Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Patties with Pan Gravy and Sour Cream Tomato Smashed Potatoes

First of all, let me wish all the Mom's a belated Happy Mother's Day. I hope you all had a wonderful day dedicated just to you. Mine was very nice. Kevin made breakfast. We had mimosas and we watched a couple of movies with the kids. Very quiet, relaxing day. 


But now I need to catch up with you on the latest recipe. It was recipe #332. When I went through the book looking to plan the next weeks meals I was still feeling a bit sick. Normally a process that leaves me feeling starved and ready to cook 5 meals at once was actually a chore. I kept reading recipe after recipe and nothing was sounding good. I finally ran across the last recipe and this one and felt they sounded fairly good. I am glad now that I picked them. I guess when you feel sick and aren't enthused about a recipe it has no where to go but up right? Seriously, these were both great recipes and everyone else agrees as well so it is not just me.


The pan gravy in this recipe is extra yummy. I would probably cook the onions a bit before adding them to the meatloaf mix, or just grate them to get the flavor but no "chunks". I like onion, but biting into a piece of raw onion is not tasty to me. I also used grape tomatoes, like I always do when it calls for raw tomatoes to be added to anything, and I cut them in half and sauted them in a small pan for a bit so they could get a bit of carmelization going.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Patties with Pan Gravy and Sour Cream Tomato Smashed Potatoes

Ingredients

2 pounds small red skinned potatoes, quartered

1 1/3 pound lean ground beef

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

1/2 cup milk, plus a splash

1 egg

2 teaspoons McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning, or coarse salt and black pepper combined

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 rounded teaspoon tomato paste

1 medium onion, finely chopped (reserve one fourth)

8 slices bacon

2 tablespoons EVOO

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 rounded tablespoons sour cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I used a carton of grape tomatoes cut in half)

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 rounded teaspoon spicy brown mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup fresh flat leave parsley leaves, chopped

Cover the potatoes in water in a medium sauce pan. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes for 10 minutes, or until fork tender.

Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center. Fill the well with the bread crumbs and dampen them with a splash of milk. Add the egg, grill seasoning, allspice, tomato paste, and three quarters of the onions to the bowl. Combine the mixture and for into 4 large oval patties (about 3/4 inch thick). Arrange 2 slices of bacon in an X on a cutting board, repeat with the other 6 slices of bacon so that you have a total of 4 X's. Place a meatloaf patty on the center of each X. Fold the bacon around each patty. Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat with the EVOO. Transfer the bacon wrapped patties, bacon seam side down, to the hot skillet. Fry the meatloaf patties for 7 minutes on each side under a loose aluminum foil tent. The tent will reflect heat and allow steam to escape the pan.

Check on the potatoes. When they are tender, turn the heat off, drain the potatoes and return the to the hot pot and warm stove top to dry them out. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, sour cream, and the 1/2 cup of milk and smash to desired consistency. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, then fold in the chopped tomatoes. Cover the potatoes to keep warm until ready to serve.

Remove the meatloaf patties to a platter and return the pan to heat. reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the remaining onions to the skillet. Cook the onions for 2 minutes and sprinkle the pan with the flour. Cook the flour for 1 minute, then whisk in 1 cup of chicken stock. Bring the broth to a bubble. If the gravy is too thick, thin with additional stock. Stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and parsley and taste to see if the sauce needs salt and pepper.

Drizzle the bacon wrapped meatloaf patties with the gravy. Pile smashed potatoes alongside and make a well in the center for extra sour cream or gravy.

Serves 4

Meatloaf



Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf

Aussie Meat Pies, Made Quick

Boy, when Rachael said made quick she really meant it! These "pies" are super easy and super quick to make. Again, not so many ingredients, so not a lot of slaving away to be done over the meal. I did add some minced garlic to the recipe, as per Jessi's request. I don't think there is much we cook with out onions and garlic in it!


The meat smelled great after cooking with the onions and garlic and then you add the brown sugar, tomato paste mixture and it went from great to YUM. I love it when the food smells so good you want to just eat it out of the pot! I do suggest that when you bake the pastry dough sheets that you do it on parchment paper or a very good nonstick cookie sheet. I had a bit of a "stickage" issue with mine.


I think this would be great if you added some spice to the ketchup on top too. I mean if you don't like things spicy by all means the regular ketchup is great. But for those that like it a bit hot I would add some of your favorite hot sauce to it. I use Frank's Red Hot a lot or Sriracha hot sauce (you can find it in the Asian isle at your market).


Last impressions on the recipe are that it tastes great, it is easy to make, and my kids gave it two thumbs up, oh so did Kevin too! I will say I think this makes a great lunch recipe more so than a dinner one though. But either way, bring your appetite!

Aussie Meat Pies, Made Quick

Ingredients

• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted but kept chilled (recommended brand: Pepperidge Farms)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon EVOO 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
• 1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 rounded tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning as in McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
• ketchup for garnish 
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Preheat the over to 400

With a sharp knife, cut the thawed but chilled puff pastry sheets into 4 square, 8 squares total, and arrange on cookie sheet. Season the squares with a little salt and pepper. Bake the puff pastry according to the package directions or until golden brown all over, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Let it get really hot so the meat will caramelize when it hits the pan. Add the EVOO, then the butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the beef and really work at breaking it up as it browns-get the bits all nice and tiny. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the flour. Cook mixture a minute more. In a small bowl combine the Worcestershire sauce with the tomato paste and brown sugar, then whisk in the stock. Whisk the seasoned stock into the pan. Stir into the meat and combine. Season the meat with grill seasoning and reduce the heat to low.

When the pastry squares are ready, assemble the pies. Place a square of pastry in the bottom of a shallow bowl. Top with one quarter of the meat mixture and another square. Place a large dollop of ketchup in the center of the top pastry and sprinkle the "pies" with chives to garnish, then serve.

serves 4

Ground Meat Pie

Mega Meatball hhmmmmmmmm

OK, I knew it was going to happen, but hoped it really wouldn't, I didn't like this recipe. It is so sad to me that I found one this quick. It wasn't a total bust. The kids liked it, Melissa and Seth. But Kevin and I were left feeling kind of like "Eh, that's it?". 


Both of us commented on the fact that there was a ton of meat with no real sauce to counter balance it. The meat was kind of bland. I think if it had been a mix of sausage and sirloin it would have been better? I am not sure. 


I used fresh sliced mozzarella cheese instead of the shredded kind. That might have been a mistake as well because the cheese as well was just kind of "there" no real flavor. It just seemed like nothing came together in this recipe to really make it happen. So sad.


At least it looked good. Maybe it was me, so if you try it let me know how it comes out!

Mega Meatball Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite pizza shop
• A palm full all-purpose flour or cornmeal
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons – 2 turns of the pan
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary leaves, a couple of sprigs
• Coarse salt
• 1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Black pepper
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• A handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 pound fresh mozzarella or brick mozzarella, your choice, sliced or grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a round pizza stone or pan or on a rectangular baking sheet, using flour or cornmeal to dust the dough, spread out the dough to form your crust. If you are using a baking sheet, drizzle pan with extra-virgin olive oil then set crust in place. Poke the pizza dough in several areas with the tines of a fork. Drizzle the dough with extra-virgin olive oil then season it with finely chopped rosemary and a little salt. Place in oven 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, then the meat. Brown and crumble meat a couple of minutes, then add onions and garlic. Season the meat with salt and pepper then work in the tomato paste using the back of a wooden spoon to combine. Stir in the cheese, parsley and oregano.

Remove pizza crust from oven and top with meat. Arrange cheese over the pizza, working to edges. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until cheese is golden, another 10 to 12 minutes.

Pizza Meatballs