EEEKKKK...It's the Blob!

Ok, I know, I know...Meat Loaf.  The bane of many a young kid's existence.  But not all Meat Loaf is the same!  I prefer mine kind of plain, I don't like chunks of unidentifiable matter hanging out in there.  So here's my take on it.  Maybe this is a good time to overcome your childhood fears of the Meat Blob!!

The Stuff

• 1-2 lbs Ground Beef (you can substitute ½ Ground Turkey or Buffalo if you like)
• 1 Egg
• ¼ Cup BBQ sauce or Ketchup (I prefer BBQ sauce)
• 1 ¼  Cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Making it Work

• Plop everything into a large mixing bowl & squish with your hand (stop it…I mean it…the meat won’t kill you, really!).
• Keep squishing
• …and squishing
• Once all of the stuff is well blended, dump it into a loaf pan (or you can make a round blob & put it on a cookie sheet) & press it in so it compacts a little.
• Put a squirt of BBQ sauce on top & rub it in (this makes a nice, nummy crust)
• Bake at 350* for about an hour. 

If you have any leftovers, cut thin slices & put it on white bread with some mayo.  Sounds weird, but it makes a great cold sandwich.  This also freezes really well.  I like to re-heat it by smothering it in some brown gravy & wrapped in foil (it helps keep it moist) in the oven…don’t nuke it.

IF the meat was fresh (never frozen), you can also freeze it unbaked.  When you’re ready to bake it, put it in a COLD oven, then turn it on.  You’ll probably need to bake for an additional 30 minutes or so.

Faerie GothMother's Thought of the Day...


Be completely content being perfectly UN-perfect!

STOCK it to me!

Let’s dish about stock for a sec…Soup stocks are relatively easy to make & are extremely versatile in the kitchen.  Stocks are a little heartier than your average broth and make your soups, stews, etc. taste oh-so-good!  Here are some basic stocks you can make as a base for anything from soup to gravies.

I like to freeze half of my stock in ice cube trays for easy use in gravies & other dishes.  The rest can be frozen in a container or in a zip lock freezer bag (if you lay it flat, you’ll save room in the freezer).

Vegetable Stock

The Stuff

• 3 Medium to Large Carrots, broken in half
• 1 large Onion (white or yellow), cut in quarters…leave the skins on!!!
• 2 Stalks of Celery, leave the leaves on & cut into very large pieces
• 1 Bayleaf
• 1 or 2 whole cloves of garlic
• 2 TBSP Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp whole Peppercorns (or 1/8 tsp of ground pepper)
• 2 TBSP Tomato Paste (optional)
• Water

Making it Work

• Add everything to a large stock pot or dutch oven.  Cover with water leaving about two inches of head space.  
• Bring to a simmer (small bubbles – don’t boil it).  Simmer for 2 hours.  
• Pour stock into a large bowl using a strainer/colander.  
• Let cool & store.

...and throw away those used up veggies.  They've done their duty and given you all of their vitamins & nutrients (they're also pretty tasteless by now).

Chicken Stock

The Stuff

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 Large Carrot, broken in half
• 1 medium Onion (white or yellow), cut in quarters…leave the skins on!!!
• 2 Stalks of Celery, leave the leaves on & cut into very large pieces
• 1 Bayleaf
• 1 or 2 whole cloves of garlic
• 2 TBSP Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp whole Peppercorns (or 1/8 tsp of ground pepper)
• Water

Making it Work

• Add everything to a large stock pot or dutch oven.  Cover with water leaving about two inches of head space.  Bring to a simmer (small bubbles – don’t boil it).  Simmer for 3-4 hours (you may need to add some additional water as it cooks).  Pour stock into a large bowl using a strainer/colander. 
• Let stock cool & store.

Fish out the chicken from the muck in the colander & chop it up.  Throw it in a freezer bag & freeze.  This can be used when you use the stock to make Chicken Soup or you can add the chicken to some spaghetti sauce or something for dinner tonight.

If you like you can also use about a pound of any other chicken you like (thighs, bone-in breasts, wings,  etc.).   Yes, the broth does get a richer flavor using the bone in chicken with the skin, but I like to cut the cholesterol & use boneless/skinless.
Even better is using the carcass of a whole chicken you had for dinner the night before.

Beef Stock

The Stuff

• *Beef (See notes below)
• 1 Large Carrot, broken in half
• 1 medium Onion (white or yellow), cut in quarters…leave the skins on!!!
• 2 Stalks of Celery, leave the leaves on & cut into very large pieces
• 1 Bayleaf
• 1 or 2 whole cloves of garlic
• 2 TBSP Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp whole Peppercorns (or 1/8 tsp of ground pepper)
• Water

Making it Work

• Add everything to a large stock pot or dutch oven.  
• Cover with water leaving about two inches of head space.  Bring to a simmer (small bubbles – don’t boil it).  
• Simmer for 4-5 hours (you may need to add some additional water as it cooks).  
• Pour stock into a large bowl using a strainer/colander. 
• Let stock cool & store.

Fish out the beef from the muck in the colander & chop it up.  Throw it in a freezer bag & freeze.  This can be used when you use the stock to make Beef Soup or you can add it to some BBQ sauce & put it on buns for dinner tonight.

Beefy Notes: Here are some options for beef to make your stock…

• 1 small London Broil cut into 1 inch pieces
• Beef Bones – These tend to render a more fatty stock which will need to be skimmed once it cools.    

I usually use the London Broil because it’s more lean than the bones – I sometimes add a couple of beef bouillon cubes to my stock to amp up the beefy flavor.

Fish/Seafood Stock

The Stuff

• *Fish Bones/Fish Heads/Fish Tails, Shrimp Shells/Crab Shells
• 1 Large Carrot, broken in half
• 1/2 medium Onion (white or yellow), cut in quarters…leave the skins on!!!
• 2 Stalks of Celery, leave the leaves on & cut into very large pieces
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 TBSP Kosher Salt
• 3 or 4 whole Peppercorns
• Tomato Paste (optional)
• Water

Making it Work

• Add everything to a large stock pot or dutch oven.  Cover with water leaving about two inches of head space.  
• Bring to a simmer (small bubbles – don’t boil it).  Simmer for 2-3 hours (you may need to add some additional water as it cooks).  
• Pour stock into a large bowl using a strainer/colander. 
• Let stock cool & store.

You won’t be fishing anything out of this baby…dump all the gumk in the trash & take it out right away!

*You can go to your local fish monger (I love that word…monger  ;o), and ask them for these items.  I’m a bit squeamish & have issues with using fish heads.  I don’t like my food staring up at me from the pot (I know, I know…Anthony Bourdain would have a fit LMAO), so I use fish tails instead.

Faerie GothMother's Corner...

Is it really possible to kill 2 birds with 1 stone? And why? What did the poor birds do to deserve that? Why not kill 2 clowns instead? Now they're scary!

What a bust!

So...I set out today to try a new Chicken Soup recipe.  Well, let me say that this one was a definite F-L-O-P!!  LMAO, yes, even Faerie GothMother has cauldron mis-fires now & then.  It all started out sooo good & my house smelled yummylicious...then I added the Yucca.  I've eaten Yucca before, but had never cooked with it.  I  figured that it would take the place of potatoes (since I was out of them).  I dutifully peeled & chopped my yucca & added it to the pot.  3 hours later, it was still not done.  I finally gave up.  My soup cooked too long & my veggies were mushy (except for the yucca which is still not done ;o)

I'm gonna try again next weekend, but this time I'm going to cook the yucca separately earlier in the day & add it to my soup at the last minute just to heat it through.  I'll letcha know how it comes out.  *sigh*

For those who don't know...Yucca is a root vegetable common in latin dishes.  It tastes like a potato, only a little milder.  The Puerto Rican restaurants serve it drizzled with a garlic butter.  OMG!  It's scrumptious!!  The first time I had it, my friend Evelyn had taken me to Pollo Tropical, which is kind of like a Puerto Rican McDonald's (only better).  The food there was delish!  (I would recommend trying the yucca & the roasted chicken).

Late Night Zombie Snacks

Let’s face it…teenage boys are never full.  They’re food zombies on a full-time feeding frenzy.

This dish came about as a late-night desperate attempt to feed 6 starving teenage boys that were spending the night at our house.  I had nothing in the house to give them and started looking through the fridge, freezer & pantry.  All I could find was a package of frozen chicken nuggets & some tortilla wraps that I had left over and I almost always have shredded cheese in the house (really!  What doesn’t taste better with cheese melted all over it…well OK not chocolate, but you catch the drift).

Low and behold!  This became the #1 requested item in our house.  We had one of the guys that would pretty much beg for them LOL!  And buy the cheap chicken nuggets for this…they work just as well & won’t break the bank if you’re feeding a bunch of people (particularly teenage boys).

The stuff

• Chicken Nuggets, cooked according to package directions (or reheated Chicken Chunks)
• Small sized tortilla wraps (I prefer flour, but corn tortillas work well, too)
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese or Shredded Mexican  Mix Cheese
• BBQ Sauce
• Honey Mustard

Making it Work

• Pre-heat your oven to 350*
• Place a tortilla on your cutting board
• Pop 2 chicken nuggets on the tortilla lengthwise so they make a line (it’s ok if you have to overlap them a little)
• Place a nice pile of the shredded cheese on top of the chicken
• Squirt some BBQ sauce or Honey Mustard over the cheese…not too much, just enough to taste (this step is optional, you can always just dip them in the sauce if you like)
• Take the 2 ends (at the end of the chicken line) & fold them over
• Holding those ends, wrap the sides over (I just start flipping the wrap over, like wrapping a present)
• Place seam side down on a cookie sheet
• Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, so the cheese has a chance to melt.

Place your Zombie Snacks on a plate & carefully toss it onto the table where the hungry zombies are foaming at the mouth in hunger.  Watch your fingers!!!  Serve with more BBQ & Honey Mustard.  Make enough of these & those zombies might even take the trash out without complaining for once ;o)

A Word from Faerie GothMother

Living with small children is like living with drunken monkeys!!

Chicken Chunks

The Stuff

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken breasts or tenderloins (cut into bite-sized chunks)
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
• ¼ Cup Butter or Margarine
• 2 Cups Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Making it Work

• Preheat your oven to 350*
• Dump the chicken chunks into a large (gallon size) zippered plastic baggie
• In a microwave safe bowl, add the margarine & the Worcestershire Sauce and nuke until the butter is melted.
• Pour the melted margarine mixture over the chicken & smoosh around so that it coats all of the chicken.
• Dump the breadcrumbs into the bag & seal (try to leave air so your bag is kind of like a bubble) and shake it up so the breadcrumbs cover all the chicken pieces.
• Place coated chicken pieces on a greased baking sheet (cooking spray works awesome for this).
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is done.

This also works great with artichoke hearts.  I’ve used canned, jarred & frozen and they all come out yummy.  You can do the chicken & artichoke hearts at the same time, too.  The artichokes come out all buttery & yummy when you bake them this way!

Faerie GothMother’s Weight Loss Tip of the Day:

Use generous amount of Superglue as lip gloss.

The Un-Broccoli Broccoli Slaw

This is one of my mom’s favorites.  Bring this to your next get-together or picnic or go ahead & eat it all yourself ;o)  It’s fabulously tasty in the extreme and easy as sin!  And if you’re not a broccoli lover, keep your panties on…you can’t taste the broccoli.

The Stuff

1 bag of pre-shredded broccoli slaw

1 jar  Coleslaw dressing (I like Marie’s - in the produce section of your grocery store)

1 Cup dried cranberries

1 cup walnut pieces

Making it Work

Ummm, this one’s a no brainer.  Dump everything in to a large mixing bowl & stir well (or save yourself a dirty wooden spoon & put the lid on & shake it around ;o)

Variations

To make this a complete meal, add chopped, cooked chicken or shrimp (I prefer chicken because I think the shrimp kind of gets lost in there)

If you don’t like creamy dressings, try raspberry vinaigrette instead

Shhhh….Don’t Tell the Vermicelli!

The Stuff

• 1 LB cooked Vermicelli or Angel Hair Pasta
• 8 good sized Garlic Cloves, minced (If you’re not a fan of huge garlic flavor, you can thinly slice the garlic which will give you a milder flavor)
• ¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Butter or Margarine (to help keep the oil from burning)
• 4 or 5 Anchovies, super finely minced

HEY!  Shhhh!  Stop freaking out already!!  Anchovies aren’t as scary as you think.  When you chop them up & sauté them in oil, they kind of just melt away & leave a wonderfully, rich, salty flavor that has absolutely NO fish taste at all.  Trust me on this one, my teenager & his friends love this (I didn’t tell them until after they ate it what was in it ;o)  Don’t fear the anchovy…embrace his flavor magic.  You’ll be glad you did.

Making it Work

• Heat up a large sauté pan.  Once it’s heated, turn the temperature down to medium
• Pour  in the olive oil & the butter or margarine
• Dump in the anchovies, stirring constantly.  They’ll melt…no, really ;o)
• Once the  anchovies have melted, add the garlic.  Sauté until the garlic is cooked through (about 8 minutes or so).
• Toss with cooked Vermicelli or Angel Hair Pasta

Now go have yourself a nice glass of red wine and congratulate yourself on overcoming your fear & loathing of the little fishies.  Oh, and since your breath reeks of garlic now, you might as well be useful & go slay some evil vampires ;o)

Faerie GothMother’s pearls of wisdom:

Next time the cashier asks you if you want "Paper or Plastic" Just say - "Doesn't matter to me, I'm bi-sacksual."