Tag Archives: Food

Recipe | AiXeLsyD13-style Wedding Soup

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Yeah, I blogged about this before. But, that post is long winded and I have refined my method ever so slightly. Also Kraft doesn’t make Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing any more. Which isn’t a huge deal, but still. Mainly, I make my meatballs & chicken both in the oven now.

Overhead view of a bright orange soup bowl with a black handle, held in one hand. A spoon lifts a meatball resting on acini di pepe, with shredded chicken, melted cheese, wilted spinach, chopped carrots, and chopped celery floating in a golden broth.

Here’s the recipe for the meatballs & the soup. I don’t measure anything, so these are guesses.

Meatballs

Ingredients:

  • ~3 lbs. ground beef (80/20)
  • ½ bag Seasoned croutons, crushed (eyeball it; you want mostly meat, not bread)
  • splash of milk, to soak the crushed croutons
  • ½ cup French fried onions, crushed
  • splash of Zesty Italian (eyeball it)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh spinach
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
  • ¼ cup Parmesan/Romano “shake cheese”
  • Seasonings: onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, Dash table blend

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
  2. Crush the croutons (I used a ground meat masher thing – but you can do it by hand, or in a baggie with the shake-cheese bottle) and the French fried onions. Stir the milk into the croutons and let them soak for a few minutes (The internet tells me this is a panade.)
  3. In a big bowl, mix the beef, soaked croutons, French fried onions, a splash of dressing, the eggs, a few shakes of cheese, the spinach, the parsley, and the seasonings by hand until just combined.
  4. Roll or scoop into mini meatballs, about 1 inch, and space them out on the pan.
  5. Bake 18 to 20-ish minutes, until no pink remains and they hit 160°F.

Chicken

Ingredients:

  • Chicken breast cutlets (about 1½ to 2 lb)
  • Olive oil
  • Rotisserie chicken seasoning, poultry seasoning.

Method:

  1. Put the cutlets on a separate sheet pan, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with seasoning.
  2. Bake at 400°F for 18 to 20-ish minutes, flipping halfway, until they hit 165°F.
  3. Let rest a few minutes, then slice into chunks.

Soup

Ingredients:

  • Butter (enough to cover the bottom of the pot when melted)
  • A few handfuls of carrots, finely chopped
  • About ⅓ bunch celery, chopped (stalks plus some leaves)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • Fresh parsley
  • Minced garlic (the jarred kind in oil is fine)
  • 4 cartons chicken broth/stock (or whatever mix you have)
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons minced jarred garlic.
  • Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder,
  • 1 box (16 oz) De Cecco acini de pepe
  • Fresh spinach, chopped (I get the kind in the clear box at Aldi)
  • Shredded Parmesan for topping

Method:

  1. Melt the butter in the soup pot. Add the carrots, celery, onion, parsley, and garlic, season well, and sauté for a bit.
  2. Pour in the broth/stock and bring to a boil. (I used chicken broth, chicken stock, bone broth, and vegetable broth this time.)
  3. Reduce the heat a bit and add the chicken and meatballs. Bring back to a boil.
  4. Add the spinach and acini de pepe and boil about 9 minutes, or until the pasta is done.
  5. Top each bowl with shredded Parmesan. Let it cool before eating.

Notes:

  • The acini di pepe swells a lot in leftovers. The whole internet says to cook it separately and add it to each bowl which ensures that I will absolutely do exactly not that. You do you though.
  • This is not a traditional Italian wedding soup. I’m a mostly UK-ish mutt with some German and maybe even Norwegian heritage living in southwestern PA. Don’t come at me telling me what I did wrong.
  • You can use bouillon cubes, Better Than Bouillon , make your own stock, or even sneak your favorite beer into the stock. You do you.
  • You can use frozen meatballs, but these are so much better. Maybe use a rotisserie chicken too? There are no rules. I support culinary anarchy.
  • I feel like mushrooms may be good in this too? I don’t know why.
  • Gimme your tips & tricks!

Tacoloaf: Doritos, Taco Sauce & Cheese-Crusted Taco Meatloaf

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You know I have a hard time just making a normal meatloaf, right? I mean, I have the hardboiled egg & bacon one, the Swiss/onion/mushroom one, the mushroom & Havarti one, & the Turkey Dinner one. Of course, I have a normal one too.

There’s other stuff I’m surely gonna try. The Wedding Soup Meatball Sub worked, why not make it a meatloaf? Maybe? I thought of a chili meatloaf, whic would maybe have beans in it… and I still may try that someday, but this seemed like more of an easy win. Plus, leftovers right into a warmed tortilla? Yes, please.

Maybe this is “white people tacos” because of the seasonings, but I mean… it was pretty good, and it tasted like the tacos I grew up eating in the 80s. I should have snuck in some salsa and black olives. Wait. Maybe refried beans? Would that even work?

A taco-inspired meatloaf topped with melted cheese and taco sauce atop of a parchment lined baking sheet.

I absolutely do not measure. All measurements are approximate. Measure with your heart, and season according to your ancestors. If your ancestors come from the same place mine do, maybe keep seasoning a bit past that.

Ingredients:

  • 2½ lbs. 80/20 ground beef
  • 2 Tbsp taco seasoning (from a shaker; about 1-1½ packets if you’re using packets)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup crushed Doritos (about 2 cups before crushing; roughly 2 big handfuls)
  • ¼ cup panko
  • ¼ cup taco sauce
  • ¼ cup milk, for soaking the panko
  • 1 cup Mexican-style shredded cheese
  • 2-3 Tbsp. sour cream
  • ½ cup slightly crushed French fried onions
  • Other seasonings, approximate:
    • 1 tsp chili powder
    • ½ tsp cumin
    • ½ tsp garlic powder
    • ½ tsp onion powder
    • ½ tsp paprika
    • ¼ tsp cayenne
    • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ cup taco sauce, divided (for glaze/topping)
  • ½ cup shredded Mexican-style cheese (for topping)
  • 3 sacrificial slices of white bread.

Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and lay the bread slices side by side, shaped roughly like the loaf.
  • Soak the panko & crushed Doritos. Stir the panko, ¼ cup taco sauce and ¼ cup milk together in a large bowl. Let it sit about 5 minutes until it’s a thick paste. Season this up.
  • Beat the eggs lightly and stir them into the soaked panko mixture..
  • Add the beef, taco seasoning, cheese, sour cream, French fried onions and all more spices to the bowl. Mix gently with your hands.
  • Shape. Form a loaf on top of the bread, about 9-10 inches long and 3-4 inches tall. (The bread catches the drippings and keeps the bottom from burning.)
  • Bake for about 50 minutes.
  • Take it out and brush the top with about ¼ cup taco sauce. Add a thin layer of shredded cheese, then drizzle with the remaining taco sauce. Bake another 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly and the internal temperature reads 160°F.
  • Rest for about 3 minutes, then slice.

I think it was pretty good. Obviously you could do regular tortilla chips and add more seasoning. I may do that next time. This time I baked it alongside a normal meatloaf just in case nobody liked it. The family looked at me weird when I rolled out my plan.

I served all this along with some Spanish rice & black beans. I probably made that very not traditionally, but it was also pretty good. Also with it I sauteed some zucchini and bell pepper. Would have done onion, but the last one was a little too squishy for my taste.

A "normal" meatloaf and a Taco Night Meatloaf side by side on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Sauteed zucchini & bell pepper, Spanish rice with black beans, and taco-night meatloaf on a plate next to a dollop of sour cream.

What unconventional meatloaf ideas are you sitting on? Would you try this? What are you making out there?

Those Halloween Hot Dog Ghosts 🌭👻

Posted on by Standard 1

I had to try ’em out. We’ve done the mummies. Why not the ghosts? They were at least horrifying in the spirit of the holiday.

8 hot dog ghosts in various positions after baking on top of parchment paper on a baking sheet.

These were really simple, here’s what I did…

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°.
  2. Cut 4 bun-length hot dogs in half, & stand them up on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  3. Roll out a can of Pillsbury croissant dough, pinch the diagonal seams & cut it into 8 squares.
  4. Put some shredded cheese and seasoning on the dough.
  5. Wrap the dough over the dogs cheese & seasoning side in.
  6. Use a metal straw (or whatever) to cut holes for the eyes and mouth.
  7. Pop them in the oven for 13 minutes, because of course.

You can see how they turned out. My wife got a much more flattering picture:

4 ghost styled hot dogs standing on a white plate with some ketchup.

She opted for ketchup. I made “Scary Sauce.”

Maybe 3:1:½ of Ketchup/Yellow Mustard/Miracle Whip, with some onion powder, paprika, and mustard powder. It was nice & orange for the season.

Next time, I may cut up black olive slices & use them for the eyes and mouths. Maybe. I also will use regular sized dogs instead of the bun length, so maybe they don’t half tip over.

What are your favorite or new fun Halloween themed foods?

Of course, I made these while listening to a Halloween playlist. You should too.

Halloween Pasta w/ Butternut Squash Sauce

Posted on by Standard 1

OK, so this recipe is really inspired by or let’s say heavily borrowed from a recipe that I saw on a Barilla Campanelle box years ago. I saw some Reggano Halloween Shaped Pasta at Aldi recently, and I thought the butternut squash sauce would hit the right color and flavor for fall.

Reggano Halloween Shaped Pasta in a bowl. Pumpkins, bats, owns, spiders, & more in "regular" color, orange, and purple.

I’m not fancy enough for pancetta, so I used bacon pieces, and I skipped the balsamic vinegar and added a dash of heavy cream because why not? I didn’t measure anything, but here’s what I did;

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag Reganno Halloween Shaped Pasta (or whatever you have on hand, really).
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ⅓ cup bacon pieces
  • 1 small Onion chopped
  • 2 small butternut squash, cubed (It was about 8 cups)
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, Dash table blend to taste.

Method:

  1. Sauté onions & bacon pieces in the oil on medium-high heat until crispy. Use your seasonings here.
  2. Add the butternut squash and brown it up a bit. Seasonings again.
  3. Add in the chicken broth, and bring to a boil.
  4. Simmer for 10 to 15-ish minutes or until the squash gets soft.
  5. Process half of the sauce in the blender until smooth. (I used an immersion blender and did half of the sautee pan.)
  6. Add the heavy cream and give it a stir.
  7. Cook pasta according to directions and toss with or top with the sauce.

Notes:

  • I should have added some more crisped up bacon at the end.
  • Of course you could use & cook bacon or pancetta here. Or no meat.
  • Try the OG with the vinegar if that’s your thing.
  • I feel like roasting some butternut squash separately and adding it in would add some depth.
  • Hear me out… Roasted Brussels sprouts would work really well with this.

How would you do it? What are your butternut sqash recipes? Have any good pasta sauce recipes that aren’t marinara or alfredo?

What if soup, but sandwich? Wedding Soup Meatball Subs.

Posted on by Standard 2

So, you know I like to make soup. And you know I’m a fan of meatball subs (& meatball clubs! Join the meatball club). I made my version of wedding soup recently, and it was pretty good. I remarked it’d be good to have a meatball sub with those flavors, and everyone in the family seemed to agree. So, here we are.

Yinz wanna jump to the recipe?

A hearty meatball sub inspired by Italian wedding soup, featuring tender meatballs, greens, and melted cheese on a toasted hoagie roll.
A toasted wedding-soup inspired meatball sub cut in half on a plate, served alongside a warm bowl of flavorful golden brodo di bollito.

Lots of other people have done this and there are certainly other recipes out there, but as always I did my own take here. I get real tired real quick on foodie gatekeeping about the “right” way to do stuff, as it recipes and ingredients haven’t always changed across generations, borders, & families.

I had what I wanted to do and a taste I was going for in my head, and it definitely hit the mark. My son tasted a meatball before we made a sandwich and he said the meatball tasted exactly like wedding soup. I’ll take that!

I ended up making a broth on the side to kind of have like a a French Dip sandwich. Google says it’s a Brodo di Bollito. I took the bun that I messed up, but it still looks pretty good. I’ll try to make the recipe concise below. I just kind of throw stuff together, don’t measure, and hope it works.

How would you do yours? I present this as a guide and a reminder for myself the next time I make these. I encourage you to make it your own. Here’s what I did, I’ll try to present it as a recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs. ground beef
  • 1 lb. ground chicken
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 Tbsp. milk, splash
  • ⅓ cup plain breadcrumbs
  • ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan (for meatballs)
  • ⅓ box (1 lb.) acini di pepe
  • 1 cup matchstick carrots, finely chopped
  • 1½ celery stalks w/ leaves, finely chopped
  • ½ Spanish onion, finely chopped
  • 4 Tbsp. butter (for sautéing mirepoix & wilting spinach)
  • Dash of extra virgin olive oil, for sautéing mirepoix
  • Seasonings! (To taste, throughout.)
    • onion powder
    • garlic powder
    • black pepper
    • Dash table blend
    • paprika
    • dried parsley
    • Italian seasoning
    • rotisserie chicken seasoning
    • poultry seasoning
  • 3 tsp. jarred minced garlic (I know, I know, the internet hates this. Use fresh then.)
  • 1 (32 Oz.) box chicken stock
  • 1 (32 Oz.) box chicken broth
  • 1 beef bouillon cube
  • 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  • 4 hard rolls, split on top
  • 1 cup fontina, freshly shredded
  • ½ cup fancy shredded Parmesan, for topping

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
  2. In a soup pot, sauté the Carrots, celery, & onion in some butter & a splash of olive oil, with the jarred minced garlic. Season with a bit of the herb/spices to taste, add minced garlic after the stuff cooks a bit.
  3. Take out maybe ½ to ¾ cup of the mirepoix and set aside to cool.
  4. Add the chicken stock and beef bouillon cube to the pot with the remaining mirepoix, and bring it to a boil.
  5. Add the acini di pepe, cook about 9 minutes per the box, just shy of tender — you want it barely cooked, not swollen.
  6. Set aside about ½ to ¾ cup of the acini di pepe to cool.
  7. Put the stock on a warmer or a low simmer.
  8. Mix the meatballs! Combine ground beef, ground chicken, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons milk, plain & panko breadcrumbs, 0.5 cups grated Parmesan. Gently fold in the cooled mirepoix/acini di pepe mixture, Mix by hand until just combined, don’t overwork. Don’t forget to season the egg mixture, the breadcrumbs, & the meat.
  9. Form a bunch of meatballs on a backing sheet with some parchment paper. Mine were probably just a little smaller than 2 inches in diameter. I seasoned them after forming, too.
  10. Bake the meatballs at 400°F for 17-ish minutes (until they reach 165°F internal).
  11. Season the ricotta: While the meatballs bake, mix ricotta with a pinch of the seasoning blend until well combined.
  12. Wilt the spinach in a pan with some butter & seasonings.
  13. Split 4 hard rolls on top. Spread the herbed ricotta inside, then toast in the oven at 400°F for about 5 minutes. (You can time it to go in with the meatballs or wait until they’re done.)
  14. Layer wilted spinach into each toasted roll, top with meatballs, then sprinkle fontina & shredded Parmesan generously over the top.
  15. Melt the cheese: Return assembled subs to the oven at 400°F for about 7 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
  16. Warm the broth and serve alongside the subs for dipping, French dip style.

Notes:

  • I should have used fresh parsley in addition to the dried stuff.
  • Use “real” garlic if you’re cooler than me.
  • I should have put a tiny bit of spinach in the meatballs too.
  • This could have made like 10 sandwiches, I only made 4. We’re gonna freeze stuff for later.
  • Use plain or panko or seasoned breadcrumbs, or crush up crackers, parmesan Cheez⟐It, or croutons. Hell, crush up Ritz. Use what ya got.
  • Just melt butter with herbs/seasonings & spread it on the bun, then add mozzarella or provolone or whatever kind of cheese you like here if you’re so inclined. I went with Ricotta and Fontina because they seem more mellow for some reason.
  • I would use a little pasta here. Maybe orzo or stelline or any kind of pastina.
  • Of course you can use sausage, or veal, or pork, or whatever floats your boat.
  • The spinach could have used some type of vinegar maybe, to cut the richness? Lemon would work too, but I’m not a huge fan. We had these with a nice small side salad.
  • I feel like red bell pepper may not have been out of place here somewhere? In the meatball sauteed? Roasted red peppers on top?
  • I hate rice in meatballs, so I subbed in veggies for my cabbage rolls, and that really worked well.
Three-panel collage showing ingredients for wedding soup meatball subs: cooked acini di pepe pasta, a seasoned mirepoix of carrots, celery, and onion in broth, and herbed ricotta cheese.
Foundations
Two-panel collage showing wedding soup meatballs before and after baking — raw, seasoned meatballs studded with acini di pepe and mirepoix on the left, and the same meatballs browned and cooked through on a baking sheet on the right.
Meatball Before & After
Two-panel collage showing finely grated fontina cheese, curled from a very fine grater, on top of spinach wilted in butter in a pan for the wedding soup meatball sub.
Accoutrements
Three-panel collage showing the assembly of a wedding soup meatball sub: a hard roll spread with herbed ricotta, the same roll layered with wilted spinach, and the finished roll topped with baked meatballs before cheese and a final bake.
Roll out! Sub assembly collage.

So, there you have it. What do you think? Do you make a similar sub or know of a restaurant or food truck that does? What other kind of soup would make a good meatball sub? My wife suggested French onion. That seems doable and delicious.

What if we got weird with cheddar cheese-filled meatballs dipped in tomato soup? Broccoli cheddar soup inspired, made with meatballs sort of like ham loaf ? I suggested a meatloaf made like a green bean holiday casserole and the family told me that the madness had to stop. (It’s not that far off from mushroom meatloaf mayhem.)

Wait. Ground turkey, boxed stuffing as the breadcrumbs, and a cranberry glaze? That would make one hell of a meatball sub or a meatloaf. (Sort of like my Thanksgiving sliders?)

Maybe the meatball club can be more than just a sandwich, and more than just a photo on some merch? We could strive to make different meatball sandwiches, and have an actual club? Who’s in?

Hit me up in the comments with questions or suggestions!

Unlike those who enjoy Ohio Valley Style Pizza, art thieves have no taste.

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Alright. You know I like Ohio Valley Style Pizza. You know I draw mazes. You know I sell mazes on stuff. I also occasionally dabble in other bad art & design work. One of those examples is my Ohio Valley Style Pizza T-shirt/sticker/whatever they wanna print it on at TeePublic & RedBubble. These people are worse than the people who make the PiTtsburGH StYLe pIzza is jUsT lunChABleS joke about Beto’s and DiCarlo’s.

Apparently, that caught the attention of art thieves around the world wide web. I used the Goog for trying to locate my Ohio Valley style T-shirt, and three from Printerval popped up… my art, but not my storefronts or name attached to them. Who TF is Printerval? This is maybe worse than the last time my art was stolen and the guy reached out afterward mad about me naming & shaming him. That’s some world-class jagoffery.

Google search results showing sponsored listings from Printerval selling stolen copies of the Ohio Valley-Style Pizza t-shirt design above the legitimate TeePublic result.

Three different dingleberries used my art in a store… or one scraping bot did? Who knows what triggered them? The maddening part of these ones was that they were offering to add a licensed design file for $2.99. I think I make about $2.50 on a T-shirt sale at TeePublic or RedBubble, even less on stuff like stickers or buttons. I don’t know off the top of my head because I don’t sell them often. 😂

I’m absolutely not complaining about that. I really don’t push the links, this is for fun, I’m not making a living off of it, & the stuff I do offer is weird and very niche. But all that being said, it’s still my art and any profit from sales should go to me after TP & RB take their massive cuts in exchange for doing all the work.

If SakuraArt, Mindyguw, & Kemarsporat2zl actually exist, they can all kiss my ass. Are people doing this, or is it all scripts & bots? I’m guessing even if I watermarked it, that could be easily removed… and paying to copyright an image that doesn’t sell seems to be a negative sum game.

If people worked as hard at creating as they do stealing, they might actually make better art than I do.

Oh yeah, the site said that there were currently 8 in carts. I hope that’s a sales pressure tactic and not real. I don’t think I have sold 8 T-shirts total. 🤣

Screenshot of a Printerval listing displaying absurd pressure tactics like 'In 8 carts' for a niche pizza t-shirt that has barely ever sold in real life.

I follow artist Ryan Conners (KilkennyCat Art) on Threads. She has dealt with art theft for quite some time. Sometimes it’s direct. Sometimes the art is changed. Sometimes it’s scrapers. Sometimes it’s actual damn physical stores. Check out her incredible cat art! I reached out for advice and she suggested the DMCA‘s to the websites & to follow-up with Cloudflare.

At any rate, I had Claude.ai help me draft a DMCA and look for more. It found one on ClickOneShirt where I was unsuccessful in finding any more myself. This one was unhinged in that it contained this copypasta-ish word salad that can only be an LLM-fueled fever dream:

It was a sweltering summer afternoon, the kind where the air hung thick enough to feel like you could almost drink it, and the thought of anything remotely warm made me want to crawl back into bed. But my stomach was rumbling something fierce, and the memory of my Grandma Betty’s cookouts, specifically her version of Rawdog the cheese and toppings Ohio Valley style shirt, danced in my head. It wasn’t really about the shirt, of course, but the meal that went along with it. Back then, we used to pile into her dusty station wagon and head over to the local butcher shop in anticipation.
Rawdog the cheese and toppings Ohio Valley style shirt: buy and enjoy this shirt

The butcher, a man named Mr. Henderson with a walrus mustache and perpetually stained apron, always greeted us with a hearty laugh. He knew Grandma Betty’s order by ass: thick-cut, juicy Italian sausages and an assortment of cheeses, the good stuff that melted like a dream. She was a stickler for quality, and the toppings were just as important. Onions, peppers, a jar of Mrs. Renfro’s ghost pepper salsa (that stuff burned, but man, was it good), and always, always, a mountain of shredded cheddar.

Back home, the process was almost a ritual. The sausages would sizzle on the grill, the smell alone enough to make your mouth water. Grandma, meanwhile, would be expertly slicing the hot dog buns, the kind with the squared ends. The real magic happened when the sausages were split and the cheese went in; it would bubble and blister like something out of a cartoon, just oozing perfection.

ClickOneShirt.com

Like. What? Seeing the words Grandma and Rawdog in the same sentence is unsettling to say the least. It doesn’t even make any sense. Why has this backstory been invented? More importantly: Did it work to sell T-shirts and should I add it to my listing?

This is some J. Peterman level shit. Is Eddie Sherman working at ClickOneShirt?

Bonkers, I tell you. Bonkers.

“He knew Grandma Betty’s order by ass: thick-cut, juicy Italian sausages and an assortment of cheeses…” WHAT?

Also, I reached out with a Google report tool to get the fraudulent art removed from their search listings. Who knows if any of it will pan out, but at least I can say I exhausted every avenue that I had available.

-🍕-

So, if you’re following this absolute shenanigans of the highest order, this may help:

The Original:

The Thieves:

Where I Reported It:

If This Sounds Familiar…

Same shit happened with my maze designs:

I hope to have a follow-up saying how quick and cooperative everyone was, but… we’ll see I guess, won’t we? I know where I am going to get a celebratory slice or two.

I guess I should have mentioned that you should buy a T-shirt or some stickers or a maze book from my various stores. It’s better than Grandma Betty using what should be my profits to rawdog Mr. Henderson the butcher.

That chicken-noodle stuff with breadcrumbs on top.

Posted on by Standard Reply

OK, so this was a picnic/covered dish staple from my mom growing up, and this is the recipe card she gave me then I moved out:

Chicken and Kluski Bake Recipe for: Eric From the Kitchen of: Mom Ingredients: Chicken (Various: thighs, legs, or breasts) Water for boiling Kluski noodles Butter (½ cup total: ¼ cup for the base, ¼ cup for the topping) Bouillon or canned chicken broth (optional, for flavor) Bread crumbs (1 cup) Instructions: Boil the chicken pieces for 45 minutes. (Optional: Boil with celery and onions if you want extra flavor). Remove the chicken from the water, but save the broth. Use the reserved broth to boil the Kluski noodles according to their package directions. Drain the noodles and save about 2 cups of the noodle broth. Put the cooked noodles into a 9x13 inch pan. Pick the chicken meat off of the bones and put it in the pan with the noodles. Add ¼ cup of butter and the 2 cups of saved broth to the pan. (Optional: Add some bouillon for flavor, or you can substitute canned chicken broth). In a separate pan, melt ¼ cup of butter and stir in 1 cup of bread crumbs. Mix the butter and bread crumbs together. Crumble the topping mixture over the top of the noodles and chicken. (You can make as much of this topping as you want). Bake together for about 15 minutes.

[Jump to my recipe.]

I was recently reminded of this, & it’s pretty good comfort food. It’s like if chicken noodle soup was a casserole. Once upon a time I started then abandoned a blog for recipes. I remembered this was living there.

I think I may sauté a mirepoix next time I do this. I also have thought about adding canned condensed cream of chicken soup to make it a creamy casserole.

Sometimes I lack the patience to boil or a chicken or to break-down a rotisserie chicken. I have grilled chicken tenders for this, and this time I baked them. I used rotisserie chicken seasoning, table blend, poultry seasoning, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, & parsley throughout the process.

I’d start by roasting a chicken (425°F for 15 to 20 minutes per pound) & reserving the liquid, using a rotisserie chicken, grilling tenders (6 to 8 minutes on medium-high on a countertop/press) grill, or baking them (20 min. @ 400°F). Just get it to 165°F internal. You can boil a whole chicken too, but that will take some time.

Here’s my version written out:

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Boil noodles according to package directions. I used some chicken stock and a chicken bouillon cube along with the seasonings.
  3. Strain, reserve 2 cups of that liquid or add 2 cups of straight-up broth stock.
  4. Add the noodles and cooked chicken to your 9×13″ casserole dish.
  5. Mix the broth, ¼ cup of your melted butter, & seasoning to taste together then mix into the chicken and noodles.
  6. Melt ¼ cup butter and stir in with breadcrumbs and seasonings to taste, spread over the top of the noodles & chicken.
  7. Bake uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are toasty yet not burnt.

Notes:

  • I think a mirepoix might be nice & make it feel more like classic chicken noodle soup.
  • Condensed cream of chicken soup may make this nice.
  • I am tinkering trying to figure out how to get the right amount of liquid to make this without pre-boliling.

Do you make something like this? How do you do it? What do you call it?

Check out my recipes for chicken noodle soup & turkey noodle soup. (Or other soups.)

That Chicken and Noodle Stuff With Breadcrumbs on top.

What’s the non copyrighted or trademarked name for Beefaroni?

Posted on by Standard Reply

I’m gonna call it beefaroni anyway, because these names are just ridiculous:

The dish commonly sold as “Beefaroni” (a trademarked name owned by Conagra Brands) has several regional and generic names. Depending on where you are in the US, the most common non-trademarked names for this ground beef and macaroni tomato skillet are American Goulash, American Chop Suey, Slumgullion, or Johnny Marzetti. [1, 2, 3]

Right?

A white bowl full of homemade beefaroni - spiraling pasta with ground beef.
Boy are deez tasty.

At any rate, I was hungry for it… and I am not a fan of the Chef Boyardee stuff/ (Sorry, Chef!) We would have this occasionally when I was growing up, and it’s a comfort meal I guess. It’s easy enough, and safe for the beef part these days, pretty economical.

Below is how I do it. How do you do it, & what do you call it?

Stuff yinz need:

How to do it:

  1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in a stock pot, ad the bouillon cubes, Italian blend, & Dash.
  2. Brown the ground beef in your skillet, hit it will all those spices… or whatever you got or like. We don’t measure here. Season until you think it’s too much, then keep going a little bit.
  3. Drop that Cavatappi or whatever pasta shape you dig into that water for 7 minutes or the recommended time on the box. Make sure you stir it up every once in a while.
  4. Drain the pasta, leave a lil’ bit of pasta water, return it to the warm yet off burner.
  5. Dump in the ground beef, the tomato soup, and stir like you practiced with the pasta.
  6. Put it in a bowl and eat it.

Notes?

  • Yeah, tomato soup! Not tomato sauce, pasta sauce, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, or any of that for me. This is cheap.
  • Obviously if you would prefer any of that, do it.
  • Sauteed onions, diced tomatoes, some type of beans, or even bell peppers would probably be great in this.
  • This is a memory I’m not messing with though. I’m keeping it basic and cheap.

There you have it. I know it hit the spot for me.

A close-up photo of a pot containing delicious spiraling cavatappi pasta with ground beef covered in condensed tomato soup. It's red and warm image overall.
Comfort Food / Struggle Meal

Pizza Pockets

Posted on by Standard Reply

So, a while back I made some things, and I don’t know if they were calzones or stromboli because no one can seem to fully agree on the definitions of either. Yes, I know definitions exist, but restaurants are all over out here calling them the wrong thing and people will confidently give you their contradicting hyper-regional opinions as gospel. Maybe it’s a turnover? I like alliteration, so Pizza Pocket it is.

[ Just The Recipe | Cooked Wiki | Only the Recipe ]

The first ones I made were not pretty. They were more half-moon shaped, one was not sealed well. They were delicious, but not awesome. I used pizza dough balls from Aldi and I did not do a great job stretching it.

This time I made some for lunch, and they looked pretty good. I put fillings in to order for each of us, and put our initials on top so they didn’t get mixed up. I got a resounding seal of approval on these, so I’m putting it here to make it again.

A top-down view of a parchment paper lined baking sheet holding four large, crispy, golden-brown pizza pockets. Each pocket features a personalized family initial carved into the top crust to identify the different fillings, with hints of glorious melted cheese peeking through.
Pizza Pockets!

Here’s what I used:

  • Giant Eagle pizza dough pop-tube
  • Jarred pizza sauce
  • Shredded Italian blend cheese
  • Shredded Mozzarella cheese
  • Parmesan cheese (the powdery shake kind)
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ stick butter
  • “Toppings:” (Fillings?)
    • canned mushroom stems & pieces
    • canned black olive slices
    • jarred roasted red peppers
    • diced ham
    • mini pepperoni
  • Spices:
    • garlic powder
    • onion powder
    • paprika
    • Italian blend
    • parsley
    • Dash table blend

Here’s how I made them:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° (Or if you’re weird like me, preheat it to 425° then crank it down to 400° after you put the food in.)
  2. Put down some parchment paper on a large baking sheet because washing dishes sucks.
  3. Put any wet toppings like the mushrooms, olives, & red pepper on a paper towel or two do drain & dry off a bit.
  4. Melt the butter in a microwavable bowl, add in spices to taste.
  5. Crack the eggs into another bowl, whisk (or fork), and add spices again.
  6. Pop open the scary dough tubes with a spoon, roll them out, and cut them in half the short way.
  7. Put down the Italian cheese blend on half of the half. I didn’t measure, but I did use the whole bag. Leave room on the edges so you can seal the dough.
  8. Spoon on a very little bit of the pizza sauce.
  9. Add your preferred toppings, keeping track of who gets what. I took ’em all!
  10. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese.
  11. Top with a little bit of Mozzarella.
  12. Hit the edges with some egg wash.
  13. Fold over the dough to make a nice rectangle, and use a fork to crimp the 3 “open” edges.
  14. Brush the egg wash on top, then brush the melted butter on top of that.
  15. Add extra spices on top if you think it needs it, and go for more parmesan too.
  16. Cut slits in the top shaped like everyone’s initials so you know whose is whose.
  17. Pop that in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes and you get what I got in the picture.

Suggestions/Substitutions/Advice:

  • I measure with my heart. You should too. Trust your judgement. Season until your ancestors tell you to stop.
  • It’s also fun to make mountain pies (if you have a campfire going) or pizza grilled cheese.
  • You could get fancy and do all kinds of stuff like green peppers, pepperoncini, sausage, onion, Ricotta, anchovies, spinach, basil, whatever.
  • Of course use whatever dough or cheese fits your fancy, fits your budget, or is simply what’s available.
  • You can skip the pizza sauce. I also wouldn’t overdo it… you want vents up top to let steam out so it doesn’t stay too wet.

So, do you make something similar? I am way too impatient to make dough, and I seem to even be too impatient to stretch a dough ball properly. These rolled canned tube things were perfect.

Hit me up on the comments or social media replies with some conversation:

  • What would your toppings of choice be?
  • Is this a Calzone, Stromboli, turnover, or what?
  • What would you do different?

Regardless, when making a pizza, calzone, stromboli, you gotta listen to my Punk Rock Pizza Party playlist. Oh and, hey… Did you try and make a meatball club yet? You don’t have to do stuff the same boring way as everyone else. If you did make one, you should get a T-shirt (or at least a button).

I will continue to make weird stuff, and leave pizza to the experts. You could wear this T-shirt while you make pizza 0r eat pizza.

Breakfast Bake | Corned Beef Hash, Eggs, & Cheese

Posted on by Standard 2
Breakfast Bake | On a plate

I always try to keep a can of corned beef hash hanging out in the pantry for whenever the mood or need strikes. This morning, like most weekend mornings, I was awake before everyone else. I had some coffee, watched a weird movie, and then got hungry.

Heating instructions for corned beef hash, including stove top and oven methods.

I popped out the trusty can of Aldi corned beef hash, and noticed there were oven directions on the back. Oven directions?

I have always just cooked it in a pan. Am I missing out? I would have done eggs in the pan, too. I know I can do eggs in the oven. Wait. Cupcake pan? 8″x8″ glass dish? No. Ceramic pie dish.

I’m making a dish with what I have on hand.

  • A can of corned beef hash.
  • Bell Pepper (I had an orange one)
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
  • Maybe ¼ cup of bacon pieces.
  • Black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Dash table blend, white pepper, cayenne.

This is what I did…

  1. So, I spread out the canned corned beef hash on to the bottom of the pie dish, and popped it into the preheated 375° oven for 10 minutes.
  2. While that was going on, I diced an orange bell pepper & hit it with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, & Dash table blend.
  3. I pulled out the hash, added the pepper, and added it back in for 5 minutes.
  4. While that was going on, I popped 5 eggs, some shredded cheese, bacon pieces, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, & probably more Dash.
  5. I pulled the dish out, poured the egg mixture in, put it back in the oven, and cranked it down to 350° for 12 minutes.
  6. Then I pulled it out, put some more cheese & bacon on top, and put it back in for 7 minutes as it was still a bit liquidy.

It was awesome when I yanked it out of the oven & could not wait to eat.

A slice of cheesy corned beef hash breakfast bake, with visible ham and potato on a white plate, accompanied by a fork.
A baked casserole with a golden cheesy topping, garnished with bits of bacon, in a blue-trimmed white pie dish on a stovetop.

I am faced with a quandary… Is this a casserole, a quiche, or a frittata?

A quiche would have a crust… perhaps like a pie crust or croissant dough? A frittata would be started on the stovetop, and this was all oven, albeit in & out. Maybe an oven-frittata? This wasn’t a particularly deep dish, but casserole may be it. I need you the readers to weigh-in in the comments.

The only changes I’d make are I think I’d like some fresh spinach or at least just parsley to freshen or lighten it up? Also, maybe I would crisp up the corned beef hash a little longer or a higher temp? Maybe on the air fryer or convection setting. Perhaps some sort of dough… like croissant dough on the top or bottom, or biscuits on the top? Maybe doing hash browns on the bottom and canned corned beef on that? I didn’t put milk or cream in the egg mixture, but I could have. I feel like some Red Hot or something would have been good too, or even hot ketchup on the side. A biscuit-gravy style gravy may have been good too.

I feel like I will be doing this again and tweaking the recipe many times.

How would you do it? Do you make something similar?