Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

1 ham bone or ham hock or 4 ounces salt pork
1 pound (2 cups) black eyed peas (dried)
water
1 pound collard greens, roughly chopped
2 onions, chopped
pepper to taste (1/2 tsp to start?)

Soak the dried peas for a few hours in a few quarts of water. You can do this overnight if it's easier. Drain and rinse the peas, then put in a stockpot and cover with water (about 2 inches higher than the peas). Put the ham bone, hock, or salt pork in and bring to a boil. Add the onions, collard greens, and pepper.

Reduce heat and cover the pot, leaving the top ajar a bit. Simmer for at least 1.5 hours, until the peas are softened. (Yes, the collard greens get cooked that long too!) If you used a meaty ham bone, remove that and let it cool so you can take the meat off it. Chop the meat and return it to the pot.

Serve with vinegar and hot sauce

Blue Cheese Burgers

• 1 pound ground beef
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 Tbs blue cheese, more or less
• 1/4 cup red wine

Mix together the beef, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Form patties and tuck the blue cheese into the middle, surrounded by ground beef.

Pour the wine into a shallow dish and lay the patties into the wine to soak 10 minutes or so.

Cook the burgers in a frying pan over medium high heat until done.

Round Steak Pepper Steak

I often only cook half a round steak at a time. The rest I slice in strips and freeze for a meal like this later.

1 pound round steak, cut in strips
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped celery
pepper to taste
1 cup sliced mushrooms or 1 small can
1 Tbs flour
1 cup chopped onion
1 Tbs oil
1 green pepper, seeded and cut in thin strips
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes

Mix up the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, soy sauce and a bit of pepper. Mix in the meat, flour, celery, mushrooms, and onion. Heat the oil in a pot with a lid. Dump the meat and vegetable mix in and cook over medium high heat for 5-10 minutes, letting the meat brown a bit and stirring periodically.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Add the green pepper strips and cook another 5-10 minutes, covered. Stir in the cherry tomatoes (or slices of larger tomatoes if that's what you have, or even a can of diced tomatoes!) and cook another 5 minutes.

Serve over rice or noodles. Served 3 of us with leftovers for 1 or 2.

Roast Garlic and Potato Soup

2 heads roast garlic
2 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 pounds potatoes (peeled and diced if raw)
6 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
chopped fresh chives for garnish

Heat the oil and cook the onions until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Squeeze the roast garlic cloves from their skins into the pot and mash the heads with the back of a spoon. Add the potatoes and stir until coated with the oil.

Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer. If your potatoes are raw, simmer about 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft. If your potatoes are already cooked, like mine were, simmer 10 minutes or so to blend the flavors.

Puree the soup with a hand immersion blender like this one if you have one, or in batches in a regular blender if need be. Add the chives and serve.

Roast Garlic

Rub the papery skins of a few heads of garlic, but don't remove it all as you want the head to stay together.

Slice 1/2" off the top to expose the garlic cloves. Put them in a small baking dish, cut side up, pour a bit of olive oil on the top and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Add enough hot water to make 1/8" depth in your baking dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 or 375 for 25 minutes. Take the foil off and bake another 15 minutes or so, until the garlic is very tender and golden.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

aka Roman Style Grilled Ham and Cheese

This is a cross between a grilled ham and cheese and french toast. I've seen recipes that call for adding slices of tomato but I never seem to cook ham during tomato season.

• 8 slices bread
• 4 slices ham
• 4 slices Fontina or Cheddar cheese or a mix
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbs milk
• 1 pinch of oregano
• a pat of butter

Assemble sandwiches with ham and cheese.

In a pie pan or other shallow dish, beat together eggs, milk, and oregano.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Just before placing the sandwiches in, put the butter in and melt.

Lay the sandwiches one at a time in the egg mix, giving them time to soak up the mix. Carefully turn them over so the other side soaks some up as well. Place on your griddle and cook until lightly browned on both sides and the cheese is melted.

You might need to eat these with a knife and fork.

Simple Mustard Meatloaf Squares

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• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef or mixture of beef, pork, and veal
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs, divided
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley or half that dried
• 2 Tbs mustard
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 3 slices bacon, cut in 1.5" lengths

Preheat the oven to 400.

Mix together all the ingredients except the bacon and 3/4 cup of the bread crumbs and spread in a 9x9 baking dish. Smooth the top.

In a food processor or by hand chop the bacon into small pieces and combine with the reserved crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the meatloaf.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

Super Cheap Meatloaf

This is from Cheap. Fast. Good!, from the authors of one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Desperation Dinners.

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup tomato juice or V8
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley or 1/4 cup dried
• 1 carrot, minced
• 2 ribs celery, minced
• 1/2 green pepper, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 pound ground beef

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix together the eggs, tomato juice, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir in the bread crumbs and oatmeal.

You can chop the vegetables by hand or in a food processor. Then mix them into the mixing bowl and stir well. Finally, add the meat and mix together with your hands. (If you'd rather use a mixer, just be sure not to overmix.)

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and spread the meat in it.

Top with your choice of toppings. I like:

• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 2 Tbs mustard
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar

This is actually two of their suggested toppings combined so feel free just to use brown sugar and mustard (maybe adding a bit more mustard) or ketchup and wine vinegar.

Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes, then let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Meatloaf with Maple Syrup Topping

I like baking my meatloaf in muffin tins now. I mix up the meat, divide between muffin cups, and only bake as many as I want that neat for dinner, freezing the rest for another night.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 onion, minced, or 1 Tbs dried onion flakes
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 cup (or maybe more?!) Worcestershire sauce
• dash of salt and pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup bread crumbs or crushed Ritz crackers or oatmeal

Mix it all together--but don't overmix. Divide between 6 muffin tins (sprayed or oiled)

Meatloaf Topping:

• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup ketchup

Spread a bit of the topping on each and save the rest to serve at the table.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Note: If you're a 2 pound meatloaf kind of person, double this and bake in a loaf pan for an hour. You might delay putting the maple syrup and ketchup topping on until after the first 30 minutes.

Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Tofu

This is basically from Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly: Quick Vegetarian Meals Your Kids Will Love! Revised Edition. We're not vegetarian but we do like vegetarian meals.

Both my carnivore-tending teenagers liked this "except for the peppers." I know they don't like cooked peppers. In fact, I cut the peppers in half, and served the other half of the red pepper sliced and raw, which they happily ate.

• 1 15.5 ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve the juice)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tomato, cut into wedges
• 2 1/2 Tbs cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 10.5 ounce package extra firm tofu, drained and cut into 1" cubes
• 2 Tbs sesame oil
• 1/2 green pepper cut into thin strips about 2" long
• 1 red pepper cut into thin strips
• 1 carrot, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into thin half circles

Mix pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, tomato, cornstarch mix, and ginger into a small bowl.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Stir fry the tofu for 10 minutes or so, until lightly browned on all sides. Add the peppers and carrots and stir fry another few minutes. Stir in the soy sauce mixture and cook about 5 more minutes, until thickened.

Add the pineapple chunks and heat through.

Goes great with rice and bean sprouts.

Bean Sprout Salad

• 1 pound bean sprouts
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions/scallions
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbs peanut oil

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add the bean sprouts, cooking at a simmer just a minute or so. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again, squeezing to remove any excess water. In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, sugar, green onions, and sesame oil. Just before serving, heat the peanut oil in a pan, then pour into the dressing ingredients and stir. Pour this all over the cooked and drained bean sprouts and serve.

Quick Chicken or Beef Gravy

You can save pan drippings in the freezer to make gravy later. But even if you don't have any drippings, you can make this improvised gravy from from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook: Anniversary.

• 2 Tbs minced onion (or shallots or scallions)
• 3 Tbs butter
• 3 Tbs flour
• 1/4 cup red wine or dry vermouth
• 1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth (depending on what kind of fake gravy you want!)
• leftover drippings if you have some or another tablespoon of butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in the butter until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add the vermouth or wine and 1/4 cup or so of the broth, continuing to stir until smooth. A whisk works well for this.

Add the rest of the broth gradually, stirring until mixed. Heat another five minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in leftover pan drippings or another tablespoon of butter if you don't have any. Taste and season.

Bread Pudding

This is a great way to use up bread that's a bit past it's prime. Leftover raisin bread, apple bread, or any other sweet bread makes a great bread pudding, but plain bread works well as well.

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 6 slices bread, buttered on one side

Turn the oven to 350 and put a kettle of water on to boil.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the milk until scalded (just below the boiling point). You'll see bubbles forming around the edge.

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour the egg mixture in, whisking all the while. Stir in the vanilla and raisins.

Place the bread, buttered side up, in a 9x9 pan, just fitting in a few layers as evenly as possible. Pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread.

You'll bake this in another pan filled with hot water. Fill a 9x13 pan (or something else that will hold your 9x9 pan) half full with boiling water. I find it's easier to slide my oven rack out, put the larger pan on the rack, put the pan with the bread pudding in it in the larger pan, then pour the boiling water in the outer pan so that it comes up to the halfway point of the smaller pan. Slide your rack carefully back into the oven.

Close the door and bake for 30 minutes or so, until the custard is set.

Leftovers, if there are any, make a great breakfast!

Catalina Apricot Chicken

• 1/2 a bottle Catalina or Russian salad dressing
• 1 packet onion soup mix
• 1/4 cup or so of apricot jam
• 4 bone-in chicken thighs

Mix the dressing, soup mix, and jam together.

Put the chicken in a baking dish, skin side up, and pour the dressing mix over the chicken.

Bake at 350 until done, about 1 hour.