Dinner's at My House Tonight. Bring The Wine

I woke up with a need to cook today.  I'm making Porcupine Meatballs with cucumber salad and green beans as a side dish.  For those of you who don't know what a Porcupine Meatball is, it's a way to stretch hamburg using rice.  I make the meat up as if it will be a meatloaf, then add partly cooked rice to the mixture - as much rice as meat.  Doing this doubles the amount of the main dish.  I'll post the recipe below.  The meatballs get placed in a casserole dish and covered with mushroom soup.  About ten minutes before the meatballs are done, I uncover them and put shredded cheese over them.

Since I had the itch to cook today I made mushroom soup from the mushrooms I dehydrated a couple of months ago.  I dehydrate foods because they would waste if I left them fresh.  I tend to not be able to eat a whole package of mushrooms before they go bad.  So I dry the tops in slices, then dry the stems in pieces.  When the stems are dry I grind them in the spice grinder and use them as a powdered bouillon.

Doing this assures me of 1) less waste, and 2) I have items on hand without having to run to the grocery when I want to cook.

The one large cucumber I picked not only provided seeds for next year's crop, it gave me three cups of thinly sliced cucumbers for another salad which will be served with tonight's dinner.

Dessert will be chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream and warm jam.

You all are invited at four PM!

My brother once asked me if I ate dinner so I could have dessert.  Doesn't everyone?  In that spirit, I put dessert up first.


 

The cream of mushroom soup that will keep the meatballs moist while in the oven.

 

 

The meatballs are larger than the normal size.  These will be covered with the soup and latter some shredded cheese.

 

 

 

Porcupine Meatballs (serves 4 - 6.

375 oven

Covered dish

40-45 minutes (last 10 minutes uncovered)

 

One pound of hamburg

1/2 C uncooked rice

salt and pepper to taste

1 T parsley

1 egg

1/4 C milk

1/2 to 3/4 C bread crumbs

 

Boil water (2C) on stove with a pinch of salt.  When it comes to a boil, put rice in.  Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool.  Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Add cooled rice.  Form in 4-5 meatballs.  Cover with a can of mushroom soup.  Cover the dish and heat in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Uncover and add shredded cheese. ( Whatever amount you would like.)  Return to the oven and heat for 10 more minutes  at 350 degrees..

 

 

 



The finished dinner.  Everyone was eating without talking.  So it must have tasted yummy.