Old Fashioned Chuck Roast w/Potatoes, Carrots and Onions

I remember it vividly!

It’s “chuck roast,” Mom corrected me, on the day I blurted out “pot roast.”  Must've been because she didn't want the cattle on our farm to be offended... 😉

A Beef Salad Sandwich

 OK!  Here it is!  Remember the pot roast I posted last week and told you to watch for what Bill would do with the left-over meat?  Here’s what he did with it…

Growing up, I loved it when Mom cooked a beef chuck roast because I knew there would be beef salad sandwiches to follow.  I don't know where she got the idea of doing this with left-over roast beef, but I'm glad she did!

Mom used an old-fashioned shiny clamp-on galvanized meat grinder, and I did also for many years.  It is a great tool for grinding meat, vegetables, nuts and fruit that is cheap also.  If you’ve never used one, the first thing that will get your attention is the weight of it, about 5 pounds.  It’s unbreakable and durable. 

The handle attaches to the grinder with a nut; the ‘worm’ is the spiraled part of the grinder that moves the food to be ground through the body.  Attaching either the coarse or fine plate and then the screw ring gives you a perfect tool for grinding meat and so forth.  The main thing of concern was that the clamp at the bottom holding the grinder to the counter or table was very tight.  If not, it started sliding and could fall right off the table.  In reality, this is the best tool for grinding meat and all perfectly!

Go ahead many years and the food processor became king.  It certainly does a great quick job of chopping but it does not provide quite the texture that the grinder with the ‘worm’ gives.  So be sure if you use a food processor to chop and pulse in 1 to 2 second bursts until the desired fine consistency is met.

Just a few ingredients; such as, Miracle Whip (mayonnaise?), pickle relish, eggs and onions to make a great sandwich. 

I have to say, Bill thinks this beef salad sandwich is par with a tuna, chicken or ham salad sandwich any day! 

Beef Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked beef roast

1/3 cup pickle relish

2 hard cooked eggs, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

¾ cup Miracle Whip

Salt and pepper, to taste

Lettuce leaves

Method:

Grind the meat in food processor using chop and pulse mode, pulsing in 1-2 second bursts.

Remove to a bowl and add remaining ingredients.

Assemble a sandwich using your favorite bread.

Delicious!

Do any of you use the old-fashioned meat grinder?

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway for Chef John Besh’s “My New Orleans” cookbook that was posted on October 29, 2010!

Check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Bill's Tossed Salad with Chicken

Every once in a while, Bill makes our favorite salad for lunch! This is a delicious crunchy fresh salad and he does it up perfectly.

I especially like the addition of peas and hard-boiled eggs.  To make it really easy, pick up a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store!  This is a good salad with a simple dressing!

Bill's Tossed Salad with Chicken

Ingredients:

½ small head lettuce, torn

1 cup diced cooked chicken breast

1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed

½ small carrot, peeled and shredded

½ small white onion, chopped

1 hard boiled egg, chopped

½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

Dash lemon zest

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt and coarse ground pepper, to taste

Method:

Combine first seven ingredients in a large bowl.

Blend remaining ingredients in a small bowl.

Combine and toss.

2 servings

Have a great lunch today!

Today is the last day to enter the CSN Stores giveaway that I posted on October 8th. Don't forget to enter!

Check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Creamed Chipped Beef or SOS over Toast

SOS

Creamed chipped beef

Growing up, my Mom made creamed chipped beef every now and then for dinner.  I loved it and thought it was a great fast dinner.  And then, Bill came along....

As a young boy, Bill’s mom made the same creamed beef using chipped beef.  He didn’t like it but forced himself to eat just because “mom said so.”  Then, when he was in the Army (1960’s) and in basic training, chipped beef (SOS) was served.  Again he had to eat it or face consequences!   After basic training, it was serve yourself.  If you didn’t like something, you didn’t have to eat it.

Later, Bill went to Germany and the mess Sgt. (Sgt Stacy) had his own way of making creamed beef.  He would fix some with chipped beef but mostly it was with ground beef.  Bill said what a difference!  Two pieces of toast, creamed ground beef on top, topped with an over easy egg ~ SOS!

When we got married and lived in Louisville, I mentioned to Bill about chipped beef for dinner.  He said as long as it’s with ground beef and not chipped.  I had never heard of it this way but, made it and it was OK, especially with the egg on top.  However; I prefer my way, the chipped beef way and no egg on top!

I love it and would certainly like to eat it more often and so would Bill!

Creamed Ground Beef or SOS

 

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

¼ cup butter

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2½ cups milk

Method:

Brown minced beef in large skillet over medium heat.

Drain excess fat.

Move beef to the side.

Melt butter in skillet. 

Stir in flour.

Slowly add milk, stirring constantly.

Add Worchestershire sauce and salt and pepper.

Simmer until hot and desired consistency.

Serve over toast.

Creamed Chipped Beef

Ingredients:

4 oz. chipped beef (Buddig brand) torn into strips

6 tablespoons butter

½ cup flour

2½ cups milk

Few drops Worcestershire sauce

Pepper, to taste

Method:

Melt butter in skillet.

Blend in flour and pepper with a whisk.

SLOWLY add milk, stirring constantly.

Add Worcestershire sauce.

Bring to a simmer and add beef.

Simmer until hot and it reaches the desired consistency.

ENJOY!!!

Check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and the 4 cookbooks she's giving away!

Smoked Catfish

Bill is posting today and all I have to say is that the catfish was excellent!  Love it prepared in this fashion!

Here’s Bill:

I’ve made many foods on the smoker but even though we love catfish, I never thought about smoking catfish until Pam told me about it after reading on Stephen’s blog, The Obsessive Chef.  It’s pretty simple as it’s a white fish, thin filets and no skin.

Thinking back, Dad made a smoker by taking an old refrigerator and converting it to a smoker.  He was so proficient that people he knew would ask him to smoke the salmon they caught from Lake Michigan.  He smoked all kinds of meat as well as his favorite, cheddar cheese.  Delicious!

Having used only an electric smoker which I thought didn’t really do a great job, I bought a charcoal smoker.  It is so much easier, except I have to learn the nuances of where the heat is the highest and the smoke output is greatest.  I’ll learn it as I plan to smoke a turkey breast soon.

Smoked Catfish

Ingredients:

6 catfish fillets, approximately 2 pounds

3 tablespoons coarse black pepper

3 tablespoons sea salt

2 tablespoons white pepper

Smoked paprika

Crushed dill weed, dried

Mop (marinade):

2 cups seafood stock

3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice (lemon is desired)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

Method:

Prepare the fillets by rubbing coarse black pepper, white pepper and sea salt on both sides.

In a large bow, combine mop ingredients.

Once the mop is prepared, add fillets.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

When the smoker is hot and reaches 200 degrees, remove the fillets from the refrigerator, reserving the mop.

Apply salt and pepper again.

Rub on a little smoked paprika and dill.

With the heat between 175-200 degrees, the smoking process takes about 2 hours.

Brush reserved mop on fillets every 30 minutes.

Catfish filets are done when they flake easily.

Cool.

Wrap in foil and refrigerate.

Served with crackers, it’s a great hors d’oeuvres!

Be sure to enter the $65 CSN giveaway I posted on Sept. 15^th!

Check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway.

Bill’s Ham (?) Salad

I’ve said before that my Mom knew her way around a kitchen and was a great cook and baker.  Her pies had quite a reputation.  She loved ham salad and made it now and then.  I thought it was great until…

I was at Aunt Marge’s house one day back in the days when we lived on the farm in Picktown and Aunt Marge served ham salad sandwiches for lunch.  I thought it was the best thing and wondered why hers was so much better than Mom’s ~ but I didn’t tell Mom that.  Years later, when I met Bill, I found out!  His Mom made ham salad with bologna. 

So, now since Bill is the sandwich maker in the family; that is his way of making ‘ham’ salad:  with bologna. This is a pretty simple way of making it.  There are neither hard-boiled eggs in it, nor onions and it has to have Miracle Whip.  Years ago, he put the bologna through a grinder, then later started grating it on a hand-held grater and now shreds it in the food processor.  He says the only other requirement is that it be served on toast, that’s a necessity!

Bill’s Bologna Salad

Ingredients:

1 pound chunk bologna

1/3 cup pickle relish

½ to ¾ cup Miracle Whip

Pepper, to taste

Method:

Shred the bologna in food processor.

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Spread on your favorite toast.

Yum!

How do you like your ham salad?

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway. 

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Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

Add some spice into your next barbecue with quick and delicious Italian sausage!  Just light the grill, throw on a few sausages.  What could be easier?  There is an art to it though and Bill has it down pat!

The problem is they may burn easily.  I used to parboil them in water before Bill grilled them and then realized that even if a little beer is added to the water, all the parboiling did was pull the flavor out of the sausages and make flavored water in the pot.

Now they go straight from the refrigerator to the grill.  Bill’s secret to grilling the Italian sausage is to grill them on low heat.  It keeps the flavor in and cooks the middle perfectly.  And he uses tongs, no forks!  Once the skin is pierced, you’re in for some flare ups which leads to burnt sausages.  It takes a while longer to grill them this way but, the appearance is great and they’re packed with delicious flavors. 

Of course, sautéed red peppers are almost mandatory for topping Italian sausage sandwiches!  I go for hot Italian sausage, Bill likes the mild.  They’re great and grill them up Bill’s way for the best Italian sausage and pepper sandwich!

Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:

6 Italian sausages

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 large white onion, sliced

1 small tomato, cut into wedges

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method:

Slow-cook the sausages over low grill heat.

In a skillet, heat olive oil.

Add peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Place onions in with peppers.

Add remaining ingredients and sauté for about 3 minutes.

Cook until onions are limp.

Assemble Italian sausage on a bun, adding pepper mixture.

Top with horseradish sauce or mustard.

Ummmm, gooood!

Visit my friend, Linda’s wonderful blog, My Kind of Cooking, for a chance to win her great cookbook!

My Favorite Chicken Salad Sandwich!

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, but it may be slipping fast after eating this great sandwich for lunch!

 I can make chicken salad myself but I’ve come to the conclusion that what really makes Bill’s chicken salad sandwiches so good is that he dices the chicken into larger pieces than I normally do.  But then, there’s something else ~ he uses MAYONNAISE!  If you’ve read a few of my posts, you know I’m a Miracle Whip kind of girl.  I forgive him though as he makes a great hearty delicious chicken salad sandwich!

Here’s his recipe:

Bill’s Chicken Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken breast, roasted and diced

½ cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons pickle relish

¼ teaspoon each, salt and pepper

Your favorite bread, toasted

Method:

In a mixing bowl, add first 5 ingredients.

Toss gently until well combined.

Assemble the sandwich.

Yum!  It’s a great filling sandwich!

Don’t forget to enter my give-away posted on July 20^th!       Here's the link:

http://pamsmidwestkitchenkorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-give-away-time.html 

Bill's Pan-Fried Smelt

I had never even heard of smelt until Bill and I visited his parents, and his mother served smelt for dinner with creamed asparagus on toast.

 What a meal!!!

Now after living here many years, we still like fried smelt as much as ever. When my parents visited us from Louisville, Bill fried smelt on the grill for them and then they fell for it hook, line and sinker too!

Of course, smelt always starts the eternal argument ~ how many will be swiped through corn meal and how many through flour before frying.  It’s a never-ending battle with uneven results for some as Bubba and I hurry to hide the flour before Bill finds it and Matt and Kathy liking both ways.

 Smelt net fishing

Smelt resembles salmon in appearance but is much smaller, generally around 7” and is fished primarily around the Great Lakes.  It is one of the few fish that fishermen are allowed to net.  They also provide food for the growing trout and salmon populations in Lake Michigan. 

Smelt is a very delicate fish and requires great care from the time of netting to cleaning them before frying.  Depending upon where you purchase them, some additional cleaning may be necessary.  If that is needed we use a soft tootbrush.

The smelt requires nothing but salt and pepper; no batter, no tartar sauce here.  There’s nothing quite like eating them, tail and all, even as a delicious finger food if you don’t have time to pick up a fork! 

 With corn meal

With flour

Bill’s Pan-Fried Smelt

Smelt

Salt and pepper, to taste

Corn meal

Flour

Crisco

Carefully clean the smelt.

Melt Crisco in skillet, about 1” deep to cover fish, heat to 375 degrees.

Dip smelt in corn meal or flour.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Fry in hot grease.

Turn, continue frying for a total time of about 2-4 minutes until golden. 

Allow approximately 1/3 pound smelt per person.

Spring is in the air and the smelt are in the water awaiting your skillet.  I hope you try this and fall for it hook, line and sinker also!

Bill’s Garlic Parmesan Turkey Sandwich

I want to tell you about something I recently discovered, the new line launched at Meijer Stores ~ Meijer Gold. With nearly 100 products at budget-friendly prices, Meijer Gold has something to offer everyone, and yes, that even includes those with “finicky” appetites! 

What makes Meijer Gold unique is its collection of original recipe ingredients that are either made by a local company within the Meijer structure or by a family-owned business.  The line also features interesting foods indigenous to a specific area.  All the products have a story behind them; such as the Meijer Gold mustard that is prepared from an age-old German recipe by a long-time Midwest company.  And I love one product in particular, which I will tell you about. 

Bill put together a great turkey sandwich yesterday!  He piled layers of fresh sliced turkey, Swiss cheese, tomato, red onion, and lettuce on a great crusty French bread; but, the star of the sandwich was the Meijer Gold Garlic Parmesan Spread!  It has a tangy taste that complemented the sandwich perfectly. 

I read on the label that the Gold Garlic Parmesan Spread was created by a chef with a renowned, family-owned Texas company.  It combines Parmesan cheese, garlic powder and select spices to deliver an amazingly seasoned ingredient to sandwiches, cold salads or dips.  It goes above and beyond the call of duty, delivering with taste and style!  You have to give it a try!

Bill’s Garlic Parmesan Turkey Sandwich

Ingredients:

Rustic Italian bread

Roasted deli turkey breast, sliced thin

Swiss cheese

Lettuce

Tomato

Red onion

Meijer Gold Garlic Parmesan Spread

Method:

Spread both slices of bread generously with Meijer Gold Garlic Parmesan Spread.

Layer all of the ingredients on bread, making a sandwich.

Delicious!!!

DISCLAIMER:   The Garlic Parmesan Spread was provided by Meijer Stores as part of a small gift basket.