Stuffed Veal Meatloaf

Finally, Daniele's first blog entry! A few months back ground veal was on sale at our local Treasure Island. Daniele wanted to give it a shot...in something, he just was not sure what to prepare so we kept it in our freezer. One day, before he left for Italy, I received an email while at work, something along the lines of  "How about veal meatloaf for dinner? I love you!". Sure, sounds good to me: anytime he wants to plan a meal, purchase the ingredients, and cook it, I am good with that!

I came home and he had an even better idea than I was expecting. STUFFED veal meatloaf. We happened to have some American cheese and frozen peas lying around that we used to stuff this tasty meatloaf...but I think you could use anything for the filling.

So here is Daniele's well written, well planed, stuffed veal meatloaf recipe:

Stuffed Veal Meatloaf

- 1 pound ground meat (veal in our case)

- 1 egg

- 2 tbs parmesan

- 3 tbs breadcrumbs

- milk

- salt

- pepper

- nutmeg

- things to stuff the meatloaf with (in our case, a cup of frozen peas and some cheddar cheese)

 

 

Preparation

 

Mix the meat, egg, parmesan, breadcrumbs, salt, nutmeg in a mixing bowl. You can add a splash of milk if you want to soften it, or add a little more breadcrumbs if it is too soft.

 

Once mixed, spread not too thin over a plate or some surface. At this point, you can put in the middle of it whatever you want to stuff your meatloaf with. We used frozen peas and cheddar because that's what we had, but other good options are ricotta and spinach, prosciutto, or whatever cheese or veggie or type of food strikes your fancy.

 

Fold the layer of meat up the sides and close it, being especially careful about the two ends.

 

Grease a pan and lay the meatloaf on it, then bake for 30 minutes in pre-heated oven (180°C or 350°F).

 

It is possible to bake it together with some other vegetables you want to serve the meatloaf with. Be careful that, for example, potatoes might take a longer time to cook, so you might want to start baking the potatoes by themselves and then after 15 minutes add the meatloaf to the pan.

 

Yum! Thanks D!

 

 

 

White Bean, Lemon, and Feta Dip

So apparently there are some formatting errors in my last post that I am unable to fix. Everytime I try they just default back to the way they are or, get worse! Unbelievable. Anyways, sorry about that...I will try again another day.

This is an easy dip recipe that is sure to impress at any gathering. If you tell people how you made it, they probably won't believe you, because it's too tasty to be this easy...

White Bean, Lemon, and Feta Dip
1 can cannellini beans
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Juice from 1.5 fresh lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Drain beans and place beans, feta cheese, and lemon juice in your food processor. Begin processing and meanwhile, drizzle the olive oil in the mixture. Process for about one minute, or until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with tortilla chips or fresh veggies. For looks, feel free to sprinkle a little bit more feta cheese on top. Or, some fresh parsley!

Ginger Mango Chutney

Last fall, I made an apple chutney with great success. Actually, that entry remains second on my 'most viewed' posts. So I decided I would try my hand at another type of chutney. This time, something that screams summer: ginger mango.

We served this chutney with pork ribs cooked for 8 hours on low in the slow cooker. I also placed 1/2 cup chicken broth and spices with the ribs to give them some flavor. As a side dish, we prepared mashed potatoes so the broth 'gravy' that was created while cooking the ribs was used on top of the potatoes.

There seem to be some formatting issues with this post...gah! Will fix later...

Ginger Mango Chutney

2 cups chopped mango

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup finely chopped ginger

1/2 cup white wine vinegar 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Combine all ingredients in a small pan over the stove. Bring to a boil and then let the mixture simmer for about an hour for the flavors to combine. Add water as needed if the chutney starts to dry out during the cooking process; I probably added 1/4 cup water while cooking.

Serve with your favorite meat and enjoy!

Spicy Beef and Potato Curry

Whenever Daniele returns from a trip out of town, I find myself inspired to cook him something new and exciting for dinner. Before D came home from Notre Dame, I browsed some recipes on Whole Foods website and came across some great options. I never knew that Whole Foods had so many fantastic (and not too difficult) recipes available!

I decided on Spicy Beef and Potato Curry. I've had a busy week, so I am not going to type out the recipe here but you can follow the link and take a look (and also browse other recipes). We made the recipe exactly as written here, except we did not use a Cinnamon stick and we used just your plain, run of the meal canola oil. We also added a carrot. One tip I can offer when making this recipe is that the potatoes take longer to cook than written here in the Whole Foods version; therefore, I recommend adding the potatoes sooner.

This recipe lends itself to some interesting substitutions. For example, I think making the same recipe with firm tofu would also be fantastic, and you can serve your vegetarian (or vegan) friends. I also think you could easily turn this into a crockpot recipe...and you know how much I love my slow cooker!

We served this over rice. It was fantastic, and something new and different for us to try. We do not cook Indian or Thai food very often, but I'd like to move in that direction!

Eggplant Parmesan

And now for a recipe featuring item #3 that Daniele does not care for (but I am not afraid to eat when he is gone): eggplant. I made this recipe on a 100 degree day and yes, it does involve both frying and baking. It was a crazy idea...and yet, I survived and it was worth it. There's just nothing quite like a delicious, fried, cheesy eggplant...yum.


Eggplant Parmesan

• 1 large eggplant, sliced into strips
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 lb sliced mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Prepare by slicing your eggplant and beating two eggs in a small bowl. Pour bread crumbs on a small plate. Dip each eggplant slice into the egg and then roll in the breadcrumb mixture.

After you are finished coating the eggplant, heat up your canola oil and fry the eggplant for about 3-5 minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towel.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange a layer of eggplant slices on the bottom of a baking dish which has been sprayed with a nonstick spray. Place a layer of sauce, parmesan cheese, and mozerella on top of the eggplant. Continue the layering until your ingredients are finished. When the oven is preheated, bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm.

With one large eggplant, I was able to make enough eggplant parmesan for three meals. Therefore, I had leftovers to pack for lunch. I suggest you try this one, but maybe not on a day that is 100 degrees (especially if your apartment has no AC).

Avocado Salad

Again, a simple salad recipe for a hot summer day using ingredient number 2 that Daniele does not care for: cilantro. I enjoyed this recipe with some cottage cheese topped with hot sauce.

Avocado Salad

• 1 avocado-diced
• 1 small sweet onion, minced
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 large ripe tomato, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste

Simply mix all the ingredients together and you have your meal! Daniele is on his way to Italy this afternoon so this summer will be filled with easy recipes for one. On the list for this week: white bean and feta dip, zucchini with basil and goat cheese, and swiss chard pesto. Yum! But before I get to posting those I'll have some catching up to do-while Daniele was here last week we made some great recipes for you meat lovers. Stay tuned!

Summer Tuna and Olive Salad

With Daniele in Notre Dame last week for a conference, I had the opportunity to make some easy meals for one using some ingredients that he doesn't like (but I love). Ingredient #1: artichokes.

Since the weather was a steamy 95 degrees I decided to focus on salads, and on Monday night had a tuna salad with olives, celery, lemon juice, mayo, and (most importantly) artichokes. For seasoning I added salt, pepper, and oregano. I don't often eat dinners 'from the can' but this one was a nice twist on the usual tuna salad and perfect for the summer.

Try it for your next summer picnic.