Spiraled Meatloaf Step By Step

I honestly do not remember where I came up with this idea at, but this is something I've made for many years. I can remember doing it out in Tucson, Connecticut (many moons ago), Houston, and now here. It has followed me all over the place. I've had several people try and wrestle the recipe away from me over the years, but have never parted with it. Until today. This feeds about 4 people.

1lb Ground Beef (not lean!)
1 Egg
2 tsp Chinese Hot Mustard
1 tsp Worechestershire Sauce
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs (plain)
1 tbsp Oregano, dried
2 tbsp Parsley, dried
1/2 tsp Marjoram, ground
1/2 tsp Thyme, ground
1 Celery Stalk, diced small
1 Carrot, peeled and diced small
2 Mushrooms with stems, cleaned and diced small
1/2 cup Baby Spinach

1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan with pam.

2) Insmall bowl, beat together egg, mustard and worechestershire. In a large bowl, gently mix together the meat, bread crumbs, garlic and egg mixture. Set in refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3) In another small bowl, mix together the oregano, parsley, marjoram and thyme. Set aside.

4) Dice up the remaining ingredients except the spinach. Set aside.

5) On a flat surface, lay out a piece of plastic wrap flat, about a foot wide. Flatten out meat to no more than 1/4" thickness, in a rectangle.

Evenly sprinkle the herb mixture

then the celery

and top it with the spinach.

Next, top it with the carrot and mushrooms and gently press down across it to mush everything together.

6) Using one end of the plastic wrap, gently begin to roll up the meat, in a jelly roll fashion.

Once it is finished, place the prepared loaf pan over the top of the roll so that the seam will be on the bottom on the pan.

Flip it upright, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes at 350.

7) Remove foil, and using wide spatula, gently tip the pan to drain out the grease. Return foil and increase the heat to 375 for another 30 minutes. Remove the foil in the last 10 minutes to brown up. Let rest 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Ziti Pizza Bake

One night I was just too tired to make dinner. Yes, truly its so! I had found some personal sized pizza shells on my last shopping trip and thought to pull those out and make us a quick treat. I loaded up one with lots of pepperoni for my guy, but none for me since I'm allergic to the pepper part. Which means I had LOTS of pepperoni left over. So, I came up with this great baked pasta dish that was yummy and flavorful. Not to mention how quick and easy it was!

This recipe makes about 6 servings... unless my hunny is around then it drops to about 3.

1lb Ziti Pasta, raw

1 cup Speghetti Sauce

1/2 cup Pasta Water

1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

1 tsp Garlic, minced

30+ Pepperoni Slices, sliced in half

1 cup Spinach, fresh and stemmed

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

Salt & Pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 350. Line casserole dish in foil and spray with live Olive Oil.

2) In large pot cook pasta, drain (reserving 1/2 cup of the water) and set aside.

3) In same pot, whisk together the sauce and pasta water, add in peppers and let cook 3 minutes, stirring often. Add in garlic and pepperoni and stir. Add in pasta and and spinach, toss to incorporate all ingredients and pour in prepared casserole. Sprinkle with parmesan and then mozzarella.

4) Bake, uncovered about 10 minutes until cheeses are bubbly. Then plate up!

Potatoes Au Gratin ala Meal

Once again I have come up with another way to use up some of those Holiday leftovers. If your like me, the same old things just doesn't cut it anymore. We want new and exciting flavors for our taste buds to enjoy.

To accomplish this feat, I was able to whip out my brand new Black and Decker 10 Cup Food Processor... Santa was sooo good to me this year! I was caught doing the happy dance while the sharp blades made short work of my potato slicing. I'm currently working on more ideas that would involve me using it! Like the perfect Pizza Dough tomorrow!

OK... on to the meal itself. This recipe serves about 6. Adding and subtracting ingredients is a snap so if you do not have something on hand, just improvise!

mmmm Just LOOK at all the cheesy goodness!


1 cup Half & Half
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Cayanne Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
4-6 Potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 cup Gruyere Cheese, grated
1/2 cup Colby Jack Cheese, grated
1 cup sliced Mushrooms
1 cup Turkey & Ham, cooked and chopped
1 cup Spinach, ribboned

1) Preheat oven to 350. Line a casserole dish in foil and spray with butter flavored oil.

2) In medium saucepan mix together cream, milk, cayanne and salt. Bring to boil and add half the potatoes. Let simmer uncovered 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spatula and remove to prepared dish with slotted spoon. Add remaining potatoes into cream sauce and simmer another 5 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, Spread first batch of potatoes in an even layer in prepared dish. Layer on gruyere cheese, mushrooms, turkey, ham and finally spinach. Then cover with second batch of potatoes by pouring them straight on top and spreading out.

Inside this yummy goodness!

4) Bake, uncovered for 45-50 minutes until potatoes are tender all the way through. Sprinkle the colby on top and return to oven for another 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and turned a light brown.

Spanakopita or Spinach Pie

Yep, the day after Thanksgiving you won't be finding any old Turkey dishes here! This here gal isn't too traditional. I prefer my turkey at someone elses house! No huge clean up for me! My hunny and I had our Turkey Dinner down at the Big Bend Lodge. All you can eat buffet with all the trimmings an no dishes! What more could a gal want? How about this view we had while scarfing down dinner?!

OK, so you didn't click into the blog for pictures of our trip. But you have to admit, it WAS a great view!

So, here is a classic Greek dish by way of FAR West Texas. Spinach Pie in a flaky phyllo crust to wash down all that turkey you all ate yesterday!

9oz package Fresh Spinach

1lb Ground Beef

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Butter

2-3 tbsp Garlic, chopped

8oz White Mushrooms, chopped

2 tbsp dried Dill

1 tsp Chili Powder

Phyllo Roll

1 Egg, beaten with 1 tsp water

Parmesan (or 4oz Feta crumbles)

1-2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (or to taste)

1) Cook spinach in salted water until wilted, about 10 minutes. Strain and leave in colander to cool.

2) In large skillet, brown meat and strain off excess grease. In same pan, add oil and melt butter. Add garlic and cook about 2 minutes then add mushrooms, dill, chili powder and return beef to pan. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Pour meat over spinach mixture and let cool.

3) Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking sheet with Olive Oil Spray.

4) Gently lay out one sheet of phyllo on pan, making it drape over edge about 1 1/2-2 inches. Repeat with 3 more sheets to cover pan bottom. Brush all with egg mixture and place two more sheets down the middle.

5) Spread spinach mixture evenly over dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and red pepper.

6) Layer remaining phyllo sheets across top, brushing each with egg wash until finished. Wrap overhanging dough over top.

7) Cut pie into diamond shapes. Place in oven for about 30-45 minutes. You will need to recut the pieces before serving.

Flounder Florentine

Here is something that my own hunny gobbled up. I had to integrate about four different recipes to get this to come out right with the ingredients I was able to get my hands on. Living so far out west makes it extremely hard to find decent seafood. We seem to be on the tail end of all shipping lines. This means that most things are a few days to a week over the due date. I was really lucky to come across flounder fillets that hadn't expired yet. This recipe serves 1-2 depending on the appetite. You can easily double it though.

2 Flounder Filets

4 cup Chicken or Vegetable Broth

Salt

Spinach, fresh, chopped

3 tbs Butter

2 tbs Flour

1/2 tsp Cayanne

1/2 cup Milk

Parmesan

1) Preheat broiler to 450. Grease glass baking pan (glass pie plate works well)

2) In medium saucepan bring broth to boil. Add flounder and return to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes until fish flakes with fork. Remove fish to plate and keep warm. Add spinach and salt to broth and simmer about 4-5 minutes until spinach wilts. Pour all into strainer and return pan to heat.

3) Place spinach in bottom of baking pan and then place fish on top.

4) Melt butter in pan. Add flour and cayanne and stir until flour thickens and turns a light brown.  Slowly add in the milk and stir utnil it thickens again. Pour white sauce over fish and sprinkle with parmesan. Broil at 450 just until fish is browned, about 10 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it as oven heat varies.