What we buy around here in our local Safeway™ and most grocery chains is not Kielbasa but it’s not, trust me.   Authentic Polish Kielbasa is a delicious delicacy that can only come from age-old recipes and careful production by master butchers and chefs. Sorry, Hillshire Farms does not qualify. It’s some type of meat that is flavored to taste something like the real deal. I am always uninspired when cooking with it because once you cook with the real thing it’s hard to go back to an imitation. Like so many things epicurean I guess.

Definition: [kihl-BAH-sah; keel-BAH-sah] Also called kielbasy or Polish sausage, this smoked sausage is usually made of pork, though beef can also be added. It comes in chunky (about 2 inches in diameter) links and is usually sold precooked, though an occasional butcher will sell it fresh. Kielbasa can be served whole or cut into pieces as part of a dish.

There are many types of Kielbasa that can be purchased including Dried, Kiska, Big Party and Wedding. The Wedding Kielbasa is my favorite. The cuts of fresh meat inside the already lean pork sausage are bigger and chunkier than all the others, not ground up like hamburger.  Each link is smoked to perfection and contains a bit more garlic than the usual suspect. As a kid, we’d do weddings and banquets where we served over 300+ lbs of Kielbasa in a couple hours! Tons of the stuff. The neighborhood (and me) would smell for a week.

Hapanowicz Brothers Market in upstate NY is a place where the Kielbasa runs like the salmon of Capistrano (a line from one of my favorite movies). Like me, if you’ve tried different Kielbasas and experienced the best, you’ll understand what makes Hapanowicz Kielbasa something special.
In 1916, Anna and Walter Hapanowicz bought a grocery business on Nichols Street in East Utica, NY. In 1924, after eight successful years, the couple opened a second market in West Utica and the two stores continue to flourish today producing its 100 year old recipe famous Kielbasa and homemade cold cuts.
Knowing my wife and I were spending Christmas in Florida with my Mom, and knowing that we wanted her to make “her” Borsch soup like she does every year (sour cream based soup with potatoes, Wedding Kielbasa, dill, chopped egg, etc), I called Leonard Hapanowicz, one of the sons running the business, and asked him to ship a surprise gift box of the best mix of Kielbasa. Leonard wouldn’t stop laughing. So, for $142.00, including shipping, I received 50lbs (yes 50!) of all types of fresh Polish sausage. That’s under $2.50 a pound. I also sent a box to each to my brothers, whom I know considered this the best present under the tree – stinkiest, but the best!

I guess we need help.

Feel free to call or go online http://www.hapskielbasa.com and drop my name. Tell Leonard you want the “Lichorowic gift pack”. He’ll treat you right. After he stops laughing. Good people.

Here are two of the easiest and beloved dishes to try if you’re lucky enough to have a nice Kielbasa in your fridge. They’re passable with Hillshire but the point is the right flavor seep from the Kielbasa is what truly makes the dish.

Hoppin’ Joshu
Joshu is Polish for John, so this is my take on the classic Hoppin’ John which alternatively contains ham. It’s been said that eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day brings one good luck for the New Year. I can’t argue with the results

1 tbs            Olive Oil
1 Cup          Kielbasa, sliced into medallions
1 Med          Onion, sliced
2 whole      Garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup            Black-eyed peas, soaked & rinsed
½ cup         Brown Rice
½ cup         Wild rice
2 tbs             Parsley, fresh & chopped
1 tsp              Tabasco or other hot sauce (feel free to get religion here)
¼ tsp           Cayenne (red) pepper, ground
½ tbs           Sea salt
4 cups          Water

Heat the oil in a heavy 2 qt ovenproof casserole over medium heat. Add the Kielbasa, onion, garlic and sauté until the onions are golden.

Add to the casserole the Black Eye Peas, brown and wild rice, parsley, Tabasco, cayenne, sea salt, water and mix.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring all ingredients to boil on stovetop.
Cover and bake in the oven for 50 -60 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed by the peas and rice and is tender to your liking. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Note: You can cook this on a stovetop over medium heat for the same amount of time.
Kielbasa with Polskim Sosie
(Kielbasa in Polish Sauce)

A classic polish sauce with consist of beer and sugar. Those that have it for the first time will want it again.

1 cup                  Water
1 cup                  Beer (lager or ale)
1 whole             Kielbasa Ring, Wedding if you can find
2 Med                 Onion, sliced
2 whole             Garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs                    Butter
1 tsp                   Flour (more or less a needed)
2 tbs                  White Vinegar
½ tsp                Beef flavored base
4 tbs                   Sugar

In a large cast iron pan, add the water and beer and bring to a boil. Add the Kielbasa, onion and garlic and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the onions and set aside while retaining the liquid.

In a separate saucepan, brown the butter and blend in the flour. Slowly add 1 strained cup of the liquid from the Kielbasa pan. Stir toughly. Stir in the vinegar and the beef base and sugar and add the strained onions. Add liquid until desired thickness is achieved. Serve the Kielbasa with boiled potatoes and smother everything with the sauce.

Brian L. Lichorowic
This time of year people pull out all the stops.   It’s the holiday party season. Caroline Helmly, who along with her husband Jack, host a wonderful holiday event, tells me of her secret recipe for her delicious Beef Bourgogne. “Four bottles of wine in the dish, one in the cook”. ‘Atta girl !..   A true Julia Child inspired methodology. It was delicious.

I’m still at a loss to understand why we only do this the last two month of the calendar year, but we do. No one ever lays out a Turkey feast with mincemeat pies and cookies at tax time.

My wife and I are blessed to be invited to break bread with our good friends and family. Every year, there are always a few dishes that floor me.  Some, amazingly good and some…lets say of “questionable cuisine”.  Every year I find one that I say to myself, “gotta write that one down”.

The winner of the Questionable category this year goes to my Mother-In laws neighbor, Tammy, located in Orlando, Florida  who found a side dish recipe in Family Circle™ Magazine and was nice enough to construct and transport it to Thanksgiving dinner.  It consisted of canned fruit cocktail mixed with a few cups of trail mix (nuts raisins dried apricots etc), marshmallows and a large amount of crumbled Reese’s peanut butter cups on top.  She then baked the concoction for 20 minutes. Even now, I am breaking out in hives. I can’t handle anything with Reese’s peanut butter cups on the same plate at my Turkey with stuffing, potatoes and gravy.  But we ate it, smiled and reserved the largest Tupperware for that item.

At the other end of the spectrum, these are dishes offer to us by our beloved friends and family.  It is my sincere wish for you to enjoy them with yours

Ricotta & Herb Stuffed Pan Roasted Chicken with Pomegranates & Young Spinach

My big brother usually finds a way to tie in all the aspects of cuisine; taste, appearance and plating. This dish just looks like Christmas. Getting the recipe from him is another matter. He doesn’t write anything down and he usually can’t make the same thing twice. But he’s got this one down pat.  I had to watch him make it then try it myself.  Any type of Poultry can be used. Guinea Fowl, Cornish game hens or plain old Chicken (I used one of the Ashires farms roasters)

2.5 lbs                                Poultry ( preferred Deboned. Ask your butcher to do it)
4 oz                                    Ricotta Cheese
1 handful                        Fresh Thyme leaves, chopped fine
½ handful                        Fresh sage leaves, chopped fine
4 glugs                                Olive oil
½ tsp                                    Butter
1 clove                                 garlic, smashed
¼ cup                                   White Wine
1 whole                        Pomegranate Seeds (just the seeds- skin and yellow pith removed)
3 cups                                    Spinach, fresh & young & thoroughly washed
To taste                                    Sea salt and cracked pepper

In a bowl beat together the Ricotta, thyme, sage with a dash of salt and pepper.

Using two fingers, CAREFULLY, part the skin from the chicken pieces DO NOT SEPARATE. With a teaspoon, evenly stuff the ricotta mixture into the gaps under the skin. When done, pull the skin around the piece so it tight.

Preheat over to 425° heat an oven safe pan, add 2 glugs of olive oil and the legs and thighs of the fowl (skin side up) and cook for 5 minutes until crisp and golden on each side, Add the breasts, skin side up. Add butter, garlic and wine. Place in oven for 25 minutes, then add Pomegranate seeds, cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove form oven and place on stovetop and add the Spinach. Mix in lightly. To let it wilt just a bit.

In the bottom of the pan is a great sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper is necessary but it should be wonderful.

Plating. In the center of you plate add a small amount of wild rice. Place two pieces of fowl around it @10 and 2 and spoon the sauce with pomegranates and spinach all over everything.
Wonderful stuff..
Serve with these…

“Blow Out My Aorta” Baked Onions

This is a treat to have something like this on your plate at the holiday because you surely you can’t have these on a regular basis. Anything that starts with Cream and adds cheese. God love ya.
It’s a great, delicious, bad example. Pick a good size onion and be aware the tops and bottoms you trim off are to be saved and chopped for the filling!

1 med                           Onions, (tennis ball size) White preferred, peeled
4 slices                         Pancetta or Bacon
2 whole                        Garlic cloves, chopped fine
4 twigs                         Fresh Rosemary, chopped
8 tbs                             Heavy Cream
¼ cup                             Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 glugs                         Olive oil

Boil the onion in plenty of water for 15 minutes, remove and allow to cool. Remove the top inch from each onion, Chop the tops and set aside. If need trim the stalk end so they sit flat in a roasting pan. Cut a heaping tablespoon size out of the inside of each onion. Chop and add to the tops set aside.

Pre heat over to 400°. Heat a saucepan; add a glug of olive oil. Add the chopped onion, garlic and ¾ of the rosemary. Sauté for a couple minutes until onion soften a bit.  Turn heat down and add cream and stir in Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Wrap and piece of the Pancetta or Bacon around the middle of each onion use and a toothpick of the spear of rosemary to hold it in place onions on your roasting pan. And spoon the chopped onion mixture inside each onion.

Bake in oven for 25 minutes until they are soft and tender.

Server with the above Chicken J

Cider-Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Brown sugar and sweet potatoes are the perfect combination. Top them with marshmallows for a traditional holiday side dish.

2/3-cup                       Apple cider
5 large                         Sweet potatoes or yams, scrubbed but unpeeled
4 Tbsp.                         butter
2 Tbsp.                         Light brown sugar
1/2 tsp.                        Salt
¼ cup                             Lightly toasted, chopped pecans
4                                    thinly sliced pineapple rings, for garnish

• Boil the cider in a small saucepan over high heat until it is reduced by half, about 7 minutes. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Drain well.
• Peel the hot sweet potatoes, using a kitchen towel to protect your hands. Return the potatoes to the warm pot, add the cider, butter, brown sugar, and salt and mash until well blended.
• Garnish and serve hot.

People give me dead meat. In the fall & winter, like clock work. Either it’s Dr. Dave, my chiropractor who hunts on my property, who tells me to meet him behind his office in the parking, or the gentlemen whose name I’m not certain of, but for five years appears at my front door smiling and says, “Nice year for doe. I’ve got some great loins and that burger you like.” (I like?? ) He then hands me 50 pounds of frozen, dead meat.
Next, I’m off in search of recipes and recipients. I’m sure this will come as no surprise, but the Northern Virginia Piedmont area is considered a culinary hotbed for fresh venison.

I’ve eaten venison for a long time. A couple times a year – tops – will do me. I think I’m like a lot of people that can stomach venison in small doses and usually if it part of a unique entree that makes my mental palate drool. Maybe it’s the whole “Bambi thing “ I guess. But if it’s done right, venison is very enjoyable, very lean and pairs well with a nice, red burgundy.

Most recipes call for cooking the meat all day and drowning it in some sauce – usually ketchup or BBQ. In my opinion, the goal of these recipes is to cover up the taste of the meat. You could be eating a shoe and never know it.

I have assembled three venison recipes for all levels. The first is a great starter dish for venison newbie’s, the second graduates to a more southwestern, fusion dish for the more daring and bringing up the rear is a solid, winter wear stew perfect for keeping your “deer” friends and family warm.

Virginia Venison & Blue Cheese Meatballs
For those fearful, a more stringent cheese like blue will lessen the “gamey taste” that some individuals detest. I use a good Stilton, but any good blue cheese will do.

5 pounds                 Venison, ground
1 bunch                    Scallions, chopped
1 cup                         Sour Cream
1/2-pound              Blue Cheese
2 cups                      Breadcrumbs, unseasoned or saltines crushed

Combine well the blue cheese, scallions and breadcrumbs. Add venison and sour cream and turn over a few times. Roll mixture into small meatball sized balls. Cook thoroughly in a large cast iron frying pan with canola oil. Meatballs can be served on pasta or as an appetizer. Please don’t use BBQ sauce for dipping. That‘s just foul.

Pan Roasted Venison with Spicy Cranberry Mexican Cinnamon Sauce
I caught a Bobby Flay episode about 5 years ago, tried it and it worked well. I don’t use the port, just the gin. Plus, I marinated it for 4 days. Call me crazy.

Venison:                4 venison steaks, 6 ounces each
1/2-cup                    Gin
2 cups                     Port wine
6 sprigs                  Thyme, fresh
6                               Juniper berries
3 tbl                         Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine gin, port, thyme and juniper berries in a medium shallow baking dish. Add the venison and turn to coat. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes (or 4 days ☺)

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until almost smoking. Remove the venison from the marinade and shake off excess. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on 1 side until golden brown. Turn over, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until medium-rare, 3 to 4 minutes. Drizzle sauce over steaks.

Spicy Cranberry Mexican Cinnamon Sauce

4 tbl                   Cold butter
1                         Onion, peeled and finely chopped
2                         Celery stalks, finely chopped
3                         Garlic cloves, finely chopped
2                         Carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2-cup             Port wine
1/2 cup             Cranberry juice
4 cups               Chicken stock
1/4 tsp              Mexican ground cinnamon (or regular ground cinnamon)
1/4 tsp               Allspice
1/4 cup fresh   Cranberries, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat half the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, garlic, and carrots and cook until semi-soft. Raise the heat to high and add the port, cook until dry. Add the cranberry juice, stock, cinnamon, allspice, and cranberries and cook until a sauce consistency is formed. Add the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This sauce is also fabulous on pork, chicken and turkey.

Venison Cider Stew

3- 5lb                   Venison, shoulder or loins, cubed
2 tsp                      Allspice
1 tsp                      Peppercorns
1 tbl                      Rosemary
1/2 gallon           Apple Cider (from local area farms)
1 bunch                 Parsley, chopped
1/2 lb                   Bacon, slab not sliced
Light Dusting Flour
1/4 lb                   Butter
1                            Onion, medium chopped
2                            Carrots large chopped
2                            Apples, large
2                            Celery, chopped
2 cups                  Brown or beef stock
1                            Bay leaf

In a pestle and mortar, pulverize the allspice, peppercorns, and rosemary with a pinch of salt. Take 25% of the powder and set aside. In a bowl add the remaining 75% to 2 cups of cider and the parsley.
Cut the meat into 1” cubes and add to bowl with cider mixture making sure it’s all covered. Marinate for 12- 24 hours.
Cut the bacon slab into 1/2”cubes and fry them until crisp on the outside. Reserve enough of the bacon fat in the pan to brown the meat. Drain the Venison and reserve the liquid. Cover the meat with a light dusting of flour and quickly brown the meat in a skillet over high heat. Transfer meat to oven safe dish or Dutch oven.
In butter, sauté the onion, carrots apples and celery. Fold into meat mixture. Add bay leaf.
And the remaining pulverized Allspice mixture. Now you have a choice. You can add the marinade or just the remaining cider. Use either/or both until the mixture is covered. Cook covered for 1 1/2 hours in a 350 degree oven or until meat is tender.
Strain the liquid, skim any unwanted fat off the top and dredge the flour in to the liquid and thicken. Pour back to the Dutch Oven and re heat.
Serve over a bed of wild rice.

This last recipe is “deer” to my heart.

Everybody that sits in our kitchen always wonders what’s in all the bottles on the back counter. It’s an old habit left over from my childhood where my Dad would have no less than eight different wine bottles of homemade hot and cold infused oils at the ready on the restaurant’s cook line.

“Mr. L”, my Dad’s professional moniker, drilled several rules into my head. Two big ones were:

1) “Hot pan + cold oil = foods won’t stick” and

2) “Ingredients supply a flavor – a good oil enhances it.”

Those little morsels of knowledge along with the legendary, “Get that out of your mouth you smuck!” have stuck with me like dried Irish oatmeal on a wooden floor.

As I recall, green bottles were cold infused oils and clear bottles were hot infused oils. Sloppy grease pencil labeling would tell us of its use: Beef, Lamb, Pork and Seafood. Each assembled by one of our Chefs with the ingredients given to him with precise instructions on the preparation methodology. Naturally, the inevitable would happen where 500 people decided on the same entrée so we’d have to quickly make up 5 more gallons of the stuff. Which at times was even more annoying than de-boning 500 chickens. But in the end, a simple way to enhance the flavor of any meal is to accent (or drizzle) with infused oil.

Two types of oil infusions can be created:

• Cold Infused Oils
  Soft herbs like basil, parsley, mint, cilantro and hard stemmed herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage can all be easily cold fused into oil with little or no mess or fuss.
  There are two ways I know to create cold infused oil: 1) using the whole herb stuffed into the bottle or 2) putting a couple handfuls of herbs into a blender and doing the same into a bottle and placing into a cool, dark place.
• Hot Infused Oils
  Mixed ingredients and some herbs need a bit of heat to bring out their flavors into the oil.
  Low slow heat forces the flavors to fuse. These can be abit laborious but are well worth the effort. A few drops of mushroom oil in risotto are by far healthier than laying on a slab of butter.

There are a few rules that need to be followed:
1) Use only fresh herbs, patted dry of all moisture. Dried herbs just don’t work.
2) Use only clean glass containers. Make sure they have a good seal.
3) Make a smaller amount at first. Consider how much you’ll use. Shelf life is limited.
4) Have patience as some infusions from two weeks to two months to mature.
5) Use good quality oil. You wouldn’t put Walgreen’s brand motor oil in a Mercedes!

Mr. L’s Infused Oil Provencal

Simple, versatile and one of my Dad’s staples. It’s great on any poultry or fowl. It’s equally great as a salad dressing. Try it on fresh greens with some goat’s cheese or sautéed vegetables or shrimp. My favorite thing to do with it is to sauté shrimp, diced fresh tomatoes, handful of cooked pasta and drizzle with this oil. Sauté for a couple of minutes and serve.

• 4 tbs Fresh Thyme (2 large sprigs)
• 4 tbs Fresh Rosemary (2 large sprigs)
• 2 tbs Fresh Sage (about 8 leaves)
• 3 tbs Flat Leaf Parsley
• 4 whole Garlic Cloves
• 1 pint Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Lightly pound all the herbs with the back of a large knife, don’t cut, as the goal is to just break the skin to release the flavor.
   You can cut the cloves in half if you like to increase the garlic flavor.
   Shove them all into a clean glass bottle and top with the olive oil.
   Place in a cool dark place (not under refrigeration) for at least TWO weeks. This will keep for a month or two.

Infused Saffron Oil

Want to get rich? Plant five acres of saffron crocus and wait for the phone calls.
Saffron, the spice of royalty, has for decades been the world’s most expensive spice by weight. It’s the spice true gourmets and gourmands consider pure gold. This is excellent as an addition to regular mayonnaise or drizzle of a nice piece of fish. It’s also outstanding as a finishing touch in quinoa, couscous or risotto.

• ½ cup Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tbs Lemon zest
• 2 whole Star Anise
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds, crushed
• 2 tbs Thyme, (one good sprig)
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 pinch Saffron Strands (a generous pinch)

1. Heat a good size saucepan. Add oil and turn off.
2. Add all ingredients EXCEPT saffron.
3. Leave covered in a warm place for 2 hours and strain through cheesecloth or fine strainer.
4. Add the saffron and gently mix well. Cover again and let stand for 2 hours.
5. Store in a clean bottle in your refrigerator. This will keep for up to a month.

Crimini Mushroom & Herb Oil infusion

This hot oil infusion requires some time to prepare. Because this is a blend of herbs and vegetables it’s very versatile. This can be used as a salad dressing, as a bread dip or added to risotto or pasta.

• 3 lbs Crimini Mushrooms, whole
• ½ cup Shallots, sliced thin
• 1 ¼ cup Grapeseed Oil
• 2 tbs Thyme, fresh (one good sprig should do)
• 2 tbs Parsley, Flat Leaf
• ¾ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Sea Salt

1. Preheat oven to 225°. Brush off the mushrooms and place them on a baking pan in the oven for approximately two hours or until the mushrooms are almost brittle to the touch.
2. Remove, let cool and break the mushrooms into pieces.
3. Heat a good-sized pan, add a tablespoon of grapeseed oil, add the shallots and cook for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the herbs and dried mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the remaining grapeseed and olive oil. Leave on very low heat for about 40 to 60 minutes.
4. Pass the oil through a strainer pressing all the ingredients through the strainer with a wooden spoon.
5. Let cool and place in a clean glass bottle. This will keep in your fridge for a month.

Comments or Catastrophes?

I mean no offense to those with busy schedules. I understand the toll today’s world puts on families, but I simply don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to make a nice meal for their family and to sit down and eat together. I’m at Giant, in a lengthy checkout line with my two bottles of $4.59 wine, (relax it’s for cooking) when I can’t help but notice the grocery cart in line ahead of me packed full to the gills. An attractive woman is pushing it along with her three “plump” boys, I’m guessing ages ranging from 6 -13. At first glance, I assess that the cart contains nothing found in nature. Prepared frozen foods dominant the cart including a Stouffers frozen spaghetti that the oldest boy digs out and announces to his siblings that this is his diner choice for the evening. Hungry Mans, frozen pies, frozen French fries, frozen pizzas and hamburgers, and the list goes on. Not even a frozen vegetable in the lot. At the bottom of the grocery cart abyss, at long last, was one organic item, packaged and pre-washed baby carrots.

The grand finale was a quick rummage through the point of sale items and magazine rack with a quick selection of our country’s finest rags, People, Us and In Style pulling up the rear. Food for body and mind I surmise.I’m at a loss to understand why we are so obsessed with Angeline and Brad, Jen and Vince, the Alien baby born to Roseanne Barr or, my wife might disagree with me here, with the season’s “it” shoes and “it” bags, but we terminate all education as to what we put into our bodies. We hold the FDA as gospel. The same people that brought you that wonderful “Best Used Before” dates on dairy products. Having nothing to do with the freshness of milk but more about ensuring that the American Dairy Farmer can be assured of a product inventory rotation. An idea that everything including Pepsi™ and Coors Light caught on to. Making the USA one of the most repugnant nations for the amount of food we throw out based on a dim-witted date that is for marketing purposes. Really, has anyone ever had a bad can of soda? Now the FDA had an epiphany that we need smaller portions!

See: http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=14251

What brain trust figured this out? Could it be that 64% of the US population is overweight and that 30% of those individuals are vilely obese?It’s not my intention to make fun of this woman at the Giant check-out. I understand in this day and age the absence of time or the national obsession with eating what you want right now. Why is food shopping and the preparation of food considered a chore? The social equivalent of taking out the trash. This bothers me. In European countries food brings family and friends together. It all begins with the conscious preparation of it, shopping for it, preparing it together and sitting down and enjoying the fruit of one’s efforts. To me, life is about breaking bread together, communicating and connecting with the people we care about.Parents can teach their children to appreciate and hold sacred the ritual of eating well and sharing the whole experience consciously.

These recipes are my attempt to create a meal in the same or less amount of time it takes to cook a Hungry Man, to provide a level of healthy nutrition and to make a better tasting meal. We are what we eat. Real Salisbury Steak:I’ll be honest and say the first time I made this was a few days ago. I must say I awed myself. You’ll be pleased to discover that it tastes much better than the frozen version and is much healthier and nutritious.

Salisbury Steak

• 1 ¾ lbs Beef, finely ground lean chuck
• 1 ½ tbs Chives, chopped
• 2 tbs Onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbs Red or green bell pepper, chopped
• Pinch Paprika
• Pinch Thyme
• 1 clove Garlic, mashed
• Sprinkle Seasoned Flour – flour, salt & pepper
• Dollop Olive Oil

Gloria Swanson Sauce Knock Off

• 3 tbs Butter
• 1 tsp Mustard, yellow
• ¼ cup Tomato ketchup
• Pinch Salt
• 1 tbs Lemon juice
• Pinch Black pepper
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Dash Tabasco sauce
• Dash Dry sherry wine

1. For steak: Mix all ingredients together and shape into 6 individual small steaks, about 3/4″ thick. Sprinkle with seasoned flour and brush with olive oil. Broil them for 5to 6 minutes or more on each side, depending on degree of doneness desired.
2. For sauce: Melt butter with the rest of the ingredients. Blend well and bring almost to a boiling point. Arrange steaks on a hot platter and pour sauce over them.

Fresh Expeditious Pasta Sauce.

You can make a dozen of these ahead of time and freeze them in Ziplocs. Use different herb combinations (just basil and tomatoes is great!). Make the kids real spaghetti for god sakes.

• 6 Tomatoes, ripe
• ½ Onion, small
• 1 Olive Oil
• 2 tbs Oregano, fresh
• 2 tbs Basil, fresh
• 1 tbs Thyme, fresh
• When cooking:1 tbs Butter

1. Dump everything into a food processor and pulse chop a few times until you get to desired consistency (chunky or smooth). Label and dump into a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze.
2. To cook: Thaw, place in saucepan with butter and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Longer simmering will yield less but make a more intense sauce. It may be broken down with water, wine or my favorite, V8â„¢.

High-Speed Beef and Noodles

• 8 oz Egg noodles
• 2 Beef bouillon cubes
• 1 can Mushroom soup
• 1 can Mushrooms (small- 4 oz.)
• ½ stick Butter
• ½ lb Ground beef lean

1. Boil noodles according to cooking instructions.
2. Add bouillon cubes to boiling water (follow directions on bouillon cube jar).
3. Pan fry ground beef in a skillet with mushrooms and drain. Drain noodles.
4. Mix together noodles, butter, mushrooms, ground beef and soup. Salt and pepper to taste.Since soup is condensed, taste before adding salt.