The other day I came across a recipe for meatloaf that certainly seemed like something ‘special’. Years ago, every family had a meatloaf recipe that was so dearly loved, it achieved iconic status. Today, I’m not so sure that is the case anymore. Nevertheless, this recipe was called ‘1770 House Meatloaf’ which made me curious as to what the history was behind it. Most every review raved about it being pure comfort food and much more than just meatloaf.
From my research on this meatloaf I found that the 1770 House is an East Hampton Inn and Restaurant famous for this dish. East Hampton Village on Long Island, New York is a beautiful village. It’s been that way for years with a glorious pond right as you come into town where swans swim in summer and skaters take to the ice in winter.
The 1770 House has welcomed guests with hospitality and comfort, a tradition that continues to attract guests from around the world to the intimate Inn, steps from the heart of East Hampton Village. The venerable home, today a boutique hotel and restaurant, seamlessly integrates historic elegance with luxurious, modern amenities and first-class dining.
This glorious colonial house has two restaurants—a more formal fine dining room on the ground level and, down a flight of stairs, a cozy ‘tavern’ with its roaring fireplace and comfort food menu. And always, on this seasonally changing menu, there is Chef Kevin Penner’s remarkable meatloaf with its even more remarkable garlic sauce.
This familiar dish is simple enough that it can be prepared as a weekday meal, but that has been elevated by adding a few key ingredients. The celery and thyme infuse the mix with intense flavor, and the garlic sauce works perfectly. The outcome is a delicious dish with moist texture: not your average meatloaf.
So there you have it …. meatloaf with first-class dining status!
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1770 House Meatloaf w/ Garlic Sauce
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Instructions
Meatloaf
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Heat the olive oil in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion & celery and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent but not browned. Set aside to cool slightly.
Place the beef, veal, pork, parsley, thyme, chives, eggs, milk, salt & pepper in a large mixing bowl. Put the panko in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until the panko is finely ground.
Add the onion mixture & the panko to the meat mixture. With clean hands, gently toss the mixture together, making sure it's combined but not compacted.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Pat the meat into a flat rectangle and then press the sides in until it forms a cylinder down the middle of the pan (this will ensure no air pockets). Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the middle reads 155 F. to 160 F. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve hot with the Garlic Sauce.
Garlic Sauce
Combine the oil & garlic in a small saucepan & bring to a boil. Lower the heat & simmer for 10 -15 minutes, until lightly browned. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will be bitter. Remove the garlic from the oil and set aside.
Combine the chicken stock, butter & cooked garlic in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat & cook at a full boil for 35 - 40 minutes, until slightly thickened. Mash the garlic with a fork, whisk in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper & taste for seasonings. Spoon the warm sauce over the meatloaf.
Recipe Notes
- Since there are just two of us, I made the full recipe then divided the mixture into 3 portions. I baked all 3 & used one for our supper meal today, froze the second one for a future meal & with the third, I sliced it for 'meatloaf' sandwiches. Doesn't get better than that!
Barley has a storied history that extends well beyond the beef and barley soup. It’s Canada’s fourth largest crop, after wheat, canola and corn, and is an ancient grain that has been grown and consumed for thousands of years. In North America, barley is used for pet food, as a malt for brewing beer, and what it’s perhaps most famous for, as an ingredient in soup. But its applications go far beyond these examples. This is Canada’s homegrown wholegrain. Dried, it lasts for months. Ground, it makes a cake-like bread. Cooked, it triples in size and provides an ample amount of fiber. Its nutty flavor blends well with winter vegetables.
The beef-barley combination is a classic that is cooked in many households across the globe. Usually, it comes up in the form of either soup or stew but today I’m incorporating the combo in a ‘pie’ with potatoes.
Beef & Barley Pie is a rustic dish with plump barley and tender beef. It’s savory and satisfying with flavors that are reminiscent of the classics. This is a ‘no fuss’ easy to make meal.
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Beef & Barley Pie
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Ingredients
- 3 1/2 Tbsp butter,
- 1 leek, both green & white parts, thinly chopped
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 150 gm fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 454 gm beef, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup pearl barley
- salt & pepper to taste
- 550 gm Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 1/4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 100 gm Herb & Garlic cheddar, grated OR cheese of your own choice
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 Tbsp butter,
- 1 leek, both green & white parts, thinly chopped
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 150 gm fresh mushrooms, chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 454 gm beef, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup pearl barley
- salt & pepper to taste
- 550 gm Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 1/4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 100 gm Herb & Garlic cheddar, grated OR cheese of your own choice
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Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a DEEP 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.
Place half of the butter in a large skillet over low heat & sauté leek, onion & mushrooms for 5 minutes or until softened. Transfer to a plate & set aside.
Add olive oil to pan, increase heat to high. When oil is hot, add beef & brown. Transfer to a separate plate. Add garlic & barley to pan, season with salt & pepper & cook for 1 minute then return beef to pan & stir to combine.
Place half the potatoes in base of pie pan. Layer meat over top followed by leek mixture. Use back of a spoon to flatten contents of pie, the overlap remaining potatoes on top. Pour in beef broth & sprinkle with thyme. Cover with foil & bake for about 2 hours.
Remove from oven, top with grated cheese, return to oven & bake uncovered for 15 - 20 minutes or until pie is golden. Remove from oven & serve with a vegetable of choice.
We are now entering the last month of the autumn season here in Canada. Fall air is light and crisp—and it carries a signature scent …. a mix of rain, earth, tree bark, and leaves. It’s a scent that always makes you want to take deeper, longer breaths, and just fill your lungs with all the smells of nature. Fall is nature’s most prolific and imaginative painter who loves to splash stunning shades of red, orange, and yellow splash across this canvas we call planet earth.
If fall recipes are known for two things, those things are pumpkin and apples. The smell of the spices in our fall desserts, things like pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon, bring back memories of family Thanksgivings. Not only are these flavors generally found in hot drinks and foods, which are comforting in themselves, their smells are what actually makes them so coveted.
With the abundance of apples available to us this time of year, it’s no surprise our kitchens are often full of the aromas of wonderful baked apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the plethora of smells that often accompany apple dishes. There are just so many ways to incorporate apples into our dishes, both savory and sweet.
Over the years, I have posted many different hand pies, both sweet and savory. So, just as a salute to ‘apple season’, I’m making some apple hand pies topped with a fall motif.
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Apple Hand Pies
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Instructions
Pastry
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt. Cut in white & yellow shortening until it resembles small peas. In a one cup measure, place egg & vinegar; combine. Add enough cold water to make 3/4 cup. Pour all at once over flour mixture, mixing quickly, until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. This should only take a couple of minutes; DO NOT OVERMIX PASTRY. Cover with plastic wrap & place in refrigerator until filling is ready.
Apple Filling
Peel & dice apples, toss with lemon juice, brown sugar, spice of choice & salt in a mixing bowl.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, add apple mixture & cook until sugar dissolves completely & the apple pieces are starting to soften.
Mix cornstarch with cold water & add this slurry to the saucepan. Stir until filling thickens, about 1 minute. Take off the heat & set aside to cool completely.
Assembly
Prepare egg wash. Remove pastry from fridge & roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch cookie cutter, cut into 16 rounds. If you wish cut out some fall designs such as acorns or maple leaves for the top of the hand pies. On each round place a scoop of apple filling (I weighed my filling & divided it between the 16 pastry rounds). Fold in half & seal with a fork or alternately use a perogy cutter to cut, fold & seal.
Place the mini turnovers on a parchment lined baking sheet & keep in the fridge or freezer while you continue to make the rest of the pastries.
Baking
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Brush egg wash all over the pastry crusts. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of coarse sugar. Bake for about 14 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Remove from oven & place pastries on a wire rack to cool.
Want an unusual dessert? Try swapping out some of the flour for couscous in a cupcake batter. You’ll be amazed at the result.
A major complaint about couscous sometimes is the lack of flavor but this is where having it as dessert comes in handy. Incorporating apricot puree and spices into the couscous batter gives the cupcakes an amazing flavor and texture.
Couscous, the justly celebrated masterpiece of Moroccan cooking, is actually a pasta, though it`s often mistaken for a grain.
Couscous (pronounced ‘koos-koos‘) is now widely available in packaged form in most supermarkets. Couscous are the yellow granules of semolina made from durum wheat. Durum is the hardest variety of the six classes of wheat and has the highest protein content of all wheat. Because of this, it’s ideal for making high quality pasta and is used by both American and Italian manufacturers. It’s also used to make couscous in America and Latin America. If these pastas were made of the softer white wheat flour that egg noodles use, they would lose their shape.
There are three types of couscous:
- Moroccan couscous -Fine, used for savory as well as dessert couscous.
- Israeli couscous – Medium, used for savory dishes also called pearl couscous.
- Lebanese couscous – Coarse, more difficult to work with, used for savory dishes.
Adding some cream cheese frosting topped with apricot puree and sprinkled with couscous rolled in cinnamon takes this dessert to the next level!
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Apricot Couscous Cupcakes
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Instructions
Couscous
In a saucepan, bring 1 cup water & 1/2 tsp salt to boiling. Add couscous, cover & remove from heat. Allow to sit 5 minutes then fluff with a fork & set aside to cool.
Apricot Puree
Place water, sugar & apricots in a saucepan. Bring to a boil & simmer until soft. Place in a food processor & pulse to make a puree.
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a small bowl, combine 2 cups cooled couscous (reserve a small amount for topping), flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices & salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter & sugar. Add 1 cup apricot puree & whip until light & fluffy. Add vanilla & egg yolks; whip well.
Gradually add couscous mixture then buttermilk & combine only until blended. Whip egg whites until frothy, adding a pinch of salt. Using a spatula, blend egg whites into the batter.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until testing with a toothpick & it comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese & butter until completely smooth, about 3 minutes on medium speed. Scrape down sides to ensure that the mixture is mixed evenly.
On low speed, slowly add in powdered sugar. Once combined, scrape down sides of bowl & increase the speed to medium, beating just until well combined & creamy.
Decorating
Place cream cheese topping in a piping bag with a star tip. Pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. With another smaller piping bag, using a round tip, drizzle apricot puree then sprinkle with cinnamon coated (cooked) couscous.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!
For the last 66 years, Canada has celebrated Thanksgiving Day on the second Monday in October. It’s one of those holidays that tend to bring families together, both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, though, in this highly technological age, it seems as if we have become more connected digitally than emotionally.
We have now entered into our Autumn season with all its breathtaking fall foliage. Part of Canada’s appeal is it’s four seasons that offer changing landscapes and temperatures. Fall also represents a time of change. As nature bursts with its fabulous fall foliage, it gives us a little bit of extra time to make the most of what we have left in this year before the grand finale.
I, for one, have always loved the changing seasons. That’s not to say that I like freezing cold and slippery roads but that I have come to understand the important role each one plays in the ‘big picture’. When Brion and I initially landscaped our property, careful consideration was given to what plants were planted. Over the years it has developed into a beautiful tapestry of color through our growing season.
Growing up on the farm, Fall was an especially busy time with the grain crops being harvested, garden vegetables being canned, frozen or just stored for use over the coming months. So much needed to be done before winter would set in. As a teenager it all just seemed like a lot of work. Even as hard as my parents worked at making a living from farming, I think they felt a real sense of satisfaction in what they were able to achieve. I realize now that even without being aware of it the visual beauty of the farmland at harvest was imprinted on me forever.
Most of us here in Canada, have far more things to be grateful for than not. I have fond memories of my wonderful parents, carefree childhood days with my siblings, having enjoyed a successful career, a loving husband, our home, the many wonderful world travels we have been able to enjoy together, but above all we are both in relatively good health. It is so important to just take the time and appreciate the blessings in our lives and make every day count.
For our Thanksgiving meal I am preparing a turkey, bacon & apricot pie. Should be good!
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Turkey, Bacon & Apricot Pie
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Instructions
Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the bacon & cook until slightly crispy. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon to paper towel & set aside.
Add the onion to skillet & sauté over a low heat until soft but not colored. Add the mushrooms & cook until soft & any liquid has evaporated, add thyme; set aside.
Melt butter in skillet, then add the flour & stir over heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, gradually add the milk a little at a time, stirring well. Return to heat & bring to a boil; add turkey broth & stir. Simmer for 2-3 minutes; add seasonings.
Add bacon, turkey, apricots & mushroom mixture to the sauce. Stir well.
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Roll 1 sheet of puff pastry to fit a DEEP 9-inch pie dish. From the second sheet of puff pastry cut pastry designs of your choice for top crust.
Spoon filling into pie dish & top with pastry designs. Brush pastry with egg wash & place in oven.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until pastry is golden brown & filling is piping hot. Remove from oven & allow to cool slightly before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Don't hesitate to use your own spice combination in place of the coriander & cumin.
- Spiced cranberries make an extra special condiment for this meal.
Ideal for fall, fig & flax swirl cookies have beautiful warm flavors from the fig preserves and spices and a little crunch from the flax seeds. Figs flavor has been described as kind of a honey-taste with hints of berry. And of course, they give a crunchy-crisp texture from the seeds.
Figs are a distinctive and vibrant fruit that work with sweet and savory dishes. There are so many ways to use them in autumnal bakes, salads, meat dishes and more. Then there’s an added dimension to take it a bit further by using figs in preserve form such as:
- Homemade Fig Newtons.
- Swirl into a cheesecake batter for a fig cheesecake.
- Spread on melted baked brie fresh from the oven.
- Spread it on toast, English muffins, or biscuits instead of jelly.
- Spread on crostini with goat cheese, prosciutto & balsamic vinegar for an appetizer.
- Combine with rosemary and balsamic vinegar & use as a glaze for chicken, pork, or kebabs.
- Mix with softened cream cheese as a crepe filling.
- Mix with oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper to make a vinaigrette.
- Use it in grilled ham & cheese sandwiches.
- Swirl it into ice cream.
- Use in lieu of syrup for a topping for pancakes.
If you like fig preserves, you will love these cookies.
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Fig & Flax Swirl Cookies
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Instructions
Combine flour, baking soda & salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the butter with the brown & white sugar. Mix on medium speed for a minute or two. Add the egg & vanilla and continue mixing until well incorporated.
Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture & stir with a spoon until combined & forms a ball. Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap & refrigerate for an hour.
Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured piece of waxed paper to a 16 x 10-inch rectangle. Spread smooth fig preserves on the dough to within about 1/2-inch of the edges. Starting at one of the long ends, begin to carefully roll the dough into a log.
Place egg white in a small bowl. Combine 2 Tbsp each brown sugar & ground flax seeds in a shallow dish. Brush log with egg white then roll in the flax/sugar mixture. Wrap the rolled dough in the wax paper & refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 F.
Slice roll, (using a piece of floss for easier slicing), into 1/4-inch slices. Place on a parchment lined baking sheets & bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven & allow to cool on baking sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
Perfect veggies to roast together because they cook at the same rate and broccoli’s grassy, earthy and slight bitterness complements cauliflower’s sweet nutty flavor.
The same vegetable, however, they are not. For whatever reason, these two vegetables are often confused for one another, even though they are strikingly different in many ways.
Broccoli is green, except when it’s purple and its cauliflower. Cauliflower is usually white, except when it’s orange or green, and looks like broccoli, or when it’s purple, and it actually is broccoli.
The word ‘broccoli’ is derived from Italian and means, ‘flowering crest of a cabbage.’ The word ‘cauliflower,’ on the other hand, comes from Latin, and means, ‘the flowers of a cabbage’.
This is such a nice fall side dish. Broccoli and cauliflower coated with a rich, creamy, cheesy sauce, covered with Panko breadcrumbs, baked to perfection and garnished with bacon. How good is that!
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White Cheddar Broccoli/Cauliflower Gratin
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Instructions
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Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook florets until tender-firm, about 5-6 minutes. Drain well.
In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add in onions & sauté until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add in garlic & sauté 20 seconds longer. Add in flour & cook whisking constantly, 1 1/2 minutes.
While whisking, slowly pour in milk & add nutmeg. Whisk constantly until mixture reaches a boil, then remove from heat & stir in 1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese & the parmesan. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Pour & spread 1/3 of the cheese sauce into a 9 x 9-inch baking dish. Top with drained broccoli/cauliflower combo then slowly & evenly pour remaining 2/3 of the cheese sauce over top.
Sprinkle over remaining 1/4 cup white cheddar then sprinkle evenly with panko crumbs. Spray panko with olive oil cooking spray to lightly coat.
Bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 1-2 minutes to help brown further as needed. Remove from oven, sprinkle with bacon & parsley & serve warm.
To say beef is a versatile food is an understatement. There are at least 46 countries that enjoy eating beef with Canada being one of them. It can be prepared in many ways including grilled, fried, baked, roasted, slow-cooked and there are a lot of different cuts to choose from.
Beef is so versatile it can be the star of fancy dinners, quick lunches, simple stews, and more. No matter how beef is eaten, it can easily showcase worldwide flavors and culinary creativity.
When making roast beef cubes, tougher cuts that include chuck, brisket and round, where the high amount of collagen breaks down during a lengthy cooking process and transforms into gelatin, result in supple, succulent meat, lending a velvety richness to the braising liquid. I recommend chuck because it has a big, beefy flavor and good fat content, but brisket and round are also suitable.
In this recipe the beef is cubed instead of cooked whole, so each beef cube is coated in seasoning for an incredible flavor. The vegetables are cooked in beef broth then added to the smoky beef gravy along with the roasted beef cubes to make an amazing ‘beef stew’… true comfort food!
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Smoky Beef Stew
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Instructions
Meat
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Cut beef into bite sized pieces. Place in a plastic bag & add oil & Montreal Steak Spice. Shake to coat cubes evenly. Thread cubes onto skewers & place over a foil lined roasting pan.
Roast meat for about 55 minutes or until cooked. Remove from oven & take meat off skewers. Set aside.
Veggies/Gravy
In a saucepan, cook carrots & potatoes in some of the beef broth until Just tender. Pour into a bowl & set aside.
In the saucepan, add 1 Tbsp oil & sauté leeks, garlic & mushrooms until tender. Place in bowl with carrots & potatoes.
In the saucepan, melt butter & add flour stirring constantly to make a roux. Add remaining broth, whisking to make a smooth gravy (add broth from veggies if necessary). Add 2 tsp liquid smoke, whisk to combine.
Once the gravy is cooked & smooth, add beef cubes & all the broth/veggies. Gently fold to combine.
Nice to serve with focaccia bread.
Recipe Notes
- The liquid smoke gives this stew such an unbelievable flavor!
The Reuben ‘sandwich’ is a North American grilled sandwich composed of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing, or Russian dressing, grilled between slices of rye bread.
The Reuben actually has a couple of origin stories. It just depends on who tells it. Of course, all the ingredients have roots in places besides North America. You have the cheese which is Swiss. The rye bread comes from eastern Europe. Corned beef is an ancient way of preserving meat in cultures all over the world. Sauerkraut has a very ancient history and most likely originated with the Mongols or in ancient China.
The combined flavors of a Reuben sandwich are so amazing that its inspired many recipe ideas and ways to incorporate the flavors into other foods.
Reuben Stuffed Shells pack all that flavor into a jumbo pasta shell and the homemade croutons make sure that you won’t miss out on the rye bread that Reubens are known for.
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Reuben Stuffed Shells
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Instructions
Croutons
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In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in dried parsley. Add bread cubes & toss to coat. Place directly on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crisp. Crumble the croutons into small pieces. Set aside.
Sauce
In a saucepan, melt butter & add flour. Cook until bubbly for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add milk, whisking continuously until heated & slightly thickened. While continuing to whisk, add mustard & cheese. Cook until a thin sauce consistency develops; season to taste with salt & pepper. Cover & set aside until ready to use.
Stuffed Shells
Shred corned beef with a fork. In a large bowl, add corned beef (reserve 3-4 Tbsp for topping), 60 gm Swiss cheese, sauerkraut (drained), cream cheese & Thousand Island dressing. Mix well
Spread cheese sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Fill cooked shells with corned beef mixture & place in baking pan. Top with reserved corned beef. Sprinkle croutons & remaining 120 gm Swiss croutons over shells. Cover with foil.
Bake about 30 minutes or until slightly bubbling.
