Creole Meatloaf

This is a recipe that I have been tinkering with for sometime. I am a fan of meatloaf, and I have long thought that it doesn’t get it’s due. It is easy to make, can be made ahead and baked later — even frozen —, and can be seasoned in so many different ways as to incorporate a variety of cuisines. This Creole meatloaf is a particular favorite because it has a lot of flavor. Depending upon my mood, I have upped the amount of Creole seasoning to as much as a tablespoon. Tinker with it according to your own tastes. I had leftover sauce from Bourbon Steak that I made earlier in the week and drizzled it on top. Excellent!

Creole Meatloaf

1 lb. ground chuck

1 t. Melissa’s minced garlic

1 small Melissa’s shallot, finely chopped

¼ c. finely grated Parmesan cheese

1½-2 t. Creole seasoning

¼ c. spicy ketchup

1 large egg

1/3 c. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9” x 5” loaf pan with PAM; set aside.

 Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Put on a pair of kitchen gloves and mix well with hands. Be sure the breadcrumbs are well incorporated.

Press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan on a cooling rack 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Remove to a cutting board to slice.

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Serene Winter Tablescape

After all of the fairy lights, and bold colors of Christmas, I am more than ready for serene. I want soft tones, muted colors, peace, and quiet.

The first thing I thought of when I unwrapped this beautifully packaged black stoneware dinnerware set was that it reminded me of something that the Flintstones may have used at a fancy dinner party. That, or something excavated from an archaeological dig; I mean both of these statements in the nicest way. This stuff is gorgeous! In my opinion, it is a work of art. The free-form style of the plates and bowls is pure poetry. The cups that work for a hot beverage or cold without the handle are inspired. This unique pottery is certain to draw lots of comments.

It can be dressed up for something a bit fancier, or down for something delightfully bohemian. It will pair with absolutely any color that you happen to have on hand; ergo will work for any occasion, at any time of the year. It can be flashy or subtle based upon linens and accessories, like this darling cup from a set of Polka Dot dinnerware.

I was going for subtle, so that the food could sing. A wonderful way to highlight what you’re serving is to do so on a dark, subtle background.

 I used a chocolate brown tablecloth, topped with some of my favorite chargers of tin, and used beige linen napkins.

The polished black flatware gives it a bit of an elegant feel as does the crystal in the Mikasa “Parklane” pattern. A bit of added sparkle comes from the saltcellar set a table center.

The centerpiece consists of the candle holder (once my mother's) and one of my new favorite things, a Table Top Fire Pit; it runs on rubbing alcohol, can you believe it?! I tend to like a busy centerpiece even at the simplest of tables, so I added a trio of black vases. Come spring those vases will be used to force branches (hopefully forsythia) and that will make a nice contrast.

I wanted to do this understated tablescape to start off the New Year to show you how beautiful quiet can be. May the peace of the New Year be with you…and your table settings.

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

Bourbon Steak

New Year’s Eve is not (has never) been my thing, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t usher in the year in fine fashion with an easy, but elegant, tasty dinner for one. I only prepared one steak, but kept all of the sauce ingredients the same. The sauce makes a delicious gravy for slices of meatloaf, or topping for beef patties. I paired my steak with a baked potato and individual serving of a mixed vegetable casserole (recipe coming).

 Bourbon Steak

Slightly adapted from diethood.com

 FOR THE STEAKS:

 4 4-oz. top sirloin steaks, 1” thick, room temperature

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

2 T. Dijon mustard, divided

2 T. butter, divided

FOR THE BOURBON SAUCE:

 1/3 c. bourbon

¼ c. low sodium soy sauce

1 t. low sodium Worcestershire sauce

1 t. Fresh lemon juice

¼ c. packed light brown sugar

½ t. dried basil

½ t. dried rosemary

2/3 c. half and half

 FOR THE STEAKS

Prepare steaks by seasoning with salt and pepper; set aside for 20 minutes.

 Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Rub steaks with Dijon mustard. Transfer steaks to heated skillet, two steaks at a time, and add 1 tablespoon butter. Sear steaks and cook to desired doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes per each side for medium. Remove steaks from skillet and set aside. Repeat with the remaining steaks.

Add the bourbon sauce mixture to the hot skillet and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until slightly reduced.  Stir in half & half and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and place steaks back in skillet; turn to coat. 

Serve garnished with dried parsley. 

FOR THE BOURBON SAUCE

In a small mixing bowl combine bourbon, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, light brown sugar, basil, and rosemary; whisk to combine.

 

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Top Posts of 2022

It's time for my year-end wrap-up featuring the 10 most popular posts of 2022. It's an interesting assortment I think. A third of the favorites were breads. Last year my number one post was Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Loaf that won by a landslide; this year Pumpkin Spice Zucchini Bread did the same. Last year only one of my tablescapes made it into the top 10, this year tablescapes and home made up 50%. This has been doing a lot of thinking as to what to post next year (and how I am going to top the last two pumpkin loaves!).

Thanks to all of you who visit my blog, I really appreciate having you here. To see the blog post and recipe associated with each of these pictures (shown in descending order of popularity), click on the title below the photo and it will take you directly to the post.

 Happy viewing, and have a wonderful New Year!

 Pumpkin Spice Zucchini Bread

Winter White Tablescape

Blueberry Butter Dip Biscuits

Mayfair Salad Dressing

Zippy Horseradish Cheese Spread

Butter Dip Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Laundry Room Makeover

Welcome to the Conservatory

St. Patrick’s Day Lunch

Gathering in the Garden Tablescape

 To view previous Top Ten Lists click one or more of the follow links:

Top Posts of 2021

Top Posts of 2020

Top Posts of 2019

Top Posts of 2018

Top Posts of 2017

Top Posts of 2016

Top Posts of 2015

Top Posts of 2014

 Top Posts of 2013 

 Top Posts of 2012

 

 

When things go terribly wrong.

This post is for all of you who had a thing or two go wrong with your holiday meal. As I write this it is Christmas Day, and I still can’t wrap my head around the disaster that was yesterday’s meal. This meal had been planned weeks in advance. The house looked beautiful and glowed with the soft warmth of fairy lights twinkling in five trees of various sizes. Christmas music was playing in the background, a fire crackled in the fireplace; everything was picture perfect…or so it seemed.

Quite early the day went to hell in a hand-basket. I had brined my turkey breast (I won’t even go into the difficulty of that considering the pipe to my pot filler had frozen because our high temperature was 5°F) the day before. When I got up Christmas Eve morning (at the butt crack of dawn) I removed the turkey breast from the brine, rinsed it and patted it dry, rubbed it with herbs, lined my 6-quart slow cooker with celery, onion, and baby carrots, and slowly lowered the turkey breast in. I filled the cavity with aromatics and turned it on High setting, setting a kitchen timer for an hour, at which point I would lower the setting to Low, and let it simmer, filling the house with the scent of turkey goodness for the next six hours. At this point, quite pleased with myself, I pressed on with my frantic day.

When the timer went off an hour later, I set it to Low, and continued on. An hour hence, when my nostrils weren’t being tickled by luscious turkey aroma, I peeked through the glass lid of the slow cooker. Huh. Nothing looked different. I took the lid off and my turkey was still cold. My expensive slow cooker, purchased a mere 13 months prior, had given up the ghost.

I got in touch with number two son, Andrew (the child who once, on the morning of Thanksgiving, pummeled a turkey breast that had not thawed after three days in the refrigerator – apparently when I shoved the behemoth into the refrigerator, I moved the temperature up to the “North Pole” setting, and it remained frozen all the while I thought it was thawing nicely, but that’s another story), and we jointly decided that it was far too dodgy to cook that turkey via another method after it had been, essentially, sitting at room temperature for two hours. So out went the crockpot, turkey and all (with a mighty crash into the trashcan), out came the old back up crockpot that I’ve had for decades into which I shoved a roast beef.

While my old reliable (read: cheap) slow cooker chugged along, I decided to serve a house cocktail that I had prepped that morning and sampled perhaps a bit too much. When asked about it (it, at least, was a success), I replied that it was called Rudolph’s Gay Spritzer…errr, Rudolph’s Spritzy Titzer. I mean, Rudolph’s Tipsy Spritzer! Yeah.

As we opened gifts and chatted, hoping beyond hope that the beef would be juicy and tender, it wasn’t. Because of all of the goings-on earlier that day, there just wasn’t enough time to thoroughly cook the beef to succulent goodness and we ended up with beef-tasting shoe leather that my son and daughter-in-law (God love them) ate, commenting on its “good flavor” (and doesn’t that just say everything — similar to when you describe someone as having “a good personality”), as well as the accompanying sides that were all designed to be served with turkey — mashed potatoes, dressing, corn pudding, green beans, cranberry salad, and rolls. Because I’d kept giving the beef more time, the side dishes over cooked. The bread in the dressing had turned to sawdust; the corn pudding was mistaken for cornbread. The Rhodes rolls that I had taken out of the freezer and put onto the counter at 6:30 AM had still not risen by 3 PM, but out of pure orneriness, I baked them anyway. We needed an electric knife to cut them open. Fortunately, the pie was a success. I had bought it.

So, if you’re ever having difficulty preparing a meal, I want you to remember this post. It happens to the best of us. The meal may not have been enjoyable, but I guarantee you this is one Christmas Eve dinner we will never forget!

Cheesy Ham Sauce over Eggs

Christmas morning is not the time that you want to be laboring over the stove, and yet you want to serve your family and/or friends a lovely, special breakfast suitable to the occasion. Here’s the way to do most of the work the day before. This wonderful, flavorful Cheesy Ham Sauce is quite the crowd pleaser. The beauty of it is that it can be made one to two days ahead of time and simply reheated. Use it as a topping for toasted English muffins, toast points, or as I like to use it, on top of an omelet or scrambled eggs. You can even ladle some over a poached egg. It makes a lovely presentation, a hearty meal, and something very special without a lot of work in the morning that you plan to serve it.

Cheesy Ham Sauce over Eggs

½ c. butter
¼ c. flour
1½ c. whole milk
½ c. water
1 t. chicken soup base
¾ c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 t. prepared mustard
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 c. cooked ham, cubed
½ c. sliced mushrooms
¼ c. ripe olives, halved
¼ c. chopped Melissa’s roasted red peppers
¼ c. scallions, diced

In a medium sauce pan melt butter. Blend in flour. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the flour becomes amber in color. Slowly pour in milk, water, and soup base. Cook and stir until thickened. Add cheese, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, stirring until cheese melts. Add ham, mushrooms, olives, red peppers, and scallions. Stir to combine and heat through. At this point it can be poured over the top of omelets, a baked egg casserole, or scrambled eggs.

This can be made ahead and stored in a covered dish in the refrigerator for up to two days.

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Winter Solstice Garlic Planting

Yesterday was the winter solstice, and what does that mean for gardeners? It means it was the day to plant garlic. The garlic mantra is: plant on the shortest, harvest on the longest. That means, should everything go as planned, that I will be harvesting garlic on June 21.

You have to love gardening to go out in the bitter cold with an ice pick to make holes in the soil in order to plant. That’s devoted. I waited until the warmest part of the day (34° F), and I planted about 20 cloves in a 24-inch diameter pot approximately 2 inches deep. The root end is planted down with the pointed end sticking up. Garlic likes loose soil, so I made sure the soil I was hacking into had a nice mixture of perlite. We’re expecting rain and wintry weather tomorrow, so it should get a decent watering.

There are a lot of reasons for growing garlic, not just because it is so delicious, but also because there are so many health benefits:

1. It boost the immune system
2. Regulates blood sugar
3. Fresh garlic can kill E. coli and salmonella
4. Contains mood boosting vitamin B6

 If you’ve never had fresh garlic, let me tell you that it is heavenly! When you cut into it, juices run. That should give you an idea of how old that garlic you're buying at the supermarket is.

As prices at the grocery stores continue to climb, it’s more important now than ever to learn how to grow your own food. You don’t need a lot of space, just a couple of plant pots, some sacks of soil, and you can get started.

Who plants a seed beneath the sod, and waits to see, believes in God.