Enchilada Taco Dinner

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A Family or Company Meal

Enchilada Taco dinner and Wine

Enchilada Casserole, Taco Salad, and Wine

Pair this casual dinner with a dry or sweet Rose’, or beer or even a skinny Margarita. Sounds a bit like summer! Just a bit of fun before slipping into the icy cold of winter. No intense spiciness here. This enchilada casserole can be a welcome in cold weather too … with rice and beans. Or for a brunch!

For those intense spicy meals wines with higher alcohol content are not suggested nor are expensive reds. The expensive reds will be clouded by the spiciness. And alcohol adds fuel to the fire of spice. FYI: Dry Rose’ generally has a higher alcohol content than the sweeter variety.

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London Broil Recipe Dinner Menu

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London Broil Recipe Dinner Menu

Meat and Potatoes, these guys are still around! And this one is having a birthday today. This London broil meal can be fixed in a jiffy. And is so economical … not to worry about how many guests he brings! Pair it with a good tasting economical wine. This is a London Broil Complete Dinner for Four!

Good cheap wine choices are out there, and it makes good sense to pair this meal with a value wine instead of something you would serve with filet mignon. The wine … spicy Cline zinfandel. All this is a hungry man’s delight! Oh, and French apple pie for dessert!

Three recipes here … Well, four if you include the mushrooms smothering the meat … London broil with mushrooms, twice baked potatoes, and balsamic salad dressing.

The sequence of putting the meal together could go like this.

  • Marinate the meat overnight
  • Make salad dressing up to the day ahead
  • Potatoes can be made the morning of the dinner. Baking for the last time just before serving.
  • Put the salad together the morning or afternoon on the same day. Add tomatoes and avocado, if using, as well as dressing just before serving.
  • Prepare the mushrooms at the time of the meat being broiled.
  • Uncork your value wine while the meat is broiling. Two bottles for 4 people. Just 20 bucks for two bottles of this wine.

Come join us, wine or beer or even diet cola to celebrate Stephen’s birthday!

For recipes HERE!

 

Braciole

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A Winning Family Dinner – Braciole

 

The Mystery Man in Black introduced me to this dish, Braciole. Marc or Ed has been my Italian Food Critic for over 15 years. I knew when I heard, this tastes as good as my mom’s … It was just right! This is my reinvented recipe.

I hope you will enjoy this perfect family meal. Too … great to share by candle light and Jerry Vale’s Mama. 

Mangia! 

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Portuguese Bean Soup

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A Hearty Soup For The Cold Days Ahead

Portuguese Bean Soup

What great memories! This one pot meal was cooked often by my grandmother and mother. My grandmother added homemade linguica to hers. I would eat hers and go on a date without a care in the world. Not until later did I realize the garlic might be an issue! Suggestion: Have your date eat this with you.

There was nothing more comforting on a cold rainy day than to come home and find this soup cooking on the stove. We would fill our bowls and have dinner before a crackling oakwood fire. All senses taken care of!

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Filet Mignon With Blue Cheese

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A Delicious Indulgence

Pan Seared Filet Mignon with Blue Cheese

Pan Seared Filet Mignon is so easy and wonderfully delicious. Add this simple Blue Cheese Butter Topping for added deliciousness. Jerry, a long lost friend of mine, introduced me to this amazing steak topper … and pineapple smothered Spam … maybe another time! This is always an impressive meal and so simple. You must learn the pan sear trick.

Here are a few hints I was taught along the way that may be useful:
-Use a seasoned cast iron skillet or a heavy bottom skillet.
-The skillet must be hot.
-Use the fat you have trimmed off the steak to grease the bottom of the skillet. Use a fork to run the fat around the bottom of the heated pan and then remove it.
-I often use a skillet so well seasoned no grease or oil is needed to avoid sticking. If you try this be aware the meat will stick until it is seared. Wait a minute or two, then turn it over.
-You may need to turn the heat down slightly after you add the steak to avoid too much browning. Adjusting the heat as you go may be necessary.
-Turning the steak more than once or twice will not dry out the steak.
-I was taught to salt the heated skillet rather than oil to prevent sticking. This method may no longer be in vogue.

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Easy Baked Pasta

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A recipe for your pasta sauce or jar sauce

Easy Baked Pasta

This Easy Baked Pasta is a changeable recipe. Use your favorite meat sauce or marinara, or try my gravy, or use a jar of marinara, and even make it vegetarian. It’s easy to change up.

The dish in this picture was made with my Italian gravy rich with meat and meat balls. The only ingredients I added to my gravy were the cheeses and pasta. Just layered in this oblong baking dish without much significance in what layer goes first.

Now I am going to give you ways to change this up, add meat or vegetables, add your sauce or jar.

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Italian Sauce or Gravy The Old Fashioned Way

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A Rich Meat Sauce

Italian sauce or Gravy the Old Fashioned Way

The cooking time is lengthy but a slow cooker works well if it is large enough. I like to cook this recipe on a weekend when the weather has me pretty much trapped at home. The warmth and smells from the kitchen are comforting. And my family loves it.

After cooking for some hours the gravy rests so any excess fat can be skimmed off the top. Sunday it is ready for either spaghetti and meatballs, rigatoni, or lasagna. If there is any gravy left over it is frozen to be used for that quick meal during the week … Or maybe this November when I cook my recipe of bracciole for Marc or Ed.

But what about those jarred sauces! Most are not meat sauces as this is but marinara. There are some very good ones out there … Some being sold on behalf of the TV chefs we know. Giada used a jarred sauce to prepare one of her grandfather’s favorite holiday recipes. I have used the brand she used many times. And it is very good. When I use these jarred sauces it is usually not alone … Adding wine, olive oil, finely chopped tomatoes or meatballs to not only extend it but to give it an extra oomph. I do watch for certain ingredients on the label and am cautious about the sodium level.

It’s just nice, if you have the time, to make this from scratch.

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Four Layer Dinner

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A Friendly recipe for the young chef

Four Layer dinner

 

This recipe holds up after all these years. It’s tasty, healthy, economical, and fast & easy. What is the origin of this Four Layer Dinner? See Reddy Kilowatt at the end of this recipe.

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