Beef and Macaroni

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Beef and macaroni was one of my all time favorites during grade school and Jr High whilst I was growing up.

About six weeks ago I was hungry for this childhood favorite and it was my day to make dinner. I searched the web and found many versions. I settled on one I found on the Food Network by Paula Deen.

It was wonderful!

Just what I was looking for. Tonight I'm making it for the third time. Tomorrow is "Grazing Day" at work where everyone brings in food and we eat all day long (or so it seems.) I'm making this for sharing tomorrow. We'll enjoy some tonight, of course, but I'll take it to work tomorrow.

You'll find the recipe below. I have modified it from the original based on comments of others. The original is here.

This is just before adding the macaroni.



Then add the macaroni and stir it in.



After it's done it looks like this.



Very, very good. I think it will be a big hit tomorrow.

We serve it with sour cream on top and a side of cornbread. You can serve it tomorrow!

As promised, here's the recipe.

Bobby’s Goulash

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows

1/2 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked

In a Dutch oven, sauté the ground beef over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Break up the meat while sautéing. Spoon off any grease.

Add the onions and garlic to the pot and sauté until they are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add 3 cups water, along with the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, House Seasoning, and seasoned salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes more before serving.

Serve with garlic bread and a salad.

House Seasoning: 1 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder Mix the ingredients together and store in an air-tight container for up to 6 months. Use as a seasoning on meat and when cooking vegetables.

Enjoy!
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Tomato Basil Bisque

Cathy has been studying for several months now so she can sit for a national certification examination next Saturday. Some of her coworkers are also taking the test and she has studied with them on the weekends. Today, Samantha came over and they were going over the study materials.















Here they are studying in the back living room.

Before Sam got here we started lunch. Cathy made Herbed Cheese Straws and I made Tomato Basil Bisque.















These are the Cheese Straws ready to go into the oven.















The soup is simmering on the stove with the basil ready to add at the end.















Cheese straws are out of the oven. That's Apple Cake in the lower right, but I'm not talking about that today!





















Soup on the table. Lunch is ready!















Cheese straws. Mmmmmm....

Here is the recipe for the soup:

Tomato Basil Bisque

1 large onion, diced finely

1 tablespoon garlic, minced finely

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 quarts Italian tomatoes

2 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped

salt to taste

freshly ground pepper to taste

In a pan that will hold all the ingredients, sauté onion in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, sauté until lightly browned.

Squish tomatoes between fingers or process in food processor about 5 seconds and add to onion and garlic mixture. Add heavy cream. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour.

Fold in basil, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with Herbed Cheese Straws.

Actually, rather than squishing the tomatoes between your fingers, I used an immersion blender, just like Emeril would!!

Enjoy!
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Salade Nicoise

This summer we discovered Salade Nicoise. That's what we are preparing for dinner. The recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated. We have made it the "traditional" way also a more modern version with grilled tuna. I like them both and Cathy likes the traditional way better.




Getting ready to go.



The potatoes mixed with the vinaigrette.



The green beans go in ice water to stop the cooking and leave them crunchy.



This photo is from our first preparation and we made it on a large platter like the directions say.



Tonight we simply assembled individual servings.



Here's tonight's wine choice. Now you can make it yourself.

Enjoy!

>Prepare all of the vegetables before you begin cooking the potatoes and this salad will come together very easily. The classic garnish of tiny, briny, piquant Niçoise olives is a hallmark of salade Niçoise. If they're not available, substitute another small, black, brined olive (do not use canned olives). Anchovies are another classic garnish, but they met with mixed reviews from our tasters, so they are optional. If you cannot find tuna packed in olive oil, substitute water-packed solid white tuna, not tuna packed in vegetable oil. (Among water-packed tunas, StarKist solid white took top honors in our tasting of 10 leading brands.) Compose the salad on your largest, widest, flattest serving platter. Do not blanket the bed of lettuce with the other ingredients; leave some space between the mounds of potatoes, tomatoes and onions, and beans so that leaves of lettuce peek through.

Serves 6 as a light main course

Vinaigrette
1/2 cup lemon juice from 2 or 3 lemons
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot , minced (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Table salt and ground black pepper
Salad
4 large eggs
10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered
Table salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
2 medium heads Boston lettuce or Bibb lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces (about 8 cups loosely packed)
2 (6-ounce) cans olive-oil packed tuna , drained
3 small vine-ripened tomatoes (about 14 ounces), each cored and cut into eighths
1 small red onion (about 4 ounces), sliced very thin
8 ounces green beans , stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise
1/4 cup niçoise olives
10 - 12 anchovy fillets (optional)
2 tablespoons capers , rinsed (optional)

1. For the vinaigrette: Whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

2. For the salad: Place eggs in small saucepan, cover by 1 inch with cold water, and bring to boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, fill medium bowl with 1 quart water and 1 tray ice cubes. With slotted spoon, transfer eggs to ice water; let stand 5 minutes. Peel eggs and quarter lengthwise; set aside (reserve ice water).

3. Meanwhile, bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in large Dutch oven or stockpot over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender when poked with paring knife, 5 to 8 minutes. With slotted spoon, gently transfer potatoes to medium bowl (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with vermouth and salt and pepper to taste; let stand 1 minute. Toss in 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.

4. While potatoes cook, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on very large, flat serving platter. Place tuna in now-empty bowl and break up with fork. Add 1/2 cup vinaigrette and stir to combine; mound tuna in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in now-empty bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture in mound at edge of lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in separate mound at edge of lettuce bed.

5. Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well on triple layer of paper towels. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in now-empty bowl; arrange in separate mound at edge of lettuce bed.

6. Arrange reserved eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in separate mounds at edge of lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, sprinkle entire salad with capers (if using), and serve immediately.

Marinara Sauce

On Sunday I picked 10 pounds of tomatoes. (They came from three plants!) and they were all Roma tomatoes. We made them into Marinara Sauce and enjoyed it along with the sandwiches I mentioned in a previous post. We also had the sauce over pasta on Tuesday. Mmmmm mmm good! I'll share the recipe at the end of this post.

Tomatoes ready for the pot.



Starting to simmer.



Cooked down and yummy. (In truth, this photo was taken after we ate some and set some aside for lunches.)



You can make it yourself. Here's how...


20-Minute Famigilia Marinara Sauce

¼ cup Olive Oil
¾ cup Onion, peeled and sliced thin
3 cloves Fresh garlic, chopped
2 lbs Tomatoes, fresh, sliced
⅛ tsp Crushed red pepper flakes
½ tsp Dried oregano
¼ cup White wine
¼ cup Fresh basil, shredded
1 tsp Black pepper
Shredded Romano Cheese

Blanche tomatoes and remove skins and core, place in a strainer and allow to drain till use.

Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Stir in onions and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and oregano; continue to cook until onions are soft and just beginning to turn golden. Add the tomatoes, stirring to blend with onions and garlic. Bring to a boil. Add red pepper flakes and white wine. Simmer, stirring often and mashing the tomatoes with a fork for 12-15 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. Add basil, salt and pepper.

Simmer until the marinara is the thickness of spaghetti sauce. Serve over pasta while hot with plenty of Romano cheese.

Enjoy!

Zucchini

It wouldn't be summer without a few zucchini growing in the garden. You have to be careful not to plant too many, else wise you end up with more zucchini than you know what to do with.



I put in three plants this year and for awhile it was hard to give away the excess. (Everybody else was doing the same.) Then a slip of the knife accidentally cut off the top of one of the plants and we were down to two. That's a more manageable number!

We've found many good recipes for zucchini, but this has been our favorite this year. It comes from www.recipezaar.com

Enjoy!

Tomato/Zucchini Casserole Recipe

Like it or Lump it! Zucchini (Courjette) is a fact of life, and true to its inherent squash quality, they do grow to an enormous size. What does one do with so much zucchini? Make zucchini bread for bake sales, for pot lucks, for gifts at Christmas, for hostess gifts. or make a lovely tomato/zucchini casseroles for a nice change. The addition of salt in this recipe is rather discretionary, given the salt factor in the cheeses. Govern yourself accordingly. Although the salt item is included in the recipe, personally, I omit it entirely (once again, because of the cheeses).

by TOOLBELT DIVA

1¼ hours | 15 min prep

SERVES 4

• 3 medium zucchini, sliced thinly
• 2 large tomatoes, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced fine
• 2 tablespoons onions, minced fine
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1. Preheat over to 375 F/190°C.
2. Combine cheeses, herbs, garlic, (optional salt), black pepper.
3. Thinly slice zucchini and tomatoes.
4. Butter an 8 inch, square pan.
5. Arrange 1/2 the zucchini slices in the pan.
6. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the cheese/seasonings mixture.
7. Add 1/2 the tomato slices
8. Sprinkle again with 1/4 of the cheese/seasonings mixture.
9. Add and arrange remainder of the zucchini slices
10. Sprinkle again with 1/4 of the cheese/seasonings mixture.
11. Top with remaining tomato slices.
12. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cheese/seasonings mixture.
13. In a small skillet melt butter and saute onion until soft.
14. Add bread crumbs and stir until the butter is absorbed.
15. Spread evenly over casserole.
16. Cover loosely and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
17. Remove cover and continue baking for addtional 20 - 25 minutes longer until top is crusty.