Meaty Meatloaf with my Sterling Merlot

I relaxed with Miss Foxy for the Thanksgiving weekend and feel fully rejuvenated for the upcoming week.  To thank me for my time, the Besser family graciously gave me two bottles of red wine from the Sterling Vineyards in Sonoma.  I liked the way meatloaf with merlot rolled off my tongue so I decided to make use of my extra hamburger meat and throw caution to the wind -- meatloaf and merlot it is!!!


I took a pretty basic meatloaf recipe and threw a few things extra just to see how it would taste.  You will soon notice I do this a lot with my dishes.  I am usually the type of cook to need exact directions but once I get the gist of it, I add to my curiosity's content.

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2)  SAUTE in bacon drippings (I made a 3 layer bacon & egg sandwich this morning so I took the pan with the bacon oil and decided to saute the veggies in it for flavor):

1 medium red onion chopped in small cubes
2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 eggplant chopped in small cubes

Saute in medium heat for 7-10 minutes or until onions are translucent. Set aside to cool on a plate.

3) Mix together for the MEATLOAF with your hands:
2 lbs of hamburger meat ( you can do half and half of pork and beef but my 1st meatloaf I used 80/20 meat since I heard horror stories about dry inedible meatloaves.)
2 eggs
1 cup of panko bread crumbs (you can add bread crumbs but I had panko)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
4 tablespoons of ketchup
1/2 cup of milk

4) Add sauteed veggies with meaty meatloaf mix and incorporate all ingredients with your hands. Don't  be shy and be a kid for a minute!

5) Place meatloaf mix in pan a little bigger than the meatloaf to leave room for the sauce to ooze on the side.  For all the type A's out there, place meatloaf mix in a baking pan for bread for shape.  I am a bit of a perfectionist in nature so I do this but you do not have to.  You are more than welcome to shape it by eye-balling it.


6) Stir together for the saucy sauce:
4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (the recipe called for apple cider vinegar but I didn't have any)
2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
10 tablespoons of ketchup


7) Pour the saucy sauce on top of the meatloaf and sides.  I used a spoon to even it all out and make sure every nook and cranny of the meatloaf was covered.

8)  Bake meat for 1 hour to 1 hour 15-25 minutes in 350 degrees.

You can make mashed potatoes to accompany the meatloaf.  I happened to have left over rice from the other night when I made red thai chicken curry and I didn't want to waste it.  Starch is starch as far as I'm concern.

PAIR with MERLOT and consume with pleasure.  Give thanks for a good Thanksgiving weekend. 

Shalom!

Cranberry Orange Cake Squares with Vanilla Royal Icing

I ran Lake Merced today and what better way to celebrate than with sweet squares of holiday goodness?  I've had this package of  Trader Joe's Cranberry Orange Bread Mix for a while now and I decided to make it for the festive flavor.  I consider it a cake in the sense that it has icing on it. SMIRK.

The CAKE is pretty simple since it's really just the packaged cake mix with the required ingredients.  I don't think I need to type up the whole.  Instead of using an 8 X 4 pan (which I need to get from Ross), I used a 9 X 13 pan instead and cut the bake time in half.  I recommend following the directions of baking it with an 8 x 4 pan. 

The VANILLA ROYAL ICING is an old classic icing recipe except I added 2 extra things, vanilla extract and whipping cream.

2 egg whites (or powdered egg whites)
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup of whipping cream

The vanilla was a premeditated addition but the whipping cream was a spontaneous incorporation.  I was planning on making cream puffs with an old friend but we have yet to synch up with our schedules.

I can definitely sit and eat this whole things by myself.  To prevent this catastrophic event from happening, I decided to cut them into small squares so I can ration my sweet cravings.  Oh, I had extra icing left over so I guess I will have to bake something else this weekend.  Oh darn. ;)