An "Old School" Recipe

Carla gives me advice

An "Old School" dinner with a twist.

I just felt like I had to add a recipe today and asked Carla which one she remembered most.  She said she supposed I'd already put on Porcupine Meatballs.  Oh my gosh, no I haven't!  This brings back a lot of memories.  It is the first recipe Mom (Pug) had us make and so I followed her example and taught my children to make them, too.  I guess JJ followed my example and had Micah making them when he was young.  Now he has to call me to get the recipe every so often!

Here's my story of the first meal I ever cooked.  Mom had a meeting that was going to be late so she decided I finally was old enough to cook a whole dinner for the family.  I guess I must have been around 9 or 10 but I really don't remember.  She suggested the menu and told me how to do everything so I was psyched to be the cook!  I was making porcupine meatballs and baked potatoes.  Everything went according to Pug's plan.  The potatoes went in the 400 degree oven 1 hour before we were to eat and I got the meatballs on the stove to cook at the proper time.  I set the table and all was ready.  Pug came home and I proudly opened the oven door to get out the potatoes and I discovered a disaster!  The potatoes had exploded all over the oven!  I guess I had forgotten one of the cardinal rules of potato baking.  You must poke them with a fork so they can let the steam out and won't blow up.  I then had another lesson in how to clean the oven.  Never again did I forget this rule!  The meatballs turned out perfect so they became a standby for me.  Here is the recipe:

PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

Ingredients:

An easy inexpensive menu idea.

1 egg beaten

1 10 3/4 oz. can condensed tomato soup*

1/4 Cup long grain rice--I use Uncle Ben's

1/4 tsp. onion powder--I use about 1/4 C.finely chopped onions

3/4 tsp. pepper

1 pound hamburger

Directions:

Combine egg, 1/4 C. of soup, uncooked rice, onion, and pepper.  Add hamburger and mix well. 

Adding all the ingredients except the sauce.

Shape into about 20 meatballs.  Put into a large pot or skillet* . 

I don't need this big of a pan!

Mix the rest of the soup with 1/2 C. water or enough to cover meat balls and pour over them.  Bring to boiling, cover and reduce heat to a simmer.

Ready to cover and cook.  I added the Argyle sauce to the tomato soup to give it a "twist".

I cooked it 25 minutes instead of the 20 set on the timer for Casper.

  Cook for about 20 minutes or until all pink is gone from meat and rice is tender.  (takes longer up in North Park!).   Skim off any fat and serve.

*Hints:  I use a pressure cooker up at the cabin and cook for about 12 minutes.  You can use tomato sauce instead of soup, add some Italian spices to your sauce before cooking and serve with Parmesan cheese.  You could also add a teaspoon or so of Worchestershire sauce instead of Italian seasoning for a little zip or maybe some chili powder or cumin.  Now that I am thinking about it, I think I will use some of my Argyle Sauce**   instead of the soup!!  That sounds yummy!

** See my blog for recipe: 9/29/10

All set for a nice dinner when we get home from the matinee at the movies.