Mom’s Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those reassuring foods: simple to make, relatively cheap, nostalgic. Monday was typically “meatloaf night” at our house growing up. We’d have it for dinner with baked potatoes and some sort of green vegetable and watch M*A*S*H while we ate. I’m not sure what’s on now Monday nights, but the recipe is still good.

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup milk

1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

¼ finely chopped onion

1 cup small bread cubes

1 pound ground beef (the leaner, the better)

Process:

Beat together the egg, milk and Worchestershire sauce. Add the salt, pepper and onions and beat again. Stir in the bread crumbs and let them “sit” a moment to soak up the milk and egg mixture.

Next fold in the beef , blending it thoroughly with the other ingredients. Divide the mixture into two portions and shape into small loaves—one for tonight, one for later in the week. Place them a few inches apart in a Pyrex dish and bake at 400 for 35-40 minutes. Serve with some homey vegetables like mashed potatoes and kale that’s been sautéed with onions and garlic.

End of Summer Salad

Figs are a summer fruit, but Black Mission Figs are still available at the grocers. Their deep sweet flavor counterbalances the intense saltiness of Smithfield Ham in this dinner salad. And the richness of that pairing fits with the “over-ripe” quality of nature right now as the afternoon light mellows and the trees start to turn.

Before assembling the salad, first make a sherry vinaigrette. While that seems pretty “foodie” with all sorts of high end ingredients like shallots and walnut oil, it’s actually a snap to make and an investment in future meals. The vinaigrette will last up to three weeks in the refrigerator, so bring it out to dress some steamed spinach to go with the chops next Tuesday night.

Both dressing and salad recipes are from Katy Sparks’ Sparks in the Kitchen (2006)

Ingredients:

For the dressing—

1 shallot, peeled and minced fine

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ sherry vinegar

3 tablespoons walnut or hazelnut oil

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

pepper to taste

For the salad—

Bag of arugela or mixed salad greens

8 oz package of Black Mission Figs (if fresh are out of season, used dried Mission Figs)

Half a small roll of goat cheese, broken into crumbles

2-3 paper thin slices of Smithfield Ham, torn roughly into small pieces

Handful of toasted walnuts*

Process:

In a shallow bowl, combine the minced shallot with salt. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the shallot will “weep” for a richer flavor. Stir in the mustard, vinegar and nut oil. Next pour the olive oil in a thin stream while vigorously beating the dressing with a fork to emulsify the oils. (The oil and vinegar mixture will separate later, but no worries; simply beat them together again.)

Put the salad greens into a wide-mouthed salad bowl. Slice the figs into halves, reserving about five or six slices for the top. Toss the salad with two scant spoonfuls of dressing. Be careful!
You only want enough to flavor the mix, not drown the greens. Strew the goat cheese crumbles, ham, walnuts and remaining fig slices in an artful manner.

With some whole wheat rolls, this salad serves two hungry types for dinner or four as a first course.

*For tips on toasting nuts, see the Kitchen Tango recipe for Strawberry Spinach Salad.

Veggie Quiche

This quiche recipe originated from the 1986 edition of Laurel’s Kitchen. And as fine a cookbook as that is, the authors tend to over-emphasize nutrition at the cost of flavor. So I tinkered with their quiche (reduced the milk, added an egg, increased the cheese, added more salt, etc.) until it morphed into a recipe I can honesty claim is mine. Just about every home cook does this—not out of vanity so much as making sure that the resulting dish is something your family will eat.

Ingredients:

½ purple onion, finely diced

1 red or orange bell pepper, chopped into small pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

4 eggs

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

1 cup grated Gruyère cheese

pinch of nutmeg

1 9-inch pie crust

Process:

Sauté the onion and pepper in the olive oil with the spices until the peppers are soft. Drain on paper towels until cool. If using a store bought crust, remove it from the freezer, prick with a fork and let it thaw. In a medium-sized bowl, beat the four eggs with the milk until thoroughly blended. Add the ½ teaspoon of salt and a bit of pepper, beat again and set aside.

When the veggies are completely cool, toss with ½ cup of the Gruyère and spoon into the waiting pie crust. Top with the remaining cheese. Put the crust on a cookie sheet lined with foil and carefully pour in the egg and milk mixture. Dust the surface with nutmeg, then bake for 30 minutes or so at 350. Check the quiche by slipping a knife into the center—if it comes out clean, it is ready. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes so that the quiche will “set.”

Serve with a salad of baby spinach tossed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a handful of toasted walnuts. Don’t forget the baguette!

Theme and Variations:

• Instead of bell peppers and onions, sauté ½ pound of sliced mushrooms in two tablespoons of butter with a dash of salt. Be sure to drain the mushrooms on paper towels before adding them to the quiche.

• Sauté a quarter of a finely chopped onion in olive oil. Add a bag’s worth of fresh spinach, lightly steamed. Cook a moment more with a dash of salt and nutmeg. Drain and cool, then mix with the cheese to fill the crust.

Gazpacho

It’s the end of summer, but not the end of the heat. And happily, not quite the end of the tomatoes. If you are lucky enough to grow your own or have ready access to a farmer’s market, grab a few and chop them up for gazpacho. If possible, put together the ingredients and let the soup chill in the refrigerator overnight; the flavors of the fresh herbs will really strike though and the tomato juice will subdue the raw-ness of the onion.

Adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook (1977)

Ingredients:

1 small onion, minced

2 cups diced fresh tomatoes (If tomatoes aren't in season, go on and use a can of chopped tomatoes. Progresso and Fugamo are two good brands.)

1 green pepper, chopped

1 diced cucumber (Keep the skin on for color and crunch!)

1 clove of garlic, crushed

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup chives, minced fine

1 teaspoon dried basil

Dash of cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of half a lime

Dash of Tabasco (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups tomato juice

Process:

In a large ceramic bowl, mix together the chopped vegetables and fresh herbs. Next sprinkle in the dried spices. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, lemon, lime and oil. Beat vigorously, then pour over the vegetables. Add the tomato juice, stir well, then cover and chill for a minimum of two hours.

Serve the gazpacho with some rolls or a baguette for a simple lunch or dinner.

Theme and Variations:

Let the gazpacho serve as a centerpiece for “sort-of-tapas” at home. Offer some small side dishes of olives, manchego cheese bits, slices of Serrano ham, toasted almonds and green beans sautéed with garlic and oil. Add a loaf of sour dough bread and open a bottle of Rioja white for a festive dinner with friends!

Olé!