Meatloaf & Baked Potato / Rock On

Inspired by this article in the recent BA, I've had baked potatoes on the brain. Was going to roast a chicken so I could use the carcass to make stock, but a) I don't have room for more stock in my freezer, wtf is my problem and b) meatloaf sounded SO good. My go-to meatloaf uses beef and pork and sometimes veal, but I went wild and am using a new 'recipe'. More fast n loose than my usual. We'll see, it's baking now. I also want to make these cookies, but House of Cards is calling. 

Potatoes

Two giant russets, scrubbed. Pricked, rubbed with olive oil, generously sprinkled with fresh ground tellicherry black pepper and sea salt. Baked directly on middle rack at 400 for about an hour. 

Meatloaf

Halve a red onion. Pulse it to bits in a food processor. 

Toast 3 slices GF white bread.

In a bowl put:

1# ground turkey

1# 85% lean beef

1# 80% lean beef

Pulsed onion

2+ minced cloves garlic

2 t kosher salt

Lots of fresh ground pepper

1/4cup ketchup

Egg 

Pulse bread in the food processor until it's crumbly. Add 1 cup milk. Let it soak while you do an initial mix of bowl ingredients. Add milky bread to bowl. Knead until just mixed. 

Form into a loaf-like mass on a parchment-papered rimmed baking pan. 

400 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes, depending on your oven. 

Rogue moves: no carrot, celery, bacon, sausage, parsley, Worcestershire ....

No pan!

Upside: way faster and easier.  

Smokey Tomato Soup / Paradise Theater

Its raining. First time in months ... and they've been hot months. Game Night was last night, so I'm a bit dehydrated. Soup + knitting + tee vee = perfect. Especially tomato soup; you always have the ingredients on hand, cause its just canned tomatoes and onions plus whatever else you want to add, right? Easy breezy. 

Did you know that canned tomato products have an expiration date? I didn't, but now I do! Most of mine were over 2 years expired. Oops. So: thank god I have a shit ton of fresh tomatoes. 

Spent a little too much time outside picking tomatoes while onions were 'caramelizing'. Oops. Decided to leave burned onions instead of tossing and doing over. For "flavor profile". Now it's  'Smokey Tomato Soup'.

Decided to keep smoke as dominant flavor rather than add heat/peppers. Fresh tomatoes = lots of cherry toms = sweet. So already that balance between sweet and smokey. Needed a lot of salt, which I don't like to add too much of, so added a just a couple dashes of Tabasco and a dash of vinegar instead. Rounded it out perfectly. 

Brown/kinda burn one chopped yellow onion in a knob of butter and a healthy pinch of salt. Add a bunch (2-3 cups) cherry tomatoes, plus a small handful of leftover baby carrots and one slice of raw red bell pepper that are leftover from the party you hosted last night. Throw in 6 medium chopped up fresh cluster tomatoes, a glug of olive oil, fresh black pepper, a couple bay leaves, and a scant pinch of ground cloves. Simmer until tomatoes are broken down and there's lots of liquid. Add a quart sized freezer bag of defrosted beef bone broth that you had in the freezer. Bring to simmer for 10-15 mins. Remove bay leaves and blend using immersion blender. Pour in some milk. Taste. Add salt. Taste. Add a little bit more salt, a couple shakes of Tabasco and a shake of balsamic. Eat with quesadilla instead of a grilled cheese  sandwich. Use leftover queso dip from last nights party as quesadilla filling. 

Meyer Lemon Cake / War

Meyer Lemon Polenta Cake with Lemon Rosemary Glaze

Eggs - yogurt - shit ton of Meyer Lemon zest - lemon juice - ground flax - sugar - GF flour - polenta - xantham gum - baking powder - salt - more lemon juice - rosemary
Inspired by Sprouted Kitchen

Tom Tom Jam / Tom Tom Club

Mixed Tomato Jam w/ Gypsy Peppers
Adapted from Food in Jars

1# Romas 2# Heirlooms (from my box), 1.5# heirlooms Gypsy Peppers (from my garden), lime juice, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, red chile flakes

Surprisingly different in flavor than the last batch I made, although recipe tweaks are minor. Way more tomato-y. Now all I need is a hunka cheese.

Listening
Tom Tom Club - Close to the Bone

Apricot Liqueur / Gentlemen Take Polaroids

Apricot Liqueur

Leftover part of flat of Apricots from a friend, after making Apricot Jam ~ two bottles Everclear ~ simple syrup

Soaked the apricots in spirits for six months. Added syrup and soaked for another four months. Strained in the Chemex. Pretty and tasty. Made a LOT.

Listening

Gentlemen Take Polaroids

Blueberry Mango Pavlova / Strange Times

Ah, Easter. Such a Spring-y, happy pretty occasion. My brother and I got to spend it with our fantastic aunt and uncle in Davis. Cynthia made an amazing brown rice with mushrooms and almonds dish ("seconds, please"), carrots, fresh snow peas from the garden. Jay grilled up a perfect cut of lamb. Family favorite mint jelly (note to self: make this). And I made dessert:

 

Blueberry Mango Pavlova

6 egg whites (room temperature)

1/2 t Cream of Tartar

pinch of salt

1.5 c sugar

1.5 T cornstarch

1.25 t vanilla

4 mangoes, cut up

1.25 c blueberries

whipped cream

Oven to 300°. My oven is a bit wonky and kept creeping up, so the end product wasn't perfect. And I am now likely to make a series of Pavlovas until I master that, so be warned. I based my recipe on Shuna's Pavlova (courtesy of Elise), so for technique, go there. But I didn't want to make individual ones, I wanted to make a big one. So I traced a 9" circle on parchment paper and filled that with a base for the meringue, then did big glops around the edge to make a 'bowl'. Like I said, it cooked too quickly due to my oven, so wasn't as pretty as I wanted it to be ... and was more crumbly too. Just before serving, fill the 'bowl' with whipped cream and top with mangoes and blueberries. Even the not-pretty meringue, once topped, cleans up good. This first attempt was simple, but I'm already thinking of ways to top it.

Listening

The Chameleons / Strange Times

Blueberry Banana Soft Serve / Sentimental Lady

Home with a funny tummy; wanted something simple and comforting.

Blueberry Banana Soft Serve

Cut up a ripe banana into 3/4" chunks and freeze for a couple of hours (or more). In vitamix or food processor: 1/3 bag frozen blueberries, frozen banana chunks, half a small thing of plain yogurt (I had a thing of Voskos in the fridge. I'm a Fage girl, but was trying this out on recommendation from a friend. Tart, tasty, recommend!)

Yeah, so blend it all. If using vitamix, use the pusher wand to get it blended. This should work in a food processor, but I didn't try that, so let me know if it does.

I added a touch of nonfat milk, but don't think it needs it. Alternatively, could add ice. Again, not necessarily necessary.

Soundtrack

Bob Welch / Sentimental Lady