Time-tested comfort food

Take a delicious trip down memory lane with these favorites

Old-Fashioned Ozarks Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef

• 1 pound pork sausage

• 3 eggs

• ½ cup ketchup

• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs

• salt and ground black pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoons ketchup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, sausage, eggs, 1/2 cup ketchup and bread crumbs until well blended. Pat into a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Spread 2 tablespoons ketchup over the top.

3. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Drain off some of the fat once in a while to keep spattering to a minimum. Enjoy!

Old-Fashioned Chicken and Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 (2 to 3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

• 4 stalks celery, diced

• celery tops

• 1 carrot, shredded

• 1 onion, halved - unpeeled

• ground black pepper to taste

• 3 (32 fluid ounce) containers chicken broth

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 cup warm water

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine chicken, celery and their tops, carrot, onion and its peel, and pepper. Pour broth over and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender and falls from the bone, about 45 minutes.

2. While chicken is cooking, make noodles. In a large bowl, combine eggs, water, oil, salt and enough of the flour to make a stiff dough.

3. Strain chicken stock, reserving meat, celery and carrots. Pull meat from bones and return strained stock and meat, celery and carrots to pot. Bring to a boil. Make noodles by cutting dough from a broth-dipped spoon or using scissors or your fingers to make small, chickpea sized, noodles and dropping them in the boiling water. When the noodles rise to the surface they are done.

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew Ingredients

• 1 pound lean beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

• 2 onions, thinly sliced

• 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 teaspoons tomato paste

• 2 cups beef broth

• 4 cups sliced carrots

• 2 russet potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices

• 1 cup chopped fresh green beans

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 tablespoon cold water

• ¼ cup chopped parsley

Directions

1. Coat beef with flour, shaking off excess. In a large nonstick stock pot, heat oil over medium-high heat, add beef and saute until brown, approximately 6 minutes. Remove beef from stock pot and set aside.

2. Add onions and mushrooms to stock pot and saute for 6 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute, continually stirring.

3. Skim off fat any fat from the stock pot and return cooked beef to pot; stir in tomato paste and broth. Add enough water to just cover ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

4. Skim off any foam that has accumulated on the surface of stew and add carrots, potatoes and green beans. Cover partially and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. In a small mixing bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water. Stir mixture into stew. Increase heat and boil uncovered for 1 minute. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.