Noziam  Kitchen

(A Collection of Noziam Recipes)

  John Nozum's kitchen in late 2005

NJN Meatloaf
Made by Nila J. Nozum, my mother, who is now deceased
(May be the best meatloaf on the planet!!!)

Description

    This may very well be the BEST meatloaf recipe on the face of the earth.  After about 7-10 tries, I managed to get VERY CLOSE to my mother's meatloaf recipe, which she took to the grave with her.  Essentially, I successfully dug up this recipe right up out of her grave (through memory of ingredients and experimentation on mixtures).  I knew all the ingredients, but just didn't know the mixture.  My mother died in 2002 and I finally "bit the bullet" and decided to try making this meatloaf in 2018, over 15 years after her death.  The hardest part here was putting my mind to the task of making this meatloaf.

 

Ingredients

Ingredient
 Using 1 pound of ground beef
 Using 1.5 pounds of ground beef
Ground beef (80% Lean / 20% Fat)
 1 pound of ground beef
 1.5 pound of ground beef
2% Milk
 2 2/3 oz (around 1/3 cup)
 4 oz (1/2 cup)
Egg(s) -- Grade A Large
 1 egg
 2 eggs
Onion
 2-inch diameter WHITE onion
 2.5 inch diameter WHITE onion
Dry (ground) mustard
 2/3 level teaspoonful
 1 level teaspoonful
HEINZ ketchup (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE!!!)
 3 heaping tablespoonfuls
 4 heaping tablespoonfuls
PROGRESSO Italian bread crumbs (DO NOT SUBSTITUTE!!!)
 3.5 heaping tablespoonfuls
 5 heaping tablespoonfuls
Salt
 2/3 level teaspoonful
 1 level teaspoonful
Pepper (black)
 1/3 level teaspoonful
 1/2 level teaspoonful


 

Directions

    First peel and grate the onion onto a saucer or plate.  Place ALL the above ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Mix THOROUGHLY, preferably by hand.  WARNING:  Use good hand hygiene (with SOAP AND WATER, NOT hand sanitizers!!!) BEFORE AND AFTER working with the above mixture!!!  Protective gloves are optional.  Immediately after thoroughly mixing the above ingredients, transfer this to a meatloaf / bread baking dish, preferably a Pyrex rectangular glass baking dish.  Try to level off the top of this, so that it is even height all the way across.  Wash your hands at this point, for you are now finished touching the raw meat and such.  Now take 3-4 additional tablespoonfuls of HEINZ ketchup and slather this across the top of your meatloaf--same amount as what you mixed INTO the meatloaf mixture.  Cover this completely with aluminum foil and then put into the oven at 350º F for 1 hour and 15-25 minutes, depending on the size of your meatloaf.  For the bigger meatloaves, you may wish to place this dish onto a sheet pan with aluminum foil, just in case it boils over and tries to make a mess in your oven.  You can optionally cook other items in the meantime to go with your meatloaf, such as potatoes and a favorite vegetable.

    SPECIAL NOTE:  Unfortunately, onions can be "unpredictable", sometimes being VERY, VERY STRONG.  If this happens, use maybe just 1/5 of the amount of onion in the mixture.  This is the hardest variable to regulate in terms of obtaining a consistently good meatloaf again and again.

    INTERESTING NOTE:  I found that this meatloaf, after being baked and refrigerated, freezes VERY WELL in Ziploc freezer bags, even close to a year later.  Just remove it from the freezer and bag and thaw it out in a microwave at 30% power for 5-6 minutes, and then maybe 80% power for possibly 2-4 more minutes.  It comes out just about as good as just fresh out of the oven!  You can also divide this meatloaf up into 3-4 "segments" and put each of these into a quart-sized Ziploc bag for "single servings".

 


 

Polish Hamburgers

Description

    To start with, it is about a five times tastier burger than what 98% of people make.  To this date that I know of, the ONLY PLACE that has been able to hold a candle to my Polish hamburgers is Eat 'n' Park with their quote "gourmet burgers."  While my polish hamburgers use about a third of pound of beef per burger, they are closer to a whopping half pound by the time the extras are added.
 
 

Ingredients
(per pound of beef)

- Ground beef (one pound of premium quality)
- One egg
- One tablespoon of regular mustard
- One tablespoon of decent ketchup, such as Heinz
- About 1/10 to 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- About 1/10 teaspoon of black pepper
- About 1/8 cup of dice onions
- About 1/8 cup of Progresso Italian bread crumbs
- 1/8 cup of milk
 
 

Directions

    Just mix the above ingredients together into a large mixing bowl.  When serving more people, you may multiply all the ingredients proportionally.  Mix the goodies up using CLEAN HANDS.  A spoon will NOT work good in this case.  After mixing well,  try to form the patties at approximately 4-5 inches in diameter by about 1/2 inch thick.  Fry in a skillet with enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of it well.  Use medium heat.  After about 2-5 minutes, flip them over.  When you START to get some DARK brown on both sides, they should be done.  Due to the size and weight of these tasty burgers, you should use TWO spatulas--one underneath the burger and one over it so that the burger has a much better chance of staying together during the flipping process.  You should do about 2-5 minutes per side TWICE.  This means that you should do THREE flippings BEFORE they are ready to serve.  This helps to get them done better with a lower probability of burning them.  At any rate, make SURE that you don't see red in the meat when eating them.
 
 



 
 

GOOD Bird Salad (turkey salad)

Description

    This is a down-to-earth turkey salad that adds nothing to botch it.
 
 

Ingredients
(per 1/2 gallon of ground turkey)

- 12-15 ounces of REAL mayonnaise
- 10-15 ounces of sweet pickles and/or sweet relish (total NOT to exceed 15 ounces)
 
 

Directions

    Grind up the turkey using a medium to fine grinder outlet and have it go into a LARGE serving/stirring bowl.  If sweet pickles are used, grind these up as well and put into the same bowl as the ground turkey.  Finally add the mayonnaise.  Start out with the lower figures given above, since you can always add more if necessary.  You may have to take several taste tests after mixing the ingredients, since more may be necessary.  Remember that the turkey is usually the limiting factor, so be careful with the pickles and mayonnaise.  The final product should have a good taste and is at least relatively easy to spread onto a sandwich.
 
 



 
 

GOOD Fish

Description

    With this recipe, you can say good bye to all that mediocre fish that most fish places sell and say hello to the GOOD stuff!  Not only does this recipe START with better fish, it is made even tastier when you are done.
 
 

Ingredients
(standard box of ocean perch)

- Ocean perch with bones already removed
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of Lawry's Season salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of onion salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic flakes or garlic salt
- OPTIONAL : 1/2 teaspoon of Natures Seasonings
 
 

Directions

    Take a one-gallon Zip-Lock (or similar) bag and dump the flour and seasonings into it and close it up.  Now shake the bag so that the flour and seasonings get well mixed.  Now reopen the bag and throw the individual fish pieces in there.  Now close up the bag again and shake it so that the flour mixture gets all over the fish.  Have a skillet ready with enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of it well.  Reopen the bag and throw the fish into the skillet and turn it on medium heat.  Fry each side of them for about 2-5 minutes and then flip them.  You should do THREE flippings at around 2-5 minute intervals BEFORE removing them to serve.  When the fish get golden brown and/or start to fall apart, they are ready to serve.  WARNING:  Do not use Hunts ketchup on your fish or you'll ruin them!  Also be aware that during the frying process, you may have to add extra vegetable oil, for fish can really use it up.
 
 

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