This pork recipe was pulled in haste. My teen saw the curly noodles and we just had to make it. We were all surprised to find how good it was. This Saucy Twist Pork Dish from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), Budget Casseroles is great, with some minor adjustments.
First, the pork recipe calls for a canned pork meat, you know, Spam. I am not a big Spam fan. We decided to use pork chops instead. We seasoned the chops with a little salt and pepper and browned them in a large fry pan.
While the chops were browning, we cooked the tri-color spiral pasta. The teen thought this would be better pasta than the plain corkscrew macaroni the recipe called for.
Once the pork was cooked through we cubed it and prepared to put the casserole together.
This is what the Saucy Twist Pork Dish looked like when it came out of the oven. The aroma was amazing.
I think our idea to tweak this pork recipe prior to cooking it was superb. The flavor was excellent. Everyone liked the dish and we will be making it again.
This week's Family Night Dinner Idea recipe is Newport Beef Casserole! This recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Party Casseroles.
When my daughter and I started cooking this yummy dish she barked at the ingredients. This casserole has two ingredients she despises: mushrooms and spinach. I told her, "Well, you picked the card!" She looked at the recipe and picture and as she began to smell the wondrous aroma, she decided she would try eating it.
This casserole goes together rather easily. However, the initial preparation and cooking takes some time. Not only do you have to chop and dice, you must brown and simmer. Okay, you have to do this with a lot of recipes, but I would ensure you have at least two and a half hours before you plan to serve dinner because of the simmer time.
When this dish came out of the oven we were amazed by how good it looked. The Newport Beef Casserole is a definite do over in this house, despite the mushrooms and spinach. The teen decided those ingredients are not too bad after all.
This week we were looking for something we could do with leftovers. Earlier in the week we grilled pork fajitas I bought on sale and had a ton of meat leftover. Well this Piggybank Pork Bake seemingly just dropped from the Heavens. This recipe is from The Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library (1971), Budget Casseroles.
This pork recipe was so easy the teen put it together herself. I could not believe how well she did chopping the green pepper. I wanted to take a video but the camera fouled up on me. I was lucky to get a image of the finished product:
We used Fideo for the "uncooked fine noodles" and we substituted Pam spray for the shortening. This recipe was a great guide for us to use up some leftover pork and it tasted really good. I'm thinking I might prefer a different cheese and cream soup, maybe Mozzarella or Pepper Jack for the cheese and cream of celery or mushroom. I might also like it spiced up a bit, perhaps use rotel instead of Pimento.
For our first family night dinner idea recipe, my daughter chose Ukrainian Goulash. I have never made this one before, that's for sure. The recipe comes from McCall's Great American Recipe Card Collection (1973), Budget Stretchers.
Ukrainian Goulash is easy to make, yet it has several steps and it requires a long cooking time in the oven. It's all well worth your efforts. Here's the result of our work:
The beef sauce is mild yet very rich. The recipe calls for you to brown your beef in "salad oil" then to use the drippings to brown your onion. For my taste, it's really too much oil. The next time we prepare this dish we will be using a cooking spray rather than oil.
The meat is tender as can be when it's done. However, next time I plan to cut the chuck a bit smaller than 1 1/2 inch cubes.
The recipe as written will definitely provide you with 8 servings. I froze our leftover sauce for a future meal.
I think this recipe could adapt well to being cooked in a crock pot. I'll have to experiment a bit with it and see what results.
The recipe suggests you serve the sauce over buttered noodles. We chose fettuccine. I think the dish would be excellent over white or brown rice.
Overall we really enjoyed cooking this dish. It gave the teen some experience with cutting raw meat, chopping per recipe directions, and browning.
