American Chop Suey

Not sure what it should be called, but that's what we called it when we were kids. This recipee can be made meatless or vegetarian or even vegan. Elliminate the meat, not a biggie, and be sure to use eggless macaroni and eliminate the cheese topping, maybe sustitute with something more vegan and your there. One should note that the amount of meat being used is relatively small to the total composition of the dish, so we are still limiting meat intake and again providing a low cost meal that is a complete and nutritious. You might add a salad to this and some bread and butter.

• 1 Onion - medium sized chopped
• 1 Green Pepper - medium sized chopped
• 1 Tablespoon of chopped garlic - I buy the chopped garlic in a jar
• package of sliced Mushrooms - I buy presliced, you can save money and buy them whole and slice them yourself.
• 2+ tablespoons Olive Oil

Ok, I use the Presto cooker, put the olive oil in the pan and then add the rest of the ingredients. Turn the cooker up to around 200 to fry thes ingredients. Do not cover or at least I don't cover them. Stir as required, use a wooden or bamboo spoon to stir the ingredients.

In a separate frypan, brown 1 lb. of hamburg. I am using a separate pan as there are already too many ingredients in the presto cooker to fry the hamburg properly. Be sure to evaporate any moisture so that all is left is chopped hamburg and the grease it generated. Now carefully scoop the hamburg into the Presto cooker leaving the fat behind. We could skip this whole operation and we would have a vegetarian version of this dish. There are sufficient other ingredients for this to work well as a vegetarian dish.

• 60 - 64 oz. of Tomatoe Sauce
• 2 TBS Dried parsley
• 2 TBS Dried Oregano
• 2 TBS Dried Basil
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  

Add the above ingredients all at once and cook for 30 minutes or more. Italian cooking does not measure ingredients, so you be the judge and add more or less of ingredients as you desire.

Lastly we are going to add a 1 pound box of macaroni, I like to use the veggie rotini, but you can also use small shells or elbow macaroni, the primary idea is to use small macaroni pieces, but not too small like soup mac would be. The veggie rotini come under various names but the macaroni contains spinach and tomatoe for extra variety. In this dish, the macaroni will become fully cooked unlike other spaghetti dishes. Be sure you have sufficient liquid to cook the macaroni in. Add water if necessary, if too watery leave cover off to reduce the water in the pot.

When done everything should be done in a heavy mixture. Don't worry about burning stuff, nuthing burns in a Presto pot. You are now ready to enjoy. Don't forget the parmasan cheese.

Presto Cooker

Ok, why this cooker, it only costs $20 and isn't a crock pot much better. Well don't believe all the hype that you hear. This is undoubtedly one of the best cookers I have seen in a very long time.

I use it for making soups and stews. This pot has a detachable control, which means it can be put in the dishwasher if it fits. It doesn't fit in mine, so I wash it in the sink. It is super easy to clean as nothing sticks to it. The teflon coating is inside and outside the pot. It has a super thick teflon coating, which means nothing ever burns in it. Sort of a failsafe device for those of us who can't remember what the hell were doing in the kitchen. The heating element heats up supper fast or can be set for slow cooking.

This is one of the most convenient items I have come across in a long time, it is used almost everyday, the true value of a an item is how much use does it get. Right now my cast ironware are collecting dust and I hate to say it, but they are being replaced by this little gem.

Let's Get Roasting

Ok, when you roasted your turkey did it look like this or some pale thing that was falling apart and had no flavor. I bet you put the aluminum foil tent over the bird or actually put the cover on the roasting pan. Thank you, you just steamed the fuck out of that bird. Whenever you cover the bird with some material such as aluminum foil, the foil captures the moisture which has been turned to steam, the oven is at 325 F, and water turns to steam at 212F, so I think you can do the math here, which causes the bird to be steamed. So the bird comes out pale, falling apart and tasteless. Enjoy.

Or might you desire something more than steamed poultry. Might you just want to roast that bird and roast we will do, the right way.

Ok, lets do it. take the bird out the night before to make sure it is defrosted. At this time, you might want to clean the bird and do whatever you will, with the gibblets, neck, etc. I don't like them, so they really don't get used in my household. If all is ready put the bird back in the refrigerator, be sure to cover him or her with a wet towel so that the bird does not dry out overnight. We all know that you do not stuff the bird till you are ready to put him or her in the oven.

The night berfore is a great time to make the turkey dressing, I would prepare everything in the dressing short of putting the eggs in the dressing. Once again the eggs are a raw product and do not mix them into the dressing until your ready to stuff the bird and put him or her in the oven.

The next morning, you get up real early, you have been thinking about roasting this bird, so now you are all primed and ready to do that bird. So now you can rush to the kitchen eager to get going on that bird. We take the bird out of the refrigerator and remove all his wrapping and the wet towel from last night. You want him to warm up a little, so when he or she jumps in the oven, it will be a pleasant and comfortable warmth for your bird. Meanwhile you make yourself some coffee or tea and make yourself something to eat for breakfast. You sit down and have a restful and relaxing breakfast. You think to yourself this is the calm before the storm.

After breakfast is done, you put the dishes in the dishwasher or do them yourself and send everyone out of the kitchen. You are now ready to do this old bird. Ok let's get started.

The bird is rince and cleaned from last nite or you can still do that if you partied last nite. Last nite was for partying, today is for cooking. Get out the stuffing, you remember making that last nite, I hope so. You are ready to put the eggs in the stuffing and maybe a little chicken broth, use the low salt commercial stuff with no MSG. Add just enough to make it moist, we're not making soup here. Save the rest of the broth for the gravy. Turkey gravy with a bit of chicken in it, who is going to know the difference, I'll never tell.

Now take that bird and salt and pepper inside and out and he is ready to get stuffed. Modern day Turkeys don't generally need to be sown up, so we use the little plastic thingy to hold the legs together. Don't forget the back end, put some stuffing in the crop and fold the skin around to hold it in place. Now that turkey looks like he ready for the aluminum tent. This is where the road diverges into two paths, we are going to take the less worn path.

We are now going to take 2 tablespoons or more of butter and melt it in a pyrex measuring cup, use the 1 cup size. Next take a piece of cheese cloth, yes, they do sell it at the market. Run down there and get some while the store is still open. Cut a piece big enough to cover the bird. I extend the cheese cloth out and refold it so I have a double layer to cover the bird. Carefully fold up the cheese cloth as small as absolutely possible. This is the yukkie part. Push the cheese cloth into the pyrex 1 cup measuring cup with the melted butter. Turn the cheese cloth over and try to absorb all the butter, squeeze the cheese cloth as a sponge to get the cheese cloth as saturated as possible with the butter. Now unfold the the cheese cloth and place over the turkey making sure the turkey is well covered. The cheese clother will keep the turkey well buttered and help to prevent burning of the skin as the bird roasts.

Put him in the oven and record your time. If he has an internal doneness popper you can watch that for when he is done. When he comes out of the over, the cheescloth can be pulled off and he will have that beautiful roasted look. Not only that, he will be a lot tastier than those steamed turkeys you used to have.