TAC

Here you go WYE, but there are no aquariums for you to swim in LOL

No, don't use meatloaf mix, but you can use two pounds of any ground meat. Beef and pork are excellent as well or veal and pork. The problem with using just beef is that you won't get that restaurant taste, beef is just not that savory by itself. Meat balls should not be as hard as grilled hamburgers, hence the ricotta cheese and other softening ingredients.

TAC’s Top Secret Recipe #3 Italian Marinara Sauce Makes about 2 quarts Ingredients: 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes 1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes 1 4 ounce can of tomato paste 1 teaspoon minced garlic ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon dried or 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh chopped basil (it's OK to use more basil) 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian flat parsley 1 ½ cups finely chopped sweet onions 1 cup finely chopped carrots 1 cup finely chopped celery 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable, canola, or olive oil Optional Ingredients: 1 cup red wine for aging and more robust flavor 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar to age the sauce for immediate use Mushrooms should only be added and cooked with the sauce just before serving Meat should only be added just before serving 1 cup sliced black olives 1 garlic clove broken down to the smallest pieces you can muster Instructions: Heat the oil in a large skillet to about medium and add the parsley, onions, carrots, and celery then cover for 5 to 10 minutes or until just cooked through. Stir the garlic into the vegetables and cook covered for about 2 more minutes. Place the tomatoes, paste, salt, pepper, basil, (optional olives, sugar and/or wine), and cooked vegetable mix in a one-gallon pot and cook on medium-low heat 45 minutes to an hour. Do not overcook! Optional instructions: For a smoother sauce substitute another can of crushed tomatoes for the diced tomatoes and/or puree the vegetable mix before adding it to the cooking pot. Personally, I like the texture of the chopped vegetables, too smooth and it tastes like store bought.

TAC's Top Secret Recipe #2 Italian Meat Balls Makes about 30, 2 inch meatballs Ingredients: 1 pound ground lamb 1 pound ground veal 2/3 cup milk 3 slices of white bread or 2 ½ slices of whole wheat 1/4 cup ricotta cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan and/or Romano cheese 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons salt 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley 2 teaspoons black pepper 1 teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic About 1 cup of flour for dusting Instructions: Heat the milk in a small pot until steamy. Turn off the heat, and tear the bread into small pieces and soak it in the milk until it partially dissolves. Mash it until you get something that resembles a paste. Turn it out onto a plate to let it cool. In a large bowl, combine the lamb, veal, ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan/Romano, eggs, salt, parsley, oregano, black pepper, garlic and the bread-milk mixture. Mix it well with your hands or a fork until it just combines. Pour the flour onto a flat surface that is at least 16 inches square and spread evenly. Scoop 1/8 cup of meat mixture at time and roll into a ball with your hands then roll the ball across the floured surface until completely coated. Leave the meatballs in rows on the floured surface until all of the meat mixture is used up. Prepare a deep fryer with vegetable, canola, or olive oil and heat to between 325 and 350 degrees. Cook as many meatballs as possible without allowing the temperature to drop more than 15 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes. Cut a few meatballs in half from the first batch to ensure they are cooked through. Meatballs will shrink to about 1 ¾ inches after cooking. You can cold store the cooked meat balls dry or I like to submerge them in my famous marinara sauce where they pick up even more flavor.

Note - my baking temps and times are set for a five thousand foot elevation, hence I recommend adjusting your temps/times accordingly. TAC's Top Secret Recipe #1 Seriously flaky crusteses Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups unbleached flower 1/2 cup bleached or unbleached flour for dusting 6 to 8 tablespoons salted butter 1/4 heaping teaspoon table salt 1/2 to 1 teaspoon baking powder (I use 1/2 but your climate, elevation, and personal preference may require more or less) 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 beaten egg yolk (preferably a large grade aa egg) 9 or 10 tablespoons of water (the less water the better) Instructions: My working surface is a cutting board18 x 18 inches square. In a medium mixing bowl combine and thoroughly mix the 1 1/4 cup of unbleached flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Next add the beaten egg yolk and at least 5 tablespoons of water to get the dough ball started. Continue adding water at one tablespoon at a time, each time kneeding it thoroughly to try to make a dough ball that you can just remove in one piece from the bowl. Adding more water makes the dough easier to work but the end results are less desirable. Once you have a dough ball that you can remove safely from the bowl, kneed it for at least three minutes. It is ok to dust the dough ball with bleached flour to keep it from sticking to your hands but keep the dusting to an absolute minimum. When fully kneeded, dust your working surface and roll the dough ball out to cover an 18 x 18 inch surface. Don't worry about how thin the dough is at this point, just be sure that the surface is dusted enough so the dough does not stick. Remove the butter from your freezer and shave the entire stick into small slivers equally spaced and covering the entire rolled out dough ball. When you are finished, carefully roll the the whole thing up like a sleeping bag smoosh it together and kneed it for 3 to 6 minutes or until you have a nicely rounded dough ball with no cracks or crevices. It is a good idea to seal the doughball in a plastic bag at this point and refrigerate for at least an hour before using. The process of adding the butter and kneeding can soften the butter too much. Now you have a basic dough ball that can be rolled out and used as is or folded a couple of times for a more layered crust, or ultimately folded 5 or 6 times to make comfort nuts. Adding more shaved butter between foldings will increase the flakiness and seriously improve the flavor. Baking - In a preheated oven at between 400 and 425 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes depending on how done you like your crust. Frying - In at least a half inch of oil, fry comfort nuts at 175 degrees a minute or two on each side or until they rise to a desired height

I published some of my recipes at the other place, but people were telling me they were too much work and had too many ingredients. I would be happy to post my recipe here, for my buttery, flaky, dough that I use for pizza, mini meat pies, strudel, (my version of cronuts), Ice cream cake, and of course pie crust to die for. Just let me know

Another great comfort food by "SORTED Food"

I'm a guy, so I'm not supposed to get emotional, but when my pets are sick or are at the vet, I'm a basket case. Hope all goes well with your dog Babs. xoxoxoxoxox

Can you tell which one is me? Hint: I'm wearing a speedo.

It's hard to see but this goat IS wearing a speedo.

Santa Claws is a Norwegian Forest Cat and Boss Man is a Bombay.

Now we need a non-smoking goats thread

Here's a green crown for your avatar.

I thought it was Scott in the speedo?

Hi Green, I have some green sneakers and slippers for you!

One of the ultimate comfort foods.

Which one do you like best Colleen?

I think it's nice to have our own look.

Any volunteers to help me clean up from last nights party?

There are currently 522 guests online, WOW. Come on down, join the Quit Train, you are welcome here!

If I let you beat me in a game of pool MQ, can I have a raise? :)

The Quit Train is still waiting to be fully indexed by the major search engines and when they do, we are ready for them. In the mean time, we currently have almost 40 external links to us (back links), and I'm certain some of those are from websites and facebook pages owned by members. Thanx everyone, great job!

I did.

420 LOL. Only us old hippies know what that means. B)

And regarding my bachelor pad in the basement. Guilty as charged B)