Holiday Meatballs or Meatloaf

I've tried a meatloaf recipe before and it was way too complicated. Not to mention crumbly. So I decided, to heck with it, and get Mom's recipe.

Shoulda done that from the start.

Now, the recipe is technically for meatballs, but it also makes a very good meatloaf.

Holiday Meatballs

1 lb hamburger
1 egg (I found out by accident that it works just as well without the egg)
1C crisp rice cereal
1/4C spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, or crushed tomato
1t dry or wet mustard
1t salt

Mix all ingredients together. Make 12 balls or throw lot into bread pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Can prepare ahead and refrigerate.

Note: Last 5 minutes of cooking, spoon extra sauce onto tops of meatballs and return to oven. Looks extra fancy.


My guess is the 'extra fancy' part is why they're called 'holiday meatballs.'

And there you have it! Simple, easy, fast meatballs (or loaf).

Gluten-free bread pudding

Specifically Irish bread pudding. It was the simplest recipe I could find.

8 slices of bread
8 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
4 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 370 degrees.

2. Break the bread into bite size portions. Place them into a 9x9x2 inch pan

3. Beat the eggs and sugar together. Add zest and milk and pour over the bread.

4. Dot with the butter and bake until mix is set, about 30 minutes.

5. Add toppings to taste.

I used about half a cup of honey instead of sugar and goat's milk instead of regular milk. The goat's milk might explain the slight bitterness I'm tasting. Also, it doesn't quite look like the bread pudding I had in Ireland. That might have something to do with gluten-free bread being so much denser than regular bread. Not as much of the egg and milk mix can be absorbed into the bread. Still, with a little lemon juice it tastes quite good. I may use actual sugar next time, though. The honey didn't mix with the other ingredients quite as thoroughly as I'd like to hope. May also explain the odd taste when I tried it plain.

Now if I could just do something about the pale yellow color.

Salmon/tuna loaf can be easy

I tried a recipe for salmon loaf that was on the back of a can of salmon. It took a lot more ingredients and ended up a lot more mushy than what Mom makes.

Salmon loaf and tuna loaf are essentially the same thing except for the kind of fish you use. Theoretically, you should be able to substitute any canned fish. Wonder what mackerel loaf would taste like?

Anyway, this is how Mom makes salmon/tuna loaf.

1 14.75oz can salmon or 2 5oz cans tuna (if you have soy allergies, be sure to read the labels!)
2 cups Rice Crispies (you can substitute any semi-puffed rice cereal or gluten-free bread crumbs)
2 eggs

Mix, put in a bread pan, set oven for 350, and cook for about 1/2 an hour.

I don't think it can get much simpler than that.

Rhubarb Crisp and the Lost Art of Simplicity

Trying to find a simple, gluten-free rhubarb crisp recipe is really what inspired me to start this blog. It is ridiculously hard. Not that there aren't recipes out there, but they're either way too complicated to be practical, swimming in sugar, or involve some of the strangest ingredients. (Why, in the name of sanity, would someone put Cayenne pepper in a dessert?) As for cookbooks, mine seemed to be unaware of rhubarb's existence.

Of course, I might be spoiled. When I was a kid, well before I found out about Celiac's disease, Mom made the best rhubarb crisp bar none.

So that gave me an idea. Adapt Mom's recipe to be gluten free. Which I think she got from Betty Crocker, but I'm not sure.

Rhubarb Crisp

6 cups rhubarb
1/3 cup water

Butter 9x13x2 inch pan, pour in rhubarb, sprinkle with water.

1 cup rolled oats (use one that specifies that it's from a dedicated gluten-free processing plant, or, if you can't handle oats as well as the more traditional grains, you can try rolled rice)
1/2 cup all purpose gluten-free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill, but I should think any all purpose mix should do)
1/2 cup rice bran
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Use a sprinkle of guar or xanthan gum to help hold it together. Not really sure how much, as I'll detail later.

Mix and sprinkle over rhubarb.

Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

It doesn't get much simpler than that, right?

Well, a little experimentation might be in order to get the right texture. When I tried this the result was a much smoother, gooier crust than I remember Mom's crisp having. I might have used too much guar gum. Or maybe the all purpose flour wasn't coarse enough. The original recipe did specify whole wheat flour. But it tasted good, which is the main thing. For something like this, texture is really up to personal preferences. Next time I try this I may add a little millet flour or leave out the guar gum. Maybe mix some coarse oatmeal in with the rolled oats.

What's really great about simple recipes like this is that there's a lot more room for experimenting. At least there is for people like me who still burn things fairly regularly. (I'm getting better, mostly.)