Made By Melissa

Well not entirely from scratch, and not really tacos either. More like burritos, but the meat for the burritos was from scratch! Tacos/burritos/fajitas are an almost weekly staple in our house, we just change out the fillings. We are trying to decrease our sodium intake and the low-sodium taco seasoning packets just aren’t that good, so I decided to try this recipe after seeing it over at The Spicy Skillet. I thought the ground beef filling came out very well, Nate thought there was a bit to much chili powder, so next time I will probably decrease the amount slightly. I plan to try the home-fried taco shells sometime soon, click on here to see the recipe for those. Original recipe is from Cooks Illustrated.

Ground Beef Filling

CI Note:Tomato sauce is sold in cans in the same aisle that carries canned whole tomatoes. Do not use jarred pasta sauce in its place. We prefer to let diners top their own tacos with whatever fillings they prefer. There’s no need to prepare all of the toppings listed below, but cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes are, in our opinion, essential. Makes 8 tacos, serving 4.

• 2 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil
• 1 small onion, chopped small (about 2/3 cup)
• 3 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• table salt
• 1 pound 90% lean ground beef (or leaner)
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vinegar (preferably cider vinager)
• ground black pepper

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat until hot and shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes; add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes.

Add garlic, spices, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook, breaking meat up with wooden spoon and scraping pan bottom to prevent scorching, until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, and vinegar; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently and breaking meat up so that no chunks remain, until liquid has reduced and thickened (mixture should not be completely dry), about 10 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Using wide, shallow spoon, divide filling evenly among taco shells; place two tacos on individual plates. Serve immediately, passing toppings separately. We used burrito-sized tortillas filled with lettuce, tomato, shredded mexican cheese, light sour cream and salsa.

This is another recipe from Amber’s blog. I really love her blog and all the fabulous food that she makes! These little meatloaves were very good and a perfect way to use up some extra spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese that I had in my refrigerator. We had these with garlicky green beans.

Mini Italian Meatloaves

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce; divided
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 tbls Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup panko (I used Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Gently mix 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce and remaining ingredients together.
Divide into 4 equal size pieces and form into desired shape. Place onto greased cookie sheet.
Smother each loaf with the remaining spaghetti sauce and top with extra cheese if desired.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until internal temp is 160.

Consider this my un-official entry in the Eat to the Beat blog event. Or should I say, Nate’s entry intro the event. When I told him about this event, he immediately blurted out “Cheeseburger in Paradise!” He was so excited. You have to understand that Nate doesn’t really understand this blogging thing, he sees it as me playing on my laptop writing about food. So for him to get excited about this was big. I tried to explain to him that I wanted to do something that involved slightly more than a cheeseburger, but he said he would even do the cooking and take the pictures. He was so cute, how could I say no?                                        

So off we went to research, there is an official Jimmy Buffett “Cheeseburger in Paradise” recipe here. It is the same burger that can be found at his restaurant. We didn’t quite make our burgers that way, but the recipe is there if you want to view it. Feel free to note the parasols and tropical serving platter.

“Our” Cheeseburgers in Paradise

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoned bread-crumbs
• Onion powder, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste
• Seasoned salt, to taste
• Pepper
• Cheddar Cheese
• Lettuce, tomato, red onions

Combine ground beef with bread crumbs and seasonings.  Grill over medium heat until juices run clear. Melt cheese on top. Serve on toasted buns with lettuce, tomato, red onions and desired condiments. We served these with garlic fries.

I had saved the recipe for the meatballs from Amber’s Blog when she first made them last year, but honestly forgotten all about them until they made a come-back on the What’s Cooking? board recently. I thought that they would pair perfectly with Chelley’s homemade spaghetti sauce. Original meatball recipe is from Rachel Ray. I made the meatballs like Amber and baked them in the oven, but added them to the sauce for the last 5 minutes. I also added a can of drained, diced tomatoes to the sauce since I like to have a chunky sauce. We had the meatballs over spaghetti, with a salad and garlic bread. I don’t know what it is about Italian food, but I cannot eat it without garlic bread!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

• 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup milk (or water)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh, flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese (cut into 20 - 1/2″ cubes)  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, soak the breadcrumbs in the milk.
Add the beef, garlic, parsley, Parmesan cheese, egg and 1 tsp salt to the soaked breadcrumbs and stir with a fork until combined.
Place about 2 tablespoons of mixture in your hand and press a mozzarella cube into the center. Shape the meat around the cheese, forming a ball. Repeat with remaining mozzarella.
Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Chelley’s Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 28-oz. can tomato puree
• 1 28-oz. can tomato sauce
• 2.5 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• Water from rinsing extra sauce and puree from inside of cans
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 14.5-oz can chopped tomatoes, drained

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat until onion is tender. Add tomato sauce, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, parsley, basil, water, salt, and sugar.

Stir and lower heat to a slow simmer. This best if it’s left to simmer for at least 2 hours. This made a little to much sauce for the amount of meatballs, so I set aside about 2 cups to freeze.

This baked pasta dish comes from Bexxie’s Blog. I love that it is creamy, but does not have any ricotta cheese, so Nate will eat it! Be prepared to eat left-overs for several days, or serve this when you have company because this recipe makes a lot! Original source is WilliamsSonoma.com.

Baked Rigatoni with Beef Ragu

• 1 lb. rigatoni
• 2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbs. dried oregano
• 1 large can (28 oz.) peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream (I low-fat free 1/2 and 1/2, but the real stuff would be better)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 lb. whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup grated Parmesan or aged Asiago cheese

Preheat an oven to 350ºF.

Bring a large pot two-thirds full of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni, stir well and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), about 15 minutes or according to the package instructions. Drain the rigatoni, place in a large bowl and toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.

In the same pot, heat the 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring to break up the meat, until no pink remains, about 10 minutes. Drain off any fat. Add the parsley, oregano and tomatoes and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the tomatoes break down and the flavors have melded, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cream, raise the heat and return to a boil. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Return the rigatoni to the pot with the sauce and toss to coat well.

Oil the bottom of a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Spread half of the pasta mixture in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella. Top with the remaining pasta, the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan. Bake until the sauce is bubbly and the top is crusty and golden brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for about 5 minutes and serve. Serves 6.

I can never make lasagna in my house, unless I plan on eating it alone. See, Nate does not like ricotta cheese, or even cottage cheese. He actually does not like anything with that creamy texture- cream cheese, sour cream etc., but that’s a whole other post.

Anyway, back to my lack of lasagna. Instead, I make stuffed shells. That way, I can stuff half of them with plain mozzarella and keep my husband happy, while still enjoying all of there stuffed, cheesy Italian goodness on my half. I use the cheese filling from Giada’s Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce recipe. Someday I will try the arrabbiata sauce, but today was not that day.

I used homemade marinara sauce this time. I have made marinara sauce twice now and am still tweaking the recipe a little, but I will post that when I am happy with it.

Stuffed Shells with Meat Sauce

• 12 ounces (1 box) jumbo pasta shells (approximately 36 shells) (I make a 9×13 casserole dish- which is about 3/4 box of shells)
• 1 pound ground beef/ground turkey
• 3-4 cups marinara sauc
• 2 (15-ounce) containers whole milk ricotta cheese
• 1 1/3 cups grated Parmesan
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 3 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint leaves (I do not use)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I use about 1 1/2 - 2 cups total)

Pour 1 cup of marinara sauce over the bottom of 9×13 baking dish. Partially cook the pasta shells in a large pot of boiling salted water until slightly tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta shells and place in prepared baking dish, spreading them out so that they don’t stick together and allow to cool.

Cook ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink, drain. Stir in remaining marinara sauce, let simmer over medium-low heat while you make the cheese filling. In a medium bowl, stir the ricotta, Parmesan, egg yolks, basil, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper, I add an extra 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella to cheese filling. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill the cooked shells with the cheese mixture, about 2 tablespoons per shell. Arrange the shells in the prepared dish. Spoon the meat sauce over the shells, then sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake in the lower third of your oven until the filling is heated through and the top is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear Swedish meatballs, I have flashbacks to the elementary school cafeteria where a gloppy mess of meat and gravy was plopped on your tray. So when I was searching for something to do with ground beef and came across this recipe over at Elly Says Opa , I was a little skeptical. But I decided to try them since Elly has so many yummy recipes in her blog, I figured I couldn’t go wrong. I am glad I did, these meatballs are very good. I served them on rice since I didn’t have any egg noodles, but next time I think I would prefer the noodles. 

Swedish Meatballs

• 1 cup evaporated milk, divided
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup onion, finely diced
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• dash pepper
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 cups double strength beef broth ( I used 2 bouillon cubes in 1 ½ cups hot water)  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat a skillet and add a little olive oil. Sweat onions with a pinch of salt until translucent. Set aside to cool.Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup evaporated milk with breadcrumbs. Stir to combine and set aside for several minutes. To the breadcrumb mixture, stir in onions, yolk, salt, allspice and pepper. Add meat and mix until just combined. Shape meat mixture into 1-in. balls. In large skillet, melt butter and cook meatballs. Remove from skillet (you may want to keep in a warmed oven).

In same skillet, cook flour (add more butter if necessary) 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in beef broth and simmer to thicken. Add remaining 3/4 cup evaporated milk and heat through. Season to taste. Return meatballs to skillet, and add lemon juice.