I finally made a meatloaf that I like!

One thing that I have never liked, that everyone else seems to love, is meatloaf.  Since Jonathan likes meatloaf, I have been saying for a while now that I will try different recipes until I find one that I like.  Today, I was flipping through the newest issue of Food Network magazine and the Mix & Match feature was Mix & Match Meatloaf!  So I felt like today was a great day to try the first new recipe.  I started to design my meatloaf, but it was starting to sound like the flavor profile of all the other meatloaves I have had and disliked.  My goal with this was to make a meatloaf so different from all the others I have had that I would have no bias.  Mission accomplished! 

Here is the recipe:

1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
2/3 C. plain breadcrumbs
1 C. shredded carrots
2 stalks celery
1/4 C. pickled jalapenos
1/2 medium onion
1/4 C. ketchup
1/2 T. basil
1/2 T. chives
1/4 T. oregano
2 eggs
1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Chop carrots, celery, jalapenos, and onion in a food processor.  Mix all ingredients with hands until just combined.  Form into an oval loaf and place in baking dish.  Bake about halfway, 30 minutes. 

Then there is the glaze, make this while it's in the oven.

Spicy Barbecue Recipe:

1/4 C. barbeque sauce
2 t. honey
1 t. chipotle chile powder
1 t. cider vinegar

Brush the top and sides of the meatloaf and continue baking, about 25 more minutes.  Let rest 10 minutes before slicing. 

I actually did let it rest, I recommend it.  (Mostly, I let it rest because Chef Kevin Gillespie explained the importance of resting meat this Friday.)  If you don't like spicy things, don't make this, you probably won't like it.  I did think it was funny that the only things I had to stop at the store for were the meat, carrots, and breadcrumbs...which means I had chipotle chile powder in the pantry.  Yep, that's how I roll. 

It was delicious.  Jonathan had seconds, I would have had seconds except I knew I didn't need them.  It took a lot a self-control though.  That was my whole excitement for the evening.  Nothing very exciting in the food department, I suppose.  But the day as a whole just nuts.  Completely pistachios.

Austin Weekend

Chef Kevin Gillespie, prepping for class.

This weekend, Jonathan and I went to Austin.  We left on Friday morning and got there late afternoon.  We went to a cooking class at Central Market and got to meet Top Chef Kevin Gillespie.  We wandered around Central Market for a while before the class started and snacked on some Tarragon Chicken Salad.  Neither of us knew if we liked tarragon, I'm pretty sure we have both tasted it before, but without knowing it.  We liked it though, so that was good.  Then we waited outside the kitchen for the class to start and I kinda creeped and took a few pictures of Kevin while he was prepping for class.  We also met the other guy that was waiting early and struck up conversation, which worked out well because we all sat together in the front row then.  His name was Joe. 



Chef Kevin Gillespie looking out over the crowd. 
He was very focused before the class started,
but as soon as it was time to start,
was very personable, interesting, and entertaining.

When we finally got to go into the kitchen area, Jonathan, Joe and I scored front row seats in front of the main cutting board, not the stove.  We watched as they continued to prepare stuff for the class and I took some more pictures.  Not very sneakily, but no one seemed to mind.  I also decided that the cooks that work for Central Market in the cooking school have some of the most awesome jobs ever because they get to meet all these incredible chefs and work alongside them and get delicious food.  This might be my new aspiration in life.  If I ever live near a cooking school that is.



Buttermilk-marinated Fennel with
Satsumas and Jalapenos

For the first course, we had Buttermilk-marinated Fennel with Satsumas and Jalapenos.  Of two things on the menu that I was unsure of, fennel was one of them.  However, I told myself that I was going to try everything since tastes change.  Sadly, fresh fennel is still on my list of things that I just don't like.  I tried, I swear I did, it is just too licorice-y for me.  Same with anise, I keep trying it and everytime it just makes my stomach turn.  I did eat everything else on this dish though.  The fried croutons were incredible, no surprise there because when is it ever bad if something is fried or bread?  Satsumas, as it turns out, are mandarin oranges, who knew?  I don't mind the herby part of fennel either, just not a fan of the root part.  There were also green onions involved, which I love, so I got on board with everything else.

Sage-battered Mushrooms with Cheddar Fonduta

The second course may have changed my life.  And Jonathan's.  Until recently, I did not like mushrooms.  According to Fire In My Belly: Real Cooking, neither did Chef Kevin!  However, it is one of the foods that I have continued to try over the years in an attempt to change my mind because so many delicious things have mushrooms in them.  If anyone else is not a mushroom fan, I dare you to try this recipe from his book because you will be an immediate convert.  If you don't feel up to making it, come on over and I will happily share them with you, not that I will need any more excuses to make these.  And now for what I have been talking about: Sage-battered Mushrooms with Cheddar Fonduta.  These little babies were incredible from start to finish.  When he started describing them, he mentioned candied garlic syrup and I was immediately interested.  Especially once we started to smell it.  Then there's the cheese dip.  It's called cheddar fonduta, but he said, "That's really just a fancy name for cheese dip, but if you go to a fancy restaurant, no one is going to pay for fried mushrooms with cheese dip, but if you put fonduta on the menu, it's 'Oh, fonduta!'"  Whatever you want to call it, it was delicious.  Finally, though, there are the mushrooms, they are lightly breaded, delicate, delicious, and just all together fantastic.  If I had not been in public, I would have licked my plate.  I debated doing it anyway.  Joe and I actually had a conversation about whether or not we could drape our napkins over our heads and get away with it.

Butter-basted Scallops with Cauliflower

We were sad to see the plates go, especially with little bits of fonduta and garlic syrup clinging to them, but it was time for the third course and the second food that I was unsure of on the menu.  I had never had scallops before and wasn't sure that I would like them, but I was determined to try them.  The official name of the dish was Butter-basted Scallops with Cauliflower.  I forgot to take a picture of mine before I started eating it, so I took a picture of the sample plate, sorry, I was excited.  This is what I learned about scallops: they aren't bad!  I don't know that I would order them off a menu, but if they were served to me (and done correctly) I wouldn't have to feign an allergy.  We learned about grapeseed oil during the preparation of this course and bought some after the class.  For me, the best part of this course was the roasted cauliflower, which is under the scallop.  It was delicious and I plan on making it at home.  We also learned about Espelette pepper during this course and bought some of that on Saturday so that we can make the roasted cauliflower at home.  The cauliflower puree was also super tasty and was so creamy it was almost like having super smooth mashed potatoes on the plate.  I ate all of the cauliflower parts and ate the majority of my scallop.  For some unknown reason, while I was eating the scallop and enjoying it, Jonathan thought it was a good time to tell me that it is best not to fully chew the scallop because they can sometimes have sand in them.  Guess what I didn't need to know?  That ruined it a little bit for me, but at least I know that I'm not completely disgusted by scallops now!



Pan-roasted Pork Chops with Apples and
Redeye Gravy.  I forgot the picture until
after I started eating again...sue me.

The entree was next and was part of the reason I was able to convince Jonathan to go with me.  Pan-roasted Pork Chops with Apples and Redeye Gravy.  Oh. Boy.  First off, I love pork, it may be my favorite protein.  Second, doesn't that sound awesome?!  And it was.  We learned a lot about cooking meat, particularly about how long to let things rest.  I wasn't sure that I would like the redeye gravy since I am not a coffee fan, but it didn't taste like coffee at all!  The other thing I learned is how to make these incredible apples.  Chef Kevin described them as, "applesauce before it has been pureed" and that was a totally accurate description of the taste.  And super easy to make, I will be recreating them.  You just slice apples super thin, put them in a bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and microwave it for about 5 minutes.  Then, take it out of the microwave and let it sit.  Delicious.  This dish also had roasted turnips, which somehow didn't make the title.  I had never tried turnips, though I have always been curious about them.  Turns out, they are very good!  They tasted a little like a carrot, I guess that is the root veggie connection, but they also have their own flavor.  They have a soft crunch to them that is very pleasant.  We also learned about how to buy turnips, which is useful information.  Directly from Jonathan's notes: "Turnips: get small ones, use big ones for holding open doors, throwing at cars, etc."  Which was a direct quote from Chef Kevin, so if we end up in jail for throwing large turnips at cars, call him to bail us out.  The pork tenderloin was delicious.  Lightly seasoned and super yummy.  That little piece of fat on my plate is a bad representation of how good the chop was because that was pretty much the only thing I had to cut off.  I was just too busy eating it to be bothered to stage the picture and take another one.  Be glad I thought to move my utensils out of the way. 

Warm Banana Pudding

As good as everything was, dessert took the cake.  And the pudding.  Oh.  My.  God.  Homemade vanilla pudding.  Pound cake.  Bananas.  Meringue.  I can't do this justice.  In that bowl, it doesn't look particularly appetizing.  In the pan where it was before, it looked like a masterpiece.  I should have taken a picture of Joe's because his meringue was balanced perfectly on top and would have made a much better picture.  But I had eyes only for my banana pudding.  And the little bit of Jonathan's that he didn't finish because I couldn't let it go to waste.  It was one of the best things that I have ever eaten and it didn't even involve chocolate.  Though chocolate probably wouldn't hurt it now that I think about that...not the point.  This was warm, creamy, decadent, home-y, comforting, and just completely...YUM.  There aren't enough words to really get the point across, just go make some.  Then bring me a bowl.  Please.  I'm making this for Thanksgiving, I just decided and Jonathan said he is completely on board with that.  I might make it for Christmas too, it'll be a different crowd anyway, plus that means I will get to eat it again.

There was also wine with dinner, I forgot to take pictures of it.  There was a white with the first three courses and a red with the pork.  They were quite good, but not the highlights because the food was just that awesome.

After dinner, Chef Kevin was signing the copies of his book that we got with the price of the class.  I had my copy that I preordered...at home...on the coffee table...where I forgot it.  Which was completely depressing.  Whatever, because we now have 3 copies of the book, 2 of them signed.  The best part of the whole experience though, was when we got up to the table where he was signing.  We walked up and he said, "And I feel like I already know you!  You keep tweeting!"  I swear I almost passed out.  Then I mumbled something about when he commented directly to me on Facebook and I called my entire family to tell them about it.  I honestly don't remember what all I said, I was so shocked that he recognized me.

 

Chef Kevin Gillespie and me!



I pretty much skipped down the stairs squealing after we took that picture.  It was awesome.  I called my mom, I called my grandma, then I called my mom again.  I totally turned into "that girl" and didn't even care. 

Chef Kevin cooking scallops

Chef Kevin answering questions about his new
restaurant.  Coming February 2013!!!





 

 

 

After the cooking class, we went to see Ellen's improv show.  It was pretty hilarious and she did a great job.  I volunteered Jonathan to participate (he was not very happy at all about that) and it was pretty funny to watch.  There was this other guy that went on the stage to participate and he was stoned/drunk out of his face and almost fell asleep on the stage, it was more than a little bit ridiculous.  After that, we went out to a bar for a drink and I got to talk to Ellen.  We left after a bit because we were exhausted and it was late. 

 

When we woke up on Saturday, we got ready for the day and headed out to get breakfast.  We weren't sure where we wanted to go, but headed back in the direction of Central Market.  We ended up seeing a place called Kolache Factory.  It was awesome!  I got a Ham and Cheese that tasted like a ham and mozzarella butterhorn from Charlie's.  Jonathan got a Texas Hot Polish Sausage.  We shared, by which I mean Jonathan had a bite, the monthly special, Heavenly Walnut.  It was heavenly.  After breakfast we wandered around for a while, then headed downtown to meet Logan and Heather for lunch.

 

Reuben Fries at Frank

We found the place we were meeting them and then walked around to see what was around.  After wandering, it was about time for them to be there, so we got a table and started looking over the menu.  The place they chose was called Frank.  We ordered some drinks and started reading the menu.  Our waiter's name was Giovanni and he was awesome.  Super helpful and had tried everything on the menu.  Everything.  Whoa.  That is a feat on its own.  We ordered the Reuben Fries for the table and they were pretty incredible.  I mean, look at them.  How could they not be delicious?

Southern Belle at Frank

I couldn't decide what to order for my meal.  If you look at the menu, it will make sense.  I ended up asking Giovanni for suggestions.  I really wanted to try one of the weekly specials, but the one I wanted he said was massive and said that if I wasn't super hungry, I shouldn't get it.  I ended up torn between The Notorious P.I.G., solely because it has mac 'n' cheese on it, and the Southern Belle.  I ended up with the Southern Belle because he talked it up and then I ultimately made him choose since I could not.  Giovanni recommended getting the Southern Belle on a pretzel roll, so I went with that.  What you're looking at over there is after I started eating it because I was pretty excited.  This is the description on the menu: Blackened, split Vienna Beef Hot Polish link dressed with pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes, Cajun Remoulade and scallions.  I'll be honest, I could have just eaten the pretzel roll with the pimento cheese.  I wasn't able to finish it, I was just too full.  But I did eat the three slices of fried green tomato that were on there because I had never had it before and it turns out, I like them a lot!  We were ready to burst after lunch, so we said good-bye and went wandering around. 

 

I had never seen 6th Street and was curious, so we wandered that way first.  It was early afternoon, but already there were people milling around.  We talked about coming back later that night, but I was unsure if I would like that.  I'm kind of over the whole bar thing.  Now, if we had a ton of friends that we were going out with, absolutely, but just the two of us for no real reason?  No thanks.  We wandered all over downtown and when we were starting to get worn out and figured we had seen enough, we headed back to the truck and set off for a spice store that we learned about at the cooking class the night before. 

 

We got cards that said we would get a free sample if we went into the store, but it turns out everyone gets free samples because you get to sample everything!  The store was called Savory.  It smells incredible when you walk in and the woman who runs/owns(?) the shop was very helpful and nice.  You get to taste all the spices that they have in the store!  They also have dried herbs, but there is no point in tasting those because that's weird, but you can smell them.  We spent a long time in that store and eventually walked out with Espelette pepper (thanks Kevin!), Hot Oriental Mustard Powder (to make our own mustard), Vietnamese Saigon Cassia Cinnamon (our favorite of the cinnamons), and Vanilla Bean Sugar (Jonathan wants it sprinkled on gingerbread cookies). 

 

After that, we went to Half Price Books.  Now, here is my question to everyone who knows me and has ever known that this store exists: why did no one tell me about it sooner?!  Jonathan gave me time constraints (we bartered and I ended up with 37.5 minutes) which I completely disregarded once we set foot in the door.  I didn't mean to, but once I get wrapped up looking for books, I can't be held responsible.  I could spend hundreds of dollars and hours in there with no problem.  As it happened, I only spent $32 and got 8 books.  Two of those were books that I read recently from the library and loved.  One of them was new-ish though and I got them both for $4.99 a piece and they are hardcover.  Pretty awesome.

 

When I was finally coaxed away from the shelves, we met up with Ellen at her apartment, where we were supposed to stay for the night.  As we chatted and she got ready to go to dinner, Jonathan's allergies started to kick in.  Her old roommate had a cat and even though she cleaned really well after the cat and roommate moved out, his allergies didn't stand a chance.  We ended up at Opal Divines for dinner.  We sat around for a while, had some drinks, and finally ordered when we got hungry.  I didn't have anything super special, just some chicken strips and pepper fries.  Everything was good, it just didn't quite blow me away, but my tastebuds were a little spoiled by that point.  Jonathan and I were planning on going to the Alamo Drafthouse later that night, but we got really tired. 

 

We took Ellen back to her apartment, which involved sitting in ridiculous amounts of traffic because Comi-Con was happening downtown plus Halloween.  We saw entirely too many adults in costume.  6th Street would have been hellish if we tried to go.  We ended up taking Ellen home and heading back to the hotel.  We checked in, then ran to the Cheesecake Factory for a slice of cheesecake that ended up in the fridge in the room.  We went to bed by about 10.  We're just that lame.

 

We woke up this morning and had the free breakfast downstairs.  I ate the panhandle of Texas.  And the western panhandle.  (It was a waffle, don't worry.)  Then we talked about different state-shaped waffles and how ridiculous they would be.  Michigan for sharing...here, you have the lower part, I'll just have the U.P. I'm not too hungry.  Rhode Island bites...conveniently bite-sized.  Hawaii...family pack.  Why is my waffle a square??  Oh, that's just Colorado.  Yeah, we had too much fun with that one. 

 

Anyway, then we went to Whole Foods (this is the part where my grandma said, "You two are the only kids I know that go out of town and go grocery shopping!!") and looked around.  We got pumpkins to carve later this week and got some drinks.  Also, some really cute reuseable shopping bags. 

 

We hit the road after that, stopped briefly in San Angelo to say hi to Mama Jo and Aunt Netha, then sped on back home.  (Sorry we didn't get to see the Nelson's, it was a super quick stop.) 

 

That was the weekend, I'm exhausted and have to start working out hard again tomorrow because I ate a lot this weekend and it was just nuts!  Completely pistachios.