Better than Burger Doodle Casserole

When trying to fix a healthy dinner night after night, there are times you just want something fun! So this handy cheeseburger casserole will come to your rescue.

Be sure to drain the meat and really this is not too much of a break from your healthy pledge. Honest! The secret to making this taste great is Don't “worry” the ground beef, so that is stays in bigger chunks. Also don't forget to add the yellow mustard and let it cook, then let the Worcester sauce cook. These will add the spices to make the meat stand out!

Ingredients

1lbs lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
2 stalks of celery chopped fine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 Tbs yellow mustard
1 Tbs Worcester sauce
½ can diced tomatoes
2 slices of American cheese
1 cup shredded white cheese (Used Gouda)
2 cups frozen potatoes (from a 20-oz bag of tater tots)

Directions:

Heat oven to 450°F.

Chop the celery and onion

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbs oil and cook the onions & celery. About 3 minutes is all this will take. It is called “sweating” the vegetables and this releases the flavors.

Add the ground beef and continue to cook over medium-high heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, but not too often. The more you stir the smaller the bits of beef will be. This meal tastes better with hunks of hamburger. Drain all but about 2 tbs of grease.

Generously add the yellow mustard as the meat cooks – the aroma will be fantastic! Stir and let cook for a few minutes. Then do the same with the Worcester sauce!

Stir in the diced tomatoes and sprinkle with the flour. Stir this as it cooks for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and spread beef mixture in un-greased 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Lay strips of American cheese across the beef. Pour the shredded cheese over. Arrange frozen potatoes evenly in single layer on top. Give this a quick spray to help it brown.

Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.

Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with a simple green vegetable.

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hge6FqAQlR8

Happy to serve this silly little casserole for my Master Indy!

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon 

Poco Pinot: a Piccata Pretender

Poco means chicken. Pinot for Pinot Grigio wine. In cooking“Piccata” refers to a meat (usely veal or chicken) sliced, often breaded, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter and spices”. This fancy dish is not that complicated. You can do this!

The aroma of the chicken, onions, garlic, butter and wine roasting in your oven will flavor the kitchen in a most superb way! Enjoy!

Ingredients 2 - 3 lbs boneless chicken breast

¼ cup butter (at room temperature)

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp sage

pinch garlic powder

salt and white pepper to taste
2 lemons
1 yellow onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup Pinot Grigio (a dry white wine)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix the herbs into the softened butter with a fork until well incorporated. Add salt & white pepper.

Zest one lemon into a small bowl and set aside. Cut off the white pith and slice it into ¼ inch slices. This will take both lemons.

Cut the onion and garlic. Remember when using fresh garlic, hit the clove with the side of the knife, the skin will almost fall off.

Then make a cut lengthwise. Pry out any green part you see. The green will leave a bitter taste you don't want.

Distribute the lemon slices in a baking dish that has been sprayed. Sprinkle with the onion and garlic.

Dry the chicken pieces well with paper towels (important).

Rub about half the butter herb mix on one side. Turn the chicken over and rub the rest all over the chicken.

Roast uncovered for 25 minutes. Pour the wine into the dish around, not over, the chicken!

Roast for another 25 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155 to 160 degrees.

 

Remove the chicken from the oven, sprinkle it with the lemon juice & zest, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with the juices, cooked lemon, and onion.

If your chicken doesn't brown to your liking, it may be that you forgot to dry it before smearing butter-herb mix. Just let it brown & crisp up under the broiler for a few minutes to make this beautiful!

Slave fixed this with some roasted potatoes and a nice green vegetable.

Reminiscent of a piccata but different.

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdoI4udLOxs

So happy to serve my Master

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon

Oscar Wilde Glazed Brisket

A beef brisket used to be the cheapest cut of meat since it was so tough! However now that people started to use it for not only corned beef but also for many Mexican dishes, the cost has gone up. The secret is to cook it slowly and hold at a high temperature. This breaks down the collagen, transforming it into gelatin. Here the great taste of corned beef is crusted over with a taste of mustard based BBQ from the Carolinias.

This dish is named after a famous Irish playwright and wit, Oscar Wilde. Be sure to read about him after the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs corned beef brisket
• 2 cups apple juice + water
• 1 tablespoon pickling spices
• 1 large white onion
• 1 large carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 5 garlic cloves

Directions

Wipe out and spray your slow cooker.

Cut up the onions and garlic. Rinse meat & pat dry.

Place corned beef brisket, fat side up, into a slow cooker; sprinkle with pickling spice from packet. Add garlic, onion, and 2 cups apple juice and water as needed to cover the brisket by an inch.

Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours.

Add carrots and celery to the slow cooker.

Cover and continue to cook on low heat for an additional 2-3 hours, or until tender.

While that finishes, make the glaze:

Honey-Mustard Glaze:

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 heaping tablespoons mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  

Combine the vinegar and brown sugar in a small saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved and mixture reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey and mustard and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside until meat is done.

Then preheat the broiler.

Line a baking pan with foil and place a cooking rack inside, spray with cooking spray.

Carefully remove the meat and place on the rack, fat side up.

Brush the brisket heavily on the top side with some of the glaze, put under the broiler and broil until golden brown and a crust has formed.
Remove from the oven to a cutting board and brush with more of the glaze.

Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

This should form a nice crust.

Remove the onions & carrots to serving bowl

Slice meat across the grain. Transfer to serving plate.
Serve on a bed of quinoa or white rice.

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_VCSfjDeV8
 

So happy to be serving my Master Indy

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon 

===========================

Oscar Wilde

Was a playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet in the 2^nd half of the 1800's. Known for a tremendous wit, his writings are still being published & sold around the world. His plays regulatory preformed in high schools to this day, and his science fiction novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray” set a new standard in the genre. Unfortunately, he is also known for being imprisoned for loving another man. The trial and incarceration led to an early death which extinguished this brilliant intellect.

Here is a quick sampling of his sayings:

The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

No woman should ever be quite accurate about her age. It looks so calculating.

Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.

A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her.

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

Ganymede Baked Corn

Here is a simple, basic comfort dish. It works well any time of year. Can't call it gourmet, just plain country cooking. However at times, simple and basic can be more powerful a memory than meals we have spent many hours preparing.

Here is baked corn with bratwurst, yummy and satisfying. Now before the friendly scholars descend on slave for naming this after Zeus' lover Ganymede, let me point out that sometimes you never know what will turn out to be the best! Be sure to read the quick write-up about Zeus and Ganymede after the recipe. 

 

Ingredients:

2 uncooked bratwurst, cut in half

1 (14.75 oz) can yellow corn drained

1 (14.75 oz) can of cream style sweet corn

½ sleeve of crackers, crumbled up

2 tablespoon butter or margarine cut into chunks

2 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs brown sugar

2 tbs flour

½ teaspoon SWEET paprika

Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees and spray a baking dish.

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the bratwurst, top and bottom for about 4 minutes each side, just to give them a nice brown color.

In a large bowl combine the cans of corn.

With a heavy wooden spoon, mix in the crushed crackers, the sugars and the flour. Transfer to prepared casserole. Dot with pieces of butter.

Arrange the brat pieces on top and dust with the paprika. Cover.

Bake, for 1½ hours.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. 

 

Now here is a meal fit for the gods! Simple, cheap & good!

Our music tonight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfOIEckV9fE

So happy to be serving my Master Indy

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon

=======================================

Zeus and Ganymede

“Ganymede was a handsome Trojan prince who was caught away to be Zeus’ personal wine-pourer, so he might be among the immortals.”

Ever wonder why Zeus left Olympus so he could love Ganymede?

Zeus was king of the Gods. He had all the power in the cosmos, what did this young man called Ganymede offer? For to pour the wine for a God was to be his ‘cup bearer’. This distinguished the lad and said that among all immortals AND mortals only Ganymede was worthy of being Zeus’ personal servant & lover. And why did a prince give up his throne to be a servant?

Zeus himself had made the offer and Ganymede accepted.
Before meeting Ganymede, the god found himself in a ‘marriage of necessity’. Nothing stopped him. Anything and everything was the target of his lust and nothing could satisfy him until Ganymede.


Now there would be no more bastard half gods and Zeus stayed at home, proving that a good slave can change the world. No wonder they made him immortal. If he could do THAT to Zeus then he held a power beyond even the gods because none of them could solve the problem. Yet along came the right young man that kept Zeus happy.


Perhaps Ganymede offered something so simple, it had escaped them. Perhaps buried in his pure young heart was the comfort & support that out-shown all the flashy others. Perhaps Ganymede was simple and good, like this simple baked corn dish offered here.
----------------------------

Dublin Coddle

This dish is an old variation of traditional Irish stew. Layers of sausage, bacon, onions and potatoes are slowly simmered (“coddled”)for hours, often this turns into a mushy mess! So for a taste to fit today's tables,- and keep the ingredients intact- We crisped the bacon and browned the sausages!

We gently cook this in the oven to create a creamy layer of potatoes and add a splash of vinegar to cut down on the “richness”.
Since tradition calls for“bangers” which are hard to find in the US, here we used available bratwurst.Perfect meal to share.

Here is an alternative and inexpensive meal to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. All of the traditional tastes in an easy to fix format. A great way to stretch the budget and still provide for guests in a way they will remember long after all of that bland expensive corned beef is used up. Just add a crusty bread, and a pint or two of a favorite beer! The slow roasted bratwurst imparts a wonderful taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 lbs pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
• Salt and pepper
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1½ lbs bratwurst
• 2 onions, sliced into ½-inch-thick rings
• 1 tablespoon minced thyme
• 1¾ cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

Gather and prepare the ingredients:

peel and slice the potatoes and cover with a damp paper towel.

Slice the onions.

Cut the bratwurst into thirds.

Cut the bacon.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

“Shingle” the potato slices to cover the bottom of dish. Sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper; set aside.

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy, 12 to 14 minutes. You want them to crunch! Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel–lined plate.

Carefully add sausages to the skillet and cook until lightly browned on tops and bottoms, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel–lined plate.

Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons fat from skillet and return to medium heat. Add onions, thyme, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp pepper. Cover and cook until onions are softened, 7 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits.

Add broth and vinegar, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer. Carefully pour this onion mixture over potatoes, spreading onions into even layer.

Place sausages pieces, browned side up, on top of onions. Cover. Bake about 1½ hours. Test so see if a table knife meets little resistance from the potatoes.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with reserved bacon. Serve with a crusty bread to soak up the wonderful juices.

 

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOkbcTxa7Q

Happy to be serving my Master Indy by sharing this meal with slave's senior neighbors !

Here is a special Saint Patrick's Day Prayer slave shared before the meal:

Our heavenly Father, what a magnificent powerful God!

You have engineered such a complex universe, and filled it with beautiful colors and wonderful music!

Yet too often we allow the noise of fear and pain to keep us from feeling the joy You have made for us.

We lift our hearts to You as children reaching up to be held.

We ask for only what we need. Please Father, when we find that old wrinkly person in the mirror, let us see the light of Your love shine forth. For when we know its there, we'll find it in the faces of others. With this all else will follow.

As we raise daily, we reach for Your hand. Lead us along the path You have laid out for us. Down the steep rocky trails and up the tallest mountain we know as age.

For when it is time to sit down. Time to slip off our shoes and lean back with our feet up. That time we will truly be cupped into Your palm and You will carry us home to a place of ultimate love.

We Thank You Father and pledge You our hearts. We pray in Jesus' name:

Amen

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes 

by 

Dan White

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTM%20via%20@amazon