Creamy Mushroom Meatloaf – An Experiment in Letting Your Meat Loaf

If you’ve ever said goodbye to someone, and on the way out added a hearty, “Hey, don’t let your meat loaf!” then I just gave you a virtual high-five. In this context however, we’re taking about letting your meat “loaf” for a long time in a low oven, sitting in a rich, creamy shiitake mushroom gravy.

The main point of this exercise was to determine the benefits of cooking a meatloaf and sauce at the same time, in the same pan, but I was also planning on giving you a very nice “three meatloaf” recipe (using beef, pork and veal). Unfortunately, I wasn’t totally thrilled with the results, so you’ll have to wait until I perfect the final formula.

This "Three Meatloaf" recipe was good,
but not Food Wishes good, yet. Stay tuned!

Regardless, this technique will work with just about any meatloaf recipe out there. I really liked how the roasting meatloaf fortified the sauce with its flavorful drippings. The meatloaf was very moist, and seemed to have picked up some nuances from the sauce as well. One negative is you do have to skim a lot of fat off the top, but that seems a small price to pay for a quality one-dish meal.

You can adjust the texture of your gravy by adding more broth if it seems to be drying out during the cooking time, or, like I did, boil the sauce for a few minutes at the end to thicken it up a bit. Anyway, the next time you’re in the mood for meat in loaf form, and a creamy mushroom gravy, I hope you give this tasty technique a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups cold beef broth

1/2 cup cream

1 ready for the oven meatloaf (2-3 pounds)

Next Up: Creamy Mushroom Meatloaf Method

A Banana Bread That’s Okay to Make Early

Banana bread is one of those things people rarely make on purpose. Even though you know you’re not going to eat seven bananas in a week, you buy the big bunch anyway, because, “it’s kind of green.” Now, those last three bananas are almost black and you’re feeling like a bad person.

Then you remember banana bread, and long story short, you realize you’re not a bad person…in fact, you kind of rock. While that’s the most common scenario, this scrumptious banana walnut loaf, spiked with dark chocolate chips, is so good you’ll want to make it well before the bananas get to that condition. Yes, it does come out better with extra ripe bananas, but if you can’t wait (like I couldn’t), you’re still in for a treat.

The chocolate chips are sparse here, but make a big difference in the overall flavor. This is a case where more wouldn’t necessarily make it better. This should be more of a snack, not a super-sweet dessert. When Michele makes this, she actually grates unsweetened baking chocolate instead, and it’s amazingly like that also. And, don’t even get me started on how good this is toasted.

The recipe is adapted from one by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, from their cookbook, City Cuisine. It’s one of the oldest cookbooks we have, and has tons of great recipes, so check the link if you’re interested. Enjoy!

Banana Bread Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk
1 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

*Bake in a 9x4 loaf pan at 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Recipe 666: Deviled Eggs – Damn, These Were Hella Good

As I approached my 666th upload on YouTube, several subscribers wondered if I would do some sort of satanic-inspired recipe. Since one of my New Year’s resolutions was to eat less chocolate cake, I decided to go with the next most obvious choice.

My deviled eggs recipe is fairly standard, except I like to add a little cream cheese. Unlike mayonnaise, cream cheese firms up when chilled, and provides a little more luxurious texture. The other glaring addition is a simple, yet stunning ring of candied Fresno chili pepper. I think a little sweetness is important to balance the sharp flavors, and these “rings of fire,” along with a dash of rice vinegar, worked perfectly.

Besides sharing this much-requested recipe, and the gratuitous use of the words, “damn” and “hell,” the other reason I wanted to do this video was to prove that our previously posted hard-boiled egg method works as advertised. The procedure was posted back in March 2010, and some complained it didn’t work. Well, I used the exact same method, and it worked perfectly, again.

This time I’m giving an exact temperature of 210 degrees F, whereas before I just said to bring to a simmer. I imagine many failures were due to people not getting it to a high enough temperature. You also need a heavy pot and tight lid, as well as live close to sea level, but other than that, you should be fine.

By the way, I did try to get the Devil to make a cameo appearance, but he was too busy meeting with the Kardashians on a new deal. Anyway, the NFL playoffs are just about to start (Go, Giants!), so maybe give these sinfully delicious deviled eggs a try for your next big game day buffet. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

12 large eggs cooked in 3 quarts of water as shown

2 tbsp cream cheese

1/3 cup mayo

1/2 tsp Sriracha or to taste

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste
chives to garnish

For the candied peppers:

1/4 cup red chili rings

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp water

Next Up: Deviled Eggs

Goat Cheese Apple Walnut Pasta – Suspect Supper Turns into Super Side Dish

It sounded so good on paper. Yes, this creamy, tangy goat cheese sauce, spiked with sweet apples and walnuts was going to make quite the memorable winter pasta dinner. The only problem was, halfway through the bowl I suffered that most dreaded of all pasta eating afflictions…palate fatigue.

For whatever reason, after three or four ounces of this perfectly fine concoction, I got tired of eating it. It wasn’t that it started to taste bad; it just became a little tedious. This is not an uncommon phenomenon, especially with a bowl of macaroni.

However, instead of declaring my goat cheese, apple, walnut pasta entrée idea a failure, I decided to cleverly re-brand it as a tasty, seasonal side dish. The same exact recipe that fell a little flat as a main course, turned out to be a stellar side for some roast pork.

Of course, with taste being as subjective as it is, maybe you’ll have a different opinion as to this pasta’s worthiness as a headliner, but I wanted to be clear about my official recommendation. Even simply adding some slices of cooked chicken breast would have transformed the dish into something a little less “one-note.”

By the way, this isn’t something to make way ahead of time, as the walnuts react with the dairy in the sauce, and will turn your leftovers a fairly disturbing purple-blue color! If you’re not going to eat this immediately, then don’t mix in the nuts until service. I hope you give this great winter pasta…err, I mean side dish, a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 cups ditalini, or other small macaroni

1 tbsp butter

1 apple, diced

1 cup chicken broth

4 oz fresh creamy-style goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne

1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

What I Had for Breakfast

It's been a while since I posted a, "What I Had for Breakfast," photo, but this Dungeness crab cake Benedict was just begging to be shown off. It's topped with an Old Bay hollandaise, spiked with capers and tarragon. Happy New Year!