Yankees Suck Meatloaf

I'm gonna have to write this quickly. My power supply doesn't seem to be working properly. Then I remembered that I found Baz sucking on the end of it today. I hope it is not another casualty of Baz the drooling electronics fanatic. We've already lost a Blackberry and a couple of remote controls.

But, I am back at it today. After taking Baz to his 9 month doctor's appointment, and waiting out an hour nap in the parking lot of the Surfside Publix, I went food shopping and then came home and cooked a nice meal.

I was in the mood for meatloaf. So, I sort of made up my own recipe and added a glaze that I liked from a Food Network recipe. It turned out pretty well.

Here's what I did:

Yankees Suck Meatloaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed or diced
1 small onion
1 small carrots
1/2 green pepper
1 small Roma tomato
4 small mushrooms
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon bread crumbs
1 slice of bread
1 pound ground beef (I used organic ground beef after the New York Times article)
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Finely dice the carrot, onion, tomato and mushrooms. Put the olive oil in a large saute pan and heat over high heat. Add the garlic and saute until it starts to brown. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute until soft and the onion is translucent. Set aside to cool a little bit.

Combine the dry ingredients and put in a large bowl. Add the ground beef and break up the slice of bread and use your hands to mix it with the meat and spices. Add the sauteed vegetables and egg. Mix all ingredients together with your hands.

Form the mixture into a loaf either using a loaf pan or your hands. Put the loaf in the middle of a baking sheet and put it in the oven.

After ten minutes, add this glaze which I got from Alton Brown on the Food Network site:

Combine 1/2 cup of ketcup, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of hot sauce. Mix well.

Cover the meatloaf with this glaze and continue cooking until a meat thermometer reads that it is 165 degrees in several places. This takes about 1 hour of cooking.

I served it with mashed potatoes and some steamed broccoli. It was really good.

Oh and I call it Yankees Suck Meatloaf because the Yankees suck.

Penne Alla Vodka

Usually on Sundays we have pizza, but since Damien and I had spent the day drinking beers and eating cheese and hummus while watching Juanes' Peace without Borders Havana show, we didn't feel hungry enough to place our usual order. We had a bit of risotto left from Friday night, but not enough for the two of us. So Damien suggested he'd be in the mood for Penne alla Vodka if it were simple enough to make.

I did a little investigating on the internet and figured out it is actually pretty easy. Here is what I did:

Penne alla Vodka
1/2 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup vodka
14 ounces crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Parmesan cheese

Boil water for pasta. Pour in the pasta and cook to desired tenderness.

In the meantime, heat up olive oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking in a large saute pan. Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent and garlic is browned - bits should begin sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add vodka, scrapping pieces of onion and garlic off the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 1 minute to reduce and cook off alcohol. Add the tomatoes, stirring constantly. Stir in the cream. Add red pepper, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

When pasta is finished. Drain and return to pot. Pour sauce onto pasta and stir to coat. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

I think next time I'd like to add a little bit of pancetta before I add in the vodka. And you can adjust the amount of cream depending on your taste. Same goes for the red pepper.

It was the perfect end to a fun day. The concert was fun to watch and we enjoyed sharing the time with our friends Casey, Arian and their son, Luca who stopped by for a little while.

Planning Ahead

Ugh, I am getting so tired of Damien traveling so much! I mean, I am physically tired. I don't sleep that well when he's not here to begin with. Then Baz had a bad night so I slept even less than usual. And, man, is he demanding during the day. Throw in a tough work day - tough in the sense that things just didn't work out after I took time away from my baby to put in the effort - and I was ready for a nutritious, comforting dinner tonight.

So I went to my favorite solo meal - the Frittata. This time I made it with poblano and green peppers, red onion, broccoli, and some boursin cheese. I really liked the boursin addition. I used the garlic and fine herb version. It's creamy like a goat cheese but with a little extra flavor. I didn't have a baguette this time so I paired it with a perfectly toasted English muffin and had some grapes at the end of the meal for something sweet. It was just what I needed. Since I am so tired I decided to stay away from alcohol, but a glass of white wine would have been a nice addition.

Luckily Damien is coming back tomorrow. He should be home in time for dinner so I want to think of something really great to make. I just have no idea. I have a London broil that I bought last week because it was on sale. My mom used to make that sometimes - sliced pieces of tasty steak. And I have a whole chicken that I can make something with. Maybe I'll break out the Balthazar cookbook!

We shall see. I just hope Baz sleeps better tonight so I have the energy to be creative...

End of Summer Shrimp Scampi

After a wonderful holiday weekend, the summer is supposedly over and it's time to get back to work. I wish I could say I jumped right on it and had a productive day, but I can't really say that. Instead, I tried to figure out new and creative ways to keep my 7 month old stimulated so that he wouldn't get bored and start to fuss. It's getting harder and harder to do and I wasn't entirely successful.

I decided to try this park that is located nearby in Surfside. It's right on the intercoastal on Bay Drive and it seemed like a nice spot. It was. I liked that it had a play area for bigger kids that was separate from the play area for much younger kids. So we hit the swings in the little kid area and sat on the grass to watch some of the older kids playing around. I think Baz enjoyed that.

I got the idea because this past weekend we took Baz to brunch with us and then went to a park down in South Beach where he rode his very first park swing. And he loved it! It had been such a good day too. We had brunch at Big Pink on Collins and 2nd Street which was the perfect place to bring a baby. It's crowded, lively and loud so even if he had cried it wouldn't have been noticed. Plus with so much going on, Baz loved every minute of it. He flirted with the waitress and customers alike and enjoyed his time in the high chair. It was a very successful outing for us.

But, it's time to start cooking again. Tonight I thought I'd go for one of our old standbys - Shrimp Scampi. It's so easy to make and can look pretty impressive if you ever want to make it for company. I use frozen shrimp that I get at Publix which makes it super easy since they are already deveined.

So here's how you make it:

Shrimp Scampi
1/2 box capellini or linguini
16 to 20 medium to large shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you like it!)
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Put a pot of water on to boil. Add pasta and begin to cook to taste (I like al dente).

While pasta is cooking, heat up the olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion and saute until golden. Sprinkle the hot pepper flakes over garlic and toast it. Add white wine and allow it the alcohol to evaporate (a minute or so.) Add salt and pepper.

A couple of minutes before the pasta has finished cooking, add butter to the garlic/wine sauce. As it is about to finish melting, add shrimp. Cook shrimp in the sauce until firm and pink (about 3 minutes).

Drain pasta leaving just a bit of the cooking water in the pot. Return pasta to the pot. Pour the shrimp and sauce over the pasta and mix well. Add the parsley and mix well.

We like to add a bit of Parmesan cheese over the individual servings which I think might not be authentically Italian. (I don't think Italians mix seafood and Parmesan cheese. But I like it.)

Soy Ginger French Cut Lamb Chops

I can't really write too much today because I've run out of time, but I did want to pass on my recipe for tonight because it was really good.

And the best part - I used the cast iron skillet! It was the first time since the I got the $314. 58 fine letter because of the Smokin' Steak incident. But this time, no smoke. And the lamb chops were delish.

Soy Ginger French Cut Lamb Chops
6 - 8 french cut lamb chops (depending on size and your hunger!)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger
juice from 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Put the chops in a 1 gallon sized zip lock bag. Add the olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, lime juice, salt and pepper. Shake the bag until all the ingredients are mixed well and until the chops are completely coated. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour but no more than 2 hours.

I served them with some yukon gold mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach (with a bit of garlic).

Mollie McDonald's Enchiladas

These enchiladas are so good that I couldn't even get the picture taken before we started to devour them! Salsa Verde is so good. I need to figure out how to make that from scratch.

Anyway, Kita, who has already contributed the fantastic Tortilla Soup recipe, also sent me this recipe that her sister made when they were visiting together in Maryland.

I changed a few things based on what I had available. For one thing, I decided to make steak enchiladas instead of chicken because we've been eating a lot of chicken lately. I also switched up the veggies a little bit since I had poblano peppers and no corn. But, the essence of the recipe is the same and it was rich and delicious.

So, without further ado:

Mollie McDonald's Enchiladas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 small zucchini(or any summer squash)
1/2 cup corn
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 jar salsa verde
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 shredded rotisserie chicken
1 can refried beans (*pinto or black beans)
1 cup shredded or crumbled queso fresco
6-8 corn tortillas

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Saute garlic, onion, zucchini and corn in olive oil. Add cumin, coriander and cayenne to vegetables.

Cover the bottom of an oven proof dish with a 1/3 of the salsa verde. Stir in the heavy cream.

Assemble the enchiladas by spreading 1 or 2 tablespoons of refried beans onto each tortilla, sprinkle the cheese over the beans and then adding chicken and sauteed vegetables to them. Roll individually and place each one onto the green salsa coated dished with the ends down.

Cover the enchiladas with the rest of the salsa verde. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover and bake until the cheese is melted and it is bubbling (about 30 minutes).


As I mentioned, I made this with steak instead of chicken and with poblano peppers instead of corn. And it was delicious! One suggestion I have is to microwave the corn tortillas for a few seconds before assembling the enchiladas, just to soften them a bit because mine started to crack (of course, I wasn't using the freshest tortillas.) It didn't really matter though. In the end, the weigh of the salsa verde and cheese put everything back together and it looked impressive and tasted great.

Damien is going away...again. So, it'll just be me and Baz for a couple of days. I'll try and treat myself fairly well dinner-wise, but the recipes might be a little "simple" for the next two days.

We're Back!!!

I am very embarrassed for my long blog absence. I mean, I promised to write even when traveling. Well, I don't have the greatest excuse, but it is true that where we were staying we didn't have an internet connection. That made it tough. Plus, I was really busy chasing a story with Damien and meeting my new nephew (who is super cute, by the way - see photo.) And finally, we didn't really have any culinary excitement on the trip. Damien and I scarfed down way too many Dunkin Donuts (I like jelly, he likes chocolate-glazed) and there were pizza and TGI Friday's potato skins involved. And to top it all off, I got an email from my building asking that we pay $314.58 for the smokin' steaks incident! A bit excessive, no? All this to say, it was not the best food week.

There were a couple of bright spots though. When we visited Worcester, Damien's mom made us a wonderful chicken dish that I'll have to ask her about. And one night my mom made our family favorite Hot Dogs Delicious. It was just the kind of comfort food we needed. My brother and his wife hadn't slept because of their newborn, Damien and I had been betrayed by a source, it was raining like crazy thanks to Hurricane Dani and we had spent a good part of the day watching Ted Kennedy's funeral. This recipe was something simple and delicious (hence the name) that we used to eat as kids. Plus, as we've covered before, I love hot dogs. Throw in a couple of cold beers, and we were all feeling a lot better.

Hot Dogs Delicious
1 large onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
4 hot dogs
4 hot dog buns

Cut the onion into small slices. In a large saute pan, heat up the olive oil over medium high heat. And the onions and saute until soft and caramelized. Add ketchup, smothering the onions and stirring to keep it from burning. Sprinkle the Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce over the onions and ketchup. Cook until nice and bubbly. Add the hot dogs and cook until dogs are heated through (about 8 minutes).

Toast hot dog buns under the broiler. Serve the hot dogs with some of the onions in the toasted buns.

We always seem to pair this with baked beans. It's a very red meal, but it's really tasty too. One other note - if you are sparking up the grill, you might want to grill the dogs before adding to the sauce.

I'm going to the supermarket tomorrow, so we should be back with something a little bit more exciting. And I will do my best to never let the ball drop this badly again.

Banana Pancakes and Espresso

I needed some pancakes this morning. In Baghdad, one of the photographers, Scott Nelson, used to host Friday Pancakes* in our kitchen and it was one of those things that made me happy over there. So I decided that I needed to make Friday Pancakes for myself. It's been a rough couple of days and I just wanted something sweet and delicious to start off my new day.

*Scott has trademarked that name so I hope he doesn't sue me for using it : )

I just use the Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Complete 'Just Add Water' Mix. I used to make pancakes from scratch which is really pretty easy, but why bother when the mix is so good and inexpensive.

So really not too much of a recipe needed. Just follow the instructions on the back of the box depending on how many you want to make. However, I do mash up a fairly ripe banana (like when they have those brown spots on them) with a fork and add it to the batter before I cook them which I think makes them a little special.

I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to try and get my pancakes to be the same size. I also think it's important to have a good non-stick griddle and a stove that heats pretty evenly - both of which I do not have. I try to only flip the pancakes once so I wait until they are nice and bubbly on top and cooked on the edges before I flip them.

These were not my best effort, but with some real maple syrup, they sure were tasty.

Add to that an almost perfect cup of espresso for my morning latte, and I am feeling a little better already.

Vegetable Frittata

Damien had to rush up to Pensacola for a story so it looks like I am on my own again for dinner. In fact, Bazzy will likely go to bed a little early since he had a little bit of a rough day. Aside from missing his Daddy, he had his 6-month immunizations today. While it certainly was no repeat of the first immunizations (when he freaked out a few hours after the shots from the throbbing pain in his leg), he definitely got a little sore late in the day and needed a lot of comforting, in addition to a dose of Tylenol. Poor baby.

So, since I am by myself and since I have a nice crusty french baguette as inspiration, I am going to make a frittata with some of the fresh veggies I have in the fridge. What's nice about it is that I can make enough for just one person but it's still nutritious and tasty.

This is what I'll do:

Vegetable Frittata
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow or red pepper
3 or 4 chopped asparagus spears
2 tablespoons diced onion
1/4 cup cauliflower florets
(Really any vegetables you have in the fridge will do. These are just the ones I have and like)
salt and pepper
3 eggs
1 tablespoon milk or cream
3 tablespoons shredded or soft cheese (I'm using Gouda, but I wish I had some Chevre.)

Preheat the broiler or the oven at 425 degrees.

Heat up the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saute until they soften a bit. It takes about 5 to 7 minutes. Season the veggies with a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat to a low setting.

In a bowl, use a fork to whisk the eggs with the milk. Pour egg mixture into the skillet. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan and cook the eggs. Sprinkle the cheese on the eggs. When there are lumps of cooked egg, but they are still very wet on top (after about 2 minutes), move the entire skillet to the oven. Broil or bake for about 5 minutes.

I also put a big old chunk of that baguette I mentioned in the oven with the eggs. This makes it nice and crispy and warm.

Remove the eggs and bread from the oven and let it sit for a minute or two. And voila! An easy dinner for one. Of course, just add a few more eggs and you've got dinner for two or three or four too.

**Be super careful with the handle of the skillet. It's probably very hot and once when I was very sleep deprived I frickin' burned the hell out of my hand by forgetting and grabbing it (on the stove, not from the oven. I wasn't that tired.)