Comfort Food

It's a rainy Sunday in Tallahassee so here are a couple good recipes for comfort food. Enjoy!

Magnificent Meatloaf

2 pc sour dough bread
1 egg
¼ c. milk
Olive oil
½ med. Bell pepper, finely chopped (yellow, red or orange)
½ med. Onion, finely chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped in pieces
2 cloves fresh garlic
2 lbs. ground beef (preferably organic)
Salt to taste
Lemon pepper to taste
1 tsp. Dried parsley
¼ c. Parmesan cheese
½ c. Katsup

Preheat oven to 350°. Pour milk over sour dough bread. Beat egg and pour over the bread and milk; let soak.

On low heat, sauté peppers, onion and mushrooms in olive oil. Add garlic.

In a large bowl, mix hamburger, bread mixture, sautéed pepper mixture, salt, pepper, parsley and parmesan cheese. Shape into meatloaf and place in a pan coated with olive oil. Cook for 30-40 min. uncovered. Remove from oven and coat meatloaf with katsup. Cook for 20 more minutes uncovered.


Gourmet Tuna Casserole

1 sm. Onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery with leafy tops, sliced
4 mushrooms, cut in pieces
1-2 fresh garlic cloves
Splash of white wine
Fresh herbs – parsley, oregano and thyme (1 TBS of each)
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup lite sour cream
2 cans of white chunk tuna, drained
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
2/3 c. Fresh bread crumbs
1 pkg. wide egg noodles

Preheat oven to 400° for the casserole and put a pot of water on the stove to boil for the egg noodles. Partially cook the egg noodles while you prepare the tuna casserole.

Sautee onion and celery on low heat. Add mushrooms and garlic cloves. When veggies are soft, throw in a splash of wine. Add fresh herbs. Turn heat off. Add cream of celery soup, tuna, cheese and sour cream, mix together. Fold in partially cooked egg noodles. Put tuna mixture in a casserole dish greased with olive oil. In a food processor, make fresh bread crumbs (pumpernickel-rye is a good choice). Add parmesan to the bread crumbs and sprinkle over the tuna casserole. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes until breadcrumbs are crispy and casserole is bubbling.