Cowboy Meatloaf and Potato Casserole

   Wow, am I behind in blogging! Sorry, but life has been really at me lately! Lots of issues to work through...ugh...
   However, I thought I would share a recipe with you all today that we tried last night. I found it on...yep...you guessed it...Pinterest :)
   It's called Cowboy Meatloaf and Potato Casserole and Pinterest got it from over at Simmer for 10.
It was delish!

Here's the recipe and I'll tack on the changes I made at the end:

Cowboy Meatloaf and Potato Casserole

1 pckg of steam n' mash potatoes
1 lb ground beef
3/4 c onion, finely chopped
1/3 c Italian bread crumbs
1/4 c Sweet Baby Rays original bbq sauce
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 c evaporated milk
1 tbsp butter
1 c crumbled bacon (I used real bacon bits)
1/3 cup crispy fried onions, crumbled
2/3 c shredded Mexican blend cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°. Coat a 9x9 baking dish with nonstick spray.  In a bowl, combine the beef, onion, breadcrumbs, bbq sauce, egg, chili powder and salt until mixed well.  Press into the bottom of the baking dish.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.  Pour of the excess fat.  Adjust the oven to broil and place oven rack 6-8" from heat source.

Meanwhile, microwave the potatoes according to package instructions. In a large bowl, mix together potatoes, butter and evaporated milk with a mixer until smooth.  Stir in bacon and fried onions.  Spread evenly on top of beef mixtures and sprinkle with cheese.

Broil for about 5 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned.

This serves about 6 people.  Delicious. 

Helen’s Changes:

I used less than half the salt, I used 1/3 cup BBQ sauce instead of 1/4 cup (actually it could have used more as I wound up putting some on the side and dipping my meatloaf into it).  I did't use quite as much chili powder as it said. I think I used about  1 ½ tsp. where it called for 2. I used a packet of Idahoan mashed potatoes instead of the Steam n Mash as I didn’t have the Steam n Mash and it was fine (I'll have to try the Steam n Mash sometime).  Oh, and I only used  1/2 C. bacon (if that) instead of a whole cup.

My husband loved it (and he isn't usually too eager to brag on something he didn't make :) ) and told me to have it that way all the time.  To use my regular meatloaf (he loves my  meatloaf) and do the potatoes on top this way from now on :)

I think next time I try this version of the recipe, I'll use more BBQ sauce as you really couldn't taste it in the meatloaf.  I tend to be a catsup person with meatloaf myself, but Sweet Baby Rays tastes good on just about anything :)

Foolproof Vodka Pie Dough

I was sharing this recipes with a few crafty friends on Facebook earlier and just realized I hadn't shared a recipe on my own blog for quite a while :)

This is a recipe for the BEST pie crust I've ever come across. It's an America's Test Kitchen recipe.  It has Vodka in it, but never fear...the alcohol cooks out as it bakes :)  So friends from Bible study and church, if you see me buying a bottle of Vodka, you can know it's only for baking, not drinking, I promise!! :)

I'm making some pies for Thanksgiving and will be using this recipe for sure. I hope you enjoy it!

FOOLPROOF VODKA PIE DOUGH 
from America's Test Kitchen
Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor — do not substitute. 

2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon table salt 
2 tablespoons sugar 
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices 
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces 
1/4 cup cold vodka 
1/4 cup cold water 

Process 1½ cups flour, salt and sugar in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening, and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds, and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl. 

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days. Makes crust for 1 pie. 

Candy Toast

  I'm sitting here thinking about my brother, Danny.  He was killed last year in an industrial accident at work. One of the last times I went to his house with my family, he surprised me by making something he and my sister Bev and I enjoyed growing up.  Candy Toast.  My mom used to make it for us when we were kids.  I very very rarely have it anymore and my husband thinks it's weird :)
   Basically, candy toast is just chocolate peanut butter fudge poured over toast while it's still hot and you can eat it hot or let it set up and eat it cold.  The toast kind of cuts back on the sugary-ness of the fudge and compliments it well.  I know, it sounds weird if you haven't grown up on it like we have, but it's very yummy :)  It was a really special thing for him to do for me because it told me that he had fond memories of something from childhood he shared with me and wanted to re-create it for me.  That speaks love to me.  I miss you, Danny! :(

 Anyway...I thought I would share the recipe here for you. The fudge part is the recipe that used to be on the side of the old Hershey's cocoa boxes (those tin or aluminum brown boxes that holds baking cocoa).  Here it is:

CANDY TOAST

2/3 cup cocoa

3 cups sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tbsp. vanilla

Stir cocoa, sugar, salt, milk, and water in a saucepan.  Bring to a bubbly boil stirring constantly.  When on a hard boil, wait till a drop of the fudge mixture stays in a soft ball when dropped in cold water (or test with a candy thermometer and take it to the Soft Ball stage).  Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir till mixed and either pour into buttered pie pans or over dry toast.

I looked for a picture from the web to share with this recipe, but couldn't find one.  I guess I'm just going to have to make a batch to share pictures from it.  Sigh...if I HAVE to...hehe :)  Only for my blog's sake of course ;)

UPDATE:
   I just remembered I have pictures from that night.  Here's my brother Danny making the candy toast:

 

Here it is ready to eat. Yum!  I guess this means I don't have to make it to take pictures to share.  Darn :)

Danny and I shortly afterwards. It was the 4th of July, 2007 and we were waiting for the fireworks to begin. 

My cutie pie son, Evan (4 years old at the time) about to try his first bite of candy toast :) (I'll find any excuse to show a picture of my baby boy hehe)

If you try it, you'll like it! :)

Chocolate Gravy

CHOCOLATE GRAVY OVER BISCUITS

I just added this to my "Recipes" page and wanted to share it here in a post as well:

I grew up (as I shared in "About Me") in a family where mom was born and raised in SW Virginia up in the hollers of the mountains.  She grew up in the late 30's and 40's when times were tough and the mountain folks were getting by on very simple meals but were creative in trying to make them taste good regardless.  If you have a heritage from SW Virginia and Tennessee, you've no doubt heard of chocolate gravy.  Otherwise, probably not :)

It's like a warm, thick, chocolate pudding you serve over biscuits for breakfast.  You can either put the butter right into the whole pot of chocolate gravy right after it's cooked, or (like my mom) reserve the butter for serving time.  You pour the gravy over biscuits and then put a pat of butter on top and let it melt over the warm chocolatey goodness :)  Yummm

The picture above is not mine, but borrowed from google image search.  I plan to make this soon and will take my own pics then.  Ok....on with the recipe!

There are several variations of this floating around the web here and there, but my mom never followed a written recipe. She just threw it together and it always turned out great.  However, I followed my mom around the kitchen one day when she was making it and as she was about to put ingredients into the pot, I measured them and wrote them down and this is the result of that:

CHOCOLATE GRAVY

2 cups sugar

8 tablespoons flour (slightly heaped)

4 tablespoons cocoa (slightly heaped)

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 cup water (half the evaporated milk can)

1 teaspoon butter

butter or margarine to taste

Pour the milk into a pot and cook until heated (be careful not to burn it). Whisk the flour, sugar, and cocoa together into the milk and keep whisking as it cooks to avoid lumps.  Cook until thickened to a gravy-like consistency then add the vanilla.   

Pour chocolate gravy over your favorite biscuits and add a spoon or tab of butter on top and watch it melt over the chocolate.  You can pour the gravy over the biscuits or dip your biscuit into the gravy.  Either way it's terrific.  Adding the butter at the end makes the gravy shiny too. Eat it warm and chocolatey and buttery. Not so good for your waistline, but num!

It brings back fond memories of my mom cooking this for us for breakfast before school :)  Thanks mom!!