Meatloaf-Meatball Stroganoff

Meatballs

In a big bowl mix:

1# ground elk

1# ground bison

1# turkey sausage

8oz. crushed crisps

2 lg. pasture raised eggs

1c - 1-1/2c beef broth

Chop the following and add to the bowl:

2 stalks celery

1 med. purple onion

2/3c green part of aSt leek

1 med. carrot - grated

Mix well with a heavy wooden spoon or clean hands. Form into meatballs, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake until nicely browned, 30-40 minutes. I made these ahead and froze in a gallon zip-type bag.

Stroganoff

Bring 2-3 quarts of water to a boil then add 1# thin spaghetti. Once the pasta boils a few minutes, add 1-2oz. finely chopped curly kale. When the pasta is al denté, drain then put it back into the pot. Add 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup, stirring gently to coat the pasta. Add 2# of frozen meatballs, also stirring them in.

Chop the vegetables:

1/2 lg. purple onion

1/3 green bell pepper

1/3 orange bell pepper

8-10oz. small mushrooms

1oz. EVOO roasted garlic

Sauté these until crisp tender, in 4T of butter, adding the chopped garlic at the very end, then stir them into the pot of pasta and meatballs.

Stir 2c beef broth into 12oz. sour cream and pour over all these ingredients, then toss to mix and coat everything.

Chill several hours, then warm it up again. This changes the pasta making it a resistant starch. This will improve the flavors and also reduces the glycogen level of the pasta making it much healthier than eating it right after the initial cooking. . .Lin

Fiesta Turkey Chili

1# lean ground turkey

⅓ lg. Vidalia onion - chopped

2T Ghee *  (click for more info)

Slowly, melt the ghee and simmer until the onion scents your kitchen and becomes translucent.  Add the next group of ingredients then simmer, covered on low for 45-60 minutes:

½ lg. green pepper - chopped

⅔ lg. sweet onion - chopped

1½c sliced - chopped celery

2 med. carrots - sliced thin

⅔ chopped GREEN parts of scallions

1-2T Better than Bouillon

~ vegetable or chicken

1T ground cumin powder

2t smoky "chile" powder

1 28oz. can petite diced tomatoes

~ and the tomato juice 

1c pasta sauce

1c dry white Tepary Beans

1c dry black Turtle Beans

1c dry tiny Elbow Spaghetti

½ bunch of fresh cilantro - optional

Carefully pre-cook each type of beans and the pasta separately before adding to the chili pot.  It takes time, but perfectly cooked beans, from scratch, are so good and flavorful.

For smaller beans, like these, I use fresh cold water to cover the beans well, and boil 5 minutes.  Then turn them off and let them stand for an hour.  Drain, rinse and repeat with fresh cold water.  I repeat this 3x.  The last time, I add 1t baking soda to the water, just as it boils, then continue to cook and stir for 5 minutes before the final hour rest.  Then check for doneness.  If too hard do one more boil-rest cycle until they're the way you like.  Immediately, drain, rinse and chill them in ice water.  Cook the pasta according to directions then also drain and chill it.  This will make the beans and pasta both RESISTANT STARCHES! **

Add a total of 3 cups of the cooked-chilled beans to the hot chili pot.  Save the rest for another recipe or to serve on top of big tossed salads!  Also add the cooked-chilled pasta - all or part of it.  Bring  the chili to a low simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add chopped cilantro just before serving.  This is great cold weather food.  I'm making this for a sweet family I love.  I added things I might not normally - elbow macaroni and carrots - lots of color and texture, in hopes of appealing to their little boy.  Also, the Mama in the family is sensitive to strong onions, so I used a Vidalia onion this time.  Normally, for LOTS of strong onion flavor I'd use a big yellow onion.

The pic above on the left was taken right after everything but the cilantro was in the pot.  After cooling a while, just about all the liquid absorbed!  It's now a Chili Casserole!!

Be Bold--Be Creative!  Don't be afraid to customize and change things up!  Happy Cooking. . .Lin

Turkey Black Bean-Corn Chili

½# organic ground turkey

1 very large purple shallot

2 very large garlic cloves

1 lg. Vidalia onion

1 lg. ribs of celery

1-2T olive oil

1T balsamic vinegar

1T chili lime seasoning

1T smoky chili powder

1T ground cumin

2 cans black beans

1 can chili beans

2 cans corn

28oz. diced tomatoes

1T sugar

Combine the first group of ingredients, heat and saute' breaking up the turkey.  Simmer on low for about 15 minutes, then turn up the heat until the meat sizzles and browns a little.  Stir to keep from sticking to the pot.  When browned the way you like, add drained-rinsed black beans, the whole can of chili beans-undrained, the drained corn and the whole-undrained can of tomatoes and sugar.  Simmer on low heat an additional 15-30 minutes. . .Lin

Stuffed Squash

3 summer squash

1# ground turkey

1 med.-lg. onion - chopped

3-4 oz. sun-dried tomato pesto

2T± tandoori seasoning

2 eggs

1-1/2c bread crumbs

Scrub the squash.  Cut out the tops, scoop out the seeds and put on a baking sheet.  For the stuffing, mix the turkey with the onions and the remaining ingredients, like you would when making meatloaf.  Bake the stuffed squash until tender when poked with a a fork and the meat mixture is browned on the top.

This was a really good dinner, but we found the skin on both types of squash to be too tough to eat.  This recipe would work best with medium-large zucchini. . .Lin