Rustic French Meatloaf

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I have had this recipe tucked away in my files for years and just recently something reminded me of it.  It combines the simplicity of meatloaf with the flavor and depth of a French pâté and goes well paired with buttered boiled potatoes.  Leftover slices naturally make terrific sandwiches, but they’re also wonderful panfried in olive oil. Moreover, it makes an excellent dish, cold or room temperature, for a picnic or tailgating event.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup fine fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a rustic loaf)

1/2 cup whole milk

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 lb chicken livers, separated into lobes, trimmed, and rinsed

3/4 lb ground pork

3/4 lb ground veal

1/4 cup chopped prunes

1/4 cup shelled pistachios

 2 teaspoons thyme leaves

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Accompaniment: Dijon mustard

Directions

•Preheat oven to 475ºF with rack in middle.

•Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl.

•Cook onion, garlic, and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper in oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.

•Purée livers in a blender, then transfer to a large bowl. Add pork, veal, prunes, pistachios (if using), thyme, eggs, bread-crumb mixture, onion mixture, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and gently mix with your hands until just combined.

•Transfer meatloaf mixture to an 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch glass loaf pan (see cooks’ note, below) and bake, covered with foil, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165ºF, 50 to 55 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Cover top of meatloaf with parsley before slicing.

Cooks’ note: You can use a metal loaf pan, but the meatloaf will take about 15 minutes longer to cook.

Serve With: buttered boiled potatoes

Recipe by Kay Chun for Gourmet
Photograph by Romulo Yanes

Polpette Al Vino Rosso For My Brother!

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If you are looking for Italian meatballs cooked in tomato sauce with red wine, this isn't it.  What this is is the most delicate of meatballs cooked in red wine with a dark red wine sauce at the end.  The best compliment came from my brother who proclaimed them the best meatballs he'd ever had and immediately took out a piece of paper to write the recipe.  That he's never done before so how's that for an endorsement!

This recipe is loosely adapted from Lorenza de Medici's.  When I served the original dish I made it exactly as the recipe called for/  We loved the meatballs but were a bit disappointed in the sauce or lack of it.  When my brother came and it was just the two of us for dinner one night, I had some uncooked ones in the freezer and decided to experiment with the sauce by adding more wine, a little tomato and some pasta water.  The result was extraordinary.

I would skip the spaghetti and serve with a baguette, a green salad and a nice bottle of wine.  That is all you need!

Ingredients

3/4 lbs ground veal**
3/4 lbs ground sirloin
handful country bread soaked in milk and squeezed dry
1 TB dry mustard
2 TB fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 TB grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 C all purpose flour
2 TB unsalted butter
2 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup Pomi Chopped tomatoes*

In a bowl combine the meats, bread, mustard, parsley, garlic, eggs and Parmesan.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. and mix with your hands until all ingredients are perfectly blended.  Form into round patties, about  inch long and dust with flour, wiping out excess.  (Do this right before you sautee)

In a frying pan, melt the butter with the oil.  Add patties and brown on both sides, turning gently, about 5 minutes.  Pour 1/2 cup wine and bring to a boil, reduce.  Add 1/2 Cup of Pomi chopped tomatoes, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.  Uncover and add another 1/2 cup of wine.  Let it reduce a bit.  If cooking pasta add some of the pasta water if needed.

*Pomi chopped tomatoes can be found in most grocery stores where the canned tomatoes are found.



**the original recipe calls for 1/2 lbs ground chicken, 1/2 lbs ground pork and 1/2 lbs ground veal.

How to Grill a Great Hamburger

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In my family the women are the great cooks, but the men are not far behind, specially on the grill. Since they know they can't compete with us in the kitchen, the grill is their domain. What they don't know is that behind their backs we do a pretty good job there too, we just don't let them know it!

My brother is now one of my best fans. I understand from my sister in law he reads my blog every night when he gets home from work. Two nights ago, while we were on the phone talking about something else, he suddenly volunteered his newest hamburger recipe, a stroke of genius indeed.  I made some for us last night and they were so good I even forgot to add the cheese.

One of the most important things about a hamburger is obviously the type of meat.  Some people think sirloin is the best meat to use; others swear by ground chuck... neither is right.  The best meat is a combination of sirloin and chuck.  The flavor of sirloin together with the fat from the chuck renders the perfect hamburger.  Salt and pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce is all you need and for cheese fans, some cheddar.  Make a small indentation with your thumb in the middle after shaping to help it cook evenly and whatever you do, do not flatten with a spatula when grilling.  I cringe when I see people do that.  The meat should be room temperature before it goes on the fire but do not let it sit out once blood comes out.  Oil or spray the grill and wait until the coals are very hot before you add the patties.  Wrap a piece of bacon over the hamburger and throw it on the grill.  This is his secret! You can remove it later, add it to the bun, feed it to the dog or just gulp it down while no one is watching!  For medium rare, I cook mine 5 minutes on each side covered,  For medium, I would add another minute on each side. Flip just once!

My brother likes to split an English muffin add some olive oil and grill it while hamburger is cooking.  I love the French hamburger rolls from Publix which are light and airy.  The rest is up to you...for me, a slice of tomato, onion, catsup and lettuce is it, although horseradish mustard is divine!

Creamy Polenta With Parmigiano, Parsley and Rosemary Leaves

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This is the basic polenta recipe I make except when I serve it with the Braised Short Ribs.  In that case, I omit the rosemary. The ribs already have it, so why gild the lily. You can substitute other cheeses, such as Gorgonzola, and other herbs, such as Herbes de Provence. I try to make enough to have lefovers so I can refrigerate them and make fried polenta the next day, usually with the leftover ribs. It also freezes beautifully for future meals.


Ingredients

6 cups light beef bouillon
1 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring the water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the cheese, milk, butter, parsley, rosemary, and pepper, and stir until the butter and cheese melt. Transfer the polenta to a bowl and serve.

Braised Short Ribs...A Sunday Afternoon At The Pumpkin Patch!

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This is the kind of meal I love to serve on a Sunday, particularly when my son and his family come to visit.  If you have little  grandchildren in the family (I do!) they will eat it, particularly if it's accompanied with creamy polenta. The meat is so tender even a baby can enjoy it!

Yesterday we had a splendid afternoon at the Kinsey Family Farm in Gainesville, Georgia where we went en famille to pick up our pumpkins for Halloween.  I will be posting photos tomorrow in my other blog , My Kitchen By the Lake.  It was such fun, I had no idea there were so many varieties of pumkins.  I came home with two different ones to make puree, since I still can't seem to find it at the store.  The shortage must be for real.  When I told them what I was doing, one of the owners suggested a variety called Jardale and gave me one as a present if I promised to let him know how the pie came out.  Really nice people and a wonderful place to take the children!

If you make the ribs the day before, I suggest only cooking them for an hour the second time as they will continue cooking when you reheat them before serving.  You want the meat very tender, but you don't want them to fall off the bone!

I love my short ribs with polenta but they'll do with mashed potatoes just as well!

This is part of the Halloween Menu posted below. 


Serves 6 to 8.


Ingredients

6 pounds beef short ribs, cut into 1-rib pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 medium onions, chopped

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

a 28- to 32-ounce can whole tomatoes including liquid coarsely puréed in a blender

1 1/2 cups beef broth

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

six 3- by 1-inch strips fresh orange zest removed with a vegetable peeler

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 ounces pearl onions (about 2 cups), blanched in boiling water 2 minutes and peeled

a 1-pound bag peeled baby carrots

Garnish: finely chopped fresh parsley leaves


Directions

 Pat short ribs dry and season with salt and pepper. In a heavy kettle (at least 6 quarts) heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown ribs in batches, transferring with tongs to a large bowl.

Add chopped onions to kettle and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine, tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce, zest, rosemary, and salt and bring to a boil. Add ribs including any juices that have accumulated in bowl and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.

Add pearl onions and carrots, stirring and pushing down to make sure they are covered by liquid, and simmer, covered, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until meat is tender. Transfer meat, pearl onions, and carrots with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Discard zest and boil braising liquid, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced to about 5 cups. Return meat and vegetables to kettle and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Stew may be made 3 days ahead and cooled uncovered before chilling covered. Reheat stew, adding water as necessary to thin sauce.

Serve stew sprinkled with parsley.


Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

October 1995

A Casual Halloween Dinner Party by the Lake

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Obviously, this year with the move and all the unpacking still going on, there will not be a Halloween dinner party! I have, though put one together for you in case you decide to bite the bullet and invite a few friends.  Very casual, no fuss, enjoy!  The recipes have been posted recently on the blog.

A Casual Halloween Dinner Party

Kentucky Beer Cheese

Braised Short Ribs

Creamy Polenta With Parmigiano
Rosemary and Parsley

Pear Crisp With Star Anise

Serve a hearty cabernet with the meal.

Saturday Night on the Grill...The Forgotten Shish Kebabs

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This has to be one of my favorite meals on the grill. So simple to make and yet nowadays, you hardly hear of anyone making shish kebabs. The trick is to buy good meat and assemble your own, not buy the stuff that comes already assembled at the grocery store.

The best cut of beef for shish kebabs is sirloin steak. After that, it's up to you, but I prefer mine with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and bacon. The latter is the secret to the wonderful flavor. You can also add zucchini rounds and use half green and half red peppers marinade them for about an hour or longer and you are in business. There are so many good easy dishes like this to prepare, particularly if you have a grill, that I simply don't understand why people don't eat at home more often. It beats a pizza or takeout any day, including cost and waiting time. Just make sure you make enough for leftover Fajitas or Sirloin Hash with soft boiled eggs...two great meals for a lazy Sunday with the Perfect Bloody Mary.


Serves 4



Ingredients


1 large Sirloin steak cut in 1 1/2 in. cubes (figure on 4 cubes of meat per skewer)

2 tomatoes cut in quarters (2 quarters in each skewer)

2 onions cut in quarters (2 quarters in each skewer)

1 green pepper cut in 8 pieces (2 pieces in each skewer)

8 mushroom caps

4 slices of bacon each cut in half and rolled



Marinade


1/2 cup olive oil

3 TB red wine vinegar

1 TB worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. Mc. Cormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning

salt

pepper


Preparation

Cut steak and vegetables in 1 1/2 in cubes. Cut each slice of bacon in half and roll. Alternate meat and vegetables on skewers making sure you stagger the bacon so that each skewer has 2 bacon rolls in addition to meat and vegetables. Marinade for at least 1 hour. Light your grill and wait till it registers to about 450 degrees. Grill kebabs 6 minutes on each side, pouring the marinade when you turn for the final 6 minutes of cooking. Remove from the grill, let rest 5 minutes and serve with white rice.


Wine suggestions
Serve with a hearty Cabernet from California or an Australian Shiraz


Leftovers...Shish Kebabs Fajitas For Lunch

I always try to make at least an extra skewer or two so I can have enough leftovers to make fajitas next day. I also chop extra onions, tomatoes and peppers and bunch them up on one skewer to grill together with the shish kebabs and use them the next day on fajitas or hash.

Place a flour tortilla in the microwave for 20 seconds so its softens. Slice the meat and together with the leftover vegetables place in the middle of the tortilla. Grate some Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese on top and add a few drops of Tabasco Sauce or some sliced jalapenos. Microwave for 20 seconds or until the cheese melts. Add a dollop of sour cream, fold and enjoy!

Leftovers...Sirloin Hash and Soft Boiled Eggs for Brunch

If you want to make hash the next day, all you need to do is add some potatoes to the leftover meat, onion, peppers and tomatoes. First peel and cut the potatoes in cubes. Dice the green peppers and onions. Melt some oil in a frying pan , add one clove of garlic, sautee for a couple of minutes, remove, add the potatoes and cook covered until they are almost done . Mash them a little in the pan and add the rest of the ingredients. Add a little heavy cream and press down into a thick pancake.. Cook until crisp, flip to the other side and cook until done. Remove to a platter. Top with soft boiled eggs.

Polpette In a Lemon Basil Tomato Sauce

Pin It Polpette in English means meatball. I chose the title in Italian because to me the word meatball has the connotation of checked red and white tablecloths, Chef Boyardee and a restaurant that was all the rave in the sixties called Mamma Leone's. If you remember the name, you run the chance of dating yourself. Anyway, its just my way of elevating this dish to the place it deserves.

I have been singing the praises of lemon basil for a long time and tonight was the crowning glory for this herb. Usually I use it as a secondary ingredient in pasta because of its subtle flavor but tonight, I decided to make it the main event and added a fair share, not only to the meatballs, but also to the sauce. The result was ethereal. The more I use this herb, the more I like it. If you haven't done so already, plant some in your garden, you still have time. You can find it in most nurseries...I found mine at Home Depot.

Most of the time, polpette, or meatballs, are served with the tomato sauce you use to accompany spaghetti and other types of hearty pasta recipes. Tonight, I broke all the rules and the results were extraordinary. I cut back on the garlic in the sauce, added some onion, which I never do, and even added some red wine. The new recipe was a very different, subtle and elegant polpette in a red wine sauce.



Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes



Ingredients


3 cups day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 Cup Lemon Basil* finely chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 Cup bread crumbs


Sauce

4 cloves garlic
1/4 C finely chopped onions
1 Cup of Pomi Chopped Tomatoes
1/4 C finely chopped Lemon Basil*
1/4 Cup red wine
Red pepper Flakes
Water
Salt & Pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese

In a shallow bowl, soak the bread cubes in enough water to cover. Remove the bread cubes and squeeze by hand to wring excess moisture.In a large bowl, combine the bread, beef, eggs, garlic, Parmesan, lemon basil, pine nuts, salt and pepper and mix by hand to incorporate bread into meat. With wet hands, form the mixture into 12 to 15 meatballs, each of a size somewhere between a tennis ball and a golf ball. Roll in the bread crumbs. In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the oil until almost smoking. Add the meatballs, working in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan, and cook until deep golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Take meat balls out and keep about 2 TB of the leftover oil. Add another 3 cloves of mashed garlic, and the onions. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the Pomi tomatoes, the lemon basil, salt & pepper and the red pepper flakes. Put the meatballs back in and cook covered for 15 minutes. Add 1/4 cup red wine and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. If the sauce is too thick and you are cooking spaghettini to go with it, add 1/2 cup of the pasta water to thin and cook another 5 minutes. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes. Serve with spaghetinni and sprinkle Parmeggiano Reggiano on top.

*If you can't find lemon basil, substitute regular fresh basil and grated lemon peel. For 1/2 cup basil add 1 TB grated lemon peel. As to the lemon basil in the sauce, just add regular fresh basil. Try to get lemon basil, it's what makes this dish!

Father's Day Barbecue...Grilled Sausages with Chimichurri Sauce

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 The best Chimichurri Sauce I have ever had was made by my Salvadorian housekeeper...the one my children terrorized whenever I went away on long business trips abroad. I am sure my Argentinian friends will cringe at the thought of soy sauce in their famous asado sauce. But it works. Funny thing is she kept the recipe a secret from me for a long time until one day leafing thru my Joy of Cooking I found it, with just the ingredients listed, no amounts. I have made it many times, always stopping when I come to the soy sauce and always acquiescing in the end.


Ingredients

Argentinian sausages from El Gaucho
 or assorted Italian sausages
Baguettes
Dijon Mustard
Chimichurri Sauce


 I sometimes boil the sausages for 30 minutes and then place them on the grill for another 5-10 minutes to char. Most of the time, I cook them directly on the grill for about 30 minutes. Make sure you place them on the outside fringe of the fire where the temperature is medium hot. You can warm up your baguettes on the grill also. When they are done, cut them in slices or serve them whole on small plates. Serve with mustard and chimichurri on the side and the hot baguette.

Figure on 1 1/2 sausage per person. These are quite filling so serve them early to give your guests time to recover before the main course!


Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB chopped garlic
2TB chopped onion
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. Soy Sauce or to taste
Red pepper, to taste
Salt

Mix well in a bowl. Set aside. Do not refrigerate! Make sure you make enough to serve with the grilled skirt also.