Pop-Pop’s lamb stew

Ingredients:
1 pound of lamb stew meat.
1 large Vidalia onion
3 tsp’s minced garlic
1 pint beef broth (3 small cans)
1 can tomatoes (6 in 1 best choice or diced from local store)
1/2 cup red wine
Seasoning: Salt (1 tsp), pepper (1tsp), marjoram (1tsp), and parsley (a handful of fresh or 3 tbsp of dry)
Vegetables: cut to bite size (this is especially important with the rutabaga as it will give considerably more flavor) – cut to bite size
1 cup each – celery, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°
Add to the pot: chopped vidalia onion and garlic – saute until the onion is transparent.
Add: beef broth, tomatoes, and wine and then the lamb stew meat.
Add seasoning
Bake covered for 1 hour.
Add vegetables
Bake additional 45 to 60 minutes
Vegetables should now be tender. It may require additional oven time depending upon your oven.
Serve and enjoy. This is definitely one of my all time favorites. It tastes best with lamb stew meat, but you can also use beef stew meat cut up at your local grocery store as a cheaper replacement for the lamb meat. When Pop-pop’s lamb stew is being cooked the smell in the house from this is intoxicating and everyone will want to try it before it is done cooking. Just try it and see for yourself. This will probably be one of your favorite dishes.

This recipe came from my sister-in-law Hilary.  It is one of my personal favorites.  It’s quick and easy yet elegant enough to serve to company and it’s just delicious.  I guarantee if you like shrimp scampi you’ll definitely like this recipe.

Delicious Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter

1/2 cup of olive oil

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1/3 cup of onion (I prefer sweet onions for this recipe)

1/3 cup of white wine

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 lb. of angel hair spaghetti

2 bags medium-size shrimp (40 – 50 shrimp in each bag)

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put the olive oil and butter in a pan and sauté the onions. 

Sauteing the onions

Then add garlic and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.  Then add the white wine, parsley, salt and pepper and cook for two minutes.  Add the shrimp last and then cook an additional five minutes.

After adding the shrimp, white wine and parsley.

Meanwhile boil the angel hair spaghetti following the directions on the box drain very well.  Then add the spaghetti to the pan and stir together.

After adding the angel hair spaghetti

Add the 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and put in a pretty serving bowl. 

Here is the completed shrimp scampi ready to eat - doesn't it look delicious?

Serve the shrimp scampi with white wine, garlic bread and a nice salad.  You will definitely impress your guests with this dish.

I tried these for Christmas as an appetizer.  They were very easy to make and they went over very well - everyone liked them.  They are addicting.  Also, if you don’t feel like making the whole thing just roll out what you want to bake and put the rest in a Tupperware container in the fridge for later.

My Tasty Sausage Balls

Ingredients:

1 pound of hot sausage

1 pound of mild sausage

12 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese

12 ounces of mild cheddar cheese

4 cups of Bisquick

1 cup of chopped sweet onions (I have found Vidalia onions make for the tastiest sausage balls)

They are very easy to make and are great appetizers!

Directions:

mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then squeeze them into large meatball sized round balls.  Place them on a baking she allowing 2to 3 inches in between each of them.  Bake in the oven at 400° for 10 to 12 minutes.  This recipe will make quite a few of these sausage balls depending upon how large you make each of the balls.  Let cool and then serve and enjoy.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

Italian sauce

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 table spoon garlic powder (not garlic salt as they are two entirely different things and will greatly alter the taste of the chicken Parmesan in the end).

Pepper

2 eggs

Milk

1 cup of mozzarella cheese

1 bag of chicken breasts (about six or seven chicken breasts and trim all the white fat off)

Directions:

in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish (you will need two of them) insurance break up with vegetable spray then put a layer of sauce down.  Get a bowl and put 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese in it along with 1 tablespoon of garlic powder.  Sprinkle in some pepper.  Then mix with a fork.  Put it in a gallon sized plastic bag.

In a separate bowl add two eggs and a splash of milk and whip these two ingredients by hand.  Then take each piece of chicken and get into the egg mixture draining off the excess and put into the bag with the other ingredients and move around coating each piece of chicken very well.  Do this to each piece of chicken separately.  When coated set each piece of chicken into the baking dish.

And yes, they are even better then they look!

When you’re done coding the last piece of chicken breasts cover the chicken with sauce then about 1 cup or more with mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle Parmesan cheese on.  Cover the dish with foil – be sure and spray the underside of the foil first to prevent sticking.  Bake in the oven at 350° for about 45 minutes.  You can take the cover off for the last five minutes or so to brown the cheese a bit.  Serve an enjoy – just look at the above 3 picture – doesn’t it just look delicious?.

Mom’s Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 lb. hamburger

A splash of milk

1 tbs. Parsley

1 tbs. Garlic powder (be sure and use garlic powder and not garlic salt as there will be a huge difference in taste and flavor - it will also make your recipe come out salty tasting).

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:

Mix and smash the ingredients with your fingers and roll into balls.  Place the balls on to a cookie sheet and bake on 250° for about 20 minutes.  That’s it – I told you it was simple!  And look at the picture below.  Don’t the meatballs look mouthwatering and yummy?

These meatballs are great in sauce or even all by themselves!

You can eat them plain when they come out of the oven and believe me they’re tasty as is.  Or you can also sprinkle them with Parmesan cheese and then serve them.  Our brothers go crazy for these meatballs with the Parmesan cheese on them. 

Or you can also add them to your favorite sauce while you’re sauce is cooking down.  For added flavor put some grease in the sauce from the meatballs in the pan.  I’ve found that I get more flavor and softer meatballs when I use hamburger meat with a higher fat percentage such as 73% versus 80%.  Experiment and find what works best for you and your family.

Chicken and rice with cream sauce.

Want an easy and tasty dinner?  Look no further than this easy chicken and rice with cream sauce recipe.  It serves 4 and is so easy anyone can do it.  It’s also very tasty, a family favorite and sure to please any family.

Easy chicken and rice with cream sauce

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs with thigh

2 boxes of chicken flavored Rice a Roni (can also use generic equivalents)

1 large (26 oz.) can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 C. milk

Cooking directions:

Place the chicken in a 9″ x 13″ pan to bake.  Sprinkle salt, garlic powder and parsley over the chicken.  Then bake uncovered at 375° for one hour.

Prepare Rice a Roni (or generic equivalent) as to box instructions.

Heat one can of soup with 1/2 cup of milk in a pan on the stove on low to medium heat.

When done put the rice in a serving dish and pour the cream sauce over the top of it.  Set the four pieces of chicken on top of the rice when the chicken is done baking.  You can drizzle more cream sauce over the chicken as well and then serve.  Again, this is an extremely easy meal to prepare and your family will love it.