Meat(loaf) and Potatoes

We had guests over! The guest rule is that they pick two random numbers between 1 and 143 (yes, I've acquired more since I started the blog - Half Price Books had coupons!). Those numbers correspond with my cookbooks in the spreadsheet. Molly's picks were:

Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food and The Quick Recipe from the editors of Cook's Illustrated. Both of these books are written by chefs that know their stuff. Alton knows the science behind everything food, and Cook's Illustrated chefs prepare a recipe as many times as it takes until testers absolutely love it. I've never had a recipe of theirs fail!

Alton's cookbook is divided up by technique. The chapter I chose for dinner was "Roasting." In that chapter are recipes like Roast Turkey, Roast Tomato Soup, and the two I selected, Meatloaf and A Perfect Baked Potato. The recipes below are as written:

MEATLOAF

Ingredients for Meatloaf and Baked Potato

Software:

• 2 large eggs
• 2 pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 1/2 cups diced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 slices white sandwich bread, diced
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Hardware:

• Large mixing bowl
• Small sauté pan
• Loaf pan
• Rack
• Sheet pan

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs together. Using your hands, combine the rest of the ingredients and blend together. Now is the time to taste your food so you can adjust the seasonings if necessary. So, heat up a small pan and make a tiny patty of the mixture and cook it. If it tastes good, put the uncooked meat mixture into a 9 x 5-inch roast pan and bake on a rack over a sheet pan. (If the cooked patty doesn't taste good, adjust the seasonings, cook, and taste again.) Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Once out of the oven, allow the meatloaf to rest in the pan on a rack for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the meatloaf from the pan and discard the rendered fat. Think about your mom, slice and serve.

A PERFECT BAKED POTATO

Software: 

• 1 medium-size high-starch potato (russet or Idaho)
• Canola oil
• Kosher salt

Hardware:

• Vegetable brush
• Paper towels
• Fork
• Small bowl
• Fireproof gloves

Wash the potato with a vegetable brush and dry with paper towels. With the fork, poke holes all over the potato surface. This will allow steam inside the potato to release as it heats, which will result in a great fluffy texture. Pour a small amount of canola oil into a bowl, add the potato and turn until the entire surface is lightly coated with the oil. This not only makes for a slightly crunchy skin, because the oil can get so much hotter than the water inside the potato, it will regulate the moisture. Sprinkle the potato with kosher salt.

Place the potato directly on the rack in the center of the oven. A medium-size russet should be fully cooked in about one hour. To check for doneness, give the potato a squeeze (wearing fireproof gloves). If the skin feels kind of crunchy but the meat inside is  soft, it's time to eat.

Finished meatloaf & baked potato

Recipes from The Quick Recipe

Ingredients for the spinach

SPINACH WITH PANCETTA AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR

If desired, bacon and red wine vinegar can be used in place of the pancetta and balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 oz pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tbs)
• 3 bags spinach (10 oz each), stemmed, washed, and partially dried, with water left clinging to leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the garlic to the oil, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the spinach and toss to combine. Cover the pot, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is tender and wilted but still bright green, 3 to 5 minutes Off the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss with the vinegar and pancetta. Serve immediately.

Dinner!

TOFFEE BARS

Ingredients for Toffee Bars

You can buy buttercrunch toffee, or you can use Skor candy bars, which are buttercrunch toffee covered with chocolate. To soften the butter quickly, cut it into 2-tbs chunks and microwave at 50% for 10 seconds.

Ingredients:

• 10 tbs unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed (2 1/3 oz) dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (1 1/3 oz) confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 ounces hard toffee or 4 Skor candy bars, chopped fine (about 2/3 cup)
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Instructions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower position, and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8" x 8" baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper. 
2. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and confectioners' sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the flour and salt and beat at low speed until the mixture becomes sandy, with large pea-size bits, about 30 seconds.
3. Sprinkle 2 1.4 cups of the crumb mixture into the lined pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer that covers the entire pan bottom. Sprinkle the toffee and chocolate morsels over the crust and then sprinkle whtm with the remaining crumb mixture.
4. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Use the parchment paper to gently lift the entire bar out of the pan. Palce the toffee bar on a flat surface (such as a baking sheet or large platter) and freeze until cooled and firm, about 20 minutes. Transfer the bar to a cutting board and cut into 9 squares, and serve.

Toffee Bars

Notes:

1. As tempting as it seems, it doesn't work when you cook the meatloaf and baked potatoes together in the oven for the specified times. Add more time if you're cooking both together. The meatloaf was good, but the potatoes were a bit on the hard side.
2. If you have a grinder attachment for your KitchenAid mixer, grind your own chuck! It adds time, but it saves money.
3. Oh, spinach, how I love thee, but I have yet to learn how to cook SO MUCH OF YOU! Spinach starts out taking up SO much space, and cooks down to a perfect bowl-full. I think it turned out well, but I still need to master that cooking technique. 
4. I used Skor bars for the toffee bars, and they were delicious. 
5. It's always fun to cook for friends...

...especially when they dance for their dinner!