Posts tagged ‘comfort food’
Worth the re-print- Now more relevant than ever- Meal Planning – Why Now and Why emealsforyou?
Okay, so you have made it this far in your search for an understanding on why you should begin to plan your meals. This proves that you know your should be planning meals:
- To save money and time
- To feed your family better foods with less additives and preservatives
- To gather your family together to establish communication
- To make your family healthier and happier
Why emeals and why now?
- You want to begin planning but you just can’t get started
- You want to feed your family healthier meals
- Tough times mean you have to eat at home more
- Every time you go to the grocery you spend more than you wanted to
- You can’t decide what to cook
- You are tired of the same old recipes
- You know you will be better organized if you had a shopping list
- You really want to establish “family time”
- You feel guilty about all that “fast food”
With an emealsforyou membership you get the structure and support you need to make meal planning work. Recipes and meal plans are only a quick click away, complete with recipes scaled for the number of people you are feeding for each meal. A few more mouse clicks and you have your shopping list printed, in your pocket and are on the way to the store, and on the way to feeding your family healthier meals and saving money: the time savings and family times are added benefits.
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Recipe of the Week – Fall Comfort Food
(From the Vegetable Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Pot Roast with Roasted Vegetables
Expecting a Fall weekend I planned a great Fall menu for a dinner party with the neighbors. The new fireplace was ready and there is, at least in my mind, nothing that says Fall like a good pot roast, roasted veggies and finish up with apple crisp. Usually when you say the weather didn’t cooperate your mean it was rainy or cool but this was just the opposite, 90 degrees.
I have written on the pot roast and the apple crisp a while ago. (see Recipe of the Week and Apple Crisp.). I matched these two favorites with the roasted vegetables and came up with a true Fall Classic and wonderful meal; if I do say so myself. My wife called this a one-platter meal; that was a really big platter. The best part is there is some leftover pot roast and I am really looking forward to lunch.
Roasted Vegetables
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Vegetables |
| Meal: | Old-fashioned Comfort (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 3 | large | onion, yellow ,quartered |
| 3 | lb | carrots, fresh, whole |
| 1 | head | garlic, whole head |
| 3 | Tb | mustard, dijon |
| 7 | large | potatoes |
| 1 | Tb | rosemary, dried |
| 2 | Tb | paprika, sweet |
| 0.333 | cup | oil, olive |
| 2 | Tb | garlic powder |
| 1 | tsp | salt and pepper to taste |
See all of these recipes and more at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Back to Basics – Sunday Roasted Chicken
(From the Chicken Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Sunday Roasted Chicken
We found some New (red) potatoes at the local farmers’ market on Saturday and my wife said she would like to have some new potatoes with butter and parsley, just like her mom used to make. After a couple of weeks of high “intensity” food feasts it made sense to get back to basics. For me there is nothing like a great, roasted chicken to bring it back down to the ah!!!! refreshing dinnertime we all need once in a while.
Moist chicken, crisp skin and smooth, tasty gravy; there is nothing better to renew your belief in simple is good cooking. Homemade bread, some fresh tomatoes and capers rounded out a quick and easy panzanella salad. We even skipped dessert.
Sunday Roasted Chicken
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Chicken Entrée |
| Meal: | Mom’s Out of Town (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 6 | lb | chicken, whole, oven-stuffer |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | tsp | salt and pepper to taste |
| 2 | medium | lemons |
| 1 | medium | garlic, whole head |
| 1 | 14 oz. can | chicken broth |
| 1 | Tb | cornstarch |
| 1 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Rinse and dry chicken thoroughly. Cover outside with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper over skin. Cut one lemon in half; cut garlic head in half, and place both inside cavity of chicken. Place in an over-proof roaster pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, roast chicken for 15-17 minutes per pound or until juices run clear. Place broth and lemon, cut in half, in a saucepan on stove, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan, place pan on top of stove. Remove lemon from broth, add chicken broth, reserving 1/2 cup, to roasting pan and stir. Add cornstarch to reserved chicken broth, stir broth into roasting pan, and cook on low until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove garlic, discard garlic skin, and add cloves to gravy. Remove and discard lemon halves inside of the chicken.
Serve with gravy on side.
Recipe of the Week – Hot Roast Beef Sandwich
(From the Beef Entrée Collection at emealsforyou.com)
Hot Roast Beef Sandwich
Pot Roast when the weather outside is in the 80′s? Sure, why not. I originally posted about pot roast in November of 2008. (Recipe of the Week – Pot Roast ) I know, a winter month, but why do we relegate some of our favorite foods to certain times of the year. Pot roast falls under that comfort food category in my mind. Should we only seek out comfort foods when the weather is cold? Doesn’t it taste just as good in May as it does in November?
I made pot roast Saturday, just because I felt like it. One of the benefits of making a pot roast is having leftovers to make another meal of a few days later. I was working hard on a “home project”, temperature 86, humidity 86 when I found myself faced at 6 PM with a decision on dinner. Then I remembered the leftover pot roast. Bingo! Simple, deluxe diner food. I added some fries and a fresh salad from our garden. A meal Guy Fieri would be happy with. The only thing lacking from a great diner meal was the rice pudding. Ummm, maybe tomorrow.
Pot Roast
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Beef Entrée |
| Meal: | Weekly 3 (Quick Meals Planner) |
| 3.5 | lb | beef, roast |
| 1 | tsp | salt and pepper to taste |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 6 | cloves | garlic, chopped |
| 3 | medium | bay leaves, whole dried |
| 3 | medium | onion, yellow ,quartered |
| 1 | 12 oz can | beer |
| 1 | 10.5 oz can | beef consommé |
| 1 | Tb | Worcestershire sauce |
| 4 | Tb | water |
| 2 | Tb | cornstarch |
Spread salt and pepper over entire roast. Heat oil in a large, oven-roof pot. Brown roast on all sides. Add onion and onion browning slightly; add garlic and immediately add beer, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and consommé. Cover and cook on low on stove top or place in a 300 degree oven for at least 3 hours, until meat is fork tender. When done remove meat to a platter and cover. Mix water and cornstarch to make a slurry. Add to pan juices, bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thickened. Reduce heat, Cut meat cross grain and pour gravy over. Serve extra gravy on side.
Shown here with oven-roasted veggies.
Recipe of the Week – Old-fashioned Homemade Bread
(From the Breads category at www.emealsforyou.com)
Old-fashioned Homemade Bread
The weather is still a little chilly here. We had a week in the low 60′s and then the rain, which brought back the chilly weather. It’s a good day to bake bread. We have company coming next week and then Easter brunch here so I will begin to bake the breads I will serve. I usually bake it and freeze it until I need it; then simply put it in a warm oven just before serving.
This recipe comes to us via my partner, Chef Teresa. It is a wonderful addition to any meal and is great for those leftover sandwiches. Give it a try but be fore-warned; you ‘d better make two loaves as the first one will disappear while it is still warm from the baking.
Old Fashioned Homemade Bread
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Serves: | 12 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | Veggie – Veggie Brunch (Theme Meal Plans) |
| 2 | cup | water |
| 1 | cup | oats, old-fashioned rolled |
| 2 | package | yeast, dried |
| 1 | Tb | salt, table |
| 0.5 | cup | honey |
| 3 | Tb | butter, salted |
| 4.5 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
Pour two cups of boiling water over 1 cup of rolled oats. Let mixture stand for 1/2 hour. Mix two pkgs dry yeast into 1/3 cup wrist temperature water in a small bowl. To the oat mixture add 1 Tablespoon salt, 1/2 cup honey, and two tablespoons melted butter. Make sure mixture is at room temperature then stir in the yeast mixture. Gradually add 4 1/2 to 5 cups flour. Knead five to eight minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Put dough in large greased bowl and cover bowl with clean towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk. Punch it down and divide in half. Shape into two loaves and put in two large greased bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Brush melted butter over top of baked loaves.
Recipe of the Week – Beef Vegetable Soup
(From the Soups Collection at www.emealsforyou.com)
Beef Vegetable Soup
I will try not to jinx it but hopefully we are in the last days of this cold, snowy winter. For this post I will get back to my soup making recipes, although my wife reminds me that soups are good all year long. A hot bowl of soup on a cold day really hits the spot. My father used to make a huge pot of this soup on Saturdays in the winter when we were growing up. He would use up all the small portions of vegetables in those plastic bags in the back of the freezer. It’s a good excuse to clean out the frozen vegetables that have been taking up space.
If your grocery doesn’t have any beef soup bones in the case just ask the meat cutters for some, they always have some in the freezer and should charge you a small amount per pound. As for the soup meat, you can usually find this in the case but any beef will do; I usually look for the least expensive cut as it will cook for a long time and will be tender. Don’t add the salt until you are just about done cooking it as it will reduce and any salt added early will become more pronounced when done.
Give this soup a try, your family will like it and the house will smell great as you watch the last of the ice melt outside.
Beef Vegetable Soup
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 10 |
| Category: | Soups |
| Meal: | N/A |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 1 | lb | beef soup bones |
| 1 | lb | beef soup meat |
| 1 | large | onions, chopped |
| 4 | 15 oz can | beef broth |
| 1 | qt | water |
| 2 | lb | mixed vegetables, frozen |
| 1 | 15 oz can | tomatoes, diced |
| 0.5 | tsp | oregano, dried |
| 3 | medium | bay leaves, whole dried |
| 1 | Tb | garlic powder |
| 3 | pinch | salt and pepper to taste |
Heat oil in a large soup pot and soup bones and soup meat. Brown on all sides. Add onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add broth, water, vegetables, diced tomatoes, oregano, bay leaves and garlic powder. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for several hours, skimming off the foam that forms on the top. Remove bones and soup meat to a separate bowl; using a fork shred meat, discarding bones and fat. Place meat back in soup and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe of the Week – Comfort Food
hoagie
They go by different names, depending on what part of the country you are from. They are the foods you turn to when you just want something good; something familiar. It may be a hoagie (northeast); po’boy (New Orleans) or sub sandwich (west coast) and let’s not forget grinder, hero and Italian sandwich. You may choose to go with mayo, oil and vinegar or just plain; hot banana peppers or not… With the advent of the national chains they all blend together, taking with them some of what I think makes the sandwich special in my mind. Maybe I am different but I can’t wait to get back to Jersey and pick up a hoagie from the Varsity deli shop, no Subway for me.
pencil points
So now that we have taken care of lunch let’s look at dinner. For me it’s “pencil points”; the penne pasta that has a pointed shape at the ends, covered with some thick and rich tomato sauce. Where I grew up; in the east, the small independent restaurants always had a side of pencil points on the menu. We showed you our spaghetti sauce recipe back in June of 2008, Meal Planning – Winning the Trifecta. I like to serve mine with the chicken cacciatore found on emealsforyou.com.
So, go make yourself something “comfortable”; make enough for the whole family.
Recipe of the Week – Honey Moist Cornbread
(from www.emealsforyou.com/Breads/Honey Moist Cornbread)
My first introduction to cornbread was years ago when I was working as a Sheriff’s Officer at the county courthouse. We would stop at the coffee shop across the street and get toasted corn muffins with grape jelly. Now I am not a “jelly person”; usually too sweet for me but on that toasted muffin it seemed to go just fine. Jump ahead 20 years and my partner, Chef Teresa, posts this Honey Moist Cornbread recipe on www.emealsforyou.com and I figure what the heck, let’s give it a try. Well, my wife just loves it, says it is really moist and sweet and all the things you want in a cornbread.
Many make cornbread the “new-fashioned” way, open a box of mix, stir in water and pop it in the oven. Why not try it from scratch just once, you can always go back to the”easy” way but my money is on you really liking our recipe more. Cornbread is a very versatile staple; serve it with ribs, chili, chicken, or almost anything, even grape jelly. Enjoy!
Honey Moist Cornbread
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 6 |
| Category: | Breads |
| Meal: | Good Cheer for Homebound (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 1 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 1 | cup | corn meal, yellow |
| 0.33 | cup | sugar, white |
| 1 | Tb | baking powder |
| 0.33 | tsp | salt, kosher |
| 8 | oz | cream, whipping |
| 0.25 | cup | oil, vegetable |
| 3 | large | egg |
| 0.25 | cup | honey |
Heat oven to 400 degrees
Stir all dry ingredients then add the remaining ingredients
Pour onto a greased 9-inch pan
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
From the Good Cheer for Homebound (Share-a-Meal Plans) at emealsforyou.com
Recipe of the Week – Chicken Paprikash
(from www.emealsforyou.com/Chicken Entrees/Chicken Paprikash)
Tradition, not quite the loud and strong TRADITION sung about by Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof; but tradition none the less. Most of us probably have a meal that remains in our memory from our youth. One of those meals that always brings a smile to our lips. One we hopefully have continued today, passing along the comfort to the next generation and possibly, no hopefully, the one beyond that. Tradition.
My father had a rather large, 15 inch, copper-bottomed frying pan. About twice a month he would put that “puppy” on the stove and make wonderful, comforting Chicken Paprikash and dumplings. You knew what he was cooking as soon as you opened the back door. It was always amazing how many of us could get around the kitchen table and eat the seemingly bottomless pan of wonderful chicken and sour cream gravy. The chicken was always complimented by an endless supply of dumplings; solid, toothsome dumplings; not the light and fluffy kind made with Bisquik, but belly bombs, fulfilling, satisfying.
After my father died I beat my siblings to the pan; they still don’t forgive me. We continued to make the chicken and dumplings when our kids were growing up. It soon became their favorite as well; the “birthday” dinner of choice, in fact it became the dinner of choice of our neighbors’ kids. I am now happy to inform you that our kids make chicken and dumplings all the time themselves. I am sure that when their kids are old enough to ask for their own” birthday” dinner they too will choose the Chicken Paprikash. Tradition!
The dish is good, in fact it is very good, but I am not sure whether it is the food or the tradition that makes it special. Either way I invite you to start a “Tradition” in your home.
P.S. I have included the dumpling recipe as well, just in case.
Chicken Paprikash
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Chicken Entrée |
| Meal: | New Neighbors (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 2 | Tb | oil, olive |
| 2 | large | chicken breasts cut in half |
| 4 | medium | chicken thighs |
| 4 | medium | chicken legs |
| 1 | large | onion, yellow ,quartered |
| 1 | 15 oz can | chicken broth |
| 2 | Tb | paprika, sweet |
| 3 | Tb | flour |
| 8 | oz | sour cream |
| 3 | Tb | water |
Place oil in large pan, brown chicken, add onions and sauté for 3 minutes. Add broth to just cover chicken, sprinkle paprika on chicken. Reduce heat to simmer, cook for 20 minutes, until chicken is tender. Remove chicken to platter. Mix flour, sour cream and water in bowl, add some of the juice from the pan to temper, add to gravy to thicken. Salt to taste. Spoon over chicken and serve with dumplings.
Serve with a small side salad.
Dumplings
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Serves: | 4 |
| Category: | Starch |
| Meal: | New Neighbors (Share-a-Meal Plans) |
| 3 | cup | flour, all-purpose |
| 0.25 | tsp | salt, table |
| 0.25 | tsp | baking powder |
| 2 | large | egg |
| 4 | oz | water, hot |
Mix flour, salt, baking powder and eggs in mixer or food processor. Add just enough water to make a loose dough. Drop teaspoonfuls into salted, boiling water. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Dumplings will float. Drain and serve.
From the New Neighbors (Share-a-Meal Plans) at emealsforyou.com
Recipes versus Old Favorite Recipes – Rant
Cookbooks are like arm chairs; sounds crazy but let me explain. Cookbooks are a collection of recipes; kind of like the arm chair selection in a furniture store. To see whether we “like” the chair, whether it is comfortable or not, we have to sample it. Sit in it, move to the left, move to the right, maybe put our feet up to fully evaluate it. We have to take into consideration the quality of the store we are in. Now let’s look at color and material; lots to do here.
So how does that equate to cookbooks? We have many avenues for cookbooks and recipes. There is the old fashion book, and the new fashion Internet search. We pick up the book, look at the pictures, do a quick scan of the recipes and take it to the cashier. Now, at home with our feet up in our favorite chair, we open that cookbook and find exactly two recipes we think we like. Over the next few days we make these recipes and guess what? We find we like only one. So the end result is one good recipe for the cost of the cookbook, plus not just a little disappointment on our mindset. Each of us has that supposed “special” cookbook. I bought a Charlie Trotter, world-class Chicago chef, cookbook; impressed my friends. I quickly found out that Tuna-Wrapped Oysters with Saffron Infused Tomato Water just wasn’t me. Fifty bucks well spent, not.
Now let’s look at those favorite recipes and cookbooks, the ones with the smudges of chocolate and egg on the pages. The one where you can quickly find the recipe you always cook when you have to have something that works, mainly ’cause the book has so much “crud” on the page that it opens itself to the recipe. Ooohhh! This is my favorite chair, this is my comfort zone.
So what’s your point, you say. My point is you can buy all the cookbooks in the world. You can download all those recipes from the Internet. I am betting in the long run you will return to those old favorites, those recipes from chefs, and friends and maybe your mom that always work and bring back good memories. Sure it is okay; in fact you should be seeking out new “favorites”, just don’t think that more is better. Sit back in that comfy old chair and enjoy your recipe comfort zone. That’s my rant and I am sticking to it.
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