Meatloaf with Lentils (original recipe)

I've been in search of a good meatloaf recipe for a while, and I finally gave up and made my own. It took a few times (trial and error!) to get the right ratios, but it's finally done and with pleasing results! It held together and tasted good to everyone (including the kids).

I am having trouble getting a decent photograph of it in a pan, though. Grease from the meat and having to use my old phone for these pictures certainly didn't help!

I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans, though the pictures seem to have disappeared from my camera. The last time I made it we served it with homemade potato wedges.

Meatloaf
1/3c milk
2 eggs
2t sage
2t thyme
1t pepper
1/2c dry lentils (cook before using)
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1# ground beef

Sauce
3T acv
2T brown sugar
1/2c tomato sauce/paste mixture (in lieu of ketchup)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix spices, milk and egg in large bowl.
Cook lentils, add to egg mixture.
Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil and then add to egg mixture.
Brown beef and add to bowl with mixture.
Mix well and place in greased loaf dish and add topping (mix all ingredients for topping together, then spread across top of meat mixture).
Bake for 1 hour.
Allow to sit 10 minutes before serving.

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. This recipe is an original recipe.

Pumpkin Chili

I'm going to come straight out and say it: I was scared to try this recipe. I dislike all squash except zucchini and yellow summer squash. The only exception is pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie. While I will eat some squash I dislike (like spaghetti squash), I certainly try to avoid it. Still, I was super intrigued by this recipe from MOMables. Also, my whole family loves squash. I made this recipe already assuming I would dislike it.

With cheese sprinkled on top

The recipe was super simple to make, especially since we had a can of organic pumpkin on hand. Normally I avoid canned items, but we do keep a few things in the pantry just in case. Normally we end up using the foods as they near the end of their shelf life because we simply don't use canned foods frequently. That's okay, though. I'd rather have them around in case we do need them then be caught unawares!

Without cheese

The recipe is really simple.

We added 1 small onion and a can of pinto beans since that's what was on hand.

To my surprise, you couldn't taste the pumpkin. I was prepared to not like the meal. I have a super sensitive palate, and can taste pretty much anything... but not the pumpkin. It actually bothered me that I knew there was pumpkin in it and yet I couldn't taste it! Another thing that bothered me is the fact I couldn't taste the ground turkey as turkey. I wasn't upset by that since I actually have a strong dislike of ground turkey. I love ground beef, but I just can't get past the flavour of ground turkey. This dish tasted like regular (as in no pumpkin, and with beef) chili. Not too shabby! I added some greek yogurt atop my chili and then topped that with some cheese. Delicious!

This meal would have been delicious with some cornbread. Next time we are definitely doing this with cornbread!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. 

Shepherd's Pie

I have been looking for a good Shepherd's Pie recipe for a while, and finally saw one that grabbed my attention. I actually was hoping to make the recipe soon when I found the recipe in my inbox! (I am signed up for Serious Eats' newsletter, and it just happened to be Shepherd's Pie that day.)

I attempted to make the recipe as it was, but I lacked russet potatoes and fresh herbs, so I had to make a few adjustments. I mostly followed the recipe, though. Oh, I also used ground lamb instead of chunks of lamb. 

I must add: It was delicious! I don't think that there was enough potato for the top, and I also found the stew to be too liquidy, so I would probably add more flour (or less broth) next time depending on how it looked.

Stew:

• 1 1/2# ground lamb
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 2T canola oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 2T flour
• 4c lamb or beef stock/broth
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (roughly 2 cups)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1t dried thyme
• 1t dried rosemary
• 1t dried oregano

Mashed Potatoes:

• 3# potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1t salt
• 4 lg. egg yolks
• 1/2c unsalted butter
• 1/2c heavy cream

*Preheat oven to 450 near the end of step 5

1) Brown the lamb meat and set aside.
*If you are using cubes of meat, dry with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper if desired, and saute in some oil over medium high heat. Let the meat brown to the pan for several minutes before stirring (stirring too soon will cause them to release water and boil instead of brown).Turn over after about 4 minutes and let brown again, then remove from heat.

Meat browned and set aside (in dish I later baked in)

2) Put the veggies in the pan the lamb was browned in, and stir. The veggies will release water while they cook and help remove the browned lamb from the pan. Scrape up any brown pieces from the pan with a spoon or spatula (leave in for flavour, though!). Continue to sweat the veggies for about 5 minutes.

3) Add in flour and let brown for around 2 minutes. Add in stock, then potatoes and spices. Return meat to pan and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium and simmer for 90 minutes, covered, until the meat is tender (if cubed) or until all veggies are done. Complete step 4 while this is simmering. When done, remove bay leaves and transfer stew into baking dish.

4) Boil potatoes until fully cooked, drain, then place back in pot. Stir for a few minutes over the heat to ensure they are dry. Add egg yolks, butter, and cream, mashing/whisking until smooth.
*Do this quickly, as the potatoes will become gummy and starchy if they cool too much.

5) Smooth mashed potatoes over the stew in the baking dish. (Or use a pastry bag and a large star tip to pipe the mixture over the top. I tried. I failed miserably at this.) Make sure to create a full seal across the top with the potatoes.

6) Place pie on top of a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, and bake for 30-35 minutes (or until potatoes are browned and the filling is bubbly.) Let sit for 15 minutes, then serve hot.

I found this to be a bit more soup-y than stew-y when I made it, so I would cut back by 1/2c or 1c of stock next time, or just add more flour in step 3. It wasn't a big deal, I just drained a bit of the juice off and served. Absolutely delicious!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Recipe based off of Serious Eats' shepherd's pie recipe found here.

Lamb Kofte

We love to eat all sorts of foods here, and the kids enjoy the variety of flavours. When we found some lamb on sale at the local grocery, we went in search of a new recipe. We've used lamb before, but we wanted something different.

I came across this recipe for lamb kofte, and we decided to give it a go. It's basically Turkish meatballs, and was to be served on a flatbread.

We tweaked the recipe a bit due to availability of ingredients and Bobble's dietary needs (low sodium).

Lamb Kofte

Yogurt sauce:

• 1c greek yogurt
• 2T tahini
• 3T fresh lemon juice

Köfte:

• 1.5# ground lamb
• 2T dried mint
• 1T dried minced onion
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 3T paprika
• 1T ground cumin
• 1/2t sea salt
• 1t ground black pepper
• 1/4t cayenne pepper

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• Flatbread or Na'an
• 2T olive oil
• 2 onions cut into 1/4" to 1/3" slices

Yogurt Sauce:

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until needed.

Kofte:

1) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Mix together lamb and spices (up to the dashed line in ingredient list) in a large bowl. Roll into 1 1/2" meatballs and arrange on lined baking sheet.

3) Preheat oven to 300F. Tear a piece of foil about the size of a cookie sheet and set on counter next to stove. Heat large skillet (medium-high) and add flat bread or naan to pan, one at a time, cooking until browned (~2min per side). Set bread on foil and continue until all are heated. Wrap in the foil and place in oven to keep warm.

4) Add 1T of oil and onions to same skillet and sautee over medium-high heat until golden brown (~8min).

5) Place cooked onions on one side of a large baking dish (like a casserole dish), and place in oven to keep warm.

6) Add 1T of oil to same skillet (same heat) and sautee half of the meat balls until they are cooked through (~7min). Place cooked meatballs in other half of baking dish in oven to keep warm, and repeat with remaining uncooked meatballs (adding oil if skillet dries out).

You can serve these however you wish. The original recipe shows them on a flatbread, dressed with the sauteed onions, yogurt sauce, and muhammara. I didn't include the muhammara in this post, though you can find it in the original recipe. I cannot tell you my thoughts on it since we could not find pomegranate syrup, and hubby tried to make it with what he thought was a clever substitute. He thought we had some cranberry pomegranate juice and figured that would be close enough to make his own syrup with. First, I think that sounds gross, and isn't what the recipe called for. Second.... it was cranberry grape juice, not pomegranate. He didn't read the label.I think that the muhammara my hubby made was gross, but it also was made all sorts of wrong. I don't know what it would have been like if it had been made as the recipe called, but I'm not a fan of sweet things with savoury things anyway, and pomegranate syrup sounds sweet to me.

The kids loved the meal, and so did hubby. I loved it without his attempt at muhammara, and ate it without that. Hubby originally served the flat bread cut into pieces to dip in sauce, but then realized it's much better all held within the flatbread. We didn't use naan, but we both agreed it would have been fabulous on naan.

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.