Recipe: Home-Style Meatloaf with Roasted Red Potatoes

Meatloaf seems to be one of those love/hate foods for most people: either it's something your mom or grandma made for you when you were a kid and it brings back fond memories of tater tots and macaroni art, or it was a dry, gray, tasteless loaf of awful that the lunch lady slapped onto your plate on "Meatloaf Mondays." It's not a food you'll see on most restaurant menus, likely being deemed too "humble" for out-for-dinner diners, and it's probably not even in your family's regular rotation of meals, but when it's actually prepared and cooked well, it's really quite tasty. The recipe I used for last night's dinner came from my On Cooking textbook from the intro. culinary arts classes I took in the fall of 2011. A bit of tomato juice keeps the meatloaf moist and a few splashes of soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce give it a little kick. Cooked in the oven for an hour, this meatloaf comes out perfectly tender, and the light brushing of ketchup over the top and sides give it great flavor without excess (one of the things I used to think of when I thought about meatloaf was the obs-and-gobs of ketchup that often get mixed in—so gross!). Roasted red potatoes are a little classier than creamy mashed potatoes, and pair perfectly with the flavorful meatloaf.

It's kind of hard to make meatloaf look attractive, but I swear it's delicious

Servings: 2, 9x5 loaves; Approx. 4 servings of potatoes
Prep. time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 large onion or 2-3 shallots, finely chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb. ground beef (I usually go for 93% lean)
• 1 lb. ground meat of your choice (I used ground venison that my dad brought back from a hunting trip—very very tasty. Ground pork or ground veal would work too. Mixing meats means more flavor.)
• 3 oz. bread crumbs, fresh or dry
• 1/2 cup tomato juice (I blended up diced tomatoes because we didn't have juice on hand)
• 1 egg, beaten
• Approx. 2-3 tbsp. dried parsley
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• Approx. 10-12 red potatoes, washed and cut into halves or quarters
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Ketchup, as needed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Heat a splash of olive oil and a pat of butter in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion/shallot, celery, and garlic and cook until tender (approx. 5 minutes). In a large bowl, add the two meats, bread crumbs, tomato juice, egg, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce and mix together until fairly evenly mixed. Add the celery, onion/shallot, and garlic to the meat mixture and mix together. Add salt and pepper, as desired (about 1 tsp. each, or more as needed), and mix. Divide the mixture up into two even batches and either form into loaves and place in ungreased loaf pans, or form into loaves and place in a large shallow pan (there needs to be a bit of an edge to it, because the loaves will release fat as they cook and that'll drip right off a flat cookie sheet). When forming the loaves, be sure not to pack them too tightly or too loosely, and make sure there are no cracks in the loaves (cracks will inevitably cause the loaves to fall apart while baking). Brush the tops (and sides, if you're baking in a large pan) of the loaves with ketchup. Place the potato pieces on a greased sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to evenly coat (I added Penzey's Shallot Pepper to mine because I used shallots in the meatloaf—feel free to add some dried shallots or chives, or even a few slices of fresh onion or shallot to the potatoes to add flavor). Fold the foil over to create a sealed packet for the potatoes to cook in and place the packet in the oven. Place the meatloaf in the oven. Bake for approx. 1 hour, until the meatloaf has reached an internal temperature of 165*F and the potatoes are cooked through and tender. Remove them all from the oven and let everything rest for a few minutes. Slice the meatloaf and serve alongside potatoes and any desired condiments (my dad loves mustard with his meatloaf and I like to dip mine in just a little bit of ketchup).

This dish is an easy-to-make comfort meal that kids and adults alike will enjoy. The veggies and seasoning in the meatloaf give it great flavor, while the tomato juice and ketchup "glaze" help keep it moist (and colorful!—no yucky gray meatloaf here!). Tender red potatoes are the perfect accompaniment to the meatloaf and a big ol' glass of Coca-Cola probably wouldn't hurt the overall meal either. As for getting two loaves with this meal, just serve one for dinner later in the week or freeze it for a month or two and enjoy it later. 

Recipe: Oven Roasted Chicken with Garlic-Lemon Red Potatoes and Broccoli

Tonight, I wanted something pasta-free. *GASP* I know, I know: pasta is my thing. It's my favorite ingredient and a majority of my posts are recipes involving pasta. However, while I would happily eat pasta every night forever and ever, sometimes, it's good to switch things up. When I came across this recipe on Tastespotting today, I knew I had to recreate it. I only made some minor changes—I subbed in broccoli for the green beans (I've never been a fan of green beans; asparagus could work really well in this too); added a little butter to the lemon-olive oil mixture; and added thyme, onion, and fresh lemon peel to kick the dish up a notch. The result was a delicious, lemony dish perfect for any time of year that both looked pretty and cleaned up easily.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 40-50 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• Pam or other cooking spray
• 5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp. white wine (cooking wine is fine)
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp. dried thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 2 lemons, one thinly sliced and one zested and juiced
• 1 medium to large onion, thinly sliced (pull the slices apart into rings)
• 6-10 small to medium red potatoes, washed and cut into small pieces (approx. 4 pieces per small potato, 6 pieces per medium potato)
• 2 small heads broccoli, cut into florets (or 1 bunch asparagus, with stalks cut into 1-2 inch pieces)
• 2 chicken breasts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450*F. Spray a large (9x13), semi-deep oven-safe pan or skillet (I used a big Corningware baking dish) with cooking spray or lightly coat with olive oil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, white wine, butter, garlic, and thyme. Whisk in salt and pepper (at least 1 tsp. each). In the pan, lay out the lemon slices along the bottom so that none are overlapping (if you don't have enough to coat the whole bottom, don't worry—just make sure you lay them out in rows and don't overlap). Evenly lay the onion slices/rings over the lemon slices. Toss the potato pieces in the lemon juice-and-oil mixture, remove with a slotted spoon, and evenly distribute them over the layer of onion and lemon slices. Toss the broccoli in the lemon juice-and-oil mixture, remove with slotted spoon, and evenly place the pieces in with the potatoes (on top, next to...just make sure they're mixed in with the potatoes). Put the chicken breasts in the lemon juice-and-oil mixture, toss to coat, let sit for a few minutes, then use tongs or slotted spoon to remove and place over top of the veggie layers in the pan. Pour the remaining lemon juice-and-oil mixture evenly over the chicken and veggies. Sprinkle the lemon zest evenly over the dish, place in the oven (on the middle rack), and cook for 40-50 minutes, until the chicken is tender and cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Serve, being sure to use a spoon to ladle out the cooked lemon juice-and-oil mixture and pour over each serving for extra flavor.

This dish is really easy to make and it cleans up so easily because you're just using a roasting pan, a small bowl, and a handful of kitchen tools—while the dish is in the oven, you can put away ingredients and wash the dishes, and the cleanup after eating will be that much easier. The flavor is bright, fresh, and simple and the dish is pretty healthy too. This dish is great for any night of the week, but because it looks so beautiful and colorful coming out of the oven (and because prep. and clean up are so easy) it would work well on an evening when you're expecting a few guests at dinner.

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry with Hoisin Sauce and Wasabi Smashed Potatoes

I was prompted to "make something you and your dad will like" by my mother, who had a luncheon today and was uninterested in anything much for dinner. I really didn't want to go out for groceries, having just gone out yesterday for a quick trip, so I took a look through the pantry for some inspiration. A tube of unopened wasabi paste on the shelf and a bag of red potatoes in the corner led me to tonight's meal, an Asian-inspired dish  featuring fresh broccoli and tender chicken in a sweet-spicy hoisin sauce paired with wasabi smashed red potatoes. It's got varying levels of spiciness all through it, with a little sweet and savory to pull it all together and it's absolutely delicious. The best part, it's a really easy meal to time, meaning it's easy to make it so that everything finishes at the same time.

Serves: 4
Prep. time: 20-30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into thin, 2-3 inch long slices (1-2 inch wide) slices
• 1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 1/4 cup peanuts, roughly chopped, for garnish
• Sesame oil and peanut oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of a large pan

For the chicken marinade

• 1/2 tsp. ginger 
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. sherry
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

For the potatoes

• 1&1/2 lb. red potatoes, washed and quartered, skin on (I used about 3/4 of a bag of red potatoes because, well, that's all I had)
• 2 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
• 4-5 tbsp. milk (heavy cream or half-and-half could be used too)
• Wasabi paste, to taste (use more if you really want a kick in your potatoes, but don't go overboard—this stuff is strong; I used about 3 small squirts of the stuff)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Garlic powder, to taste

For the hoisin sauce (makes about 3/4 cup)

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. creamy/smooth peanut butter
• 2 tsp. rice vinegar
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• A few drops of Tabasco sauce (go easy with it, because this can make the sauce really hot if you use too much)
• 1 tbsp. honey

Directions

Mix together the ingredients for the chicken marinade in a medium bowl and let the chicken slices marinate in the mixture in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. While the chicken is marinating, whisk together all of the ingredients for the hoisin sauce and set aside. Place the cut potatoes in a large pot and cover with water until the water reaches about 1 inch above the tops of the potatoes. Bring the pot of water to a boil, once boiling, cook them for 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through (to test doneness, stick the tip of a pairing knife into a potato—if it pierces the potato easily and easily slides in and out, they're done). Bring a smaller pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the broccoli florets until just barely cooked though, about 3 minutes. Drain and return to the pot, then add cold water and some ice to stop the cooking process. While the potatoes are cooking and the broccoli is cooling, heat a splash of peanut oil and sesame oil over high heat in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook over until lightly browned and no longer pink in the middle. Drain the broccoli and add it to the chicken; reduce to medium heat. Stir in the hoisin sauce and toss to combine. Let the whole mixture cook until heated through. Drain the potatoes, and while the chicken and broccoli mixture is cooking, smash the potatoes with a masher or a fork. Add butter, milk, wasabi paste, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the potatoes and mix to incorporate (don't over mix or the potatoes will lose their fluffiness). Serve the finished chicken and broccoli mixture alongside or over top of the wasabi smashed potatoes. The excess hoisin sauce from the pan is great on top of the potatoes.

This dish is spicy, sweet, peanut-y—absolutely delicious! The peanut butter gives the hoisin sauce a rich flavor and velvety texture, and the hot sauce in the sauce and wasabi in the potatoes adds a splash of heat to the dish. Broccoli has this wonderful way of soaking up sauces into the flowery tops so each bite is packed with saucy goodness, so it's perfect with the chicken, and the subtle wasabi and garlic flavors in the potatoes makes this fluffy side the perfect backdrop to the rest of the dish.