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Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

Posted on 04/23/2015 4:13:22 PM PDT by Jamestown1630

Sammiches!

With Summer coming, I'm looking forward to nice tomatoes, and one of our favorite sandwiches is the classic BLT, for which nobody needs a recipe. (Before he died, my father-in-law would ship us boxes of his first eating tomatoes from PA, and we always looked forward to that - and to the sore gums that were a measure of our delighted excess :-)

But when I was growing up, my favorite Summer sandwich was just thick tomato slices on white-bread toast, with lots of mayonnaise and salt and pepper.

Due to this love of fresh tomatoes on bread, I was intrigued when I read John Berendt's book, 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', in which the renowned Savannah caterer Lucile Wright was featured. Her tomato tea sandwiches were especially admired, and here's a link to a blog that has her recipe:

http://mercadoslifelessons.blogspot.com/2013/08/miss-luciles-tomato-sandwich.html

I've always liked the idea of tea sandwiches, and years ago I found some of those fancy bread tubes in a thrift store; they were like these (though I believe mine are 'Pampered Chef' products):

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Piece-Canape-Bread-Mold/dp/B0000VLYP4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0K6V5P14N7DYS72NSPJQ

I wanted to make tea sandwiches for a party, and found an Almond Chicken Salad recipe. They were a big hit and looked nice, but you don't have to do them 'dainty', on fancy bread; any sturdy bread will do. And if you do want to get fancy, you can cut shapes out of a bought loaf, instead of baking loaves in a specialty tube.

This is the recipe I used, which is a very nice mixture of textures and tastes (not sure where I first got it, but the same recipe is all over the Web):

Almond Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Lemon-Basil Butter

To make butter spread:

Combine ¾ Cup softened butter with 2 tsps. Lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and ½ cup fresh basil leaves finely chopped, or 2 T. dried basil.

To make filling:

Combine 1 C. finely chopped cooked chicken with ½ Cup mayonnaise, ½ cup slivered almonds, and salt and pepper to taste. (I shred the chicken in the food processor, to get a very smooth, consistent texture.)

To make sandwiches:

Carefully spread each slice of bread on one side with thin layer of butter spread. Then place filling on one bread slice, and top with second buttered slice.

If you take these to a party, they can be made the evening before, and stored in a container with a double layer of paper towels between each layer of sandwiches. The butter spread will help keep the bread from going soggy.

(If you DO want to make fancy bread: I usually use the Bridgford frozen bread dough, cutting dough in half and baking each half in a canapé bread mold sprayed with PAM. To slice the bread for sandwiches, it helps to partially freeze it. Slice thinly.)

Lastly: one of my favorite sandwiches growing up was leftover meat loaf with mustard on bread; but I have not found a meat loaf recipe that really satisfies me, especially as it goes cold into sandwiches. My grandma made a great one, but I never got her recipe, and have never been able to reproduce it. (She would have been making this from the 1950s, if not earlier.)

Does anyone have a 'Grandma' or 'Great-Grandma' meat loaf recipe that you think is really good?

-JT


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1 posted on 04/23/2015 4:13:22 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
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To: 2nd amendment mama; 4everontheRight; ADemocratNoMore; Aliska; Andy'smom; ApplegateRanch; azishot; ..

Well, again I’ve strangely digressed - from dainty tea sandwiches, to meat loaf!

Enjoy!

(If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread, please send a private message.)

-JT


2 posted on 04/23/2015 4:15:18 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

here’s a great meatloaf recipe, as best I can recall it:

two pounds of leanest ground beef, one box of Herbs and Spices Stove top stuffing, one medium sweet onion minced, one medium green pepper minced, one tablespoon of Dale’s steak sauce, one half teaspoon of black pepper, one teaspoon of salt (sea salt if available), one fourth cup of egg substitute or two whole large eggs, two tablespoons of V8 juice. Mix in stand mixer until thoroughly mingled and dump into an olive oil greased loaf pan. You can also make large meatballs with this recipe and cook them nearly done and freeze them. Bake meat loaf at 350 for forty minutes covered with foli, then twelve more minutes uncovered. I shap the loaf before baking, giving it a ‘channel’ in the middle for a tomato paste sauce family likes (ketchup, tomato paste small can, and a bit of Dale’s steak sauce)/


3 posted on 04/23/2015 4:26:50 PM PDT by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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To: MHGinTN

That sounds very good, and I will try it!

I like a really savory meat loaf; a lot of recipes add too much ketchup or other tomato stuff, and it comes out too sweet.

(I also like the meatball option; I’ve been wanting to make my own meatballs, for the times when my husband goes all ‘Italian’ on me, and MUST have spaghetti. Store-bought meatballs aren’t that great.)

Thank You!

-JT


4 posted on 04/23/2015 4:34:30 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

Oh, for a delicious, warm from the garden tomato and mayo sandwich.....

I love meatloaf and really don’t have a specific recipe. I usually use 1 1/2 lbs ground beef and 1/2 lb ground pork. The rest is typical... eggs, breadcrumbs, chopped onions, Worcestershire sauce, spicy ground mustard and whatever else I might think of at the time.

Most people I know have a “special” loaf pan but I just line a 9”x13” pan with Reynolds non-stick foil and *try* to shape it into a nice loaf. That way I can make 2 small ones. Eat one and freeze one. Perfect for us.


5 posted on 04/23/2015 4:35:48 PM PDT by azishot (God made man but Samuel Colt made them equal.)
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To: Jamestown1630

You are very welcome. As an aging single man I enjoy cooking and that recipe is one I thought up for the simplicity and storage capability. The cold meatloaf makes a bite-yer-tongue good sammich, too.


6 posted on 04/23/2015 4:38:23 PM PDT by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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To: Jamestown1630

Are you able to get Mama Mancini meatballs? Used to find them in the frozen food section but now I hear they’re in the refrigerated section.

Muuuuch bigger than the other ones and a little pricey but very good. I’ve use them for meatball sandwiches and have to cut them in half. Oh, and they come with sauce which isn’t bad at all.


7 posted on 04/23/2015 4:40:10 PM PDT by azishot (God made man but Samuel Colt made them equal.)
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To: azishot

I’m not sure if Ben Franklin actually ever said that ‘beer is proof that God loves us’ - though I do love beer.

But I think that the tomato is *definitely* proof that God loves us!

-JT


8 posted on 04/23/2015 4:41:22 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: azishot

I don’t think I’ve seen them, but will look. (We’re in the suburbs of D.C.)

-JT


9 posted on 04/23/2015 4:43:19 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630
There is nothing like a vine ripened tomato. Sure beats those pink things in the supermarket. I wish I could plant already, but alas, it's too cold.

I learned to make meatloaf from Mom. Like a lot of dishes, there was no recipe per se. Mom often made what she called “garbage meatloaf. Whatever she had went into the mixture. I often add grated carrot. Adds a little color and some Vitamin A. And as Mom did, I use oatmeal instead of bread crumbs as many recipes call for. Makes the meatloaf softer plus it adds fiber and various nutrients.

10 posted on 04/23/2015 5:01:38 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: Jamestown1630

Saved for later...


11 posted on 04/23/2015 5:03:50 PM PDT by MountainDad (Support your local Militia)
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To: Jamestown1630

I like the almond chicken salad with cranberries.


12 posted on 04/23/2015 5:07:47 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (two if by van, one if by broom)
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To: fatnotlazy

We use oatmeal in our house, too - my husband’s recipe. But I think what I liked about my Granny’s recipe is that at some point, it included that little packet of dried onion stuff - the one you make onion dip out of. And there wasn’t a lot of tomato-y stuff in it.

But she was making this recipe before i think that she could have gotten that dried onion; so I’m thinking there must have been an older recipe.

It was just very savory, and nicely firm when it was cold...

-JT


13 posted on 04/23/2015 5:13:10 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630
I know many people use onion soup mix. It's good tasting, but high sodium which I have to avoid. So I just grate fresh onion.
14 posted on 04/23/2015 5:20:22 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: Jamestown1630
I use a can of this It is not sweet and a little hot but good.
15 posted on 04/23/2015 5:27:50 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin

LOL! That’s exactly what my husband uses, when he’s low-carbing!


16 posted on 04/23/2015 5:29:40 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

I’m embarrassed to actually post this but, I like them.
Let’s call them, Outofsalt’s mama’s poverty tea sammiches.

You see, I’m a first generation émigré from commie Cuba and though my dad was a law professor and my mom in radio we came here with nothing. The tea sandwich is something society folks enjoy but, Dad took a job at 7-11 and mom had three kids to rear, so here is what mom came up with.

Deviled ham and cream cheese on wonder bread triangles. Crusts trimmed of course. That’s it.

As humble as humble fare gets and I still love them.
Bon Appetite (and I’ll be reading all the meat loaf recipes)


17 posted on 04/23/2015 5:33:10 PM PDT by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: outofsalt

My Granny made ‘tea sandwiches’ with deviled ham from the can, just the same.

Did your mom make her own deviled ham?

When I was a kid, the canned stuff wasn’t too expensive; but now, it is. A while back I found a recipe for it that tastes exactly the same. I think I’ve posted it before, but here it is:

Deviled Ham

1 1/2 cups cooked ham (about 1/2 pound), chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
3 tablespoons onion, chopped
1 teaspoon whole capers, drained
3-4 tablespoons curly parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce (or your favorite hot sauce, to taste)
1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse in one second bursts, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Pulse until very well combined, but not quite a smooth paste (some texture here is good). Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld. Serve on crispy crackers or on white bread.

-JT


18 posted on 04/23/2015 5:48:28 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630
"Did your mom make her own deviled ham?"

She didn't but now, I will. Looks yummy!
(or, in a Spanish accent, jummy!)

19 posted on 04/23/2015 5:54:41 PM PDT by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: outofsalt

Delicioso.


20 posted on 04/23/2015 5:56:50 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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