Having the Girls Over

Shortly after I moved back to Birmingham Sumner moved back too and we lived in adjacent apartment complexes. My next door neighbor was Cathleen and we all had similar stories of going away for college and eventually ending back up in Birmingham. Not too long after the three of us started to hang out, Elizabeth, having followed the same pattern, moved back too. We all enjoyed getting together and quickly realized we shared a common interest in hanging out together, cooking, eating, and sharing a bottle or two of wine. I was very new to cooking at this point and anxious to cook more but tired and frustrated with cooking for one. I won’t speak for the others, but I think we all felt somewhat the same. As far as cooking skills and practice I was probably the most green of the four of us with Cathleen being the most experienced. A quick side note… Cathleen may not remember this, but I stopped by her apartment one day to say hi and she was making an appetizer of polenta topped with mushrooms and a sauce for her family and let me have a taste – fantastic and believe it of not it was my first time trying polenta! Anyway, I don’t remember what all I cooked or any of us for that matter when we would get together, but I do remember it always being lots of fun with lots of yummy food. One of us would host and cook the entrée and the others would divide up bringing an appetizer, side dishes, and wine. We got together fairly frequently over a span of a couple years until it gradually became more difficult to find times to get together and we slowly let our dinners fall to the wayside. We would still all see each other, but not with our frequent dinners. For a while now I have wanted to get the four of us together again for dinner, so with Russ out of town this week it was the perfect time to have all the girls over for dinner instead of cooking for just me. Everyone was able to come and it was a wonderful, relaxing, fun evening of eating, drinking, and catching up! Hopefully we’ll be able to get our schedules to coordinate again sometime soon and do it again.

I decided to try a new meatloaf recipe tonight as my meatloaf craving from back here was still hanging around. One of the latest issues of Fine Cooking had a section on meatloaves and all the recipes looked tasty. I decided to finally breakaway from using the same meatloaf recipe and try a new one. For tonight I decided to make Meatloaf with Fresh Scallions and Herbs.

To make the meatloaf you sauté the onions in a little oil until they are soft and then set them aside to cool. Combine the meat (I used ground beef and turkey) in a bowl until it is mixed well. Then add the onions, paprika, salt and pepper and combine. Next add the remaining ingredients: eggs (beaten), panko, sliced scallions, sour cream, flat-leaf parsley, ketchup, tarragon, thyme and garlic. Mix this all together and then take a small piece, about the size of a quarter, and cook it in a pan on the stove. Taste the sample and adjust the seasoning as needed. I added a little more salt and pepper after tasting.

This meat loaf is really moist, but not mushy. I love the sour cream in it and think it really helps give it a creamy, moist texture. The tarragon is the dominant herb in the meatloaf and even though I really like tarragon I think I’ll cut it back a little next time in order to balance the flavors of the other herbs a little better. I am not sure why, but in the past I have always baked my meatloaf in a loaf pan. This time I formed the loaf by hand on a baking sheet and I will never go back to the putting it in a loaf pan again. I really like the look and shape of the free form loaf and I think it stayed even moister and cooked faster since the shape was not as thick and deep as the loaf pan I have used before.

When Russ got back in town he had a plate of leftovers and rated the meatloaf an 8.

Meatloaf with Fresh Scallions and Herbs, Fine Cooking
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. vegetable oil; more as needed1 cup finely chopped yellow onion3/4 lb. ground beef (80% lean)1/2 lb. ground veal1/2 lb. ground pork1 tsp. sweet paprika, preferably HungarianKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper3 large eggs, lightly beaten; 1 more if needed1-1/2 cups homemade dry breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs; more if needed1 cup thinly sliced scallions (both green and white parts)1 cup sour cream3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley2/3 cup ketchup1/3 cup chopped fresh tarragon1 tsp. lightly chopped fresh thyme2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.

Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

Put the ground beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl and gently knead them with your hands until just combined. Add the cooled onion, paprika, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper and gently knead to blend. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the remaining vegetable oil) and gently knead with your hands or stir with a large spoon until just incorporated.

Wipe out the skillet and heat the remaining 1 tsp. oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add a quarter-size piece of the meat and cook, turning halfway through cooking, until the meat is cooked through, about 1 minute on each side. Cool briefly and taste. If it’s too moist to hold together, add up to 1/2 cup more breadcrumbs to the meat mixture; if it’s too dry, add an extra egg. If necessary, add salt and pepper. Repeat cooking quarter-size pieces of the meat until you’re satisfied with the flavor and consistency.

On a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, mold the meat mixture into a 9x5-inch loaf. Bake until the meat is firm to the touch and has an internal temperature of 160°F, about 1 hour. Allow the meatloaf to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

My Notes: For the meat I used ground beef and ground turkey.