August has been a busy month for recipe development. Contests have started picking up again, and after several entries so far, I have two more, plus a magazine shoot, to complete by the end of the month. So, this week, instead of making and photographing a recipe, I decided to give myself a break and share a couple of budget-friendly recipes from local cookbooks. I have not made either recipe, but they look like simple crowd-pleasing meals.
Favorite Meat Loaf and
Japanese Fried Rice
Ingredients
2/3 cup crushed saltine crackers
1 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 pound Polish sausage, ground
2 large eggs, beaten
1 small white or yellow onion, grated
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the crushed crackers in a large bowl. Pour the milk into the bowl and let it soak for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Form the mixture into a loaf and place in a meatloaf pan or casserole dish. Bake for 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.
Yield: 8 servings.
Japanese Fried Rice
Ingredients
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, divided
1/2 cup diced leftover meat and/or chicken, ham, shrimp
1/2 cup canned French-style green beans
1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
1/2 cup chopped canned bamboo shoots
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion or regular onion
1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 large eggs, unbeaten
2 cups cold leftover cooked rice
Soy sauce, for serving
Instructions:
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the leftover meat and other protein(s) of choice. Cook for 2 minutes or until heated through, stirring often. Add the green beans, bacon, bamboo, and green onion. Season with monosodium glutamate (if using), salt and pepper. Cook for another 2 minutes, then stir in the whole eggs. Once the eggs have scrambled, scrape the mixture into a bowl and set aside. Turn the heat to high and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the rice to the pan and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir the egg mixture into the rice. Season with soy sauce.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
Notes:
Favorite Meat Loaf was adapted from Mrs. William Bunney’s recipe in the Ely Family Cookbook (1962) 4th Edition: 1970, pg. 102.
Japanese Fried Rice was adapted from Cooking from a Melting Pot by Elizabeth Paulucci (1981), pg. 238. Yield: 12 servings.
