An adventurous new meal each week

Fried breaded meatloaf

Written by Matthew on February 19, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Source: Fine Cooking #91 (also at FineCooking.com)

Last spring I first wrote about the joys of meatloaf. As they often do, Fine Cooking also had a recipe for using up leftover meatloaf (not that there’s anything wrong with serving it straight up, and the fact that it took me so long to try it out is testament to that).

Fried, breaded meatloaf.

How do you take something great and make it even better? Bread it and fry it, of course.

It’s a bit sinful, but it’s absolutely delicious. The tasty meatloaf gets a lovely crunchy exterior. I used panko breadcrumbs, which are much coarser and crunchier than the usual grocery breadcrumbs (you can also use fresh bread crumbs, but that’s a lot of work). In fact, I use panko whenever recipes call for breadcrumbs.

My only warning is to be gentle with the meatloaf… It’s not like breading chicken or fish–if you’re not careful, it can fall apart.

Fried breaded meatloaf

Fried breaded meatloaf

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Butternut squash soup with apple and bacon

Written by Matthew on November 20, 2011 — Leave a Comment

Source: Fine Cooking #74 (also at FineCooking.com)

Few things are more comforting than a great bowl of soup on a cold fall day. And regardless of how much soup I make, I’m always pleasantly surprised how quick and easy it is to make a soup with great depth of flavour.

With butternut squash so plentiful in the fall, it’s easy to create a double or triple batch of butternut squash soup, freezing the extra for lunches or quick weekday dinners.

The bacon and tart green apple helps give this soup nice flavour.

If you’re making a large batch, you may want to use gloves to peel the squash. Butternut squash has an enzyme that can irritate the skin–my hands came out looked like I had a chemical peel.

Butternut squash soup with apple and bacon

Butternut squash soup with apple and bacon

Posted in Meals

Spice-rubbed pan-fried New York strip steak

Written by Matthew on November 12, 2011 — Leave a Comment

Source: Fine Cooking #33 (also at FineCooking.com)

I love finding spice-rubbed steak recipes, because they’re easy and I generally have all the ingredients (except the meat). Throw in a generous side of veggies, and you have a great weekday or simple weekend meal.

This spice rub has some smokiness from the cumin, and I used smoked paprika for additional smokiness. Add some cinnamon for sweetness and oregano for some herbiness, and you have a nicely rounded rub.

I used the rub on my new favourite steak, the New York stip. I find this cut is the perfect balance between tenderness and price. Much less expensive than filet mignon and ribeye, but still tender and juicy if seared quickly to a medium-rare. It’s hard to give a time guideline because it depends entirely on the thickness of the steaks. My best recommendation is to experiment and learn to gauge doneness by touch.

I served the steak alongside roasted root vegetables (a mix of carrots, parsnips and turnips), which are so abundant at this time of the year.

Spice-rubbed New York strip steak with roasted root vegetables

Spice-rubbed New York strip steak with roasted root vegetables

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Risotto with corn, Italian sausage and arugula

Written by Matthew on October 12, 2011 — Leave a Comment

Source: Fine Cooking #100 (also at FineCooking.com)

I make risotto relatively frequently, but I usually stick to a basic mushroom and chicken risotto.

But earlier this fall during corn season, I bought and froze some extra corn. So when I came across this recipe, I thought it would be perfect to use up some of that corn.

The corn and arugula definitely bring a freshness to this risotto that many other recipes do not. Between the veggies and the sausage in this risotto, it makes a perfect starter or a complete meal.

(Since I already had corn kernels, I skipped the part in the recipe that calls for grating a portion of the corn. I don’t think it had a major impact on the end result.)

Risotto with corn, Italian sausage and arugula

Risotto with corn, Italian sausage and arugula

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Cilantro-lime guacamole with tortilla chips

Written by Matthew on September 25, 2011 — Leave a Comment

Source: Fine Cooking #58 (also at FineCooking.com)

When I go to the grocery store, if I pass by the avocados, I usually buy some. For some reason, I can’t pass them up. Maybe because they’re a (fruit that gets eaten like a) vegetable that doesn’t taste like one. No other fruit/vegetable has that rich, smooth and creamy texture.

So this afternoon, I found myself trying to figure out what to do with my 2 ripe (bordering on overripe) avocados. It’s a beautify warm fall day, so I was in the mood for a drink… what better to accompany it than guacamole with tortilla chips.

I’ve never made guacamole but I knew it was relatively straightforward. I had most of the ingredients at home. I just needed the cilantro (which was fine, because I also needed the nacho chips).

Having had too many guacamoles that were loaded with garlic, I was surprised to find that none of the Fine Cooking recipes for guacamole that I reviewed even contained garlic. Fantastic.

So within 5 minutes of being back from the grocery store for the cilantro and chips, I had the guacamole prepared and a drink served. Cheers!

(Sidenote: I had a red jalapeño on hand. If you can find a red one, use it, because it adds a delightful splash of red to the otherwise very green guacamole.)

Cilantro-lime guacamole with tortilla chips

Cilantro-lime guacamole with tortilla chips

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