Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Cheesy Polenta, and Best Ever Meatloaf

Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Cheesy Polenta, and Best Ever Meatloaf (slightly adapted from ABCNews and AllRecipes respectively, Servings: 8 for Polenta & Meatloaf, 12 for Biscuits, Total Time: )

Biscuits Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups Bisquick baking mix
•  ¾ cup cold skim milk
• 4 Tbsp. cold butter (1/2 stick)
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• 1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese

Topping Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• ¼ tsp. dried parsley flakes
•  ½ tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

1.)    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.)    Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork. There should be small chunks of butter that are about the size of peas.

3.)    Add cheddar cheese, milk, and ¼ teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

4.)    Drop approximately ¼-cup portions of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop.

5.)    Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

6.)    After removing from oven, melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a small bowl in microwave. Stir in ½ teaspoon garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter.

My husband requested these for his birthday dinner, so I found a recipe and went at it.  They were soft and a tad flaky, very garlicky.  They had a little too much garlic and cheese for me (the horror!), but my husband thoroughly enjoyed him.  He said that they tasted slightly different (maybe because of skim vs. whole milk), but that he thought they were tasty.  I only had one, so he has successfully eaten all of them himself!

Polenta Ingredients:

• 2 cups skim milk
• 2 cups water
• 1 ½ tsp. sea salt
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 4 oz. (1 cup) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1.)    In a large pot, over medium-high heat, bring milk, water, and salt to a boil. Gradually whisk in polenta.

2.)    Reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook 20 minutes, until creamy, lifting the lid and stirring every 3 or 4 minutes to prevent sticking.

3.)    Remove pot from stove, stir in pepper and butter. Gradually stir in cheese. Serve.

Along with the biscuits, I served this polenta dish and Best Ever Meatloaf.  The polenta was good, very cheesy, but a little spongey (I either overcooked it or it was because of the skim milk).  I still liked the taste and would make it again!

Best Ever Meatloaf (adapted from KraftRecipes, Servings: 6, Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         2 pkg. Morningstar Farms MealStarters Burger Crumbles

·         1 egg

·         1 cup ground Stove Top Stuffing

·         1 pkg. onion soup

·         1 can tomato soup

·         ½ green pepper

·         ½ cup shredded carrots

Directions

1.      Combine crumbles, egg, stuffing, onion soup, tomato soup, green pepper and carrots.

2.      Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Spread mixture into pan.

3.      Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

This is my husband’s favorite “meat”loaf recipe.  He won’t stop eating it when I make it!  He likes that there is the onion soup mixture instead of onions (which he doesn’t like).  I added the whole can of tomato soup to act as a binder with the crumbles.  It worked!  It stays together nicely after being cooked.  The loaf has a nice texture to it, creamy with a slightly crispy edge from the cooking and the stuffing.  I really enjoy this one, too!

Tomato & Basil Quiche and EZ Drop Biscuits

Tomato & Basil Quiche (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Total time: 45 minutes, 4 servings)

I found a quiche recipe a few years ago that I got stuck on because it tasted so good.  I finally decided to pull myself out of my rut this past weekend when my mom and stepfather came to visit.  This recipe looked tasty and fairly healthy (if you cut out the pastry crust and cut back on the cheese).  I thought the end product worked out quite well, and I received compliments from my mother on a dish well done.

Ingredients

·         1 Tbsp. olive oil

·         ½ onion, diced

·         2 plum tomatoes, sliced

·         2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

·         2 tsp. dried basil

·         3 eggs

·         ½  cup milk

·         salt and pepper to taste

·         1  cup shredded Italian cheese, divided

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.      Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion until soft; remove from skillet.

3.      Sprinkle tomato slices with flour and basil on each side.  Sauté 1 minute on each side.

4.      In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

5.      Spread ½ cup shredded cheese on the bottom of a pie pan. Layer onions over cheese.  Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese on top of onions, then top with tomatoes. Cover with egg mixture and top with remaining ¼ cup shredded cheese.

6.      Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve warm.

This egg dish has a delicious, but not overpowering, taste.  The spices do not overwhelm the other ingredients and the Italian cheese adds just a bit more flavor than a regular mozzarella.  The only drawback is that the quiche is about half the thickness of what I am used to.  Next time, I will double the ingredients to make it a more filling meal.  Well, not the onions.  Although I love the onions and do not think that they detract from the dish in anyway, my husband is not a fan and could not finish his slice.  Luckily,  this is an easy dish to make your own!

Since I didn’t use the pie crust, I served the quiche with biscuits.  I found the following recipe on AllRecipes and chose it because of good ratings and a minimal amount of ingredients and instructions.  Unfortunately, they did not turn out as well as I had hoped.  They were flat and pretty dry.  The only way to make them tasty is douse them in either butter or gravy.

E-Z Drop Biscuits (slightly adapted from AllRecipes, Total Time: 30 min., 16 biscuits)

Ingredients

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 Tbsp. baking powder

·         2 tsp. white sugar

·         ¼  tsp. cream of tartar

·         ¼  tsp. salt

·         ½ cup melted butter

·         1 cup milk

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and lightly grease one large cookie sheet.

2.      In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar and salt.

3.      Stir in butter and milk just until moistened.

4.      Drop batter onto cookie sheet by the tablespoon.

5.      Bake in preheated oven until golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Sausage, Biscuits, and Gravy

This meal was not as good as I expected it to be.  My fiancée really likes this dish (with real sausage), so I thought it might be nice to make it for him vegetarian style.  I guess I’ll have to go with a different recipe for both the gravy and the biscuits next time.      

                                                                                        http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moms-Baking-Powder-Biscuits/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moms-Country-Gravy/Detail.aspx

The biscuits did not rise at all – and I followed the recipe exactly.  In addition, they tasted kind of floury.  Not good.  I put them into a Tupperware container and I would have thought they were sugar cookies if I didn’t know better!  The country gravy also did not taste right to me – I’ve never had it before, but I once again followed the recipe without a great result.  Adding more pepper to it helped, but it still needs something more.  The best part of the dish was the Morningstar Farms Sausage Links.  I may try this whole thing again, but not with the same recipes.