Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

“Blackberry balsamic merlot reduction” sounds heavenly :-)

-JT

[Liz]

This is the dish Hollywood insiders ate at the "in" restaurant...LA's premiere dining spot started in 1983 by comic actor Dudley Moore and director Tony Bill. Techniques are French in origin.

MEAT LOAF / 72 MARKET STREET OYSTER BAR AND GRILL, Venice, Ca

PREP Saute soft/dry 3/4 c ea minced onion/green onion, 1/2 c ea minced celery/carrot, 1/4 c ea minced red/green pepper, 2 tsp. minced garlic, 3 tb butter; cool. Add combined tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. cayenne, tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp wh/pepper, 1/2 /tsp ea ground cumin, nutmeg.

FINAL Now stir in 1/2 c HnH, 1/2 c catsup, 1 3/4 lbs ea lean ground beef, sweet Italian sausage, 3 beaten eggs, 3/4 c dry bread crumbs; mix well.

Form loaf on greased sheetpan or bake in 9x5" loaf pan.
Bake 350 deg 45-50 min. Let stand 10 min. Pour off fat.

Slice into desired servings. SERVE slices w/ gravy.

GRAVY Saute/soften/sweat 4 minced shallots, tsp minced garlic, tb ea minced green/red pepper, sprig fresh thyme, bay leaf, pinch black pepper, tb butter (do not brown).

Add cup wh/wine; cook/reduce to glaze on high. Add 1 1/2 ea veal/chic/stock (or use 3 c chix/stock); thicken/reduce by half. Stir in 2 tb butter, S/p. Strain out solids.

[Liz]

FOR REALLY MOIST MEATLOAF: A really neat technique
some chefs use when cooking meatloaf in a loaf pan: about 1/2
hour before done, drizzle in V8 vegetable juice at sides of pan.

[Liz]

Fiery Texas-type meatloaf served in a burrito.

TEXAS WILDFIRE BURRITOS

FILLING Brown 2 lb ea grnd sirloin and porterhouse cubes 3-5 min til done. Set aside. Saute 1/2 stick butter, lb fresh mushrooms 1/2 tsp ea pepper/cayenne/garlic salt, 2 tsp ea Worc/Tabasco, cups red wine, 3 chp gar/cl. Add 2 bunches chp green onions, can diced tomatoes, chp whole green/red bell pepper, canned green chiles, Serranos, chipotles, all diced, 4 diced habaneros (or omit for tamer dish). Simmer/stir w/ meat 2-3 hours.

ASSMBLY Fill flour tortillas w/ meat/sautéed veg. Rollup into burrito. Bake in 9x13 glass baker 5-6 min.

Plate burritos, smother w/ chili.

SERVE topped w/ sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, guacamole, chp tomatoes, slivered/canned jalapenos.

[V K Lee]

That onion soup mix is good for a Salisbury type burger. Fry burger after a dip in flour mixture. Drain excess grease, add dry soup (I use half an env for 2-3 patties. Add water/1/2 of that called for, allow to come to boil, stirring. Cook about 15 min and then add a cornstarch/water to thicken the soup mixture. The Hearty Lipton onion soup or reg onion soup works. Also, sometimes add some thinly sliced onion pieces to the burger berfore adding dry soup. A bit of Kitchen Bouquet is a plus as well. The gravy is great atop mashed potatoes or rice. The WARNING - this is a high sodium factor. So moderation, please.

[Liz]

The perfect drink w/ meatloaf. A pre-prandial libation.
Or get happy while washing the meatloaf down your gullet.

METHOD In shaker, combine 3 oz best vodka (Ketel One),
3 tbsp pickle juice (best w/ McClure’s Spicy Pickle Juice), ice.

Strain into chilled martini glass.

SERVE garnished w/ pickle spear.

[Liz]

Italian meatloaf patted out thin and layered with ham slices and mozzarella, then rolled up.........or stuffed with spinach, onions, and cheese.

Yummy....these are fantastic variations.

Maybe serve w/ fragrant homemade basil tomato sauce?

[Jamestown1630]

The stuffed mushrooms sound great!

I would never trust myself to differentiate safe mushrooms from poison ones ;-)

-JT

[RginTN]

wonder if it was butter rolls. Biscuit dough spread in the pan or rolled up and sliced like cinnamon rolls, then baked in a sauce of milk and sugar. The sauce gets thick almost like a pouring custard. I will look for the recipe, my grandmother used to make it when I was young and I may have her recipe. You could try searching online for old fashioned butter rolls.

---

I think thats a version of it.
The butterbread desert I’ve had isn’t rolled like cinnamon rolls tho.

[Jamestown1630]

When I saw your post, I mentioned to my husband that we never see ‘meatloaf mix’ in the stores here anymore. If you want it down here, you have to buy the parts separately.

(Or maybe I should widen my horizon of shopping venues...)

-JT

[miss marmelstein]

Probably a decision by the meatpacking companies to make you pay more money. I’m seeing less of it as well.

[greeneyes]

That sounds very tasty. I’m going to try that.

I like meat loaf - never eat it from a restaurant though.

I’m still trying to figure out something to use besides bread crumbs, though to make it low carb.

[Jamestown1630]

My low-carb Husband Person says: “Pork rinds are your friend!”

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

Perhaps; but I think it has more to do with the fact that there’s really not much butchering done in modern supermarkets.

I think I’ve mentioned previously on another ping-list that I used to be able to go to the grocery, ask for some suet (to make my bird-feeding cakes) and the butcher would give me a pound of it for pennies. But they don’t do that stuff in the stores anymore. The most the meat department in local supermarkets will do, is grind up the plastic-covered meat for you; or chop the plastic-covered whole fowl into pieces. Butchering has been ‘removed from the neighborhood’.

-JT

[greeneyes]

That’s a fact! I have been using those every day. However, when I tried them in frito pie it didn’t work out so well. Soggy Rinds are a no go for texture.

Now I make up the pie ingredients and just use the rinds to scoop it up. Much better - no time to make a soggy glump of yuk.

[bgill]

For LC you have to eliminate the bread/crackers/oats/rice. It’s not as good LC. Fashion a rack of sorts from foil so that the fat can drain off since there’s nothing to soak it up.

[Yaelle]

There is only one meatloaf recipe I have ever liked and I don’t just like it, I love it. Paul Prudhomme’s. I make it a bit less spicy and of course I make it kosher ( Easy, just use all beef and no pork, use water instead of the milk and coconut oil instead of the butter).

This is the BEST meatloaf ever.

http://www.food.com/recipe/paul-prudhommes-cajun-meat-loaf-412134

[SaraJohnson]

Wow! That looks good. Thanks!

[SaraJohnson]

Wow! That looks good. Thanks!

[greeneyes]

For now, but somewhere, there’s got to be something that helps. LOL