Meet the Meat Muffins

What do you do if you want your toddler and preschooler to eat something?

Make it into the shape of a muffin! (Or a pie slice -- more on that in another post.)

Since I'm on a recipe roll, I thought I'd post my (in)famous Turkey Meatloaf Muffin recipe. Or, as we call them in our house, Meat Muffins. Frankly, the best part of this recipe is that I can tweak here and there for a different dish. And it's stupid easy and fast. Also, this recipe started as a bulk recipe for the scratch cafe I used to work at, using 10 lbs of ground turkey. Obviously, I've modified a bit -- but you can still make this into a loaf. It just takes longer to cook.

So without further ado, the recipe:

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

1 lb ground turkey (80/20 -- pls, don't use the fat-free version. It's no good.)
1 small onion (or ~ 1/2 cup), very small dice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 egg
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
~ 1 TB Worchestershire sauce
2 TB ketchup
2 tsp salt (I use Kosher salt)*
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp poultry seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Saute the onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until they're soft and translucent. Cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, combine turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup, Worchestershire, salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Add onions and garlic, and mix until just combined (don't overmix).
4. Spray the bottoms of a 12 cup muffin pan with Pam spray (precautionary). Plop blobs of meatloaf into cups, trying to evenly distribute. Flatten tops slightly.
5. Cook muffins in oven for 25-30 mins, or until instant read thermometer reads 170 inside a muffin. (In my experience, 25 mins. really does it, since these are pretty small muffins. You'll only fill each cup halfway, if that.)
6. Cool slightly, then remove from cups and rest on paper-towel covered plate to soak up excess liquid (water, fat). Serve with more ketchup and enjoy.

In a hurry: Skip the sauteing and use onion and garlic powder instead. But easy on the garlic powder -- it's got a fake garlicky taste if you use too much. I'd use maybe 1-2 tsp onion powder, and no more than 1/2 tsp garlic powder.

Italian Meatballs: You can sub ground chicken if you want, but not necessary...

• Increase ketchup to 3 TB.
• Leave out the poultry seasoning. Instead, use Italian seasoning, or just dried basil and oregano (easy on the oregano), or basil and parsley.
• Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese or Romano.
• Grate the onion using a box grater or food processor.
• Increase garlic up to 3 cloves.
• Form small meat balls with your hands (yes, your hands). Brown the meatballs in olive oil on all sides, then finish in the oven for ~ 20 mins. until done.
• Plop meatballs in your favorite pasta sauce and heat through.

* Ok, I'm admitting I have a salt thing. This amount is conservative, folks. I like well-seasoned food, and after working in a restaurant kitchen I like it even more. That said, I've found that the key to cooking ground meat concoctions (e.g. meatloaf, meatballs, hamburgers) is salt -- and sometimes a shockingly large amount of it. With raw meats, you COULD cook a small amount to test and then adjust. Or, you could just do like me, and err on the side of hypertension...

Warm Up

Holy crud -- almost three months and no new posts! It's not that nothing has happened.

It's just that I'm lazy. And freakin' cold.

So, instead of mustering up the energy to write some deep thoughts, I'll post a recipe I made last night for dinner. C and I ate it with some Bisquick drop biscuits -- but I would have loved some chapati instead. Maybe in my next lifetime...

Side note: I'm always trying to find decent recipes for my crock pot. And by decent, I mean "does not taste like cardboard mixed with broth and vegetables." I find most crock pot recipes are not, IMO, decent. And, it's because the ONE step required for decent, tasty soups/stews is generally omitted from crock pot recipes because, well -- it adds an extra step to what's supposed to be an easy, one-pot meal. Sheesh. A double-bind if I ever saw one. What's that ONE step, you ask? Browning your meat (if using) and sauteeing all your veggies and aromatics and spices together in a pan BEFORE adding to the crock pot. Anyhoo, if you wanna be really efficient, just go ahead and drop $400 on the All-Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker. You know you want it. I do. Every. Single. Day.

Lunch ... finally.

Bastard* Mulligatawny Soup in the Crock Pot

2 TB butter
1 med onion, small dice
1 med carrot, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 apple (any firm variety), peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
~ 1 TB curry powder [less spice = less hot, so vary amounts for the kiddos or whatever]
~ 1 TB garam masala
1/8 tsp ground cloves
~ 2 TB flour

Salt and pepper to taste
1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes (with liquid)
3 cups chicken broth
~ 2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken (I used rotisserie chicken, white and dark meat, with skin removed).

1. Melt butter in a saute pan, then add onion and garlic. Cook until soft (don't let garlic burn).
2. Add other veggies, cooking for a few minutes into starting to soften. Season a bit with salt and pepper.
3. Sprinkle spices and flour over veggies, cook for a few minutes until raw flour smell is gone.
4. Add canned tomatoes and their liquid, stirring pan to scrape up all spice bits. Taste, and season again with salt if needed. Turn off heat.
5. Dump veggies and tomatoes into crock pot, then add chicken and broth.
6. Crank pot to High and let cook for about 4 hours. Serve over basmati rice (yum), or eat alone.

Have to say, this was the perfect dinner for a cold January night in the 'Burg. Leftovers for lunch, here we come...

* I call it "Bastard" because I cobbled this together from two different recipes, one specifically for the crock pot, the other using traditional stovetop methods. Plus, I couldn't seem to find any two recipes that are alike for this soup. Oh yeah, and the whole "No Soup for You!" thing...

Slice of Heaven

 

I love lunch. Sandwiches for lunch, to be exact. Neither of my kids has inherited this trait yet (I don't count PB&J) -- but there's still time. Time to make them wonderful, perfectly-balanced meals lovingly placed between two pieces of tasty bread. Ask my husband, I am incapable of "just making a sandwich." He hates it. But, he loves my sandwiches...

When I worked in a from-scratch bakery and cafe in VA, we had tons of fun coming up with new sandwich combos. We used fresh bread made on-site, and every time we needed to change the menu I got so excited. These sandwiches were, um, gourmet (if you can excuse the term). But all were just good.

On our honeymoon in the south of France, my hands-down favorite meal was a picnic lunch we had on the outskirts of Bonne, in Bourgogne. We bought sandwiches in town before we went (and before the wine). Oh, these sandwiches. I still dream of them:

Fresh, perfect chewy crusty baguette, enclosing fresh sliced local ham on a creamy pillow of real salted butter, and topped with Emmentaler cheese.

GASP! Butter on a sandwich?? My life was never the same... Sip a cool, balanced white Burgundy with that and just let everything else melt away.

So the other day, I made a sandwich for myself for lunch. Toasted wheat bread, deli ham, NY state cheddar cheese, vine tomatoes (OK, these are out of season, but they're better than the mushy bland alternative), green leaf lettuce from my garden, and a slather of mayo and Dijon mustard. Oh yeah, and some S&P on the tomatoes.

And then, folks -- I took a picture of it for posterity, 'cause that's how I do.

The Spice Road

Turns out to be the road less traveled in this house. Last night's dinner was something I was craving. This is usually when I enjoy cooking the most:

Chicken Curry with Tomatoes (Murgha Kari)

This dish from the Punjab takes only 30 minutes to prepare. [Did you read that? Only 30 mins!! Well, ahem. My chicken took a bit longer than 15 mins to cook to doneness. I guess chickens in the Punjab are much smaller than U.S. birds.] In India fresh tomatoes would be used in this dish.


4 medium onions, chopped [I only used 1.5 large ones, Vidalia]
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup butter or cooking oil [I used about 2 TB butter and 1/4 cup peanut oil.]
1 cup or 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce [I used chopped fresh tomatoes, cause I had 'em.]
2 teaspoons salt [or to taste. My opinion was it was a bit too salty.]
1 frying chicken (2 to 3 pounds) [I buy whole organic and cut up myself. Much cheaper...]
3/4 cup hot water

Use a casserole or large skillet with lid. Cook onions and curry powder in butter for 10 to 15 minutes. Add tomato sauce and salt. Disjoint and skin chicken, and place in sauce. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat, turning frequently until sauce becomes quite dry and chicken tests done with fork, about 15 minutes. Add hot water, cover pot, and cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Makes 4 servings.


Fresh local, organic spinach (yum!), sauteed with 3 cloves garic, sliced, in some olive oil

Basmati rice

Both Christian and I really liked this meal. Ian ate some of it (maybe some chicken?), and then had loads of fun throwing his spinach everywhere. Will took one bite of his drumstick (the only chicken part he eats with relish -- just like me when I was a kid), and almost burst into tears. "I don't like this kind of chicken!!" It wasn't even a spicy curry, for heaven's sake.

Sigh.

In the end, Will ate two hot dogs, some corn on the cob and a popsicle for dinner. No spinach.

Oh well, all I can do is expose them to different foods, right? And, frankly, I totally enjoyed my dinner that night. Screaming tantrums, flying food and all.

 

Sleep Deprived

It's really wonderful how becoming a parent allows one to see and do things that you just wouldn't get a chance to otherwise. Like, for instance, watching your 10 month old's head loll dangerously forward, and sideways, as he falls dead sleep while feeding himself at the table at 5:45 PM. Seriously. In mid-mouthful.

The backstory is that the little guy took one nap at school (earlier than normal), and of course, didn't get in the afternoon one he really needed. Just too busy.

Black bean and cheese quesadillas* (homemade) = $5?

Avocado = $3 (whoa!)

Booster seat with tray that straps to a chair = $22

Baby falling asleep with eyes rolling back into his head like a doll's? = Priceless

(I apologize to Mastercard's marketing peeps...)

* Black Bean & Cheddar Quesadillas your toddler will eat

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 block shredded cheddar cheese (~2 cups or so)

3 green onions, sliced small

3-4 sprigs cilantro, chopped

10 inch flour tortillas

Combine cheese, black beans, onions and cilantro. Spread some of mixture on one side of tortilla. Fold in half like a book. Do same with another tortilla. Heat some veggie oil in large pan (non-stick is OK). Add folded quesadillas, and cook several minutes on each side until cheese is melted and tortillas are light brown and crispy. Serve with salsa and sour cream. You can skip the onions and cilantro if the wee one is grossed out by all things green. Add corn if you want, or whatever floats your boat. This is the ONE meal that the 3 year old will always eat.