• My name is Suzanne McMinn.  I write books.
  • The Slanted Little House post.
  • How to do Stuff.

Archive for the ‘Main Dishes’ Category

Aug
1

Iron Skillet Upside Down Pizza

Main Dishes, The Farmhouse Table

A meal in a skillet–and it’s upside down, just for fun! See how it puffs up when it bakes? Like you did some magic on it. Plus, you get to call it “pizza” and you know how everybody likes that word. And, okay, you don’t have to cook it in an iron skillet, but don’t you want to? It makes me feel like a pioneer and I love feeling like a pioneer. You know, in between checking my email and watching TV. (I have chickens!) I always wanted to be Laura on Little House on the Prairie, have I mentioned that? No? Maybe we shouldn’t go there with this post, or go into my whole David Cassidy obsession. And then there was my Robert Conrad thing… Where was I? Iron Skillet Upside Down Pizza!!!

(Do you feel like you were just inside my head? And wasn’t it scary there?)

How to make Iron Skillet Upside Down Pizza:

1/2 pound ground sausage
1/2 pound ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
approximately 2 ounces sliced pepperoni
1 1/2 cups Basic Italian-Style Tomato Sauce or pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan





Cook ground sausage and beef in a 10-inch skillet. Drain grease. Add onion, garlic, salt, and Italian seasoning and mix in skillet. Spread pepperoni over meat and onion mixture. Pour on the sauce and top with cheese. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt, and flour. Mix well and spoon over sauce and cheese. (That isn’t a mistake, by the way–no baking powder is required!)





Sprinkle on the Parmesan (and I like to add some extra Italian seasoning here for decoration). Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes, till the pizza crust top is golden and puffy! Yum!

You can change this up to whatever suits your taste for your favorite kind of pizza. Add hot peppers or other vegetables. Make it with chicken and bacon. Use different cheeses. The world is your pizza.

And now it’s upside down!


The Farmhouse Table Index
Main How to Do Stuff Index
Printable Recipe Printable Recipe


Posted by Suzanne McMinn @ 5:05 am | Permalink  
Tags:

Related Posts

Jun
12

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Main Dishes, The Farmhouse Table

I love make-ahead recipes so that on busy evenings when dinner gets the short stick on time, it doesn’t have to get the short stick on homemade goodness, and this sauce is one of my favorites because it works as a flavorful base sauce for many Italian-style recipes, including, of course, spaghetti and meatballs!





You can cut this recipe in half if you’re just making enough for a meal with a bit of leftovers, but why would you do that? Make this doubled recipe, or even double it again! This sauce freezes well and can be pulled out weeks and months later to shortcut many recipes requiring a tomato-based sauce, which is why I recommend making the sauce without any meat first, storing away the extra then adding meat as it’s called for in your recipes.


How to make Basic Italian-Style Tomato Sauce:

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
6 cans tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried or 2 tablespoons fresh basil
2 teaspoons dried or 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons salt (or to taste)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, chopped (optional)
2 cups water


Simmer, covered, one hour, stirring occasionally. Simmer another hour uncovered. (Discard bay leaf when sauce is finished.)

For spaghetti sauce: Add cooked ground beef (and meatballs!) along with other vegetables, sauteed with the beef, as desired–peppers, mushrooms, etc. (Amounts depending on how much sauce you’re using for spaghetti.)

Also use for pizza sauce, and for a base sauce to shortcut lasagna. In Pepperoni Lasagna, use 3 cups Basic Italian-style Tomato Sauce to shortcut the recipe. Simply add the cooked sausage and ground beef!

To store: Use a ladle or large scoop (a measuring cup works good) and place in freezer bags.

And now for Georgia’s meatballs–yes, these are Georgia’s meatballs! (You know they’re good already.)

How to make Georgia’s Meatballs:

sliced bread (8 slices if using regular storebought sandwich bread–or if using Grandmother Bread, slices may be slightly larger, use 6)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons salt (or to taste)
1/2 cup dried or 1 cup fresh parsley
2 teaspoons pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup fresh-grated or Kraft shredded Parmesan cheese
3 pounds ground beef





Soak slices of bread one at a time in a bowl of water, dipping each side of the slices then tearing in pieces and placing in another bowl. Add remaining ingredients to bowl with bread. I like to get all the other ingredients together then add the meat. Now get ready for your hands to be a mess. Prepare your pans in advance and get your hands in there. No sissies allowed when you’re making meatballs. Mix ingredients together well with your hands then shape into balls. Be one with the meatball. Be the meatball. I’d have pictures of this but I’m a one-woman operation here and I would never touch my camera when my hands are that messy.

Meatballs as far as the eye can see.





I’m fixing a double batch here–make twice the meatballs and delay the next time you need to make meatballs and get your hands this messy. Did I say need to make meatballs? Yes, meatballs are like water or oxygen, a necessity of life. What is life without meatballs?

Georgia’s Meatballs can be baked or fried.

To bake meatballs:





Place meatballs in greased pans and bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes, depending on the size of your meatballs. Test for doneness.

To fry meatballs:





Roll meatballs lightly in flour and fry in hot olive oil–approximately 5 minutes uncovered then another 3-5 minutes covered (depending on size of meatballs), turning frequently to brown on all sides. Test for doneness.

Makes approximately 50 meatballs. For spaghetti, add to simmering sauce. Also great for meatball sandwiches or as appetizers (stick a toothpick in them to serve on an appetizer plate). These freeze well–store extras in freezer baggies for later use!


Want a meatball? They’re soooo good! And don’t forget the French bread!

The Farmhouse Table Index
Main How to Do Stuff Index
Printable Recipe Printable Recipe


Posted by Suzanne McMinn @ 5:05 am | Permalink  
Tags: , ,

Related Posts

Daily Farm
Photo



About Me

Featured Posts

Featured Recipe

Funnel Cake
Funnel Cake
More Recipes:

Featured Cuteness


How to Do Stuff

  • Old Farmer's Almanac
  • August 2008
  • Moist at foist. Thunder rattles the china. Nothing could be finah! Coolish, then warmish, then lightning-stormish. Sweet! Can't be beat! Pack a picnic, but bring a brolly; chilly, by golly!

Reading Now

  • Slice of Organic Life

My Dates to
Remember

  • Aug. 26 - First day of school. (19 days)
  • Sep. 22 - Autumn equinox. (46 days)
  • Dec. 1 - PROTECTED IN HIS ARMS hits the shelves. (116 days)

Old Farmhouse
Tour


Outhouses


Random Quotes

  • "A dream becomes a goal when action is taken toward its achievement." --Bo Bennett

Out My Window

  • Weather for Walton, WV
  • Temperature: 75F
  • Forecast: Fair
  • Current Time: 8:34 PM
  • Sunrise: 6:34 AM
  • Sunset: 8:28 PM
  • Visibility: 10.0mi
  • Wind: 3mph
  • Humidity: 61
  • Dewpoint: 60
  • High: N/A
  • Low: 57








Archives

Search This Blog

Calendar

August 2008
S M T W T F S
« Jul    
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31