Hamburger Tamale Pie

Whenever I ask for menu suggestions, this dish is my husband"s first request. And I like it because I can make a pound of ground beef serve a family of ten. Cheap, easy, delicious, with vegetables mixed into the recipe, making it a complete meal. I usually serve it with a fruit salad.

Is Hamburger Tamale Pie as frequent on your family's dinner table as it is on ours?

BEFORE

Hamburger Tamale Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger meat

1 onion, chopped

Garlic clove, chopped

1 can (16 oz.) tomatoes

1 can (16 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained

20 -24 pitted black olives

3 teaspoons chili powder

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz.)

Directions:

Cook and stir meat, onion and garlic until meat is brown; drain. Stir in tomatoes with liquid, corn, olives, chili powder and salt. Heat to boiling. Pour into ungreased baking dish, 9 x 11, or 2 quart casserole dish.

Mix cornmeal, milk and eggs. Pour over meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven until golden brown, about 40 – 50 minutes.

AFTER

Garlic in any way, shape or form

We lived in Gilroy, California ( the "Garlic Capital of the World") for five years and learned to enjoy fresh garlic prepared many different ways. Garlic is good for the heart, the emotional state, and just plain delicious added to many recipes. And fresh garlic doesn't stay on the breath as much as does garlic powder or  garlic salt.

Here's a dinner idea for the vegan or vegetarian in the audience-- Roasted Garlic spread on baked potatoes, with steamed broccoli sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients:

2 whole heads fresh garlic, unpeeled

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut ¼ - ½ inch off the pointed ends of the garlic heads, enough to expose the garlic cloves. Put the heads of garlic in a custard cup or ramekin. Pour the olive oil on the open ends of garlic and sprinkle with salt. Cover and cook in 425 degree oven for about forty-five minutes, the same time it takes to bake a large potato.

Squeeze soft garlic over roast meat, baked potatoes or bread. Serves 4.

Serving suggestion: For a complete but easy dinner, cook the garlic and baking potatoes at the same time; serve with grated cheese and steamed broccoli for toppings.

Family Flan and Family Dinners

Eating dinner together every night as a family is not an easy thing to do. It doesn't happen without a lot of effort and planning, but the effort is so worth it. Meals prepared at home from fresh basic ingredients are healthier and cheaper than eating out. Plus gathering over dinner at the end of a day builds relationships. With a pantry stocked with basics and armed with a dozen or so compatible recipes, anyone can do it. Begin today to create in your home the tradition of family dinnertime with its treasured memories.

I used to order flan in Mexican restaurants and treasure every delicious bite, thinking it was too difficult to make at home. Oh boy was I wrong. This method is easy and serves not just one but the whole family. And it tastes just as good as flan in the expensive restaurants.

Family Flan

Ingredients:

8 eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

3 ½ cups evaporated milk (about 3 12-oz. cans)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup light brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs until yolks and whites are well-blended. Add granulated sugar and salt. Beat in evaporated milk and vanilla.

Sprinkle brown sugar in bottom of bread loaf pan; gently pour custard over brown sugar. Place loaf pan in shallow baking pan containing hot water. Bake for one hour in 350 degrees oven until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Refrigerate overnight. Run knife around edge of pan and turn out onto small, oven-proof platter. If you don’t have the right platter, you can fit flan into a ten-inch pie plate; may need to cut off ends so it fits. 

Bring to room temperature. Before serving place under broiler and brown for approximately five to ten minutes. Watch carefully and do not burn. Slice carefully and gently ease slices onto dessert plates. Serves ten.

Eggplant Casserole

I like meatless meals like this one, using eggs and cheese for protein. The longest part of preparation is frying the eggplant but it can be done ahead and then the casserole baked before serving. Makes a wonderful dish for company, especially with the Homemade Egg Noodles which also can be made ahead and drying until ready to cook. This recipe can be doubled to serve 12-14.

Eggplant Casserole

 

Ingredients:

One or more large eggplant, as needed (to double, I use three eggplants)

Three eggs, whisked

Italian-seasoned bread crumbs, 15 oz. can

Olive oil for frying

Mozzarella cheese, about ½ lb, grated

Your favorite spaghetti sauce, 48 oz. jar Prego recommended

Pasta noodles, such as linguini

Directions:

Peel and slice eggplant. Dip slices in egg and then in bread crumbs. Deep fat fry in olive oil until golden brown. Take eggplant right from frying pan and lay out in large baking pan (11 x 14”). 

When the eggplant is fried, grate cheese over all and pour spaghetti sauce over. Bake uncovered until bubbly at 350 degrees and serve with prepared pasta.

Dad's Cornbread

We have two kinds of cornbread in our home-- Dad's recipe and Mom's. Mom's has more sugar, butter instead of oil, and uses fresh milk instead of buttermilk. Yes, right, so Mom's tastes more like cake LOL. But Dad's Cornbread goes well with the hearty soups and stews and dried bean recipes we like to make in our family.

Dad’s Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

¾ cup sugar

2 ½ tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda (only if you are using sour milk or buttermilk)

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 cups yellow cornmeal

4 eggs

2 cups milk, sour milk or buttermilk (if using fresh milk, do not add baking soda)

½ cup oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Stir flour with sugar, baking powder, baking soda (if using sour milk), and salt. Stir in cornmeal. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and oil. Pour into dry ingredients and blend until smooth; do not overbeat. Pour mixture into greased baking pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.