A hurry-up and Eat dinner (Potato & hamburger fry up)

I try to eat well on weeknights, really I do.

But some nights it's not just my pantry that's against me.

I came home exhausted and never quite did get that nap I wanted. Instead I settled down before the TV with my computer before me. As I did some mindless data entry, I watched home improvement shows. Surprisingly (or maybe not) this combination seems to sap my will to leave the room, go to the kitchen, and cook.

I love cooking, but often figuring out what to cook is the biggest challenge. I'd been out all weekend (coming home only to recharge my computer, load up more books, shower and ... oh yeah, sleep). So I'd not refilled my pantry yet and was getting low on a few staples. In addition, the hamburger I took out on Saturday night had not been eaten; and so had to be used tonight.

So, I had a pound of lean hamburger and no bread, no pasta, no sour cream, no lettuce, and no cheese. This removed the options of: BBQ hamburgers, tacos, enchiladas, or even taco salad. I couldn't use the oven (it's broken), so that took away meatloaf or lasagna. I couldn't make meatballs (no bread, remember?), or bolonaise sauce (no pasta). The beans were either dried or frozen, and I already had 3 cups of chicken chili frozen in the freezer. Frozen being the key word here. I had enough ingredients for hamburger soup, but that tastes best if left in the crockpot for 3+ hours.

The funny thing is - my pantry is almost full and both my fridge and freezer are in a similar state. I try to cook with what I have without buying special things, but I still end up with a fridge full of little bottles and oddities.

Searching through my freezer and pantry, I was able to scrounge a few things. Turning to the Food blog search for inspiration, I found a few similar recipes that mixed up potatoes, hamburger and some spice. They all sounded good, but what I could do was extremely limited by what I had on hand combined with the fact that I only had about 30 minutes to make dinner. Any longer and someone would be ordering pizza. Whether it would be me or my significant other was anyone's guess.

Ingredients

• 5 potato hash browns, frozen
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup hot homemade salsa (or salsa of your preference)
  
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
  
  
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp oregano (dried)
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 bag of mixed Californian vegetables (or any frozen vegetables of choice)
  
• 2 tsp butter, divided (optional)
  
• Ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Thaw the hash browns in a microwave (5-7 minutes on high). Then set them aside on a towel to drain. Note that they must be completely thawed.
   
2. Meanwhile, fry up the hamburger and toss all the dried herbs and spices over the cooking meat. Brake the meat up into little chunks and stir often.
3. Once cooked thoroughly, drained the meat well.
4. Dump the hash browns into a big glass bowl and mashed them up with a fork.
5. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the salsa to the mix, and stir well to combine.
6. Add the drained meat to the mix and mix again.
7. Put 1/2 the bag of mixed Californian vegetables into a bowl with a little water and a pat of butter. Cover it. Microwave the bowl for 5 minutes on high or until the butter is melted and the vegetables are warm to the touch and free of frost.
8. Pour the hamburger-and-potato mix back into the frying pan with the rest of the butter. Fry it until everything is warm and somewhat steamy.
9. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste.
10. Serve the hamburger-and-potoato mix with the steamed Californian vegetables while hot.

Review

We both liked it.
It was hot, filling, and spicy. It was almost too spicy for me (but that's because I went nuts when I made the salsa and made it super-hot). The meal was well-rounded-ish and would probably be better with more vegetables added to the fry up. It would have tasted a lot better too if I'd shredded my own potatoes and added a shredded onion to it instead of starting with ready-made hash browns.

I didn't add enough fats or liquids to make it stick together when I fried it the second time--so it was a bit awkward to eat; rather like a plateful of peas.  Tasty, but it takes time.

Half my plate was filled with vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and a few slices of carrot); while the other half was filled with the fry up, and I still have enough left-over for lunch today.

This is something I'll definitely make again (with only a few minor changes).

Making Meatloaf

Friends were coming for six and it was already 4 o'clock. The house was a disaster, and dinner called. So I pulled out Marc Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I have my own recipe for meatloaf, but this one looked interesting. One thing's for sure - I really need a food chopper; doing this by hand took a lot more time than I had.

Ingredients
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 cup milk
2 pound lean ground beef
2 pound lean ground pork
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
1/2 cup parsley, fresh and minced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1 small carrot, peeled and minced
2 teaspoons sage, fresh ground
salt and black pepper, to taste
6 slices bacon

Makes 3 loaves.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Or, if like mine - your oven is slow, preheat to 425 F.
   
2. Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until the milk is absorbed; about 5 minutes.
3. Mix all the ingredients (except the bacon) together in a large dish. I use my hands; it doesn't feel very pleasant, but it does guarantee a good mix.
4. Shape roughly into a loaf. Place atop a rack and place the rack in a roasting pan. This allows the rendered juices to gather below the loaf, making for a slightly dryer meatloaf that doesn't need to be toweled down before it can be served.
   
5. Lay 2 slices of bacon atop each loaf.
   
6. Bake for 45-60 minutes (or longer), basting occasionally with rendered pan juices.
7. When done, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a loaf reads 160 F.
   

A dinner time story (No-loaf Meatloaf)

This recipe originated from Sandi Richard's Cooking for the Rushed recipe of the same name. My version's different - less sweet, more sassy. Her site has more information about her books, and a few of her recipes can be found on the Food Newtork website.

By the time I got home the ground beef was still giving me the cold shoulder. I took it out of the frige and slammed it on the counter. I can't help reacting to its temperment that way - but I knew it wouldn't help.

I dug out my roasting pan and set my oven to 400 F; it's a little slow and the dial's going - but the oven is an old friend, so I adjust the heat up just to cover it's failures. I lined the bottom of the roasting pan with tin foil for easy cleanup, then used some extra virgin olive oil in an atomizer to spray the grill so things wouldn't stick. I suppose non-stick spray would be better, but olive oil and I go way back, and we work well together - so why change now?

I carefully lined up the other ingredients and equipment for tonight's dish: corn flakes, homemade salsa, Worchestershire sauce, 2 cloves of garlic (peeled), egg whites, the pepper grinder, a good knife, and a spatula.

Ignoring the temperment of the ground beef, I took it out of its wrap and threw it into my big pirex bowl. Homemade, the salsa is a bit biting, but I'm use to her sass. 1/2 a cup covered the ground beef nicely.

The recipe calls for garlic powder, but I grabbed fresh and slammed it into submission before dicing it fine and throwing it into the bowl with the beef. I added a tablespoon of Worchestershire sauce for the class he always brings to a dish, then jammed my fingers into the still chilly beef and began working everything together. Spoons and spatulas are fine, but there's nothing like a massage to make ingredients relax and start mixing. That, an egg white, and about 1/2 a cup of a ground up corn flakes will bind any unreasonable mess into a whole.

Once everyone was well mixed, I divided them up into four. Using my hands (still) I rolled the mix into four (roughly) equal-sized balls. Then, one at a time, I flattened the balls into rough loaf-shapes.

The loaf-shapes went onto the roasting pan's grill.

Back to my bowl I added another 1/2 cup of salsa, 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of cayanne pepper. I mixed this together with the spatula, careful to scrape the sides and get everything together. Then layered it like a blanket over the loaves. Then the roasting pan went into the hot oven.

Feeling lazy, I dumped 2 cups of frozen green beens into a casserole dish and added 1/2 cup of water. I covered it and set it in the microwave. Then I set the alarm to scream at me in 45 minutes. When it screamed - I came in and turned the microwave on high, and set the time again for 5 minutes. Then I walked away so I wouldn't hear the green beans cry.

When the timer screamed again, dinner was ready. The meatloaf was a bit too hot for me (next time I'll cut back on the cayanne pepper - she's just too much for me to handle), but good none-the less.

Made a nice dinner for 2 with enough leftovers for two meatloaf sandwiches (upon which I loaded some sultry Montaray jack cheese with jalapenos).

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef, lean
1 cup corn flakes, ground
1 cup salsa, divided
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, divided
1 egg white
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, smashed and diced
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, to taste)
Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.
2. Line the bottom of a roasting pan with foil and spray its grill with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Mix together the beef, ground corn flakes, 1/2 cup salsa, 1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce, egg white, pepper and garlic.
4. Shape into 4 loaves and place them on the grill.
5. In the same bowl, mix the last of the salsa, Worchestershire sauce and the cayenne pepper together.
6. Spread the mixture over top of the loaves.
7. Bake the loaves for 50 minutes or until the internal temperature is over 160 F.

Serve with steamed green beans, a nob of butter, and some more ground black pepper.