Essentially Cooking

As built by Laurie and cooked by Peter.  Recipe from Plain Chicken. I’ve decided that I like these meatloaf burgers better than just plain burgers.  It must be all the add-ins (mustard, Ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce, to name a few) that make them so tasty.  Cooking them on a charcoal grill also helped. Interestingly (to me), when I asked Laurie where the recipe came from and what modifications she made, she told me the list of ingredients came from plainchicken.com (which I found interesting since this recipe uses beef) and that she had changed absolutely nothing on the list (the Plain Chicken recipe is here ).  That amazed me, as it rarely happens that way.  But I have to say, I don’t think the recipe needs any tweaking.  I’m looking forward to this becoming a summer “classic”. What is more classic than meatloaf? Browse the internet and you’ll find quite a variety of meatloaf burger recipes.  Some add onion, where this one adds...

As cooked by Laurie. Recipe from Eating Well with some variation. I’m not really much into eating fish… unless you count lobster, clams, shrimp, scallops, oysters and mussels.  But I don’t think they technically fit the definition, though “shellfish” does have the word “fish” in it. I have never even tried sushi.  (I even had to ask Laurie how to spell it right.  I was so far off that even spell check on my MacBook couldn’t help me.) But Laurie has two great salmon recipes and I love them both.  One is already posted here and uses Salmon fillets.  The other is this one: salmon cakes.   Like meatloaf.  Just mix everything in a bowl with your hands! Laurie starts with a recipe from the book Comfort Foods Made Healthy , by Eating Well. I tried to chase down the recipe online, but couldn’t find it, though there are many other salmon cake recipes that may be just as tasty or similarly simple. This is an easy salmon to use. ...

As cooked by Laurie. This is a colorful looking and tasty meatloaf that can be found at the foodnetwork.com.  It's by Giada de Laurentiis. I've provided a link at the bottom. Meatloaf is one of my favorite meals.  In fact, last year when Laurie asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner I chose meatloaf (not this recipe because we didn't know about it then), roasted potatoes and broccoli. As far as meatloaf goes we both scored this very high. I'd say it is one of the three best recipes for meatloaf that we have, and we have cooked many. At one point Laurie dubbed it a "Mediterranean Meatloaf" because of the feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. These photos show a few of the steps which I grabbed while Laurie put it all together for dinner: The sun-dried tomatoes and fresh parsley add nice color. The feta cheese pieces don't really melt when cooked, and so they look great within each slice. Everything has been added and mixed...

As cooked by Laurie The modification Laurie made to this recipe from skinnytaste.com is to use 3 1/2 pounds of "boneless pork butt" instead of 2 pounds of "boneless port shoulder roast".  This is the cut of meat the butcher recommended, plus the meat was priced at $1.79 per pound. That's about $6 for this 3 1/2 pound roast! I really enjoy tender meat that falls apart when you touch it with a fork.  Laurie could barely get it out of the crock pot because it kept falling apart as it was pulled out of the juice in the crockpot. She served in over mashed potato and with roasted cauliflower as the side dish. 3 1/2 pound boneless pork butt After 8 hours Meat was removed from the crockpot and any large veins of fat were removed and discarded To keep the meat warm and moist until the rest of the dinner  was ready, it was placed back into the crock pot full of  flavorful liquid and broth. Ready to be served!  (Just a portion... th...

As cooked by Laurie Wow.  This is my new all-time favorite shrimp recipe.  It's a recipe from lecremedelacrumb.com  which has been slightly modified. Yes, it looks pretty unremarkable, with just shrimp, onions and peppers as the food ingredients. But it is the addition of fajita seasoning, chili powder, lime juice and cilantro that really makes it mouth-watering. I know I made some kind of “yum” noise after each bite. Laurie served it on rice rather than fajitas, but only because we had lots of left over steamed rice from picking up Chinese food over the weekend. I had my chili lime shrimp tonight with the rice side-by-side with the shrimp; while Laurie scooped her shrimp on top of the rice.  Each to his/her own!  I’m thinking the fajita approach would be messy, but I can’t wait to try it that way! Next  time! Served with white rice and frozen veggies (Trader Joe's "Soycutash" [sic]) ------------------------------------- Sheet...

As cooked by Laurie This is a great substitute for a traditionally assembled lasagna.  It's from skinnytaste.com . This recipe is vegetarian, but there is no reason you can't add Italian sausage or ground beef or whatever. Each roll is a single serving and easily dished out on the plate, no fuss no muss. The photos below show a few of the steps. Place the lasagna roll "seams" on the bottom so they do not fall apart during cooking. The last step before cooking is sprinkling the mozzarella cheese over the lasagna rolls. Don't forget the aluminum foil! Out of the oven and ready to serve. Served here with butternut squash Left-overs microwaved for Saturday lunch.  I tried something different: I poured butternut squash pasta sauce over the two lasagna rolls. It's delicious. --------------------------- Spinach Lasagna Rolls What is needed: 9 lasagna noodles, cooked 10 oz. frozen chop...

As cooked by Laurie.  Modified and somewhat simplified from the recipe at thekitchn.com This is such a simple recipe that Laurie first found on thekitchn.com. It was designed as a make-ahead, freeze, and cook-later recipe, which she adapted into a assemble-today, cook-today, and eat-today recipe.   The first recipe was made in the wonderful old pyrex casserole dish shown above, that has been passed down in our family since probably circa 1950's. The directions below show a 13x19" enamel pan. I'm thinking I'm kind of liking the presentation of the old glass dish better.  YMMV. Saute veggies Mix rice and spices Mix veggies and rice in the pan.  Add the chicken stock marinated chicken placed on top After baking.  Served with spiralized butternut squash Served with bok choy ------------------------------------- Chicken and Wild Rice Bake What you need: 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 small onion ou...