I Love You *This* Much

Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone!  Mr. Smith and I don't tend to celebrate V-day very much  - no gifts, chocolates, or flowers for us!  But, I still wanted to do something sweet for him.  Yesterday I got pretty ambitious and wanted to make a special meal for Valentine's eve.  I found a recipe for Italian meatloaf that I've been wanting to try forever in this month's Fine Cooking Magazine.  I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but DANG that was good meatloaf. Definitely the best I've ever made (...or had, for that matter).  I closed the meal with homemade chocolate lava cakes.  Needless to say, it was a happy Valentine's Day!

Note: Fine Cooking has this awesome tool online where you can make your own meatloaf!  That's all I did, but I didn't use their online tool, I just made it up as I went along.  Check it out when you get a chance!

Italian Meatloaf

STEP 1 - The Aromatics:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped carrots

3/4 cup white wine

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add all ingredients except the wine and saute until softened and beginning to brown (6-8 minutes).  Add the wine and simmer until almost dry (4-5 minutes).  Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

STEP 2 - Soak the Bread:

4 oz. sliced french bread

1 cup whole milk (if you don't have whole milk, any milk will work, but whole is better)

In a shallow dish (I used a 9x13" clear baking dish) soak the bread in the milk, flipping once, until soggy (10 minutes).  Lightly squeeze a handful at a time and place on a cutting board.  Finely chop and add to the bowl of aromatics.

- the aromatics & the soaked bread -



STEP 3 - Mix the Meatloaf:

2 lbs. ground bison

1/2 lb. lean ground pork

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

1 Tbsp. dried thyme

1 handful fresh basil

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup shredded parmesean cheese

2 Tbs. honey

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan with parchment paper.  Add the meat and eggs into the bowl of aromatics & bread.  Scatter all other ingredients (except honey) on top.  Use your hands (I use disposable gloves) to gently mix ingredients until just combined. 

Transfer the meatloaf mixture to the baking pan and form into a rectangular-ish block.  Drizzle honey over the entire thing as evenly as possible.

- ready for the oven -

STEP 4 - Bake the Meatloaf:

Bake meatloaf until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf registers 160 degrees F (about 1 and 1/2 hours).  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

- how delicious does that look? -

STEP 5 - Serve!

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (I used jarred)

1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese

Slice into 3/4 - 1 inch pieces.

- look at all that good stuff in there -

Put the slices on a plate (I did two per person) and spoon that tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle it with cheese!  Voila!



- I served it with some blistered green beans... we were happy campers -

 The meatloaf didn't even really taste like classic (kinda boring) meatloaf.  It was like the best Italian meatball you've ever eaten, in loaf form.  The honey carmelized on the outside and gave it a sweet, sticky crust and all of those spices and herbs in the meatloaf really gives it that fresh-from-Italy taste.  YUM!  I hope you enjoyed reading this recipe as much as we did eating it!  Don't get bogged down with all the steps - just make it.  I promise you'll be glad you did.

~ Mari

P.S. I made a mess. ;)

Back from the Honeymoon : Part III : Seafood

I had some of the best seafood I've ever eaten in my life on this trip... also some of the most unusual. Nothing like the crunch of an octopus tentacle to start your day off right...

Vernazza, Italy - Cinque Terre

Polpe e Patate

(Octopus and Potatoes)

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Mussels with fried Calamari

Venice, Italy
Rialto fish market

Venice, Italy

Octopus, Shrimp, Sea Snails, and Cuttlefish Roe

Murano, Italy
Fried baby shrimp, Scallop, white fish salad

How cute are those whole baby shrimp? It's the original popcorn shrimp!

~ Mari

Back from the Honeymoon : Part II : Pasta

There's some pretty intense food pornography going on here... I hope you can handle it. ;)

Vernazza, Italy - Cinque Terre

Ligurian pesto and spaghetti

Capri, Italy

Homemade pasta with roasted tomatoes and clams


Capri, Italy

Tagliatelle pasta with lemon cream sauce

Corfu, Greece

Pastitsio

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Pasta with seafood

Murano, Italy

Homemade seafood ravioli

Murano, Italy

Spaghetti with shrimp

Venice, Italy

Lasagna

Venice, Italy
Tagliatelle with mushrooms

What did I tell you?

YUM!

~ Mari

Back from the Honeymoon : Part I : Pizza

We're back! I bet you didn't even notice I was gone! Ryan and I finally went our honeymoon... and boy, was it worth the wait! We went on a two-week Mediterranean cruise and then spent four more days in Venice at the end of the cruise. Dang. It was awesome. We took a few (hundred) photos and I really want to post them all...but, don't worry. I shan't. I figured I would just stick to the food photos for right now. So, the first installment of pictures is...

PIZZA

Portofino, Italy

(left) mozzarella, pomodori, e rucola ~ mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and fresh arugula

(right) mozarella, pomodori, e prosciutto

Nice, France

Pizza Provencal ~ mozzarella, tomatoes, zucchini, olives, and anchovies

Florence, Italy
Pizza Quattro Stagione (Four Seasons): mozzarella, pomodori, funghi, carciofi, proscuitto, e olive - mozzarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichokes, proscuitto, and olives

Venice, Italy

Mozzarella, tomatoes, Bresaola (cured and salted horse meat), and parmasean cheese

Venice, Italy

Pizza Bianchi (White Pizza) - Artichoke cream sauce, proscuitto, and parmasean cheese

Venice, Italy

Pizza Gran Viale - tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, proscuitto, salami, sausage, eggplant, asparagus, artichokes, and tuna

Venice, Italy

Pizza Quattro Stagione - mozarella, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichockes, proscuitto, and grilled eggplant



Don't worry - I definitely plan on making some of these magnificent pizze and posting the recipe on here. But, for now, you can drool. ;) Hope you enjoyed looking at these amazing treats as much as I enjoyed eating them!

~ Mari

Tarragon and Cheddar Frittata

The incredible edible egg was calling my name today for lunch. Do you ever get in an egg mood? So, I decided to make a frittata (an Italian omlet thingy) with some fresh tarragon that I had in the fridge. If you are also feeling a bit eggish, here's the recipe:

Tarragon & Cheddar Frittata

1 large egg

1/2 cup liquid egg whites (or 2 egg whites)

1 Tbsp. fresh tarragon (1 tsp. dried)

1 tsp. dill

1.5 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

fat free greek yogurt (for garnish)

salsa (for garnish)


Whisk all the ingredients together (except for the garnishes, obviously) in a bowl until combined. Heat a small non-stick skillet to medium. Once the pan is heated, put about a tsp. of olive oil in and pour the egg mixture in as well. Then put a lid on it and allow it to cook for about 5-6 minutes (until you can slip a spatula underneath the frittata without it still being liquid-y). Flip the frittata over with the spatula and allow it to cook, uncovered, for about 3-4 minutes more. The frittata should be fluffy and set. Next, flip the frittata out onto a plate and garnish with a dollop of yougurt and salsa.

Now... eat it! I think you'll like it.

Thanks for looking!

~ Mari

Italian Adventures

Emilia Romagna

Castel'Arquarto Porticoes