It's Really All About The Sandwich!

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The basics of a good meat loaf seem simple at best but through the years and many a meat loaf later I can honestly say that there are some people who can take the humble meat loaf and make it taste like.....you know! Sadly my mother was one of those people, she was a really good cook with everything else but her meat loaf would make me shudder. To this day I still feel she put way too many onions in it. My mother was the queen of onions and in other recipes that was just fine but in meat loaf, not so great. My mother's meat loaf was three parts chopped onions to a little over one part ground beef. You couldn't cut a slice of this meat loaf if your life depended on it. Each slice would just fall apart; there was not enough ground beef to hold it together. I guess if she was serving some recipe called "Onion Loaf" this would have been great but when having meat loaf, I find that the meat part of the recipe should be the headliner.
I realize that I am extremely fussy when it comes to meat loaf, it is just one of those foods that I tend to be quite judgmental about. To be fair, I have even made some meat loaves that I wouldn't eat.
My mother liked topping her meat loaf with ketchup and bacon which is pretty common. I don't mind the bacon but I am not real big on the ketchup.
I actually prefer meat loaf with brown gravy or no gravy at all as long as the meat loaf is moist. I have had a couple people who have served me meat loaf and I have actually enjoyed it and gone back for seconds, my grandmother being one and the other being my dear friend Christine.
The funny thing is I could really care less about the initial meat loaf dinner, what I truly look forward to, obsess over and dream about is that meat loaf sandwich I am going to make with the leftovers! I am surprised by the number of people that feel the exact same way. I guess when it comes down to it meat loaf is less about dinner and more about the sandwich!

A Simple Loaf

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground veal
1/2 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 or 4 slices bacon
3/4 c. bread crumbs or bread cubes
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp. of onion powder
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients except the bacon in a bowl. Briefly blend well and form into a loaf. Place the loaf on a rack in a 10" baking pan and cover with the bacon slices. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until the meat loaf is firm and the bacon browned. Let the meat loaf rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

This Salad Is Just Right!

We are now two thirds of the way into our winter, longing ever more impatiently for the arrival of spring and its promise of warmer days ahead. We are all so desperate to warm and sooth our now freezing souls that we crave all of our foods to be warm.....even our salads! Well if you think about it, isn't it counter productive to have a nice hot bowl of soup accompanied by an ice cold salad? Well it sure is if it is 6 degrees outside and your bones feel like icicles.
This is a very traditional version of a wilted spinach salad, use this as your foundation to add your own personal touches such as;" hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, artichokes" whatever warms your heart.

Wilted Spinach Salad

1 lb. raw spinach
1 med. red onion, thinly sliced
8 slices bacon
1/3 c. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. (dry) prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. pepper

To 1 lb. well washed and dried raw spinach, (broken up and larger stems removed) add 1 medium onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings, cover and chill in refrigerator.
For dressing: cut up 8 slices bacon into bite size pieces and sauté until crisp. Add remaining ingredients and heat the dressing until it is bubbling. Just before serving, pour hot dressing over salad tossing gently to wilt greens.

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Broken Yolks

For the last few Saturdays my grandmother has taken to making bacon and eggs for our breakfast get together. The bacon is all fried before we get there and the freshly baked corn muffins are waiting in the warmth of the oven. Upon our arrival she puts the water on for coffee and breaks the eggs into the hot pan. With her 89 year old arthritic hands she gently moves the eggs back and forth trying not to disturb the yolk. The perfect yolk has always given her a great sense of pride when serving her loved ones breakfast. All was going well until she went to put the eggs in the dish, her hand shook a little and two of the yolks broke. My grandmother was so upset that she ruined the yolks. I said don’t worry Meema, that is actually just the way we like them, they are perfect.
When someone puts that much love into preparing food for you even if it is as simple as a little fried egg how could it not be perfect.

Since bacon and eggs really do not require much of a recipe perse, here is an Asian twist that I think you will all enjoy.

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of rice
6 pieces of bacon
3 or 4 eggs
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped onion
2 tbsp. Ketchup
1 tbsp. soy sauce

Bring water to a boil and add rice, cook for 30 minutes. While waiting for the rice to boil fry the bacon and save 1/2 of the grease to fry the rice in. Scramble eggs in bowl, add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, add 2 tablespoons of water to eggs and mix well. Fry egg mixture like a pancake. Fry rice; add chopped onion, chopped bacon and catsup. Cut up egg omelet and add to rice. Mix in soy sauce and serve.