Favorite Recipes – part 1

Over 43 years, I have collected a ton of recipes from magazines, cookbooks, TV shows. Every once in a while I will go through them and discard the ones I know I will never make or didn’t particularly like. I’m down to a core of basic things that have lasted through the winnowing process. Here are two of them.

Chili – I used to love all different brands of canned chili, but most of them don’t set well with me anymore. The only chili I like now is a stand-by that I’ve made for years. My friend Paula makes an awesome Texas-style that I love too. Here’s mine. Feel free to adapt. I know I don’t season it as hot as most people like.

1 lb hamburger, cooked and drained

1 small onion (I use onion salt instead)

1 can whole tomatoes (whatever size you like. I love lots of tomatoes in my chili) Break up tomatoes and include the juice

2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

2 (16 oz) cans kidney beans, drained (I’ve also used pinto, navy, whatever I have in the pantry)

Salt and chili powder to taste

Serve with cheese on top

Crackers or heated up soft tortillas

I used to put this all together in the crockpot and cook on high for a couple of hours. Now I just put it in the microwave. So much faster.

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Tiny Meat Loaves – We both love meatloaf, but I hate heating up the oven for 1 ½ hours. Then there’s the matter of the grease. I’ve gone through 3 of the pans that have the inner one with holes placed inside the bigger pan. Over time the bottom pan gets really icky. And the center isn’t always fully cooked when the outside is crispy. I came up with the idea of taking the same ingredients and making what is basically 2 meatloaf burgers and putting them on the broiler pan where the grease drips through. They’re fully cooked in about 40 minutes at 375°

1 lb hamburger

1 egg

10 saltines, crushed

Seasoning

Divide in two

Cover in catsup

I guess you could double this if the broiler is big enough. The secret is flattening the patties so they cook all the way through