Meat & Potato Casserole

Inexpensive, easy, hearty and tasty: what more could one want in a casserole? Make two and freeze one! Serve with green beans, corn or mixed veggies. Look for soup, mushrooms and cheese on sale.

Serves 2-4

• 8-ounces (1/2 pound), ground chuck
• 8-ounces peeled, thinly sliced potatoes (about 1 large)
• 1/2-can condensed, cream of mushroom soup
• 1, 7-ounce can mushroom pieces and stems, drained, liquid preserved
• 1/2-cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-teaspoon dried thyme flakes, crushed
• Pinch or two dried red pepper flakes
• Milk, or any of the following: cream, half-and-half or evaporated milk
• 4 slices American cheese or 1/2 - 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Lightly spray a one-quart, glass baking dish, one that has a lid. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

A mandolin works best to slice the potatoes. You want them about as thick as a nickel, but no thinner.

Put the mushroom juice in a measuring cup and add milk until it measures 3/4 cup. In a small bowl, combine the cream of mushroom soup and the mushroom liquid.

In a medium skillet, brown the ground chuck. Just as it begins to brown, add the onion and garlic. Cook just until meat is no longer pink.

Add the mushroom soup mixture, the thyme and red pepper flakes to taste. Bring to a slow simmer, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasonings. If too dry, add a bit more liquid or mushroom soup.

Place a few tablespoons of the meat mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish just to cover. Place a layer of potatoes on top and continue to alternate layers of potatoes and meat mixture, being sure to finish with the meat mixture. (Sometimes I add a bit more milk.)

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until you notice it begins to bubble and the potatoes are soft. Remove from oven. Place cheese slices or cheese on top and return to oven, uncovered, just until the cheese is melted.

Notes: regular ground hamburger is pretty fatty, so I avoid it. Ground sirloin works well, too. You could use ground round, but I think ground chuck has much more flavor. It would be interesting to use ground lamb. If you don’t like thyme, go ahead and use a different seasoning. I never add salt to this since the cheese and soup have enough already.

Cabbage Soup

Cabbage is one of the ten things we are supposed
to be eating more. Here, it pairs well with ham shanks,
carrots and potatoes.

Here's another great recipe for the New Depression. And it's healthy, too. Cabbage is one of those veggies you are supposed to eat more of. It contains sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes. Like most soups, it's open to individual interpretations. Soup broth, unlike many liquids, is immediately absorbed into your body.

2 ham shanks (not ham hocks)
1 onion roughly cut
1-2 teaspoons whole peppercorns (optional)
2 whole cloves
2-4 cups roughly-chopped cabbage
8-10 whole new potatoes, peeled (slice in half if large)
or any wax potato or turnip cut into chunks
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons caraway seed
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
2 teaspoons minced garlic

Prepare the Ham Stock


Rinse the shanks and add to a dutch oven or soup pot. Insert one clove into an onion section and add the roughly-cut onions. Cover with water, at least 8 cups. If you have chicken broth on hand, sub for some of the water. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-4 hours. Carefully remove the ham shanks to a bowl. When cool, remove as much meat as possible and reserve for the soup. Strain the broth. This can be done one day ahead--just refrigerate the broth until ready to use. NOTE: This is the stock one should use for bean, lentil, pea soups.

Bring broth to a simmer. Add diced onion, caraway, stewed tomatoes, carrots, potatoes. Just before the potatoes are tender, add the chopped cabbage and reserved ham. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until cabbage is just tender. Taste and season accordingly.

Ladle into bowls and serve with a nice rye or pumpernickel bread. Like most soups, it's even better the next day.

NOTE: Don't be afraid to substitute turnips for the potatoes, or a combo. If you don't like caraway, a bit of crushed cumin would work well, too. I've had this with neither, and it's still good.

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Apples and Raisins

Sometimes you just need something a bit fancy. This is not as complicated as it looks and a lot will depend on the kind of sausage you use. I used a spicy, apple cinnamon sausage that did just the trick! The next time I make this, I may just double the stuffing mix to serve as accompaniment.

1 3/4 lb. pork tenderloin, ends removed to make it a uniform thickness
1/2 apple
1/2 celery stalk
1/4 small onion
1 savory sausage, cooked or uncooked 1/4 - 1/3 cup
2 tablespoons raisins, preferably baking raisins
Dried marjoram
Cayenne or red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper
Chicken stock
Butter

Put the apple, celery and onion in a mini-processor and, if using pre-cooked sausage, the sausage. Pulse on chop. Heat about 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan. When melted and the apple mixture. If using raw sausage, add that along with it. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables just begin to brown.

Add enough chicken stock to just cover the vegetables by about half. Add a few pinches of dried marjoaram and, if using pepper flakes, a pinch or two. Add the raisins and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Set aside to cool (you don't want to place hot stuffing in a raw meat). Be sure to taste for seasonings. If you want a bit more of a kick, put in a dash of cayenne pepper.

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Using a sharp knife and beginning about 3/4" from the end, begin slicing into it lengthwise stopping about 3/4" from the other end. Be careful not to slice all the way down. You are creating a "pocket" for the stuffing mixture.

Spoon in stuffing and don't worry if you don't use it all. Insert four toothpicks or cut bamboo skewers through the sides of the tenderloin (see photo). Using butcher's twine, lace it up.

Preheat oven to 350-375. Place the pork in a shallow roasting pan (I used a glass bread pan). Sprinkle the remaining stuffing around it. Bake for 25 minutes. Add chicken stock, about 1/4-1/2 cup and return to oven for another 20-25 minutes. Pork should be done around 150-160 degrees. Cover with tin foil and allow to rest. Remove to a carving board and remove string. Slice and pour juices from pan over it.

If you want more juice, add a bit of warmed chicken stock to the pan.

Ham-and-Noodle Casserole

As soon as the furnace starts to kick in, I know the season of casseroles is beginning. Easy to make ahead, even freeze, they are nice on a cold day. If you don't have leftover ham, purchase a ham steak. But this recipe is at its best when one uses Boar's Head Pesto Parmesan ham. Just have the deli slice it about 1/2 inch thick.

• About 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups dry egg noodles. I used Inn Maid medium noodles--non curly
• 2 cups cubed fully-cooked ham, such as "Boar's Head Pesto Parmesan Ham"or any left-over ham.
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced without the stems
• 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion (not sweet onion)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon dried mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire (optional)
• about 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
• Pinch or two garlic powder
• Topping
• 1 cup SOFT bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan

Cook noodles. Drain. Put in bowl with a bit of olive oil so they don't stick.

In a large bowl, combine ham, soup, sour cream, mushrooms, onion, mustard, seasoned salt, Worcestershire, cayenne. Mix. Taste and re-season if necessary. Add the noodles and mix. Transfer to an 11 x 7 x 2 greased baking dish or a 9x9 pan.

In a bowl, toss breadcrumbs and butter. Add cheese. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 325-350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until heated through. You may cover it with foil for the first 30 minutes and then uncovered for the last 15.

Note: To make fresh breadcrumbs, put a couple slices of bread in the mini-processor and whirl until breadcrumbs form. I don't like cubed, uniform ham chunks. Using a sharp knife held at an angle, I make thin non-uniform slices as if you really were using leftover ham. But that's just my own preference.

This can easily be doubled and you can freeze one.