beef

1/4 cup fresh minced parsley

2 Tablespoons minced white onion (or chopped scallions)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 cups sliced onions

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups beef broth

2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cheese Toasts (recipe to follow)

1) Combine ground beef, parsley, onions, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well with hands. Shape into balls and flatten into patties (as many or as few as you prefer).

2) Place 2 Tablespoons of flour in a shallow dish and dredge patties. (Reserve the other tablespoon of flour for later).

3) Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add patties and cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.

4) Add the onions and sugar to the pan and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste. Saute for 1 minute. Sprinkle remaining flour over the onions and then cook 1 minute. Stir in broth and vinegar and then add salt to taste (about half a teaspoon).

5) Return the meat to the pan and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover, simmering for 10 minutes.

6) Serve on Cheese toasts with soup ladled over the meat. Garnish with cheese and parsley if desired.

Cheese Toasts:

6-10 slices of a baguette, sliced diagonally, about 1/2 inch thick.

Butter or margarine

garlic powder

1/4 cup Swiss cheese, grated

2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1) Preheat oven to 400 (F) (200 C).

2) Lightly butter bread slices on one side and place butter-side up on a baking sheet. Lightly sprinkle each slice with garlic powder and top with cheese.

3) Bake until toasts are crisp, about 8-10 minutes.

Meatloaf

Once again, meatloaf is another thing I tried for ages to find the "perfect" recipe for. Instead I always ended up calling my Mom to get her yummy recipe. After a while I have found what I believe to be the BEST meatloaf in the world. If you don't agree, you have my permission to STOP reading my blog altogether! (Except you Eva, since this recipe has pork, you must still read it anyway)

Perfect Meatloaf:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. good pork sausage (you can use the "hot" style, but I prefer plain)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 Tablespoons ketchup
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1) Put it all in a large bowl and squish it together to combine it with your hands.
2) Shape it into a loaf and put it in a loaf pan. Squirt a little more ketchup on top and rub it all over with your fingers then lightly sprinkle on a little more brown sugar.
3) Bake in a 350 degree (F) oven for an hour. Check the middle to make sure it is cooked through, then slice and serve.

This is a HUGE family favorite at our house and it is so simple to make!

Enjoy!

S'getti and Meatballs

Last night we had spaghetti and meatballs. Usually I just make sauce with the meat in it, browned first, but I though I should try my hand at meatballs!

My Meat Balls:

1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 pound of pork sausage
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (I can't get those here so I pulled the croutons out of the cabinets and rolling-pinned them into breadcrumbs. Worked just fine)
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
If you want, add some fresh chopped basil and/or parsley for color and freshness in the flavor.

Preheat oven to 375 (f). In a large bowl, mix all ingredients with your hands and shape into 1-2 inch balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (this helps with clean up!). Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning them once during cooking to keep them from sticking.

Place balls in a saucepan and add your favorite spaghetti sauce (homemade or not, whatever), let them simmer together for about ten minutes.

In the meantime, you can make some awesome garlic bread!

Yummy Garlic Bread:
Melt half a stick of butter in a skillet over medium heat, add about 3 cloves of garlic that have been chopped roughly. Stir together and let the flavors combine for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and Dip your favorite crusty bread into the butter (sooo bad for you, I am sure, but you can also brush it on with a pastry brush if it makes you feel any better). Bake in the oven for a few minutes to toast the bread nicely. These were a huge hit!

Serve together with some boiled spaghetti noodles and a side salad. Yum!

Hamburgers and Salad

We made some GREAT hamburgers and salad for dinner on Thursday (our Friday) night. Here are the recipes. I didn't take a pic of the hamburgers, but here is the salad!

Stu's Perfect Hamburgers:

1 lb. ground beef
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup chopped green onions
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. onion salt
½ tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl with your fingers until well mixed. Shape into patties. Makes 4-6 patties, depending on the size. Grill until no longer pink inside.
We served them on fresh buns with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayo, and avocado. Sooo good!

Sydney’s Favorite Salad:

½ head Iceburg lettuce, torn
½ cup sliced green onions
1 apple, cored and sliced into bite-sized pieces
1 small tomato, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 small carrot, grated (optional)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Put first 6 ingredients into a large bowl and toss together. Drizzle with desired amount of olive oil and vinegar and toss. Spoon into serving bowls and grate cheese over top.