Eating with Liz 2011 - Greek Skillet

I wanted to share last nights recipe. It was not so bad. But, as John has pointed out, all these meals (the edible ones) from www.e-mealz.com are missing …something… it's like they're almost good, but there is just something, some taste, missing that would make it just a little bit better. We haven't decided what yet, but we're working on it. Again, this is cooking for two. This turned out to be about 3 ½ servings.

 

Greek Skillet Supper

Parmesan Garlic Bread

 

½ lb ground beef

¼ c onion, chopped

1 t oregano

½ t cinnamon

sprinkle of garlic salt

14 oz can beef broth

14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 T tomato paste

¾ c egg noodles, uncooked

¾ c frozen spinach, thawed and drained

½ c feta cheese

 

In large sauce pan, brown ground beef & onion over medium heat. Add seasonings, broth, tomatoes, tomato paste and noodles. Cover and cook until pasta is nearly tender, about 10 min. Stir in spinach and ¼ c feta. Cover and cook until heated through. Sprinkle w/ remaining feta.

 

½ loaf French bread

(Parmesan, butter, garlic salt)

On a baking sheet, slice French bread in half, lengthwise. Spread each half w/ butter. Sprinkle garlic salt and top w/ parmesan. Slice and bake @400, 10 min, until crispy.

 

I was impressed with this recipe (aside from the "missing something" part.)

I am not a fan of feta cheese, but being determined to try the recipe as is I bought some and used it like the recipe said to. Still not a fan of feta, but when added to the recipe I really couldn't taste it.

I'm working on being a spinach fan. It doesn't seem quite as gross to me now as it used to. I am really not a fan of the precooked frozen stuff. Perhaps next time (if there is one) I'll use fresh spinach instead. It should wilt up nicely in this hot pot. In this case I did use the frozen spinach. I microwaved it until it was mushy and then used a paper towel to squish the excess liquid out.

 

What did I do differently:

I did not drain my diced tomatoes. I just dumped in the whole can. I don't know how well this would have worked if I hadn't. The 10 minutes of cooking time pretty much boiled out all the liquid. Maybe I was cooking it to high, but I don't think so.

I added pepper. A few good shakes of pepper in the recipe didn't hurt it. It probably helped a little. Maybe what these recipes are missing is more spices. (i.e. salt and pepper) I should have used the pepper mill and given it a few good turns of fresh ground pepper. That probably would have been tasty.

I had precooked my beef. I used ½ lb of beef for the recipe the night before so I just cooked the whole pound and put half of it in the fridge. This worked well for this to be a quick meal. 15 minutes from start to plate -- Not bad at all.

Dried Onions. I think I may have figured them out. I use 1/8 cup or less of the dried onions and that seems to work out well. For this recipe I used my Pampered Chef wooden Spoon and just scooped enough to fill the spoon well with onion. That was just about the right amount. I'll figure these dried onions out yet.

I didn't measure my egg noodles. I just added two handfuls.

 

We didn't eat this with garlic'd French bread. I don't have any French bread and I didn't feel like garlic. We had crescent rolls from a tube. Yes, the store brand.

 

SIDE NOTE: I've been craving buttery carbs lately and these have been a staple in the fridge for a while. If I'm not eating the chocolate chip cookies that I posted not to long ago. (I think I have used more brown sugar in the last two weeks then I think I EVER have in my life.)

 

This probably would have been good with a nice green salad as a side. John suggested that instead of noodles that it may be good on a pizza crust.

 

This also would have been good as a soup. As it was it was kind of a hamburger helper texture with just a little extra sauce in the pan. I'd suggest an extra can of Beef Broth if you'd like it more soupy.

 

CHEF'S NOTE: Buy your tomato paste in a refrigeratible tube. Buying it in the can is such a waste. I have never used an entire can of tomato paste and it always ends up being thrown away. Just like the open can I have in my fridge today.

 

If you try this tell me. If you can decide what the missing "something" is I'd really like to know.