Featured Recipe

Okay, these are amazing. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was very very happy with the way these turned out. I was a wee bit worried about the flavour and that's the biggest problem with making meatloaf - you can't taste it until it's completely done. Thankfully, they worked and were delicious. I was worried that they would be too spicy, but they weren't at all and had a really nice smoky taste - just what I was hoping for. Not too much work either . We ate them with Mac and Cheese and a side salad.

Smoky Pork Mini-Meatloaves

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground pork
1 poblano pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
1/4 tsp each dried oregano and paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper, divided
1 TBSP Johnny's Garlic Seasoning
2 pinches chipotle chili powder
1 tsp hot sauce (i.e. Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
4 TBSP BBQ sauce (I used Bullseye)
1/4 cup quick oats

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add poblano and onion. Cook until very soft, about 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with half the salt and pepper. Puree in a food proceesor until smooth. Cool in the freezer for 5 minutes
2. Add all remaining ingredients into a large bowl. Add pepper mixture. Gently mix with your hands until just mixed (be careful not to mix the meat too much as that can make your meatloaf tough).
3. Form into mini loaves (about the size of a hamburger patty and about 1.5 inches thick). Cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit on a drip tray  for 20 minutes (the drip tray helps them get crispy all the way around as the fat can drain off); flip and cook for 20-25 minutes more (until the temp reads 170 on a meat thermometer).

  

Featured Recipe

This idea came about from a conversation with my brother-in-law (who is also a bit of a foodie) who was telling me about savoury waffles. We had quite the conversation about all the different kinds that could be made and, to be honest, he beat me to the punch and made ham, cheese and broccoli waffles a few months ago. I made these tonight and they were really, really good! I made a bell pepper sauce to go on them which just rounded out the whole flavour. If you're looking for a savoury option for breakfast (or dinner), these are the waffles for you!

Savoury Ham and Cheese Waffles with Bell Pepper Sauce

Ingredients (waffles:)
1 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp paprika
1 1/4 cups milk
5 TBSP vegetable oil
2 eggs, separated
150 grams of sharp cheddar cheese
6 slices deli ham, coppped

Method:
1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside
2. Separate the eggs. Put the egg yolks in a medium size bowl, beat with a fork and set aside. Put the egg whites in a glass bowl and beat with a mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside
3. Mix the remaining wet ingredients, except egg whites, into the bowl with the egg yolks. Add the ham and the cheese
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet into the well. Mix gently until everything is incorporated. Gently fold in the egg whites
5. Cook on a hot, non-stick Belgian waffle maker (round waffles with really big "holes"). Cook until deep golden. Serve with bell pepper sauce (recipe follows)



Ingredients (sauce)
1 each red and poblano peppers, roughly diced
1/2 green pepper
1/4 small red onion, roughly diced
1 splash grapeseed oil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1/2 vegetable (or chicken) bouillon cube
1/4 cup water

Method:
1.  Heat the grapeseed oil in a large pan. Cook the peppers and onion for about 5 minutes, until soft.
2. Add the remaining ingredients (except the water) and cook for about 3 minutes more. Turn off the heat.
3. Add the water to de-glaze the pan. Pour into a large bowl and puree with a hand blender (or use a regular blender) until pureed (but don't make it super smooth, you want it to have some texture). Serve warm over fresh waffles.

Waffles with the sauce on top

This sauce would also be really good on pizza.

What's For Dinner?

I know it's been quite a while since I've done a "What's for Dinner" feature and, to be honest, I've had very little inspiration and my menus have been very boring repeats of the same things I cook all the time.
This week, things have changed. I was sick if cooking the same stuff over and over so I have at least 3 creative meals this week. My husband has some favourites so I've mixed those with the creative ones.

The first is an experiment and I made them tonight and they are so good! Savoury Ham and Cheese Waffles with Bell Pepper Sauce. Mixed sharp cheddar and diced ham into my mom's waffle recipe. The served them with a sauce made of green, red and poblano peppers cooked with red onion and a wee bit of veggie stock. They are good enough to be this week's featured recipe.

Next up, chicken club wraps. Cook chicken and sprinkle with some Johnny's Garlic Seasoning. Warm a whole wheat flour tortilla and put a on few thin slices of cheese, some chicken, bacon bits, green onion, green pepper, chopped tomatoes, lettuce and Caesar dressing and wrap up. Simple and quick and delicious

Next, Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Carrots and Red Pepper. This is one I came up with when I first got married and it's a favourite. Cook up some whole wheat spaghetti. Meanwhile, cook diced chicken breast with red onion, julienne carrots and julienne red peppers (julienne is just a fancy French word for really thinly sliced). Stir in some store bought spicy peanut sauce (I like President's Choice Memories of Szechaun), some warm spices (like ginger, cinnamon, cayenne), some green onion, and a few drops of sesame oil. Add cooked spaghetti and stir to completely coat. A nice change from tomato based spaghetti.

Next up, Smoky Pork Mini Meatloaves with poblano peppers and new potatoes. This is also an experiment and I'm not quite sure how it's going to work. I am envisioning roasting the poblano pepper with some white onion, then pureeing and adding it to the ground pork with some oats, cumin, chipotle chili and maybe some bbq sauce and/or Frank's Red Hot sauce. I have learned from my mother-in-law that if you make mini meatloaves and just cook them on a cookie sheet, they get crispy all the way around (no more soggy meatloaf!). Serve with boiled new potatoes. Fingers crossed it works out.

The third experiment is going to be mini beef meatballs with a sesame/soy quinoa salad. Quinoa, bean sprouts, green onion, lettuce with a sesame/soy ginger dressing. Then toss in some mini beef meatballs (home made, of course). Should be good.

Last up, Creamy Chicken Carbonara Penne. Chicken, bacon, red peppers and onions in a delicious creamy sauce serve over whole wheat pasta (penne or rotini work best). This is one of my husband's all time favourites (pretty much any creamy pasta sauce will please him, but this is one of his faves). I've made this with leftover pork tenderloin before and it was divine.

One last thing - a tip for today: if you cook with any kind of hot pepper (poblano, jalapeno, banana, etc) make sure you WASH YOUR HANDS before you touch your face. My face was a bit burn-y because I scratched an itch before washing my hands. Very Important Step!!  

I hope this helps you with some ideas for dinner.

Bin Appetit!