A Food, Spice, Ingredient or Dish You've Rediscovered or Appreciate More (bbq, tomatoes)
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I have a few:
-- I've never been into onions that much. I didn't hate them, and i've loved them cooked in certain dishes --French onion soup, or fried liver and onions, even onion rings. are OK. But lately I've been adding them to salads, and I have to say....they're OK.
-- Same for artichokes, beets, and asparagus. I've always "liked" them. but now I definitely have more of an appreciation for them.
Oh...and curry, turmeric, saffron, creme fraiche, triple creme brie and other cheeses, extra virgin olive oil, and GOOD balsamic vinegar.
Meatloaf. I used to hate it - until I started making it myself - now I love it. My husband didn't like it either until I made it for him - now we have it every few weeks.
ETA - I have found that there are a number of things I didn't like until I started making them for myself - it's not that my mom wasn't a good cook - she WAS - I just had different taste buds than the rest of the family or something.
^^ I always have thought meatloaf got a bad rap. I've always liked it. BUT I can see that a person has to know HOW to make a good one. Certainly, it's not THE most tricky thing to make. But it's EASY to make a bad one.
I'll never forget an episode of "Recipe 9-1-1, with Tyler Florence." THe woman called because people HATED her meatloaf, and she wondered why it was so dry.
So Tyler had her make the recipe she normally did....and she put TWO CUPS of OATMEAL in the meant loaf. He was stunned and stopped her in her tracks. He was like, "Yoh what are you doing?" She said I always make it this way, like my mom did." He said, "Really she put 2 cups of oatmeal in it, never seen that before and people are it.? ...THAT's your problem, oatmeal sucks up every drop of moisture from the meat." He said, " Uh, breadcrumbs yes....but OATMEAL? And even breadcrumbs you don't put TWO CUPS!
I was as stunned as he was.
How do you NOT know...you can't put two cups of oatmeal in a meatloaf and NOT expect it to be a BRICK!
So yeah, a good meatloaf is great to have. it's a go-to, a staple.
We got a really nice molcajete as a wedding gift, which has allowed me to easily do freshly ground spices when I cook when I buy them whole. The difference between, say, preground cumin in a seasoning mix when you make chili/Tex-Mex recipes and how things smells and tastes when you've freshly ground it is surprisingly profound.
^^ I always have thought meatloaf got a bad rap. I've always liked it. BUT I can see that a person has to know HOW to make a good one. Certainly, it's not THE most tricky thing to make. But it's EASY to make a bad one.
I'll never forget an episode of "Recipe 9-1-1, with Tyler Florence." THe woman called because people HATED her meatloaf, and she wondered why it was so dry.
So Tyler had her make the recipe she normally did....and she put TWO CUPS of OATMEAL in the meant loaf. He was stunned and stopped her in her tracks. He was like, "Yoh what are you doing?" She said I always make it this way, like my mom did." He said, "Really she put 2 cups of oatmeal in it, never seen that before and people are it.? ...THAT's your problem, oatmeal sucks up every drop of moisture from the meat." He said, " Uh, breadcrumbs yes....but OATMEAL? And even breadcrumbs you don't put TWO CUPS!
I was as stunned as he was.
How do you NOT know...you can't put two cups of oatmeal in a meatloaf and NOT expect it to be a BRICK!
So yeah, a good meatloaf is great to have. it's a go-to, a staple.
Ever seen a 10lb meatloaf? A 10lb meatloaf cooked in a dutch oven on a camping trip over open coals? A 10lb meatloaf using oatmeal? Here it is-
Here's the base recipe. The most moist, flavorful, WOW meatloaf I've ever had or made. This recipe made me love meatloaf again AND this is the first time I ever had oatmeal in it. When I say moist- I MEAN MOIST! Of course cooking in a dutch oven helps to seal it all, but it was so moist I had to crack the dutch open and boil off some of it, lol. It was unbelievable and I have 12 Boy Scouts that will attest to that.
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg beaten
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 large (or 2 small) green peppers diced
1 large onion diced
10 cloves garlic finely diced
Montreal Steak Spice to taste
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp oregano
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
For me the one spice I have come to really appreciate (blend actually) is chinese 5 spice. I use it a lot on wild duck.
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