Meatloaf Pie

We're back! And what's the sexiest dish to make for our return? Let's say it together, Meatloaf Pie! Our short little hiatus was nice; I was able to recharge my creative batteries and I even learned the true meaning of Presidents Day. Anyway, what's better than meat? (I'm not asking you, vegans). That's right, meat wrapped in dough! Let's dig in.

Meatloaf Pie

Makes two pies or one pie and a bunch of meatballs

Pie Crust

• 2 1/2 cup Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 cup Shortening
• 1/4 cup cold Butter
• 1/3 cup ice cold Water
• 1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

1. In a large mixing bowl sift the flour, salt and powdered sugar together.
2. Mix in the butter and shortening with a pastry blender or fork. I used a fork because my pastry blender is missing. I'm offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who finds it. Still cheaper than Williams-Sonoma.
3. Once the fats are in small cubes add the water and vinegar. 
4. Form into a small ball. Place in a bowl and set in freezer while you make the meat filling.

Meatloaf Filling

• 1 lbs Ground Pork
• 1 lbs Ground Beef
• 1 lbs Ground Turkey
• 2 large Eggs
• 1 medium Onion minced or grated
• 2 Cloves of Garlic minced
• 1/3 cup Ketchup or Catsup 
• 1/4 cup Brown Mustard
• 1 cup Panko 
• 1/2 cup Carrot minced or grated
• 1/3 cup Zucchini minced or grated
• 1/2 cup Parsley minced
• Dash of Fish Sauce
• Dash of Balsamic Vinegar
• Dash of Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Beef Better than Bouillon
• 1 extra Egg whisked

1. Find a huge mixing bowl. Preheat the oven to 375°
2. Mix all ingredients (except the extra egg) in the mixing bowl with your hands. Clean your hands off on a white couch or a wedding dress.
3. Grab the dough from the freezer. Roll out the pie dough and place in the pie pan. Crimp the edges of the pie.
4. Fill the pie pan with the meat loaf filling. 
5. Make some pie dough lattice to top the pie. Wash the top of the pie with the egg wash.
6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the center is fully cooked.
7. Drain excess juices (there might be a bit). Let cool and slice into the pie, and serve with Port and Fig Sauce and green onions. 

Port and Fig Sauce

• 7 Dried Figs quartered
• 1/2 medium Onion sliced
• 3/4 cup Port Wine
• plus extra
• 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt

1. Heat all the ingredients in a skillet over high heat until all the liquid boils out. Stirring occasionally.
2. Place the cooked figs, onion, and juices in a blender. Turn the blender on high. It's gonna be chunky. Add more port to mixture to make it a smooth consistency.
3. Use to top the pie or as a dipping sauce.

Meatloaf Pie Pics by Katy Weaver

Sesame Seed Sticky Buns

We're taking a lil break! I'm starting up a few new projects including a Podcast! And Katy is going to be in SE Asia for a month, so we're taking a lil break and will be back in March with some more amazing recipes!! So this post is going to have to hold you over for a while.

Sesame Seed Sticky Buns

• 2 packages of Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
• 2 Eggs
• 5 1/2 cups Flour
• 1/4 cup Butter softened
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons Salt

Fillin'

• 1/4 cup Sesame Seeds 
• 1/2 cup Butter melted
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon ground

1. In a large mixing bowl add the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Place in a warmish environment for about 10 minutes. I recommend using the microwave, but don't turn it on! It'll kill all those farting bacteria and you'll end up with sticky flats instead of sticky buns!
2. Combine the yeast mixture with the buttermilk, eggs, 2 1/2 cups of flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Once all the ingredients are well incorporated start adding the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough becomes tacky. 
3. Knead the dough out on a clean(ish) surface that's lightly covered in flour until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. 
4. Oh did you preheat your oven to 375°? Cause you should probably do that now.
5. Divide the dough into 2 separate balls. Roll out each ball into a 12x7 inch rectangle.
6. In a small mixing bowl mix together all the fillin' ingredients.
7.  Spread the fillin' evenly across one of the dough sheets. Place the other sheet across the other. Crimp the edges and cut it into 12 strips.
8. Coat a casserole pan with butter. Add a handful of brown sugar to the bottom of the pan and evenly spread it. 
9. Roll up each dough strip into, well rolls. Evenly space them in the pan. Cover and let them double in size. Go watch an episode of Arrested Development or something.
10. Oh man! That GOB! Okay now you can start baking the buns. About 30 minutes should do it. 
11. Once the buns have finished baking IMMEDIATELY dump them out of the pan upside down onto a baking sheet with parchment paper on it. Let them cool a bit and start stuffing them in your face!

These pictures that will stick with you are taken by Katy Weaver!

Miso Crusted Pork Chops

Fun fact of the day: encrusting anything in miso makes it taste 100 times better. There's no question that adding it to a pork chop would make it that much more delicious. Not to mention the fact that it makes a perfect centerpiece for a dinner dish. Served amongst baked eggplant and asparagus with apple ginger chutney it makes any dinner the best dinner of your life.

There's something funny about posting to this blog every week. It's easy to get caught up in it and just accept it and not take account for anything else. For example I now expect everything I eat to be as delicious as all the food I make. I also expect it to look as beautiful as Katy's photos make it look. Naturally that's sort of an unrealistic expectation. But why should it be?

It's a new year and that means new starts. Sure boxed mac and cheese is fine when you're tired and don't feel like cooking, but there's no substitute for a perfectly cooked pork chop when you're in the mood for it. In my personal opinion there's been too much accepting the status quo in this country. What happened to the greatest country on Earth? I personally blame congress and the banking industry. But to get back on track, this is not a year to go with the flow. This is a year of getting better. Doing this blog every week reminds me that settling for anything less than the best isn't an option.

Baked Eggplant and Asparagus

• 1 Eggplant chopped
• 1/2 pound Asparagus julienned
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Sesame Seeds
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Salt

1. Preheat your oven to 375°
2. In a large mixing bowl toss the Eggplant, Asparagus, Olive Oil, Sesame Seeds and Garlic Salt together.
3. Fill a small casserole pan with the vegetables and bake for 15 minutes. Stir halfway through baking.

Apple Ginger Chutney

• 1 Fuji Apple diced
• 1 tablespoon Ginger freshly grated 
• 3 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Yellow Onion diced
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

1. Heat the Apple Cider Vinegar, Balsamic, Onion and Apple over high. Boil out most of the moisture. 
2. Add the Ginger and Brown Sugar. Stir and cover. Heat over medium-low heat for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Blend if a smoother chutney is desired. 

Miso Crusted Pork Chops

• 3 Pork Chops
• 2 packs of Yellow Miso Soup Mix
• Olive Oil

1. Heat just enough Olive Oil in a skillet to cover the pan over medium heat.
2. Pour the packets of Miso Soup into a shallow dish. Place the Pork Chops in the dish, cover both sides of each chop with the miso. Message the mix into the meat.
3. Place each pork chop in the skillet. Evenly cook on both sides. Don't worry the miso will turn out a little black. Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking if needed.
4. Serve with Apple Ginger Chutney, and Baked Eggplant and Asparagus. 

Go ahead and change things up for your meal tonight. Put a twist on an old favorite and make it something worth talking about instead of just filling the hole that is dinner.

Photos by the great and talented Katy Weaver

Beef Stroganoff with Gorgonzola Gnocchis

Before we get into this post I just want to mention that we have a holiday ecookbook on Google Play! Which can be downloaded by clicking here, here or here. Or you can click on that ad to the right. It's a good way to support your favorite food bloggers!

This is our first post in a series entitled: Foods with Weird Names.  Sure Beef Stroganoff seems like an outdated dish, but adding the Gorgonzola Gnocchis turns this into a new modern classic. This is a perfect example of taking something from the past and making it fit today's tastes. It's not as hard as people make it out to be. 

Side note: I want to lick that steak. 

Beef Stroganoff

• 1 lb. Top Sirloin Steak sliced into strips about 1/4" thick.
• 6 Mushrooms baby cremini--sliced 
• 1/2 medium Red Onion minced 
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 1 clove Garlic minced 
• 1/4 cup Wine (Pinot Noir) 
• 3/4 cup Sour Cream
• 1 tablespoon Crushed Mustard Seeds
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Chives finely chopped

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the garlic and onions. Caramelize until caramel in color. 
2. Add the sliced mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper, sauté for about 3-5 minutes.  
3. Introduce the steak into the mix at this point. Sauté only until the steak turns slightly brown.
4. Stir in the wine and sour cream. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer. Stirring occasionally let the sauce thicken up before serving. 

Gorgonzola Gnocchis

• 2 Potatoes boiled and mashed
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 1 cup Flour (plus extra if needed) 
• 2 Eggs
• 4 oz. Gorgonzola crumbled

1. In a large bowl mix the mashed potatoes in with the butter and 1/4 cup of the flour.
2. Mix in the eggs and the rest of flour.
3. Sprinkle the gorgonzola into the mixture. Fold the cheese into the batter. Add more flour as needed. It should be the consistency of slightly tacky bread dough.
4. Transfer the dough into a ziplock bag. 
5. Heat several cups of cold water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. 
6. Cut the tip off the ziplock bag, that's right - just the tip. Squeeze over the boiling pan while cutting the dough into tootsie roll sized pieces. 
7. Boil until each gnocchi floats in the pan.
8. Drain the water and serve with Beef Stroganoff on top. Garnish with chives. 

Photos as always by Katy Weaver (you probably know that by now)

Baked Eggs

We're back with breakfast! It's been a while, but I proffer onto you yet another Cooking with B.S. breakfast recipe. I think after making Skip's Scramble I was a little burnt out the breakfast food group. If you're wondering what's in this food group, it's mainly the stuff on the top of the pyramid.

Sure baked eggs isn't the best looking dish but you know what? Like most things that look messy, once you dig into it's pretty darn good. I'm sure there's some sort of inner beauty metaphor here, but who needs that with good photography.

Makin bacon!

Side note: Fermented black garlic is my new favorite ingredient. It's sweeter and less intense than your average garlic. I found mine at Trader Joe's. I highly recommend putting it in your next dish, even if it's some sort of sugar cookie.

Baked Eggs

• 5 Eggs
• 1 cup Half & Half
• 4 Bacon Strips cooked
• 3 cloves Black Fermented Garlic chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1/3 cup White Cheddar grated
• 5 slices of Sourdough Bread toasted 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°
2. In a small bowl mix the black garlic in with the half & half. 
3. Lay the bacon strips in the pan you're going to be baking the eggs in. Or if you're feeling ambitious and good about your cholesterol level you can make a bacon weave on the bottom of the pan.
4. Pour the half & half over the bacon. Crack the eggs over the half and half, be sure to evenly space them in the pan.
5. Top the eggs with the Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, and white cheddar.
6. Place in oven for 15 minutes. (Don't worry if you happen to forget it for 20 minutes while you're exploring travel pictures on tumblr, it'll still taste great, the eggs will just be a little overdone.) 
7. Eat with toast and enjoy your morning by having a conversation with whomever you're sharing this dish with. 

I think what makes breakfast food so popular is the fact that even if it doesn't look good, it still usually tastes good. We know what to expect from it. We know after a cold night there's something warm and comforting to help us welcome the day. We know that conversations over breakfast food are the most important, even if they're about nothing. 

These eggcellent photos by Katy Weaver