Meatless Monday

This is what we are dining on this Meatless Monday in the arctic wonderland of South Jersey.....

                                     MEATBALLS!!!!!!!




This recipe is from my sister's mother-in-law, Addie and is your basic go-to meatball but I will add the recipe here, anyway for some of the 20-somethings who have never made a meatball - just remember this is coming from me, of 100% Irish descent and one who didn't learn from an Italian mom.  I just think these are easy and tasty and if it wasn't Meatless Monday - you could be making them right now!

1 1/2 pound meatloaf mix or ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs (I use fresh crumbs from leftover bread that I grind in cuisinart and keep in freezer in freezer bags - always have that way!)
2 beaten eggs
1 t parsley
1 t salt and 1/2 t pepper
1/2 cup of Parmesan (I used Asiago because that's all I had)
1/2 t garlic powder
a little milk if you need it to keep meat together

Combine all with hands and make into meatballs - Bake 450' 25 minutes.

But because it IS Meatless Monday and I know my son, Mike will be looking for a meatless night (he adheres to these things because he is living in Portland and they are serious about their bodies AND the environment)..........Anyone seen PORTLANDIA yet? IFX channel on Fridays - it is a riot!

What you can do is broil a nice piece of fish with a little olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper for 8 minutes or until it is flaky.  You can lay this on a bed of Herbed White Puree - I was emailed this recipe today and I plan to make it this week - looks so easy - you should have all the ingredients - healthy and tasty - don't worry if you don't have a cuisinart - just mash  with fork!  Here is the link......

http://www.realage.com/recipefinder/herbed-white-bean-puree-recipe-2158?kw=ist

If you like this recipe and try to make Meatless Monday part of your life  (which, in my opinion, sounds a lot like Fridays in Lent, but not as cool??) - maybe you'll have enough energy to go on a hike in the great Pacific Norhtwest like Mike!!!!!!!

Soup Au Pistou

Well it's a bit frigid out there and we all need something to warm us up!  In addition - soup is a great thing to have for leftovers.  Put some in your tupperware to heat the next day for lunch AND the next day.  You have to purchase lots of ingredients up front but it pays off all week and it's delish.  I tore this recipe out of some magazine that I have forgotten by now but I've also seen a similar one in one of the Barefoot Contessa's books.  It's a staple of the French and the Italians.  The first time I made it the recipe called for Parmesan to be sprinkled on top but this recipe claims aged Gouda is preferred - both work well plus the pesto/pistou to be swirled in - A MUST!  I purchased the pesto at our local Wegmans but the recipe here is a French version of pesto and more garlicky and well worth it to make IF YOU ARE SO INCLINED!

Soup Au Pistou


Heat 3 T of olive oil in a large pot.  Add 1 chopped onion, 1 small fennel bulb chopped and 2 chopped zucchini and cook over medium heat for about 10 min till browned.  Add 8 oz. chopped new potatoes, 2 chopped tomatoes (because there are no decent tomatoes to be found on the East Coast in January - I used a 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes), 2 quarts of chicken stock and 1 sprig of thyme.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.


Add 2 cups canned cannellini beans, drained and 2 cups canned kidney beans, drained - simmer, covered for another 15 minutes.  Add 6 oz. green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces and 1 oz. spaghetti, broken into pieces and cook for 10 more minutes.  Cover and let stand.


To make the pistou, put 6 garlic cloves, small bunch of basil leaves and 6 T olive oil in food processor and blend until well chopped.


To serve, heat the soup and pass round the pistou or pesto and shredded Gouda or Parmesan to be stirred in to taste - mmmmm


I served this to Harry and our latest house guest, niece, Mary.  They SAID they liked it - they ate it all week, I'll tell ya that...

The STUFFING!

My mom called it "filling."  We called it a "lot of work" but necessary and the greatest, all the same.  I grew up tearing the bread for the "filling" as did my sister and brothers (I think my brothers did but come to think of it - I can't remember them actually doing it)........My boys did it for my mom when she made it at our house over the years and then one year she recited the recipe to me over the phone (unsolicited) and said I would need this one day.  It really never occurred to me that I would be making it on my own at some point.  I scribbled it down and tucked it away.  Well, of course there did come the day that my mother was no longer with us and the responsibility came to me.  One or both of my boys was always around to help tear the bread but this year I found myself on my own.  That's no fun plus I figured now is the time to teach the next generation how to make the FILLING.  Enter my niece, Moira!

Moira is a wannabe cook.  Her favorite is Rachel Ray and her non-fave is Tyler Florence (she doesn't think he is very nice)......So Moira tore four loaves of white bread into bite size pieces.  To that she added 2 Tablespoons each of Thyme, Poultry Seasoning, Sage and Salt and Pepper.  We ground a huge bunch of fresh parsley in the Cuisinart and added to the bread.  We then sauteed an onion in one half stick of butter and browned the bread in that.  To that was added 1 cup of water with another half stick of melted butter.  We cooked that for about 10 minutes and the house instantly smelled like home.  Now I realize this "filling" sounds probably a little bland and where are the chestnuts and oysters and sausage and cornbread and all that other cool stuff?  I have been tempted over the years to try something new but there has always been great resistance in the family - it's all what you grow up with - this may have been a depression stuffing - my mom was full of stories of awful food during that time - like ketchup on bread with sugar instead of cookies!  In addition, we are Irish and not so good with the food all those years ago.  Nevertheless - Moira and I made another batch of stuffing and the family will be enjoying it soon at my sister's house for another year.

We weren't finished yet!  We still had to make an apple pie!  Moira doesn't even LIKE apple pie but she humored me and I peeled the apples while she sliced the apples with a little help from Uncle Harry.  This recipe is actually from Harry's mom.  He has many fond memories or her making TWO pies (and not just for Thanksgiving) because they had EIGHT kids and the pies barely making it to the table before they were gone.  He loved when she burned the crust before she even added the filling because he got to eat the crust that she would discard.  Anyway (back to me) - this is the first year I made my own crust.  I was so proud of myself because I had chilled it just like they said and took it out of frig and smashed it on the counter and started rolling and it came apart - just wouldn't work - I was frustrated - Moira took over because she had seen on tv how BARNEY did it.........I let her go and went about my other tasks and when I returned Moira had rolled out a BEAUTIFUL pie crust!

Here is Mrs. Noel's Apple Pie recipe.  

1 Cup of sugar

2 Tbspns flour

1 tspn cinnamon

1/2 tspn nutmeg

1/4 tspn ground cloves

Mix together with 5 or 6 peeled and sliced apples.  Sprinkle with 1 Tbspn of lemon juice.  Bake the pie crust covered in foil for 15 minutes on 450'.  Then add apple filling - reduce oven to 325' and bake for 1 hour.

This is Uncle Harry's favorite pie and if you want to keep him happy you learn his mom's recipe and bake the pie - it's that easy!  It also helps if you have a Moira around!