Taste & Create: Swedish Meatloaf

***Taste & Create is a fabulous monthly blog event in which participants are randomly paired off to choose and prepare a dish from their partner's blog. If you'd like to join us, please email me at cowgirlmin07 [at] gmail [dot] com by the 8th of the month!! *** 

My partner this month was Tamy of 3 Sides of Crazy.  We've known each other for a while, I used to be a regular contributor to her Our Krazy Kitchen, and she's actually a contributor to The Bad Girl's Kitchen as well!  She's also a loyal supporter of Taste & Create.  At any rate, there is always a new recipe to be found over on Tamy's blog, and this time, Swedish Meatloaf sounded perfect.  (visit the link for Tamy's recipe...here come my changes!)

I did make a couple changes, for one I didn't have any bread, and my favorite regular meatloaf uses oatmeal, so that's where that came from. I also added some parsley to lean toward a more classic "Swedish" flavor, and didn't have any allspice, so I just used nutmeg. I also didn't add any brown sugar and lessened the salt.

For the sauce, I was kind of in a hurry so I added an extra tablespoon of flour. (even so, my sauce was a bit thin because I rushed it).  I would have preferred beef broth, but chicken worked in a pinch.  Although this sauce is good, next time I'm going to try for a more classic Swedish meatloaf-flavored sauce.  I like the classics!

Tamy also said she often doubles the recipe and freezes one loaf for later--I will definitely be doing that next time!

Baking this in a loaf instead of meatballs is inspired, and this meatloaf is excellent!  A new favorite, thanks Tamy!

Swedish Meatloaf & Sauce
Adapted from 3 Sides of Crazy

(Loaf)

1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup oats
8 ounces ground pork
8 ounces ground beef
1 small onion, finely diced (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk egg and cream together in small bowl. Stir in oatmeal and set aside to soak. Gently blend ground beef and pork, onion, nutmeg, pepper and salt.  Add oat mixture to beef mixture and gently blend until well mixed. Put in loaf pans.  Bake about 45 minutes.

 During the last 15-20 minutes, prepare the sauce.

(Sauce)

1 tablespoon butter  
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (I would prefer beef broth here, but didn't have any)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Melt butter, add flour and cook, stirring constantly with whisk, until flour is light brown. Slowly whisk in broth and bring to simmer. Reduce heat and cook until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in cream and return to simmer.  Stir in lemon juice; season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over meatloaf.

***Visit Taste & Create to see what everyone else has made this month!***
 

Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice

THIS is one of our family's new favorite dishes!  It is pretty easy to make, and so so good.  The boys love the coconut rice in particular.  And leftovers are good too!  Once you get everything chopped and prepped, it is fairly easy to do.  It did take me longer than the 50 minutes total time, so keep that in mind.  I think my chicken was in the oven a good 15 minutes (or more) longer at the end.

The recipe comes from Everyday Food magazine, where I get a lot of my recipes.  It is credited to Samantha Seneviratne, who says she has simplified her Sri Lankan mother's recipe.  If you haven't subscribed to this magazine yet, follow the link and do it!  You won't be sorry. 

Anyway, the chicken is savory, the rice is flavorful and creamy and coconut-y, it's just plain delicious.  We are making this again next week!

Curried Chicken with Coconut Rice
Adapted from Everyday Food magazine
Serves 8
Active time:  25 minutes
Total time:  50 minutes (PLUS 15 - 20 extra, if necessary to cook the chicken through)


1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces  (I just bought a 4-pound package of chicken thighs, so feel free to substitute the chicken pieces you like)
4 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
coarse salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger (from a 3-inch piece)
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups basmati rice (I only had long-grain white rice)
1 can (13.5 ounces unsweetened coconut milk
fresh cilantro leaves, for serving


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, with rack in lower third.  Toss chicken with curry powder, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over high.  In batches, cook chicken until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes total.  Transfer to a large plate.


Reduce heat to medium and add 1 teaspoon each salt and oil (I omitted this oil as there was plenty left from the chicken), and add garlic, ginger and onion.  Cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until onion is translucent, 6 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute.  Add rice, coconut milk and 2 cups water; stir to combine and bring to a boil.


Arrange chicken in pot, on top of rice, skin side up, cover and transfer to oven.  Bake until chicken is cooked through and liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.   
 ***HERE is where I cooked my chicken longer.  I removed a piece of chicken, cut it open, it wasn't done.  I bet I cooked it 20 more minutes, which brings the total time up to 1 hour and 10 minutes.  At least.  But it's worth it!

BLUEBERRY LEMON SAUCE CAKE

This is another recipe from crazy aunt Louise - loved that lady! Remember the Corn Flake Wreaths she made us for Christmas, well she always made this Blueberry Lemon Sauce Cake for 4th of July.  She was a serious creature of habit.  Thanksgiving always brought her cheesy garlic grits, but I'm still working on perfecting that one - maybe I'll have it ready for Thanksgiving.

I make this in an 8x8 baking dish, but it easily doubles for a 9x13.  My sauce turned out quite pale today so I added a little yellow food coloring.  LOL I say a little, but from the looks of that picture I added a little too much.

BLUEBERRY LEMON SAUCE CAKE
CAKE
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
Juice of 1 small lemon
scant 1 cup flour
scant 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Jumbo egg
1/4 cup milk
1+ cup fresh or frozen blueberries

• Preheat oven to 350˚.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• In a mixing bowl cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice until well blended.
• Add egg and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and blend until smooth.  Batter will be thicker, like a coffee cake consistency.
• Fold in blueberries.

SAUCE
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
Juice of 2 lemons

• Over a medium-high heat whisk together the water and cornstarch in a saucepan until smooth.
• Add the butter and allow to melt.
• Add the sugars and salt, stirring until dissolved.
• Add lemon juice and rind.
• Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until desired sauce consistency.

Chunky Monkey Pancakes

I received an email early this morning, (or was it late last night?), with a recipe for Chunky Monkey Pancakes.  I had one banana, and a partial bag of chocolate chips.  This morning I sent Number One off to the store for milk, more bananas and a precious bag of pecans, and now we have pancakes!

I made enough changes to the recipe to call it my own, but it was inspired by this recipe from allrecipes.com.

These pancakes are fluffy and delicious, and both boys cleaned their plates!  H-Bomb said, "Dada, they're super good!"  What's not to love?

Chunky Monkey Pancakes
 Adapted from allrecipes.com
Makes about 6 pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (1 tablespoon lemon juice + enough milk to make 1 cup), plus more milk to achieve proper batter consistency if needed
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large banana, diced
heaping 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon butter for pan
sliced bananas
maple syrup
whipped cream (we forgot to buy this at the store, but next time!)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients.  Add more milk if necessary to achieve a proper pancake batter consistency.  Gently fold in the banana, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and melt 1 tablespoon butter.  Pour batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and edges look dry.  Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Serve with sliced bananas, maple syrup and whipped cream, if desired.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

So you probably know, I joined the The Secret Recipe Club.   It is a secret blog assignment, where you are set off into another foodie's blog alone, and no one else is supposed to know.  Someone else all together gets to peruse your blog.  We'll all find out who had which blog on the same day and time.

Without further ado, my assignment for the Secret Recipe Club this month was:

The Novice Housewife

Shortly after I started looking at Shumaila's blog, it was an clear contest between Toasted Coconut Ice Cream and Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I fully intend on making the Toasted Coconut Ice Cream this week, but between canning and a weekend trip, I decided to make the cookies.  And take them with us on our trip, of course!

They are delicious.  I didn't have patience to brown the butter, but I did melt it for quite a while.  I also used two kinds of chocolate chips.  I can't tell you how many the recipe made, because everyone was eating them straight out of the oven!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips/chunks (I used a mix of semi-sweet and milk chocolate)
sea salt, for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking trays with parchment paper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking frequently. Whisk till the butter turns a little light brown. Takes about 5- 8 mins. Let cool to room temperature.

Add melted butter to both sugars in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth.  Stir in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and kosher salt. Add the dry ingredient to the sugar-butter mix until just combined.  Let cool completely.

Once completely cool, fold chocolate chips in the batter. Scoop 2 tablespoon-size portions onto the tray and flatten slightly. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 8-10 minutes and remove from the oven. Cool on tray a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.