Recipe Friday: The Best Meatloaf Ever

I've gotta admit.  I've never really been a meatloaf fan (the food, not the ROCKIN' singer).  Maybe it's the thought of a loaf of meat.  Maybe because that meat should be on a bun.  Or maybe it's because I'd never really had it growing up.  Either way, me = not a fan.

So, when my wife shared the recipe from this month's Real Simple, I wasn't bowled over with enthusiasm.  However, Real Simple has rarely let me down. AND that publication is what really taught me to cook.  So, I decided to try it.

Boy, am I glad I did. This meatloaf is amazing.  Moist and delicious, with bacon and gruyere cheese, it smells like something that you'd find in a top-notch restaurant.  This is truly a gourmet take on an American classic.

My slightly modified recipe is after the jump. We added some extra bacon and gruyere.  What else would you expect from me?  Lemme tell you, it's amazing, and definitely worth a try.

Recipe Friday: Hummus

Yesterday I tweeted that I enjoyed making hummus at home, and shortly thereafter a few Foodie
readers mentioned that they'd like the recipe.  So, here it is, based on the recipe from my favorite cook book, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Ingredients:
15.5 oz caned chickpeas.  (I usually find two 7.75oz cans at Harris Teeter)
Slightly less than 1/4 cup tahini (a.k.a. Sesame Paste).  (I found this near the peanut butter at Harris Teeter)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 garlic clove (use garlic press)
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp lemon juice
pinch chili powder

Directions:
Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and add all the ingredients into a food processor (I don't recommend using a blender -- I think the consistency of the hummus is too thick for that.) and turn it on until you reach the desired consistency.  I find usually about 45 seconds to 1 minute works just fine.

Serve with pita bread, and you're all set!  For some garnish, drizzle some olive oil onto the hummus and add some kalamata olives to the side.

Recipe Friday: Tomato, Basil, and Garlic Pasta

Summer has finally arrived, and the heat is setting in. So, here is a SUPER EASY, light, and refreshing sauce for your pasta. Actually, I use the term sauce loosely. It's more like delicious chunks of stuff with which to top your pasta. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6-8 tomatoes, cut into sixths
1 clove garlic, minced
6-8 leaves of basil
1/4 cup of olive oil (approx)
Salt and Pepper (needed for every recipe)
1 lb of chilled but cooked pasta (Use noodles like rotelle, farfalle, etc. Do not use spaghetti or fettuccini.)
shredded or shaved parmesan

Directions:
1) Mix the tomatoes, garlic, basil, and most of the oil in a large bowl.
2) Add salt and pepper to taste
3) Toss with the pasta, if needed add some extra olive oil to thin the sauce.
4) Top with parmesan to taste
5) Enjoy!

Recipe Friday: Lemon Chicken

When I first started cooking, I was terrified of actually cooking a whole chicken. Let's face it, its not the prettiest site. A plucked and headless carcass, is not the greatest thing to deal with. Who would've guessed it's sooo darn tasty???

So, after I got over the "YUK" factor, this has become one of my good 'ol standbys. Serve this with some Mac and Cheese, and you've got one of my wife's favorite dishes!

Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken
12-18 Sage Leaves
3-4 garlic cloves
2 large lemons (3 small)
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1)Wash the chicken, and remove the neck, heart, liver, etc.
2)Place chicken in foil-lined pan.
3)Rub all of the chicken with lemon juice from one lemon, and then rub a generous amount of salt and pepper onto chicken too.
4) Stuff chicken alternately with sage leaves, garlic, and lemon (sliced into quarters or sixths), repeat until chicken is full.
5) Place one lemon piece and sage leaf underneath each wing.
6) Cook in oven at 375, for approx 1.5 hours.
7) Eat with a bottle of chardonnay, and enjoy!