Not Your Mama's Meatloaf!

Ok, let's be honest here, no kid likes meatloaf.  Growing up, I can remember slathering my slice of mushed meat with ketchup and showering it with salt in order to choke it down.  When mom made meatloaf there was always a standoff and an extra glass of milk to help make it go down.  But I think it's a requirement that mom's make meatloaf, and that they force their children to eat it.  I also grew up in a household where you ate what was on your plate.  None of this "I'll make a second meal crap" 'cause my kid is picky.  Honestly,  yes, there are a few meals that aren't worth the battle and I toss nuggets or fish sticks in the microwave instead.  I know my daughter will never eat "red sauce" on her spaghetti, but that doesn't require a second dinner, just omit the sauce and add butter to hers.  But for some reason, I allow certain battles at dinner to commence.  She must try everything, even if it requires tears and sitting there for 30 minutes.  She will learn eventually that she is of my genes and hence I am just as, if not more, stubborn as she is.

Funny enough, my daughter won last night's meatloaf battle by falling asleep at the table.  Four straight days without a nap, and late nights will do that to a four year old.  There she was refusing to eat the meatloaf one second, and the next her eyes were closed and she was snoring.  Kassidy 1, Meatloaf 0.  There will be a rematch.  And it was to her loss, since last night's loaf was surely a winner!!

I base my meatloaf recipe, of course, off my mom's.  I don't veer TOO far off the original, but I add a few extra ingredients to make it my own.  And for mystery sake, I'm not telling you what's original and what's not.  Personally, I like a meatloaf full of flavor, much like a meatball, only... in a loaf.  And I'm a strong believer that my meatloaf should not crunch when I bite into it, so no celery or fresh onion for me.  I also never make the same meatloaf twice.  I'm always changing something.  But last night, winna winna meatloaf dinna!  Let's play.




Ingredients
Put all this in one big bowl.

• 1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
• 1/2 pound ground pork (a must, no substitute)
• 1/2 pound ground veal (a must, no substitute)
• Salt/Pepper
• 1T ground Savory, although I typically just dump a quarter size into my palm and toss
• 1/4 cup ketchup, estimated, I just squirt what looks good
• 2T Worcestershire sauce, estimated, I just put in 5 or 6 good shakes
• 1/4 cup milk, estimated, I just pour for 2 seconds
• 1 egg, exact
• 2-3 shakes garlic salt
• 2-3 shakes onion powder
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (Italian, add flavor every where you can), honestly, this is an estimate, I just cup my hand and fill my hand, could be almost a full cup
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, again, I'm estimating, beucase I really just sprinkle a good layer over the top of the bowl I'm mixing things in

Run the water in your sink and get it nice and hot, run your hands under it and warm them up.  Remove any rings you're wearing.  The only way to properly mix is to get in there and do it by hand.  Why the hot water?  There's something about cold ground meat that just chills you right to the bone.  You're going to want to do this at least twice while you're mixing to reheat your hands.  Start rolling it around and squishing and get all the ingredients incorporated nicely.  I mix mine a little longer than my mom would, as I prefer a solid structure loaf, while she likes one to kind of fall apart.  The longer you "play" with raw meat like playdough, the consistently will change once cooked. Play with it less, you get more of a chunky loaf, play with it more, you get a solid structure.   Get it mixed up well and form a large meatball.

Select your pan.  I like to use my broiler pan.  Big enough to hold the loaf, but the slits also allow the juices to run down.  Plus, you don't feel like you're pushing to squish it into one of those traditional meatloaf pans.  This allows your loaf to "breathe."  So, prep the pan with a spray of cooking spray so it doesn't stick later and drop your big meatball down on top of it, form it into a loaf.

You didn't put the ketchup and Parmesan cheese away yet, did you?  If you did, get it back out.  Sprinkle the top with cheese, just a light dusting.  Then squirt on your ketchup.  Not too much, it's really for decoration and just a smidge of flavor.  (Hm... did you make breakfast this morning and not use the whole pound of bacon?  Here's a variation I've done once... before the Parmesan, lay the bacon across)

Your oven should be preheated to 350 degrees.  Place your pan on the center rack and let it go for 1 hour, 15 minutes.  Don't open the door.  When it's done, take it out, let it rest.  Very important to let it rest!!!  Just like a fine steak, all those juices are running wild inside and you don't want to lose them but cutting it open and letting it bleed.  By letting the meatloaf rest, the juices redistribute and calm down.  Give it 10 minutes, at least.

Good time to whip up your side dishes, or at least finish them up.  I always grew up with peas and mashed potatoes with meatloaf, so that's usually what I make.  And I got lazy last night, for some reason was really feeling the need for instant mashed potatoes.  Betty Crocker makes a good "butter" flavor.  And after letting it sit according to directions, add another tablespoon of butter, a dash of salt and a splash of milk, voila, no one knows the difference.  Hey, it's Christmas weekend, I had a lot going on, I deserve a cheat.

So, as we sit down to eat and commence the meat battle with Kassidy, she falls asleep.  I of course have my cell phone at hand and snap a picture.  The meatloaf battle in our house as a kid is a truth that both my sister and I share, so I sent her the picture and comment about the meatloaf battle.  She texts me back..... "wait, you made meatloaf with peas and potatoes????" - yes, there were four question marks.  Upon inquiry, I find out that she too, had made meatloaf, with.. peas and potatoes.  Now, ok really strange since we both detested it so much as children but now find that we actually kinda crave meatloaf once in a while.  And with this recipe who wouldn't?   At the same time, I had messaged my parents, the same said picture.  Yeah, turns out... they were having meatloaf too!  Really, it's funnier if you're one of our family, but it was worth mentioning.

So there's your meatloaf.  Makes a great meatloaf sandwich the next day too!  Enjoy!

Let's Holla for Challah Bread!

Alright, this all started several weeks ago around Thanksgiving time.  The Food Network aired an episode of Unwrapped and featured Challah Bread.  (See Video)  Challah bread is a Jewish bread, a special bread made for celebrations and holidays.  (Wikipedia)  It just looked SO YUMMY that I wanted to bake it.  Why bake when you can buy?  Well, my home town is very much an Italian and Porteguese fishing port, our bakeries are pretty much going to carry Italian style loaves only.  And I didn't want to have to go "out of my way" to get it.  So.. why not bake it?  I've baked.....um... well.... I've used my bread machine for raisin bread!  Hrm... that never comes out right though... but I've used my bread machine for pizza dough, does that count!?  Hardly.  So why experiment with baking bread now?  Well why not!?  And besides, I'm a converted Catholic, raised Lutheran, trying to make Jewish bread, what could POSSIBLY go wrong??

Bread is actually quite easy to make, is just time consuming.  And now that (just about) everyone has a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook.. kneeding by hand is a thing of the past!  So, I started my search for the great recipe.  Gotta find a Jew.  But alas, those of the Jewish faith I know... turns out... they all BUY their Challah bread from local bakeries, or.... BJ's/Costco!  No one had a tried and true recipe for me.  I got all sorts of tales about blessings, including one from a co-worker.... it involves flinging a live chicken around your head in the kitchen, over the unbaked bread.  This is to ward off bad spirits and evil mojo or something.  Sounded more like Voodoo than a Jewish blessing/prayer to me, but I found it comical.  And not to worry, I worked it into my recipe.  Anyhow, when recipe by association failed, I headed to the internet.

Searching for a recipe took about a week.  I knew what the bread was supposed to look like, and according to the Food Network, it was supposed to be yellow and eggy and sweet, but cake like.  Right.  So, I knew the recipe needed lots of eggs, had to include sugar, and needed to be from a valuable resource.  Just as I was about to give up, I fell upon Chabad.org and what looked like a good recipe.  It also had several replies and comments of success.  Bingo.  Here we go.

Got home, cleaned up the kitchen, occupied the kids, time to bake, recipe -> Print.  Ok... 5lbs of flour.  POUNDS!?  Wait a second... just how much bread is this going to make????  2oz of fresh yeast.  FRESH YEAST?  Where in the world does one get that?  Can I substitute, all I got is Active Dry and Rapid Rise... oh jeeeze and how does one measure one half of 1/3 cup?  So, last minute scramble with yet another internet search on how to convert this to that and that to this.  And oh yea, Rob I'm getting flour on your mail scale.

Phew.  Ok.  Recipe found, math done, kids still occupied, Karsyn's getting fussy, must act fast, here we go, let's play.  (The original recipe can be found here.)

This current recipe will make a giant loaf of Challah.  If it rises correctly, you will get loaf that should just about fill your cookie sheet it's being baked on.  Double the recipe by making it twice, and you'll get two loafs that size.  Or, you can cut this ball into even smaller  pieces and get 2 small loafs out of it.

Ingredients
     I cut everything from the original recipe in half in order to get it into my Kitchen Aid mixer, and below are those conversions.
 
2.5lbs sifted all-purpose flour
1oz fresh yeast (or .4oz Active Dry yeast) - get a scale, I didn't convert to tsp or T
1T course salt, I didn't have course salt, so I used 1.5T of table salt
2 1/4 cups warm water
1/4+1/8 cup of vegetable oil
1/2+half of 1/3 cups sugar (yea, estimate that half of 1/3)
2.5 egg yolks (this was just about 1/4 cup of yolk)
(keep those egg whites aside for later)

1. No need to dissolve the yeast, we have Active Dry, which means it's going to activate once the water hits it while its rising in your bowl.  Or something like that, I'm no chemist, but I know this works.  It's how the bread machines do it!
2. In the mixer, add in this order:  salt, 2/3 of all the flour, oil, sugar, yolks, water, yeast.
3. Put your mixer on 2 or 3 and let it go for 12 minutes while everything is combined.  You may need to scrape the side at least once.
4. Add the rest of the flour while the mixer is on speed 1, let it incorporate and up speed back to 2 or 3 let the dough come into a ball.  Don't over mix.  Just as it looks like a tangible ball, stop the mixer.
5. Prepare a well greased bowl that is twice the size of your current ball of dough and transfer the dough into that bowl.
6. Cover with saran wrap and let it sit on the counter for 2 to 3 hours so it can rise.  It will double in size.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 if you want to make more dough.

Let it rise.............. 3 hours, what to do with all that time?  Well, you can make dinner, watch the Survivor finale a day late, and put you little one to bed while the dough rises.

Ok, it's risen!

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spill the dough onto a VERY lightly dusted flour surface.  
3. Separate into 6 pieces and roll into your traditional play-dough snakes.  
4. Line them all up next to one another and start braiding.  Now, I did a weave because that made sense to me.  The website I got the original recipe from tells you how to do the 6 strand braid, but it was all Latin to me so I just guessed.  
5. Braid it all up nice and tight, tuck the ends under, and place it on a greased cookie sheet. 

• Let it sit, 20 minutes.  What to do.... how about all the dishes?  Yep, that worked.  Set the timer, get going.
• Ok, now what?  Oh right, co-worker mentioned his grandmother would fling the chicken around the kitchen over her head.
• No chicken... not happening... now what?

•  Chickens...check.

1. Remember those egg whites? Yeah, give them a good whisk.  Break out that basting brush you never use and slather those egg whites on the dough generously.  Now, the recipe calls for more egg yolks, but really, must we waste more egg whites?  Let's just use them.  Should be the same result.
2. Put the bread on the middle rack of your oven at the pre-heated 400 degrees and set timer for 10 minutes.
3. 10 minutes done, set the oven down to 340 degrees and set timer for 30 minutes.

and wait.....

Ding!!!!  Oven says the bread should be done.  But how do you know it's really done?  Well, another Google search... take it's temp.  Apparently 190 degrees internal temp for bread is the correct doneness.  So, find that meat thermometer you just had to have but never use, and take the temperature of the bread.  190?  good, take it out and let it cool!

 Now, I'm told that there are two GREAT ways to eat Challah.  The first, is you just pull the braided chunks and dive right in, eating in plain.  One variation of this is to serve with a little whipped cream cheese and smoke salmon.  I will be apparently trying both methods tomorrow with my co-workers providing said means of consumption.  The other great way I'm told to eat this... and if this is the case, I just might have to make this again after the holidays when I have another 4 hours of time on my hands... is to make FRENCH TOAST.  Now, if you could smell my kitchen right about now, you'd realize just how AWESOME this idea of french toast out of Challah bread really and truly sounds.

Now... I have yet to take a bite of this bread, so while I'm writing this, I can't tell you how successfull this recipe really is.  So, an update tomorrow I'm sure.  For now, they are cooling and making my kitchen smell divine.

Happy Hanukkah everyone as my timing for baking is just right.

----------------------------------------------------
OK, totally couldn't wait, I just had to pull a chunk from the side as I was wrapping one up....
OH
MY
GOODNESS
I'm never eating real bread again,
ever.

My Goodness, My Greenbeans!

Somehow I made it through Thanksgiving weekend without having to really cook anything.  I did make homemade cranberry sauce, but that's super simple.  And I was left on Monday after the holiday with not a single left-over.  No "Gobbler" sandwich for me!  That just wouldn't do.  I must have turkey leftovers.

So that Sunday I bought myself a turkey.  Hey, they were on sale!  W00t!  But.... after doing the math, a 20lb turkey would not cook in enough time for the day that I had left myself.  Booooo.... Yes, you read that correctly, a 20lb turkey... for 2.5 of us.  It was the smallest Market Basket had...  So... into the freezer the bird went for a few days to be cooked the following Sunday, this past Sunday.

To go with it?  Mashed Yukon Gold potatoes cooked in 50/50 water/chicken stock.  Mashed butternut squash.  Stuffing, inside the bird.  And green beans.  But not just ANY green beans.  Recently, at a holiday meal at work, they had made Green Beans with sliced almonds.  They were awesome!  And during that same week, my mother-in-law made a similar recipe.  They were awesome!  So, now, I must make green beans, with almonds.  Oh no, but I don't stop there.... let's add bacon, and cook them in the bacon grease, with garlic.  Yep, I used bacon grease again!  Does life get any better?  Let's play!

Ingredients:

• Several Handfuls of fresh green beans.  Washed and trimmed.
• 3-4 slices of crispy MAPLE bacon, roughly chopped into bits, you want to be able to see and bite them, not disappear so chop accordingly.
• Small handful of salted, roasted almonds.  I just chopped mine.  Pre-sliced cost more.
• 1 medium clove of garlic, smashed and finally chopped

Time to Cook:

• Have a nice big breakfast that morning, eggs and maple bacon, go head, cook a whole pound.  Set 3 or 4 slices aside and pour out most, but not all of the bacon grease.  You'll want to leave a small slurry on the bottom of the pan.  Keep it as is, set the pan aside until you're ready later that day to make the beans.
• Ready?  Heat your large skillet with the bacon grease still in it on med-high and add the green beans.  Cover.  Adjust temp as necessary.  Cook and toss occasionally until they are at just under your desired firmness.  I like mine to still be crunchy and bright green (more nutrients retained that way)
• Toss in your chopped bacon, garlic and almonds.
• Continue to cook and move around until green beans are at your desired firmness.

Serve.  Sorry there is no picture of this one, but I wasn't sure how it was going to come out.  And voila, who knew, it's amazing!!!  I find that mixing the bacon and almonds into my stuffing if they are sitting next to one another on the plate was very delicious too.

Enjoy!