Chipotle Meatloaf

It's been a long time since I added any recipes.  I'm still cooking a lot and still trying new recipes, but I'm just not finding the time to post everything.  Plus, I've tried some new recipes that were good, but not great, and I don't generally make those a second time.  So what would be the point of entering them here?

Anyway, mealtime at our house is stressful, frustrating, miserable, etc.  The kids are terrible eaters especially at dinner time.  But tonight something wonderful happened.  I tried a new recipe.  And both kids ate it.  All four of us ate the same thing for dinner!  It was like a scene out of movie about a happy, functional family.

As usual, I made a few changes to the original.  Nothing major.  I kept all the same ingredients, but I always add extra of the ingredients that give it a special flavor.  In this case it was fresh herbs, onion, and celery.  The other change I made was in the chipotle ketchup.  I just used the adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers to keep it from being too spicy for us.  I also just used plain ketchup on a section of the meatloaf since my kids don't like spicy (yet).  Here it is:

2 ounces applewood smoked bacon
1 pound ground beef
1 small to medium yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup panko
2 small eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup ketchup
1-2 tablespoons adobo sauce from canned chipotle chiles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat the bottom and sides of a glass bread pan with cooking spray.  Pulse the bacon in a food processor until it is coarsely ground.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add ground beef and next 13 ingredients (through black pepper).  Mix well (I just used my hands).  Transfer meat mixture to the prepared bread pan and smooth the top.

Bake the meatloaf for 35 minutes.  While meatloaf is baking, mix the ketchup and adobo sauce.  Spoon about half the chipotle ketchup on top of the meatloaf and bake an additional 10 minutes.  Serve with remaining chipotle ketchup.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Apple Cheese Tart

I just made this for a family get together today and it was a hit.  I hadn't realized that I didn't add this last year.


Crust:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 450. Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and flour together. Press into and up the sides of a pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 400.

Cream cheese layer:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar

Beat together the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and sugar. Spread over the crust.

Apple layer:

2-3 large apples, pealed and sliced
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar

Whisk the egg, cinnamon, and sugar together. Dip the apple slices in the egg mixture and arrange them over the cream cheese layer. Bake 25 minutes at 400.

Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes (Part Whole Wheat)

Pancakes and waffles are a staple in this house.  We like them and the kids love them, but I feel a little guilty making them with white flour so much since white flour is nutritionally inferior to whole wheat.  So I tried a few changes to my beloved blueberry-cornmeal pancakes and made them with half whole wheat and half white flour.  We actually think they might be even better tasting this way.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose (white) flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups blueberries

In a large bowl, combine the flours, cornmeal, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg yolks, brown sugar, and melted butter.  Gradually whisk in the buttermilk. In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until combined.  Fold in the egg whites and blueberries.

Cook the pancakes in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the edges look dry.  Turn over and cook until golden brown.  Serve with real maple syrup.

Makes about 4 generous servings

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles

My kids and husband love the original pumpkin waffles so much.  I felt really good about them eating waffles with a vegetable in them.  Then one morning when I was ready to make another batch, I realized that I had forgotten to buy flour.  So, I used whole wheat flour instead and increased the amount of buttermilk.  And they were still really good.  So now I feel even better about them eating these A LOT.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoons nutmeg

4 large eggs, separated

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

2 cups well-shaken buttermilk

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in the butter. Whisk in the brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the pumpkin. Gradually whisk in the buttermilk.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.  Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter.

Cook in a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

Grilled Kale, Plum, and Ricotta Salad

This is another salad combination that I got from bon appetit.  I just made this for the first time tonight and I think this is my new favorite salad.  Here's how I made it:

2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon honey
2 plums, halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
8 kale leaves
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Whisk 2 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, and honey in a medium bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the plums and toss to coat.  Set aside

Heat a grill to medium.  Drizzle olive oil over both sides of the kale leaves and sprinkle with salt.  Grill the kale, turning once, until crispy and slightly charred at the edges, 2-4 minutes.  Transfer to a cutting board and remove center stems with a knife and coarse chop the kale.

Divide the ricotta between two shallow bowls.  Arrange the kale around the ricotta.  Toss the plums in the vinaigrette again.  Spoon the plums over the kale and drizzle remaining vinaigrette over the top.

2 servings

Baked Haddock with Bacon and Onion Crust

I bought some haddock at the farmers market today and figured I could just bake it and not need a lot of fancy ingredients to make it.  So I searched the internet for a baked haddock recipe and came across one on epicurious.  I made some adjustments and here's what I did.  It was really good -- a little more interesting than the basic baked haddock.

4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup panko
3 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds haddock or cod
2 teaspoons mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a skillet cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened.  Transfer to a bowl and add the panko, dill pickle relish, and salt and pepper to taste (I used between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt).  Arrange the haddock on a rimmed baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Spread the top of the fish with mayonnaise and cover the fish with the panko mixture, pressing it in gently.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fish just flakes.

Makes about 4 servings.

Spicy Raspberry Paloma

Here's another of tonight's recipes.  This was also heavily inspired by Food Network Magazine.  When I make things, I go by the basic ingredients and then I adjust for what I like, what I don't like, what I have or don't have and then end up with my own version, which is probably very similar to the original, but is just right for me.  So for this drink, I stuck with all the same ingredients but made a few adjustments to quantities.  For example, I doubled the agave syrup because I like my cocktails just a little sweeter.  Here's the recipe:

8 fresh red raspberries
2 slices fresno chile pepper
6 ounces 100% blue agave tequila blanco
6 ounces ruby red grapefruit juice
3 ounces fresh lime juice
3 ounces agave syrup
5 ounces club soda

In a glass pitcher muddle the raspberries and the chile pepper.  Add some ice, tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and agave syrup.  Shake (or pour back and forth between two pitchers) to mix.  Top it off with club soda.  Line glasses with coarse kosher salt.  Garnish with a lime wedge and a couple raspberries.

4 servings... or 2 large servings ;-)