Meatloaf

Last week I posted a recipe of my dad's.  This week I wanted to pay a little tribute to my mom.  My mom never liked to cook.  I think it is because, unlike me, she doesn't really like to eat.  What a shame though because when she does cook, it is fantastic!  

One of my favorites, and probably the first thing I learned how to make from my mom, is meatloaf.  Now this is not your ordinary meatloaf.  I actually hate regular meatloaf and would never dream of eating any but my own (or my moms!).  When I think of restaurant meatloaf, I think of a thick, dry brick of meat with a sad attempt for flavor by adding way to much onion powder and plain jane ketchup.  This meatloaf is tender from the egg and bread crumbs, mild enough for kids due to the lack of garlic and onion, and ends with a delicious tanginess from the brown sugar ketchup.  Serve with mashed potatoes and you have a perfect meal.

For serving ease, and added cuteness, I make individual sized loafs.  I have seen a lot of people doing this in muffin tins.  I don't really get the point of that.  I just form small loafs and bake on a pan.  The meat will keep its shape and a pan is so much easier to clean afterwards than a muffin tin.  Just make sure that the pan you use has a lip (like a large jelly roll pan) because melted fat will pool while the meatloaf cooks.

Ingredients

1lb Ground Sirloin

1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (lightly packed)

1 1/2 Cups Ketchup

1/2 Cup milk

1 Egg


First things first, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and milk.  Stir and let this mixture sit while you prepare everything else.  Once all of the milk has soaked into the bread crumbs, you will have a soupy mixture.  In a separate bowl, combine the ketchup and brown sugar and mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, ground sirloin, bread crumb mixture, and 1 cup of the ketchup mixture.  Mix by hand.

For individual sized loafs, use a large handful of the meat mixture.  Form this into an oval shaped ball and place on your pan.  You will be able to make 5 loaves with this recipe.

Take the remaining ketchup mixture and spread evenly over each meatloaf.  Place on the middle rack in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Kielbasa Skillet

Growing up, my dad was the one who always insisted on a full balanced meal.  Meaning, we needed a protein, a starch, and of course our veggies.  Seeing as this meal has all three, perfectly mixed together, this was a pretty regular "dad's turn to cook" meal.  Us kids didn't mind!

Now that I am on my own, this still makes a regular appearance into my menu planning.  I don't think I have changed a thing from when my dad use to make it because perfection should never be messed with.  I love the caramelization of the onions, the smokey-ness of the sausage, sweetness of the peppers, and the way the potatoes somehow absorb and deliver all of those flavors together.

The best thing about this meal is that it is great for all ages.  My three year old niece devours this as quickly as my husband and I.  My favorite part....?  The "burnt" pieces.  Don't be afraid to let your ingredients get a little browned. :)


Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Large yellow onion
4-5 Large yukon gold potatoes
2 Green bell peppers
1 Yellow or orange bell pepper
1 Package Kielbasa (polish sausage)

The most labor intensive part of this meal is chopping up everything.  Besides that, you are just tossing ingredients in a pan.

Start by dicing your onion and cubing your potatoes, keeping them separated still.  See the picture for size reference when it comes to chopping your potatoes.  You don't want tiny hash brown sized pieces.  But you don't want to use a knife and a fork when you are eating either.  Go for "hearty bite sized".

Place 1 Tbsp olive oil into a large skillet and put on stove at medium heat.  Add your onions and cook until they are clear.  If some start to brown a little, that is fine.  But remember, you still have a lot of ingredients to add and cook at this point so those onions are only just starting their journey.  In other words, don't overcook them.

Add your potato pieces to the skillet and stir until they are well coated with the oil that is currently in the pan.  Let these cook while you are cutting the remainder of the ingredients, making sure to stir and move them around often.

When cutting your sausage and peppers, try to cut them roughly the same size as your potato pieces. Once you have finished chopping, add the kielbasa sausage to the pan and stir.  Let this cook for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are starting to get tender and the sausage is starting to brown. I say "starting" because we still have to add and cook pepper so this mixture has another solid 20 minutes to go.

Picture above: Mixture immediately after adding the Kielbasa

Picture below: Mixture right before adding the peppers.  Notice everything is starting to caramelize

Add your peppers and stir until the peppers are incorporated evenly.  Cook for another 20 minutes, or until both your potatoes and peppers are tender.

Yep, this is pretty much perfect once your meal looks like this.  Time to eat!!!

Nutella Hot Chocolate

 

Sorry guys, it has been a while since I posted anything.  I am new to this blog thing.  I meant to post this in the winter when a hot drink really hit the spot.  However, as the summer months approach, I still appreciate a nice mug of hot cocoa.  When we go to the lake, the perfect ending to a long day in the sun is to curl up on the couch with your loved ones, watch a movie, and enjoy some hot cocoa.  

A big craze I noticed this winter was Nutella Hot Chocolate.  The first time I saw this, I thought to myself "yeah, this could pretty much be heaven in a cup".  However, every time I looked at a recipe, it just states milk and Nutella.  If you think you could lick a container of Nutella clean, then that might be the recipe for you.  However, that flavor just didn't cut it for me.  I wanted more of the chocolate with a hint of hazelnut to complement.  I decreased the amount of Nutella and added some sweetened chocolate/cocoa powder, topped with marshmallows and WOW!  I really think I could drink this every night and never be sick of it.  

If you don't have the Ghiradelli brand sweet ground chocolate and cocoa, I highly recommend getting some.  It really makes a difference and it taste great in countless other desserts.  Please note, I was lazy and made this in the microwave but you can easily do this over the stove in a pot instead.  The recipe below is perfect for two.

Ingredients

2.5 cups 2% milk

3.5 Tbsp Nutella

4 Tbsp Ghiradelli sweet ground chocolate and cocoa

1/4 cup Marshmallows

Pour 2.5 cups of milk into a large microwavable container.  I used a 4 cup glass measuring cup and it was perfect.  Heat in the microwave until milk is hot, but not boiling.  This took roughly 3-4 minutes but make sure to stop and stir the milk about every minute.  Once the milk is hot, add your Nutella and chocolate powder.  Whisk until mixture is smooth and the chocolate and Nutella is completely incorporated.  Pour into mugs, top with marshmallows, and enjoy!

Pomegranate Pork

I really wish I could take credit for this recipe.  I generally do not eat pork.  It just is not a meat I am fond of.  However, this recipe was amazingly delicious.  The recipe requires making two simple but very complimentary sauces.  The pork is cooked in one sauce and served covered in the second.  The end result are plates that are practically licked clean!  Overall, the dish was not hard to make.  The only change I made to the original recipe was I increased the amount of both sauces, which is reflected here. This flavorful pork pairs well with some more tame side dishes, like homemade mashed potatoes.

• 2 cups POM Wonderful juice
• 1 c sugar
• 1.5 T cornstarch
• 2 t red pepper flakes
• 6 T light soy sauce
• 6 t ginger, minced
• 5 t garlic, minced (about 3-4 cloves)
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 to 1.5 lbs pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 3/4″ thick medallions
• 1 whole fresh pomegranate, separated into kernels.

Start by mixing together the pomegranate juice, sugar, cornstarch and red pepper flakes. Simmer over medium heat until a thick syrup forms. Remove from heat and set aside.

Mix together the soy sauce, ginger and garlic and set aside. Slice the pork tenderloin cross-wise into 1/2 to 3/4 inch medallions.

 

Add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil to a hot skillet and gently place the tenderloin pieces in the pan.  Spoon the soy-ginger-garlic mixture onto each medallion. Cook 3 minutes, flip and cook the other side for 3 more minutes. Remove from the pan. You’ll probably need to do several batches until all of the pork is cooked.

Turn the heat off under the pan and add the syrup mixture you created to the pan. Stir for a few minutes to thicken the sauce and incorporate any yummy pork bits that remain in the pan.

To serve, spoon the sauce over the medallions and garnish with fresh pomegranate.

To view the original recipe, visit Scraping the Skillet by Micha at http://scrapingtheskillet.com/2008/11/24/pomegranate-ginger-pork-tenderloin-medallions/


 

Greek Baklava

As the holidays approach, traditionally people make pumpkin pies, cookies, and other sweet treats.  In my house, we almost always have a fresh tray of Baklava.  Personally, I find Baklava a little too sweet so I decreased the sugar and added a little lemon juice to the syrup.  The result was perfect!

The recipe is actually very easy and foolproof but you should allow a good 45+ minutes of prep time since buttering each sheet of filo dough can be time consuming.

Here is my recipe.  Enjoy!

Baklava Ingredients:

1 lb Filo Dough (Thawed)

3/4 lb Sweet Butter

1 lb Walnuts

2 tsp. Cinnamon

2 tbsp Sugar

Cloves

Syrup Ingredients:

2 cups Sugar

2 cups Water

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

10 Whole Cloves

4 Cinnamon Sticks

1/2 cup Honey

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix all ingredients for the syrup together in a saucepan and boil at medium heat for 40 minutes.  Remove all solid pieces of cloves and cinnamon sticks.  Turn off stove and let syrup cool completely.

In a large bowl, mix together finely chopped walnuts, cinnamon and sugar. 

Open the package of filo dough.  Straighten out the sheets for easy access and then cover in plastic wrap.  On top of the plastic wrap place a damp towel.  This will ensure that the dough does not dry out.  Every time you take a sheet, make sure to recover the dough because it dries out very quickly. 

Melt the pound of butter in a bowl.  Butter the bottom of a 13’’ by 9’’ by 2’’ pan.  Place 6 sheets of filo dough in the bottom of the pan, brushing each sheet with butter.  Sprinkle some of the walnut mixture (6-7 heaping tsp.) on top of the filo.  Add 4 more sheets of filo, brushing each with butter.  Sprinkle with the walnut mixture again.  Repeat until 6 sheets of filo are left.  Place these 6 sheets on top, brushing each sheet with butter.  With a sharp knife, cut the baklava into squares.  Then cut these squares into two triangles.  Reheat the remaining butter and pour evenly over the entire pan.  Add a whole clove to the center of each square*.  Bake in a preheated oven, on middle shelf, at 300 degrees for one hour and ten minutes.  Raise temperature to 400  degrees and bake an additional ten minutes.  Remove from oven and pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava.  Let this cool.  Cover in wax paper and foil and store in the fridge. 

*Remove whole cloves before serving!