My Grandmother's Meat Loaf

Hey everyone! More apologies for the extremely slow posting, the summer school semester has just ended so I will be able to make up my absence with a few posts in the next coming days. To my knowledge, meat loaf does not have a great reputation in North America. Usually it is the dish that children abhor and are subjected to by their parents or grandparents. It is supposed to be dry or flavourless or too much flavour, but not a good flavour. I am no meat loaf connoisseur, I have only had my grandmother's meat loaf and it is divine. It is always moist and it is good cold or warm or in a sandwich the next day. The secret ingredient in the meat loaf is the spice called savory. Savory isn't the easiest spice to find but I think most major grocery stores carry it. Most of the time it is just labelled as "savory" but if your grocery store carries both summer and winter savory, buy the winter savory. Savory can be replaced by thyme if you can't find it, but trust me...this spice is worth the purchase. This is a great mid-week meal because it's very quick to make and the ingredients are not very expensive

Ingredients:
-450 grams lean or extra-lean ground pork
-1 egg
-1 onion, finely chopped
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-1 tsp. savory
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. ground pepper
-about 1/2 cup bread crumbs, plus some more

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix first 8 ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Add enough bread crumbs to this mixture so that it is no longer runny. Knead mixture for 3 minutes.
2. In another bowl, add about 1/8 or 1/4 cup bread crumbs. Gather the meat mixture together and shape into a loaf. If there are any cracks, return it to the bowl and knead again. Roll the exterior of the loaf in the breadcrumbs. Place onto a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes. If it starts to burn, cover it with aluminum foil.
Serve with a side of boiled broccoli or a side salad. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information:

(per 1 serving, should yield 5 servings): 214.9 calories, 9.9 grams of fat, 42 mg of cholesterol, 380.9 mg of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 21.6 grams of protein

Banana-Oatmeal Muffins

Hey everyone!
It became obvious to me that I've been posting predominantly dinner recipes so I thought I would change it up and throw in a breakfast recipe. These muffins were soooooo goooooood, including good for you and low in fat. I love love love bananas and thus, banana muffins. Bananas have lots of great things in them: the potassium in bananas help prevent high blood pressure, they have fiber which helps you fight against heart disease, they are a very good source of B6 (something us ladies will find to be very important ;) ), they are a good source of Vitamin C, and they help your body absorb calcium which helps you build better bones.
Now the muffins I made are a very, VERY tasty alternative to the commercial muffin. My muffins totalled 217 calories per muffin, while commercial muffins weigh in at double that: generally around 450 calories per muffin. These muffins were very moist because of the bananas and they all disappeared within a few days.

(courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients:

-3 cups all-purpose flour

-1 cup white sugar

-1 cup golden brown sugar

-2 tsp. baking powder

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-2 eggs, lightly beaten

-3/4 skim milk

-2 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 cup melted butter, cooled

-3 bananas, mashed

-1 cup rolled oats

-1 cup chopped walnuts

-1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
2. Sift the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Mix in the cinnamon, eggs, milk, vanilla, and butter. Fold in bananas, oats, walnuts, and coconut. Scoop into the prepared muffin tins, only fill each buffin cup 2/3rds of the way. Sprinkle the top with more oats.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre most muffin comes out clean.

Nutritional Information:
(should yield 30 muffins, per 1 muffin): 217.7 calories, 10.3 grams of fat, 5.2 grams of saturated fat, 28.7 mg of cholesterol, 94 mg of sodium, 30.1 grams of carbohydrates, 1.4 grams of fiber, 16.9 grams of sugar, 2.9 grams of protein

Splurge Recipe #3: Boston Cream Pie-Cupcakes

Hi everyone! It's that time of the month again for our splurge recipe to satisfy those with a sweet-tooth like myself. I stumbled across this recipe on the Martha Stewart website and I just had to make them for a friend of mine who was leaving to work in Boston for a few months. They were absolutely delicious and really easy to make. This recipe does have three fundamental components that you have to make: 1. the batter for the cupcakes, 2. the custard/cream for the inside, and 3. the ganache topping. Each of these are simple to make so don't be intimated that it takes a little assembly and coordination to make these cupcakes. Anyone can make these, like I say it just takes a little bit of time and patience to be a good baker.

I would suggest to make the vanilla cream first so that while it cools in the fridge, you can make the cupcakes and the ganache.

Vanilla Cream

Ingredients:

   -2 large egg yolks

   -1/4 cup sugar

   -2 tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

   -pinch of salt

   -1 cup whole milk

   -1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1.Whisk yolks until smooth. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add milk in a slow and steady stream. Cook, stirring, until mixture begins to bubble and thicken, about 5 minutes. 

2. Pour 1/3rd of milk mixture into egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in vanilla.

3. Pass vanilla cream through a fine sieve into a bowl (this is what Martha Stewart's recipe says to do and if you would like to do this you are more than welcome to but I did not since I don't have a sieve and it turned out just fine). Press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the mixture. Refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour, and until 2 days.

For the cupcakes:
 Ingredients:
     -1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
     -1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
     -1/2 tsp. salt
     -1/2 cup whole milk
     -6 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for tins
     -3 large eggs
     -1 cup sugar
     -1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a sheet of paper towel, wipe it either with some oil, margarine, or butter and use this to grease the cups in a muffin tin. Flour the cups as well too. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small saucepan, warm milk and butter over low heat.
2.Beat eggs and sugar with a mixer on high until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in the dry ingredients slowly.
3.  When the milk and butter mixture comes to a boil, add this mixture to the batter and beat until smooth on low speed. Add vanilla. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each halfway. Bake cupcakes until they are light gold in colour, about 15 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool in the muffin tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Let cool.
4. Using a serrated knife, cut each in half horizontally. Spread 1 tbsp. of vanilla cream on each cupcake bottom half. Sandwich with top. Spoon chocolate glaze over top and serve immediately.

Now while the cupcakes are baking, you can make the ganache which is very quick.

Chocolate-ganache glaze
Ingredients:
   -2/3 cup heavy cream
   -6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
   -1 tbsp. light corn syrup
Directions:
1. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, and add chocolate and corn syrup. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool, stirring often. Use immediately.

Makes 18 cupcakes.
Nutritional Information:
(as always, none! Enjoy yourself, without the guilt :) )