Love Loaves

Two new successful cooking experiences! Go me.

Turkey Meatloaf

I made heart shaped meatloaf for Mark! Okay, that's a lie. I made it for me. The recipe was all "shape mixture into a loaf" and I was all "...but why would I do that when I could shape it into ANYTHING I WANT?" I would have made something really elaborate, but I figured I should start simple and see how it goes. I'm thinking Toro-shaped meatloaf next time.

Original Recipe

My Recipe:

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/8 inch dice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon ketchup
1 cup bread crumbs (I used store-bought)
1/3 cup 1% milk
1 whole large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1-1/4 pound ground turkey

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cook onion and garlic in oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until onion is softened, about 2 minutes. Add carrot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, parsley, and 3 tablespoons ketchup, then transfer vegetables to a large bowl and cool.

Stir together bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in egg and egg white, then add to vegetables. Add turkey and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to vegetable mixture and mix well with your hands. (Mixture will be very moist.)

Form into a heart-shaped loaf on a cookie sheet and brush meatloaf evenly with remaining 2 tablespoons ketchup. Bake in middle of oven until thermometer inserted into meatloaf registers 170°F, 50 to 55 minutes.

Let meatloaf stand 5 minutes before serving.

I realize it looks really gross, but it was actually quite tasty. Mark pointed out that it even looks bloody, much like a real heart.

Easy-peasy Banana Bread

I wanted to make banana bread, but I only had three bananas. No worries! I found a recipe online that calls for exactly 3 bananas.

Original Recipe

My Recipe:

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas, mashed


Preparation

Grease and flour one 9x5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. Mix in slightly beaten eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and mashed bananas. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


















Mark doesn't like banana bread, and the entire loaf was gone in a weekend. This means I ate an entire loaf of banana bread singlehandedly in one weekend. I deserve a trophy.

Polenta with Cheddar and Basil

I tried Melanie's polenta tonight with a few adjustments based on what I had around the house. I split the recipe in half, used regular corn meal instead of polenta cornmeal, dried basil instead of thyme, extra sharp cheddar cheese instead of havarti, and I used 1 can of regular chicken broth and the rest water.

It was good, despite all the compromising I had to do. I think I just like anything with cheese in it.

Carolina BBQ

It seemed only right that the first post in my official food blog should be about Carolina Barbequed Pork. I found the recipe in the Owner's Guide for my new Crock Pot. I was really really excited to see it, and made it the first chance I got. I made it on Sunday night, left it in the fridge until Tuesday night when I had a few people over for dinner. I thought it was a success, even after being reheated in the oven, and others at least pretended to like it, too.

Carolina Barbequed Pork

2 onions, quartered (I only used one onion)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (4 to 6 pound) boneless pork butt or shoulder roast (I used a shoulder roast)
3/4 cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Hamburger buns
Coleslaw, optional (I was too lazy to make/buy coleslaw)

Place onions in stoneware. Combine brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper; rub over roast. Place roast over onion.

Combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne; stir to mix well. Drizzle about one third vinegar mixture over roast; cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar mixture.

Cover stoneware and cook on Low 10 to 12 hours (High 4 to 6 hours). Drizzle about one third reserved vinegar mixture over roast during last half hour of cooking. Remove meat and onions, drain. Chop or shred meat and chop onions. Serve meat and onions on buns. If desired, top sandwiches with coleslaw. Pass remaining vinegar mixture to drizzle over sandwiches.

I followed the recipe almost exactly since I have never attempted something like this before. I didn't end up using the onions for the sandwiches because mine looked kind of gross when I took them out of the crock pot. Also, since I was reheating mine in the oven, I put the last of the vinegar mixture on it before it went in the oven to keep it from drying out. Then I just made a little more for people to spoon over their sandwiches.

I also found a recipe for oven-baked hushpuppies, and I made them, but they were dry and bland and not worth writing about.