Valentine's Day - Dinner with the Kids

Finished product, dessert courtesy of Surreal Confections.

It's been a little while since my last post. Doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking, just been too busy to post. Well, that curious lack of posting ends today. A bit of a special occasion, really, this meal is being done in tandem with Surreal Confections (providing the dessert).  I'll get right to it.

Valentine's Day. Ordinarily a time for people in love to show their affection for one another by gifts of chocolate, flowers, lovely greeting cards, and food in very expensive restaurants. Now, Valentine's Day makes up one of the two busiest days for a restaurant (the other one being Mother's Day), which hardly ensures that you'll even get a seat, let alone a memorable meal. And what do you do when you have a family? Hire a sitter that costs too much and probably has a nagging addiction to snorting cornflakes and coke? NO! That'll cost you even more money and drain your supplies of cereal and soda. Here's what you do:

Make dinner yourself. Cater to your kids. (If you're a guy, your lady will appreciate your attention and nurturing actions directed at the little ones. If you're a lady, your guy will understand that the little ones take priority.) When they're in bed, full of yummy food and chocolate, THEN you cater to your sweetheart. Keep the kids' dinner simple but memorable. Traditional meals like, oh, say... Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes, perhaps? Let's be fancy and make some bell pepper hearts to go along with it. Today is all about the presentation.

So, our Valentine's Day meal for the kids will consist of Heart-Shaped Homestyle Meatloaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes,  Bell Pepper Hearts, and we're finishing off the meal with Surreal Confections' own Strawberry and Dark Chocolate Filled Choclate Cupcakes with Whipped Topping, conceived specially for the occasion.

First off, before the day gets rolling too hard you'll need to prepare a couple of things. First off, here's what you need:

For the Meatloaf

Meatloaf veggies, just about ready to go.

2 lbs. Ground Beef,

1 medium Onion, yellow, diced small

1 large stalk of Celery, diced small

6 button mushrooms, sliced 

2 Eggs

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

1 tbsp Garlic Powder

1 tbsp Onion Powder

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 cup Ketchup

Cooking Oil (for sauteeing) 

1 cup of Breadcrumbs or Cornflakes

For the Mashers

7 Potatoes, White, Medium sized (or five bigger ones)

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

2 cups Heavy Cream

2 Tbsp Minced Garlic in Oil

Onion Powder
2 tbsp Whole Butter

Pepper Hearts

For the Peppers

1 each Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green Bell Pepper
Cooking Oil (for sauteeing)
Salt (to taste)
1 tsp minced Garlic

Now that we've got that settled, here's what you do:

For the Meatloaf

-Drop a bit of oil into a medium saute pan or  skillet. Bring up the temp for a couple of minutes and drop in your onion, celery, and mushrooms. Keep it moving until the veggies are tender.
-Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl (except for 1 tbsp of brown sugar).  Simple, eh?
-Couple of options here. If you have a medium sized heart-shaped pan, as is a staple in many child bearing households, oil it lightly and plop the embryonic meatloaf in.  If you do not, get a square baking pan, load it up, and trim it down to a heart shape after it comes out of the oven. But I strongly suggest you get the heart pan. Multi-purpose, and whatnot.
- Cover with foil, making sure to tent the middle and secure the sides
-Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until juices run clear. Alternately, it should have an internal temperature in the centermost area of at least 155 degrees. Also Fahrenheit.

A note, here. I cheated, and I expect you to as well. This is meant to be an easy fix, with the nifty bit being the presentation. Pick your favorite packaged spiced blend. Either Lawry's Seasoned Salt or Montreal Steak Seasoning work well with a loaf o' meat. Omit the other spices from this recipe except for one tbsp of the brown sugar. You'll see why.

-After your Meatloaf is out of the oven, allow it to rest for about five minutes. While resting, mix together your ketchup and brown sugar.
-Apply your red glaze evenly to the top of the Meatloaf (do this during the "Put It All Together" phase, below).

For the Mashers

-Get a pot of water on high heat. Bring to a boil.
-While waiting on the water, quarter your potatoes. Do not peel.
-When the water's at a good rolling boil, CAREFULLY add the potatoes.
-Boil, stirring occasionally, until your 'taters are tender. Drain and reserve.
-In a small saucepan, drop in a teaspoon of oil and your garlic. bring up the heat and keep it moving until the Garlic just begins to brown.
-Add the Heavy Cream and give it a good stir to dislodge anything on the bottom of the saucepan.
-Add your seasonings and  whisk to incorporate. When it begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and stir occasionally.
-When your potatoes are cooked and drained, pour them into a large bowl and mash the bejeezus out of them, then add your hot cream mixture and butter.
-Fold everything together.

For a spiffier (WOW, the spellchecker actually thinks "spiffier" is a word in English) presentation of the Mashers, mix in a bit of chopped parsley or green onion.

For the Peppers

This can be time consuming without the proper cutter. I used three small heart-shaped cookie cutters, but in the past I've had to use a paring knife. Get the cutters. Save your hands.

-Slice off the top and bottom of each Pepper.
-Cut a vertical slice to open them up.
-Carefully remove the seeds and white membrane, discard.
-Using your cookie cutters (or knife, if you're desperate) cut out several heart shapes. Start from the fleshy side, make sure the outer skin is down before you press. It'll make your job so much easier.
-In a small saute pan, heat a small amount of oil over medium heat . Add your Garlic and stir until it just starts to soften, but not quite brown.
-Add the Pepper hearts and toss in a dash of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to change color slightly. Remove from heat and cover.
-In two minutes, they're perfect.

Platter Service

Put It All Together

-On a serving platter, put down a layer of the Mashed Potatoes. Position the Meatloaf in the dead center and press down lightly.
-Time to glaze your Meatloaf.
-Arrange your Pepper hearts around your larger Meatloaf heart.
-Plate your dessert next to your entree (for details on your yummy dessert, please see the  tandem meal post HERE.)

Individual service

-Eat.

For individual servings, lay down a serving spoon full of mashers at approximately the 10 o'clock center of the plate. Cut off two of three thin slices of Meatloaf and lay across the Mashers, and garnish heavily with Pepper hearts.

Give it to your kids, tell them Happy V-Day, and explain to them that this is what's for dinner, stop complaining and eat it. Make sure to prepare this a little early, after they eat it's time to prepare dinner for your sweetie.

Coming very soon and very next - Valentine's Day Dinner for Two - the real reason for the season. And a huge thanks to Surreal Confections for going tandem with this meal.

Baconcakes!

Baconcakes!

A largely unnoticed slab of yummy Americana, I'm trying to bring it back into the light. It isn't particularly healthy, but it is certainly one of the prettiest breakfasts ever. The concept is also AMAZINGLY simple; I'm sure most can get an idea as to how to do this from the picture alone. The most I can do is give tips for better presentation. However, for the sake of being thorough, I'll give the step by step.
  
For starters, get a nice, medium thickness pancake batter. Too thick and the batter won't pour evenly over the bacon, too thin and you'll have too much spread. Yes, this means you want the batter that Goldilocks chose. (Just right, for those of you who had childhoods bereft of "storytime") Use a box if you like; I grew up in a Bisquick household, myself. Works fine. Pull one from the myriad of pancake recipes off the 'Net if you want to do it yourself. Or you could use this one, below:

(serves about 4)

1 3/4 cups AP Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups Milk
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 oz Canola Oil

-Mix dry ingredients (except sugar)

-Mix wet ingredients (including sugar)

-Mix dry and wet ingredients together well.


 Put your batter aside for the time being and focus your attention on the Bacon. Now, your Bacon should be thick, meaty, and hickory smoked. A nice, strongly flavored Bacon. A "stand alone" bacon, if you will. From here, you have two options: Bake or Fry.

Frying the bacon has the advantage of pre-oiling the pan before you add your pancake batter. If you're only making this for one or two people it will be the fastest method of production. Also, you can more accurately gauge the doneness of your Bacon. (yes, I capitalize Bacon like a proper noun. It deserves to be.)

Baking has the advantage of giving a flatter slice of Bacon, more even rendering of fat, and better color without as much browning. If you're batching this recipe out for many people, this is the most effective method short of a commercial flattop grill. Best method - Wire rack on a cookie sheet. Reserve all rendered Bacon fat to oil your pan in the final cooking process.

Finale:

-Make sure your pan is well oiled with Bacon fat and that you have a slice of the smoky goodness in your pan.

-Carefully pour your batter over the Bacon lengthwise. Pour evenly and directly over the Bacon, it will spread as much as it needs to. 6 oz to a cup will suffice nicely.

-When your pancake gets bubbly across the top, give it a flip. Cook for another minute or so. It should be golden brown and crispy along the edges.

-Serve with lots of Maple Syrup and Butter.

Plated  with Bacon-Cilantro Roses and Strawberry garnish

-Keep for yourself.

Variations:

Two or more slices of Bacon per pancake, grouped tightly.

Chopped Bacon instead of (or in addition to) slices.
                       

Chicken & Waffles Benedict

Back in college, I took to hanging out with a small group of odd, likeminded people. We had very little in common, with the exception of an appreciation for beer and good food.  Two of them stand out in my memory, David Epps and Marcus Page. I vaguely recall a four-pitcher night with these two ne'er-do-wells when I SWORE that one day, when I was an Executive Chef in charge of an important venue or account, I would serve my clients Chicken & Waffles. Moreover, they would be GRATEFUL for it. I did not know it at the time, but that utterance has stuck with me to this day.

I got my first opportunity to do so with an Interim position with the Oregon Institute of Technology. For two months I took up the mantle of their Executive Chef. It started well enough, I kept a similar menu plan going as their usual and limited my creativity to catered events (with client approval, of course). After a bit the powers that be handed down the assignment of organizing a Weekend Brunch. My words from years ago crept back into the forefront of my brain, reminding me. Taunting. Daring.

You see, office management didn't come in on the weekends. But the Executive Chef implementing a new meal program? Yup, had to be there. It is said that there is no greater tyrant than the Captain of a ship at sea. The same can be said of kitchen leads with total menu control. Armed with this newfound combination of authority and freedom, I declared a standing menu for Sunday Brunch across the whole of resident dining: Southern Fried Chicken and Belgian Waffles.

Two thousand college students and faculty trapped in the Cascade Mountains LOVED it. It's now a permanent fixture on the menu, every Sunday, with lots of maple syrup and hot sauce. 

My inebriated promise had been fulfilled, but something felt unfinished.

The next source of inspiration came from my loving wife, Jenn. You see, she adores my Hollandaise sauce. I make it extra thick and extra lemony. Eggs Benedict and Asparagus makes for an excellent brunch, as well as an excellent excuse to whip up a pint of Stabilized Hollandaise. (details below)

On this occasion, we had it for three meals in a row. Overkill maybe, but you just can't beat a classic. After filling our bellies with poached eggy goodness, we began to discuss alternate methods of making the meal. I offered up my Breaded Oysters Benedict, or a variation with Crabcakes.  My wife suggests Waffles. She does make a lovely Waffle.

The concept reminded me again that I was not yet done with Chicken & Waffles. Or, more likely, Chicken & Waffles was not done with me.

As you can see from the pictures, it's a whole Belgian Waffle for the base. Make sure the batter is slightly sweet. I cannot go into detail about the batter; it's not my recipe and the missus may commit acts of aggression upon me were I to spill it.

Now, I used a Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, butterfly cut to fully separate. Now much thinner, it is soaked in buttermilk and dredged in seasoned flour. The actual seasoning that goes into the flour is a bit of a family secret, as are the circumstances of cooking. I'm from the South. It's kind of how we do things. Either way, make sure your oil is good and hot before dropping your chicken in. It should instantly sizzle and scare you a little. Keep it going until it's golden brown on both sides, and make sure it's fully done. (165 F internal temp will suffice)

Per Jenn's suggestion, the pork product was Bacon. No real reason except that Bacon is so epic it deserves its own anime music intro.  Moving on.

Now the Hollandaise: There is a classic method of preparation that can be easily referenced. Or there are packets you can buy at the market and "just add water". If you're in a commercial kitchen, there is a very passable Hollandaise base that can be had. My approach is different: Start with a classical preparation, but make three alterations to the recipe. 1) do NOT use clarified butter. When it comes time to incorporate butter, use whole, unsalted butter cut into cubes and chilled. Toss in about a third of the butter at a time and keep your whisk moving. 2) After your butter is melted (but before adding lemon juice) throw in an ounce of heavy cream. 3) Use about three times the listed Lemon Juice.  If everything is done properly, you will have a very tangy and extremely stable Hollandaise.

The sauce for this particular dish is a Tabasco flavored Hollandaise. I substituted hot sauce for the vinegar component. It's not for everyone, but it does make a tasty alternative.

Assemble the components as shown, and dig in. With this recipe out of the way, it makes me wonder what else I can get into with Chicken & Waffles. Next stop: FINE DINING!!!