nibbles from the foodie

today the kiddos have been kind enough to let me cook.  and not just a crock pot meal (although the chicken and dumplings are simmering away in the pot).

crispy and browned on top...

steamed and fluffy on the underside...

i am at a loss lately as to what to make for meals.  with the transition of the seasons, i am craving fresh food, grilled foods, and not so much heavy food.  with twins, my attention to cooking is at a premium, hence the crock pot.  but there aren't many crock pot meals that are light for the warm weather.  and as much as i love a hearty beef stew or pot full of brats and beer, it's just not the time for those meals.

hubby suggested a meatloaf, which i prepare in the oven (and sometimes stovetop, depending on my mood).  he reminded me of this awesome meatloaf recipe we got a few years back from a cooking show we loved.  i looked for links to the show, cookin' in brooklyn, but they seem to have vanished from the WWW.  i did find a link to alan harding's blog.  i didn't find the meatloaf recipe there, but he had some other interesting recipes to try.  (why i love google - also found out the guy divorced his wife - it was actually published in the NYT - and his restaurant hubby and i wanted to go to - schnack with umlauts - went belly up 2 years ago.  guess we don't need to go to brooklyn now).

i think we have a hard copy of the recipe somewhere, but this is a guesstimate of how to prepare it:

i used 2 pounds of lean ground beef.  i put a few handfuls/3 cups of doritos (yes, you read that right) in the food processor and ground to a crumb.  i add the doritos crumbs, a half cup of finely diced onion, one egg, a small can of tomato sauce (or ketchup), a few squeezes of tomato paste and a couple shakes of mrs. dash' steak grill seasoning.  mix everything together, then form into a loaf shape (i put the loaf on a small foil wrapped wire rack) and place the loaf in a baking sheet with deep walls (a cake pan is good too).  sometimes when i'm short on time, i'll put the mixture in muffin tins (i got this idear from rachael ray - not a bad one, actually!) i smear ketchup (or tomato sauce), mustard, and molasses on the outside of the loaf.  then i wrap the loaf with strips of bacon.  yes, bacon.  on top of the bacon i dab a bit more ketchup, mustard, molasses, and then sprinkle with mustard seeds.

i bake at 350F for an hour and a half (depending on the size of the loaf, adjust the time accordingly).  the bacon crisps up and the mustard seeds snap and pop.  my meatloaf tends to be more moist and loose than heavy and dense, so don't let this scare you.  slice and serve with your favorite side dishes.  ohhhhh so good.

fresh from the oven...

my semi-professional plate job...

now i know why i skipped lunch today.  heaven on a plate awaits!

now, i've never used ground turkey, chicken or pork with this dish.  i know some meatloaf enthusiasts use the meatloaf trinity (ground beef, ground veal and ground pork).  i personally use straight up lean ground beef, with the least amount of fat.  i guess despite using low fat beef, the loaf swims in bacon fat, so it's all good.  i do not add salt to my cooking - i use many low sodium ingredients, but the ingredients will have a fair share of sodium in them (such as the tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard and yes, the bacon, unless you use low sodium bacon) and i'd rather not add more.  in previous meatloaf concoctions, i've added smidges of chili powder, red pepper flake, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped green or red peppers, some drained diced/crushed canned tomato, carrot or broccoli puree, panko, cracker crumbs, and whatever i find in the cupboards that looks interesting.  this is the beauty of meatloaf.  you tinker with the recipe and it never is the same twice over.

later i will make a stir fry.  i sliced up lean thin cut pork chops and marinated them in some tamari and sesame oil.  i cook the strips in a bit of wok oil, remove when they are cooked through, then stir fry sliced pepper, onion, and broccoli until they are cooked with some snap left, add minced fresh ginger, combine with the cooked pork, add a smidge of cornstarch to make a little sauce, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.  stir fry is also a beautiful dish to tinker with - you can use whatever veggies you have on hand, whatever asian sauces are in your cupboard, add meat, don't add meat, and you come up with a winner almost every time.

and the first of God's gracious bounty from our garden:

just 3 asparagus so far, there were 3 more that still needed a day or two to grow.  nothing taste better than home grown asparagus.  well, except for homegrown asparagus, roasted with some olive oil and s&p, with bacon wrapped around it.

i am chomping at the bit for farmers' markets!  the one at lewisburg on wednesday is nice, but right now it's trucked in produce.  the organic farmer's market in hufnagle park on friday afternoons will open in may.  in a few weeks, i'll get some tomato plants, a pepper plant, some herbs (basil and for some insane reason i'm craving dill) and have my own little victory garden.  the family who owned our home before us had a large raised bed, several fruit trees and raspberry bushes.  aside from 2 apple trees (whose fruit we never get to eat becos it gets buggy) and a pear tree (awesome bartlett pears), nothing is left from those gardens.  now i have a couple of barrels for my tomatoes, and we'll try to find a spot for my pepper plant.

what warm weather meal are you craving?  i'd like to know...i could use some fresh meal ideas!