I know, I know... It has been a very long time.

Sorry.

Life changes have a way of impacting writing schedules.

Anyway, Happy belated Birthday!!!

Meatcake!

Last Thanksgiving, I tried my hand at making a meatless loaf. Actually, I tried to make two that would complement each other as an entree for the sole vegetarian in our group. Going through my photo archive I found that I had some nice pix taken by Chris McNDP on his fancy new camera. Also, thanks to Miss Julia for the bag of grits, all the way from North Carolina.

Anyways, here is the recipe and a couple of photos of my Grits and Greens Loaf.

Grits and Greens Loaf

3 tbsp unseasoned dry breadcrumbs
2 pkg chopped frozen spinach
3 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 cups skim milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cup uncooked grits
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Generously butter a loaf pan and sprinkle the bottom and sides with breadcrumbs. Thaw and squeeze excess moisture out of spinach.

3. In medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp of butter. Carefully cook onion and garlic until tender. Add spinach and cook further for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

4. In a 1.5l suacepan, bring milk, salt, pepper and cayeene to slow boil. Stir in grits, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly until grits are thick. Stir in remaining 2 tbsp of butter, cheese and spinach mixture.

5. In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in about 1 cup of grits mixture to warm the eggs. Blend the egg mixture back into grits suacepan.

6. Pour mixture into loaf pan. Place pan in larger pan half filled with water. Bake until firm, puffed and golden, about 45-55 minutes. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

I served this with a vegetarian mushroom and onion gravy as well as an attempted Sweet Potato and Tofu loaf (which didn't turn out).


It was very tasty and a great addition to the Thanksgiving feast at Gangster and Sarah's.

How teasing can I be?? What kind of quesion is that? I will tease as much is needed, god-damn'it! Anyway...

As requested, here is the loaf recipe I made the other day. It is pretty simple, but in hindsight, I think it could be a little tastier. With some modifications, (I glazed it differently and it needs more internal flavour than just ketchup) it was taken from the Everything Tastes Better with Bacon cookbook.

Schmidty's Meat Loaf

3 think slices bacon, cut in half
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup ground breadcrumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. In a skillet, cook the bacon until limp and barely cooked. Put aside, reserve 1 tbsp of bacon drippings in skillet.

3. Saute the onions in same skillet for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add garlic until lightly browned, 1-2 minutes.

4. Combine onions with all remaining ingredients in large bowl. Don't over mix.

5. Place in loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove from oven, and arrange bacon across top of loaf.

7. Return to oven and bake for 40 minutes longer. Remove from oven, let stand for ten minutes and serve.

Now it should be mentioned that I made these small. I split the ingredients into two and baked them in smaller loaf tins.
The salt shaker was used for scale. Here is one up close.


And not to worry, the recipe for the Italian loaf is on the way.

After Des' most enlightening comment, I went and had a look at firstlight.ca. They do have some great photos. This is my favourite:

Wandering around the 'net for as long as I have you come across a strange collection of useful and less than useful sites. One of these sites, one that I came across 5 or 6 years ago, was the home of Getty Images. Now for those that don't know, Getty Images is a company that sells images used in marketing and mass media. They have millions of photographs. And I mean millions. The best part is that they are all searchable, albeit in a less than print perfect form. But they still make for entertaining surfing.

This is what I got after I searched for 'meatloaf'. (Remember to clarify between 'Meat Loaf (Named Person)' and 'Meat Loaf (Meat Dish)')

I know. I have been very remiss in posting lately. It has almost been a week and the last post said I was going to post the results from the pre-packaged taste off.

Sorry. The html tabling of the results has annoyed me enough to throw up my hands and swear. Loudly.

It will arrive soon. Please have patience. Until then, here is a little taste.

I made meatloaf!

Last Thursday was Tex-Mex night at mi Casa, so here is...

Peter's Chicken Mexi-Cali Loaf
A Mexican inspired loaf. Tastey, fragrant and sure to be a crowd pleaser. Quick and easy, this is the one to try (inspite of the picture).


Ingredients

2 lbs lean ground chicken
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 jalapeno, chopped fine
1 can refried beans
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup chili sauce
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Glaze

1 cup Green salsa
2 tbsp citrus hot sauce
3 tbsp honey

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Pour mixture into loaf tin.

4. Bake for 1 hour. Mix glaze ingredients in small bowl.

5. Remove loaf from oven and pour glaze mixture in loaf tin, covering loaf evenly.

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand for 1o minutes; slice and serve with additional green salsa.

A few days ago, Athena mentioned her idea about a 'Thanksgiving Loaf', which was basicly a turkey meatloaf with a vein of dressing (stuffing to you mainlanders) running through it. On Saturday, I was all keyed up when I was leaving work from selling roughly 1000 copies of Harry Potter combined with seeing almost every child in the free world get excited about reading. So needless to say I was jazzed and needed an outlet. Making a meatloaf seemed to be as good an idea as not and since I had been negligent in that area I felt it was my duty to try something new. So without further ado, here is:

Stuffed Turkey Loaf with Sweet Potato Frosting

2lbs lean ground turkey
2 med carrots, grated and chopped
1 lrg onion, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup cream of celery soup, undiluted or milk
2 tbsp chili sauce or ketchup
1 tbsp dried rosemary, ground
1 tsp black pepper, ground
all-purpose flour

Dressing/Stuffing
1 box Pepperidge Farms Stuffing
1 stalk of celery
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp savory, ground

Sweet Potato Frosting
1 lrg sweet potato (I mean large, use two if you are unsure)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 375F.

2. Combine carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic, rosemary and pepper in large bowl. Add turkey, soup and chili sauce. Mix evenly with hands.

3. Lay out large sheets of wax paper and dust with flour. Lay turkey mixture out and roll flat until about an inch thick with rolling pin or bottle (I personally use a full bottle of Jameson's). Width should equal length of loaf pan. (see below)



4. Mix your dressing according to instructions on the box or make it from scratch (I sauteed onions and celery which I combined with my box dressing. I also added savory to make it taste more like traditional Newfoundland dressing). Distribute dressing/stuffing evenly over tukey mixture leaving small area at either end uncovered. (see below)


5. Roll turkey mixture into a loaf as you would roll a jelly-roll. Lightly press to connect join at end. (see below)



6. Place roll in loaf tin and bake for 1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 180-190F.

7. Boil sweet potato in salted water until soft. Drain (you may want to reserve some of the water for a gravy base) and mash. Add cinnamon, 3/4 tbsp brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

8. Take meatloaf out of oven when cooked. Cover top of loaf with uniform coating of potato mixture. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar on top of loaf. Broil for 5-10 minutes or until sugar begins to caramelize. Remove meatloaf from oven. (see below)


9. Let stand for 10 minutes. Slice and serve. (I served it with mushroom gravy - see below)

A few things I learned were, firstly, make your dressing/stuffing a little drier than you think as it absorbs a lot of the meat juices. Secondly, it is important to get that internal temperature up because, although it is a meatloaf, it is still poultry. And finally, it may be a little better with a brown sugar glaze instead of sprinkled sugar.

All in all, a pretty good recipe that is easy to modify to your ideas about Thanksgiving. Although, in making it it reminded me of an old joke whose punchline is "Wrecked 'im? Damn near killed 'im!".

Well, today I realised I wasn't the smartest man I know (no, it isn't you either Nick). It just so happens that the smartest man I know is a woman. Anna, during a very engaging discussion about the loaf, stated, and I paraphrase, "Well, it seems very Atkins friendly". Boy is she right. And maybe this is the exact thing we need to get meatloaf back into it's rightful place on the kitchen tables of America.

So for your enjoyment and recipe boxes, here is a meatloaf recipe approved by the good Doctor.

Mushroom-Flavored Meatloaf

Mushrooms, Parmesan and herbs jazz up plain-old meatloaf for a dish that just might become a family staple. Serve with roasted vegetables on the side for a nourishing and hearty autumn meal.


Ingredients
2 slices low-carb white bread, cubed
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano), divided
8 thinly sliced white mushrooms
7 finely chopped scallions, including half of the green tops
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 pounds ground chuck or ground turkey
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup ice water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, divided

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with foil. Cover a wire rack with foil; prick foil in several places with a fork. Place rack in pan; set aside.

2. Pulse bread in a food processor to make fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

3. In a small cup combine 1 tablespoon bread crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon Parmesan; set aside.

4. In a 12-inch skillet, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, scallions and garlic; sauté until mushrooms are tender, stirring frequently, 5 to 7 minutes.

5. Transfer mushroom mixture to food processor and process until finely chopped.

6. In a large bowl, gently combine ground meat, plain bread crumbs, mushroom mixture, cream, water, egg, remaining Parmesan, salt, thyme, pepper and all but 2 tablespoons parsley. Mix until evenly blended. Transfer mixture to a work surface and form into a 9- by-5-inch loaf.

7. Place loaf on prepared rack. Bake for 1 hour. Sprinkle top of loaf with bread-crumb topping. Bake until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into center of loaf registers 160°F for chuck or 165°F for turkey and bread-crumb topping is nicely browned, 20 to 25 minutes more.

8. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish with reserved 2 tablespoons parsley.

Everything courtesy of


Thanks Anna!

I thought I would show you all a picture of the meatloaf I made last night. It was great! I served it with garlic mashed sweet potatoes and some steamed carrots.


You may think it looks rather small, but that is only because I couldn't stop myself from having seconds. And no I didn't take a bite out of that slice right before I took the photo, but I thought about it.