Tag: one-dish meals

Finnish Macaroni and Beef

When I was a District Exchange Officer for Rotary districts in Minnesota and Wisconsin, I helped coordinate exchanges for students coming to our area from Finland and students from Minnesota and Wisconsin going to Finland.  It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot.  For instance, I learned right away why Finnish students were amused by Minnesota’s slogan, “The land of 10,000 lakes.”  Finland has over 187,000 lakes!

Once a year my wife and I invited the exchange Students from Finland in our Rotary Districts to spend a weekend at our home.  Since the students were living in cities that could be more than 100 miles apart, we tried to make the weekend an opportunity for students to get better acquainted.

The rules were simple.  Students could speak Finnish as much as they wished.  My wife cooked Friday dinner and I made breakfast Saturday and Sunday.  The students could make whatever they wanted for lunch and dinner Saturday and a final snack at Sunday noon.  My job was to get the ingredients they needed.

We had a lot of fun together and enjoyed many of their favorite recipes, some of which had been sent via airmail from mothers and grandmothers in Finland.

One popular dish nearly every year was Lihamakaronilaatikko (Lee-hah-mah-cah-row-nee-lah-tee-ko), which is a Finnish version of a macaroni and hamburger hot dish.  Instead of a tomato-based sauce with mixed vegetables,  a cream sauce.   This is comfort food for a cold winter evening.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups uncooked macaroni
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion
1 T vegetable oil
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/2  cup grated Swiss or Jack cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 T. butter

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Finely chop the onion . Heat the oil in a saucepan and brown the ground beef over moderate heat.  When the meat is nearly done, add the onion and continue cooking until the onion is translucent.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.   Drain the meat if necessary.

Boil the macaroni in salted water until a bit more than half cooked.  Drain the macaroni and mix it with the beef, then pour the mixture into a greased oven casserole.

Grate the cheese and beat the eggs until they are lemon yellow.  Add the milk, grated cheese 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon white pepper.  Mix well and pour over the macaroni-beef mixture.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs and add a few small pieces of butter on the surface.  Cover and cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, remove the cover and continue cooking for another half hour or until the batter has set.

NOTES.  Like many other Scandinavian dishes, this is a white mildly spiced dish.  Ketchup is the condiment of choice, so put the ketchup bottle on the table when you serve Lihamakaronilaatikko.  Some versions are made with beef broth, but our student guests preferred this recipe.

Easy Beef Pot Roast

When we were growing up, we had a beef pot roast at least once a week.  Mom’s beef pot roasts were simple affairs made with chuck roast, water, vegetables, a bay leaf and salt and pepper.  Simple though they were, they tasted wonderful, especially with fresh rolls and plenty of butter.

Later, when Bob and I shared an apartment at Madison, we experimented with different spices and cooking liquids.  I blush to admit it, but we liked pretty much every variation we tried.  Perhaps we were better cooks than we thought, though it might be more accurate to say that we were better eaters.  The recipe below is one that Jerri and I have used for many years, and it still tastes good to us and our guests.

If you have to do the dishes, you will appreciate a pot roast made on top of the stove.  The meat, potatoes and vegetables cook in one pan.  By varying your cooking liquid you can achieve the flavor you like best.

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 to 3 lb. beef chuck roast
1/2 cup dry red wine such as a cabernet sauvignon or merlot
1/2 cup water
1 beef bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 medium onion
4 to 5 carrots
3 to 4 potatoes
1 1/2 T cornstarch

PROCEDURE:

Trim excess fat from the meat.  Put the trimmings in a skillet with a tight-fitting lid and render the fat scraps until you have coated the bottom and sides of skillet with the rendered fat.  Discard the trimmings.  Turn the heat up and brown the roast in the hot pan on all sides.  Drain any excess fat after the meat is browned.

Turn down the heat, sprinkle the salt and grind the pepper over the meat.  Add 1/2 cup wine and 1/2 cup water along with the bay leaf, cloves and bouillon cube.  Cover and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.  Check once or twice to make certain that the liquid does not boil away.  Add a small amount of wine or water if necessary.

Peel and cut the onion into thick slices and place them on top of the meat.  Peel and quarter the potatoes and clean and cut the carrots into 2 inch pieces.  Place them around the meat in the skillet.  Shake a little salt on the vegetables.  Cook until the vegetables are done, about half an hour.  Remove the meat and vegetables and keep them warm.  To make the gravy add water or a combination of water and wine to make about 1 1/2 cups of liquid.  Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup cold water, stir into the pan and cook until clear.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Slice the meat and pass it with the vegetables and gravy.  Serve with more of the wine used to cook the roast accompanied by a green salad and fresh bread.

VARIATIONS:  Use red port wine and about 1/4 tsp. basil instead of the burgundy and bay leaf.  Or substitute beer for the burgundy.  If you want a little more zip, add a couple of dashes of cayenne or hot sauce.