Sloppy Joes
Marge Englebert

1 1/2 lbs Ground Chuck
1/2 cup Celery, chopped fine
1 medium Onion, chopped fine
8 oz Tomato Paste
1/2 cup Ketchup
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
2 T White Vinegar
2 T Brown Sugar
Salt & Pepper

Brown ground chuck, celery, onions. Add other ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes. Serve on buns.

Louisville Hot Brown
Food Editor’s Hometown Favorites Cookbook

4 T Butter
1 small Onion, chopped
4 T Flour
2 c Milk
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp White Pepper
¼ c shredded Cheddar Cheese
¼ c grated Parmesan Cheese
8 slices trimmed Toast
Cooked chicken or turkey breast, sliced (about 3-4 oz per sandwich)
Crisp-fried bacon, crumbled (about 2 slices per sandwich)
4 oz Mushroom slices, sauteed

Melt 1 T of butter in a saucepan. Saute mushrooms. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside. Add 3 T of butter to pan. Saute onion in butter until transparent. Add flour; mix well. Stir in milk, salt and pepper; whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Add Cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese; continue heating until cheeses are melted and blended with sauce. Remove sauce from heat.

Put 1 slice of toast in each of four oven-proof individual serving dishes. Top each piece of toast with slices of chicken or turkey. Cut remaining toast slices diagonally and place 2 triangles alongside each sandwich. Ladle cheese sauce equally over all four sandwiches.

Place dishes under broiler until sauce begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Garnish with crumbled bacon and sauteed mushroom slices. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 sandwiches

Dry rub:
3 T Paprika
1 T Garlic Powder
1 T Brown Sugar
1 T dry Mustard
3 T coarse Salt

1 (5 to 7 pound) Pork Roast, shoulder or Boston butt

Mix paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, dry mustard and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork roast and marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it’s falling apart and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 170 degrees F.

Remove the pork from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take 2 forks and “pull” the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other.

If everyone wants BBQ pork, put the shredded pork in a bowl and add a bottled BBQ sauce like Sweet Baby Ray’s to coat. There is a BBQ sauce recipe with this recipe on the Food Network site if you’d like to make it from scratch (follow the link above). If your family is like mine, some will want BBQ, some mustard and others will want ketchup. If that’s the case, leave the pork plain and serve the condiments on the side.

To serve, spoon the pulled pork mixture onto buns. Serve with pickle spears and chips. A good slaw would go well with these too.

Super-Stuffed Monte-Cristo Sandwiches
Recipe coutesy Rachel Ray

8 slices center cut or apple wood smoked bacon
4 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup half-and-half, warm
1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp coarse ground Black Pepper
2 T Butter
8 thick cut slices of Whole-grain Soft Bread, white or challah
1/2 cup Brown Mustard
1/2 cup whole berry Cranberry Sauce
1/2 lb sliced Havarti Cheese
1 lb sliced Ham
1 lb sliced Turkey breast
1 1/2 cups medium to dark amber Maple Syrup

Heat a griddle pan or large skillet over medium high heat. Cook bacon and remove to paper towels to drain. Drain off fat and reheat griddle over medium heat. Make sandwiches in 2 batches.

Beat eggs with half-and-half, nutmeg and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to griddle and melt. Turn 4 slices of bread in batter, then add to griddle.

Turn bread after it browns (2-3 minutes). Top 2 bread slices with mustard, the other 2 with cranberry sauce. Add 2 slices of cheese and bacon on the cranberry covered bread. Add ham, then turkey to the mustard covered bread.

Use a spatula to assemble 2 sandwiches and turn and press gently to set sandwiches in place. Repeat to make 2 more sandwiches. Cut sandwiches from corner to corner.

Heat syrup in microwave safe container for 30 seconds. Drizzle syrup over sandwiches at the table.

Shredded Beef Sandwiches
Marge Englebert

Large Chuck Roast
2 T Butter
1 small onion, diced
Salt & Pepper
1 can Beef Consume

Cut Chuck Roast into small pieces, removing fat.

Stove-top method: Brown meat in oleo. Cover meat with water (just enough to cover). Add small onion, diced, and salt and pepper. Put cover on and cook until meat falls apart. You may need to add water during cooking. ½ hour before serving, add 1 can Beef Consume and continue cooking

Crock Pot method: Put 1 can Beef Consume, butter, onion and meat pieces in crock pot. Cook for 6-8 hours. Drain excess liquids. Shred meat with fork.

Serve on buttered hamburger buns. I like to get the buns from the deli/bakery. A dill pickle spear is a nice accompaniment.

Baked Beans
Marge Englebert

4 slices Bacon
1 lb 5 oz Van Camp’s Pork-n-Beans
¼ c Ketsup
1 ½ Tbs Brown Sugar
1 ½ Tbs finely chopped Onion
¼ tsp Dry Mustard
1 ½ Tbs Molasses

Fry bacon. Crumble into 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Add other ingredients; Mix. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another ½ hour.

Potato Casserole
Marge Englebert

*8 oz shredded Cheddar Cheese
*8 oz Sour Cream
*1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
*1 small Onion, diced
*1 lg bag frozen Hashbrowns, defrosted
*Salt & Pepper
Crushed Cornflakes
¾ cup melted Butter

Mix starred (*) ingredients together. Pour in greased 13 x 9 pan. Put crushed cornflakes on top. Drizzle with butter. Bake 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.