Slow and Easy Steak with Chicken-Mushroom Gravy

This recipe tastes like you put a lot more work into it than you actually will, but that can be your secret. Of all my recipes, this is hands down my wife's favorite.

Slow and Easy Steak with Chicken-Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

1 to 2 lbs cubed steak

One 10.75-oz can cream of chicken soup

One 10.75-oz can cream of mushroom soup 

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Garlic salt, to taste

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown cubed steak in vegetable oil; drain well on paper towels. Season to taste with garlic salt.

2. Transfer steak to crock pot. Add soups (do NOT add water); mix well. Cook 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Serve over hot homemade biscuits, egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Sausage and Broccoli Skillet

If you're like me, when you think "sausage" you assume sausage patties like you might have for breakfast. While I do enjoy that type of sausage, there are many other varieties that should be considered. Sweet Italian sausage goes very well with pasta, and since October is National Sausage Month as well as National Pasta Month, I offer the following recipe to celebrate both:

Sausage and Broccoli Skillet

Ingredients

1.5 lbs sweet Italian pork sausages, casing removed

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

One 10.75-oz can condensed cream of broccoli soup

1/2 cup milk

1 bag (about 16 ounces) frozen broccoli cuts

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

4.5 cups corkscrew-shaped pasta, cooked and drained

Crushed red pepper

Directions
 

1. Cook the sausage in a 6-quart sauce pot over medium-high heat until the sausage is well browned, stirring frequently to break up meat.

2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic to the sauce pot and cook until tender. Pour off fat.

3. Stir the soup, milk, broccoli and 1/4 cup of the cheese into the sauce pot. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender, stirring occasionally.

4. Put the pasta in a large serving bowl. Pour the sausage mixture over the pasta. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Serve with red pepper, if desired. Serves 6.





Deddy's Spaghetti

In keeping with the theme of foods that are celebrated during October, and with one of those foods being pasta, I'd like to share the following original spaghetti recipe.
I've made this simple spaghetti recipe for years, and it was always one of my daughter's favorites. She called it, "Deddy's Spaghetti."

Deddy's Spaghetti

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

One 16-oz package spaghetti

One green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

One small onion, coarsely chopped

Two 23.75-oz jars pasta sauce (I use Prego Chunky Garden Combo)

One 26.5-oz can spaghetti sauce

2 small cans mushrooms stems and pieces, drained

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp garlic powder

Garlic salt, to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

1. Prepare spaghetti according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, lightly coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Add beef and vegetables to prepared pan and cook over medium-high heat until beef is no longer pink and vegetables are crisp tender; drain in colander.

3. Return beef mixture to saucepan and add Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and garlic salt. Add mushrooms, pasta sauses and spaghetti sauce. Mix well and heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for a few minutes.

4. Drain prepared spaghetti in colander and return to pot. Pour hot beef and sauce mixture over spaghetti; mix well. Top servings with Parmesan cheese, if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers (spaghetti is even better the next day.)



Pecan-Stuffed Pickled Jalapenos

Yep...October is National Pickled Pepper Month, and Papa's picked a pickled pepper with pecans that is sure to be a people pleaser! (Please pardon the puns)

Pecan-Stuffed Pickled Jalapenos

Ingredients

Whole pickled jalapeno peppers

Spreadable garlic and herb cheese, softened

Toasted pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Slice peppers in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds and membranes.

2. Pipe cheese spread into each pepper half.

3. Press peppers, cheese sides down, into chopped, toasted pecans.

Five-Star Vegetarian Chili

October is not only national chili month, it's also national vegetarian awareness month.
I am NOT a vegetarian. I like me some meat. I also like the t-shirt I saw recently that said, "I didn't climb to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian."
Now, with all of that said, Here is what I think is a pretty good vegetarian chili recipe:

Five-Star Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 tsp chile powder

1 tsp ground cumin

One 28-oz can unsalted diced tomatoes (do not drain)

One 15-oz can unsalted tomato sauce

2 cups water

1/3 cup bulgur

Two 15-oz cans cannellini and/or kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

1. Warm oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic chile pepper, oregano, chili powder and cumin. Cook 2 minutes

2. Add tomatoes (with juice), tomato sauce and water. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in bulgur and beans. Reduce heat to medium and cook 15 minutes or until thickened. Serves 4.

October Foods: Granny Smith Pork Chops

According to my sources (you gotta love Google) there are something like 18 foods that are celebrated during the month of October. They are:

National Apple Month (September, October, November)
National Applejack Month (I’m guessing they don’t mean the cereal here)
National Caramel Month
National Cookie Month
National Chili Month
National Country Ham Month
National Dessert Month
National Pasta Month
National Pickled Peppers Month
National Pizza Month
National Popcorn Poppin’ Month
National Pretzel Month
National Pork Month
National Sausage Month
National Seafood Month (also celebrated in June)
National Spinach Lovers Month
National Sun Dried Tomato Month
Vegetarian Awareness Month

Throughout October, I’ll be posting at least one recipe from my collection for most of these foods (I’m not sure if I have an applejack recipe, but I’ll look into it.)

For today, let’s combine a couple of the above mentioned foods with the following recipe:

Granny Smith Pork Chops

Ingredients

1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp powdered garlic
2 tsp paprika
2 lbs pork loin chops, in 4 servings
1 Tbsp olive oil, or as needed
2 small Granny Smith apples
2 green bell peppers
2 medium onions
2/3 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1.5 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp blackstrap molasses
Cornstarch, as needed

Directions

1. Stir together first 4 ingredients. Place chops on platter or cutting board and sprinkle with salt mixture, using all of mixture. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; add chops and sear until golden on both sides (if necessary, brown chops in batches.)

2. Meanwhile, core and slice unpeeled apples and peppers. Slice onions. Mix together broth, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and molasses.

3. Transfer browned chops to platter. To the same skillet, add apples, peppers and onions; sauté 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Spread apple mixture evenly in pan after sautéing.

4. Place chops on top of sautéed apple mixture, stacking chops, if necessary. Pour broth mix over all. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 40 minutes. Transfer chops to serving platter; pile apple mixture on top. Thicken liquid in skillet with cornstarch; serve over chops and apple mixture. Serves 4.

The Three Pound Meatloaf

Everyone has an opinion about meatloaf. You either love it or you just don't care for it. I fall into the former category.

With the weather cooling down and the arrival of Fall comfort food is on the minds and menus of most everybody, and in my opinion meatloaf is one of the best comfort foods available (unless you fall into the later category.)

With this in mind, I am posting the following original recipe for my "Three Pound Meatloaf." I hope you enjoy it.

Glenn "Papa" Ervin

The Three Pound Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 lb ground chuck or ground round

1 lb ground pork

1 lb ground chicken or ground turkey

1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped

1 small white onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 lb (1 sleeve) saltine crackers, finely crushed

One 15-oz can tomato sauce seasoned for meatloaf

1 Tbsp butter

1 package meatloaf seasoning

Garlic salt, to taste

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400. Sauté vegetables in butter over medium-high heat until crisp-tender. Add garlic salt to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, reserving 1/2 of the tomato sauce; combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add sautéed vegetables; mix all ingredients well.
3. Spray an 8 x 11.5 x 3” baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer meat mixture to prepared dish. Press mixture into bottom of dish so that the dish is filled to edges.
4. Place dish on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour; drain. Spread the reserved tomato sauce evenly over the top of the meatloaf and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.