RECIPE: Bacon-wrapped Meatloaf

One day last week, I found myself making dinner for a friend.  Such an event usually means I pull out all the stops and go gangbusters with exotic ingredients.  That day, though, I had next to nothing in the pantry and fridge to satisfy a visitor.  I had to think creatively, and quickly, in order to keep her happy (she's a picky eater!).  So, I decided to make meatloaf for the first time in my life.

At this point, you're probably questioning the wisdom of making something for the first time while entertaining a picky eater.  Well, now I am too.  Apparently, said friend is not only a picky eater but doesn't particularly like meatloaf. So! The moral of this story is: always keep something fancy on hand.  Even the best meatloaf won't keep everyone happy.

To the food!

For this recipe, I drew from the fantastic cooking resource, How to Cook Everything.  I have certainly put it to good use since my sister gave it to me a year ago!  I recommend choosing a fattier blend of meats than I used--mine turned out well, but the fattier the ground meat, the richer the final product.  Meatloaf with bacon on top isn't exactly calorie-free in the first place.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used some leftover Ezekiel bread, to keep this Body Chemistry Diet-friendly)
1/2 cup milk

2 lbs ground beef (or any other meat, or combination of meats)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 small sweet onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, minced
1 teaspoon fresh sage or summer savory
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4-6 slices peppered bacon


DIRECTIONS

 
Heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Meanwhile, soak the bread crumbs in the milk until the milk is absorbed (about 5 minutes).
Mix together all the ingredients except for the bacon.  Shape the meat into a rounded loaf on a baking pan, then lay the bacon across the top and tuck underneath.  The bacon should help hold the loaf together.
Bake 45 to 60 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices or barbecue sauce (supposing you can find some without high fructose corn syrup in it).  When fully cooked, the meat loaf ought to be lightly browned and firm to the touch.  If you have an instant-read thermometer (I do not), it should read 160 degrees Fahrenheit when inserted into the center of the loaf.  The bacon should be nice and crispy--if you find it hasn't become so by the time the meatloaf is fully cooked, you can run the whole loaf under the broiler for 2-3 minutes and it will crisp right up.

VERDICT:  Pretty great, really, unless you don't like meat loaf in the first place!

RECIPE: Bacon-Wrapped Whiting

One of my housemates has told me I should advertise my blog as gluten-free while I pursue this Body Chemistry Diet.  I'm not sure I really know what qualifies as gluten-free, so I'll have to do a little more research.  What you can know for a certainty, though, is that for the near future you will not be seeing any baked goods where I have not personally cranked the wheat through the hand mill (which arrived day before yesterday!).  I will make sure to exclude any wheat/grain-based dishes from the gluten-free tags.

For this meal, however, you gluten-free friends won't have to bat an eye.

Bacon has been on my mind a lot lately.  I have heard about some current craze in bacon desserts, and last weekend I saw some bacon-topped chocolate cupcakes in Savoy, a little tea shop in Pinnacle Hills.  I'm still not convinced that bacon and desserts go together, but I'd be open to trying it some day ... some day when I'm not on the Body Chemistry Diet.  Anyway, I picked up some peppered bacon last week and was looking for creative ways to cook fish and thought: hey!  I have these two ingredients!  I wonder if they work together? -- and so I used trusty Google to see if anyone else had the same idea.  They had, but I like to do my own thing.  So I whipped up a simple but delectable dinner for anyone who likes white fish and bacon, together or separately.


INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon butter
Two sizable white fish fillets (I used whiting, but tilapia would work just as well)
1/2 one chopped yellow onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine (I used a moscato, which complimented the peppered bacon perfectly)
6 medium slices peppered bacon (prosciutto and regular bacon also works, I hear)
1 tbsp chopped basil (fresh or dried)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

All good things start with bacon, so begin by pan frying your bacon until it is about halfway done--that is, until it is beginning to brown, but is still flexible enough to wrap around your fish.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

In the same pan (keeping the bacon drippings, since they're so wonderful), saute the onion and garlic in the butter.  As the onion begins to become translucent, add the white wine and basil and let simmer until the sauce cooks down to about half its original volume (somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes). 

As the sauce cooks, wrap your bacon around your fillets, using toothpicks to secure the bacon.  Place the wrapped fillets in an oven safe glass pan or casserole dish.

When the sauce has cooked down, remove it from the heat and pour it over the fillets.  Place the pan in the oven and cook for between 40 and 45 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy on both sides (turn the fillets over halfway through).

Serve hot, heaping the caramelized onions on top and drizzling with the remaining sauce.

Do remember to remove the toothpicks before chowing down.

VERDICT: This dish is as divine as you can imagine for a simple, easy dinner.  Sure, it takes about an hour to prepare--but a meal like this is worth every second.  The natural sweetness of the white wine and the yellow onions pairs perfectly with the unique taste of whiting and the bold sharpness of the peppered bacon.