I know it is weird but sometimes I read cooking magazines to my kids. Since they love to be read to it is an excellent way to sneak in some reading of my own. To me it is hilarious that they are interested in the latest kitchen gadget or the hot new food trend. Every once in awhile a recipe catches their eye and they ask me to cook it for them.
This is Matthew’s recipe choice – meatloaf, something I usually don’t make, it just seems so old school. Which by definition is the very essence of comfort food: a traditional style of food usually having a nostalgic or sentimental appeal. And sure enough when Matthew chose this I immediately thought of my Mom’s meatloaf. She used to put in an egg “surprise” and serve it with lots of ketchup. Even my sister ate it and she was the picky eater of us two, although she might have something to say about that….
I paired it with carrots because that is what we had in the fridge that day – I figured if I added some butter they just might eat them….
Mini Cheesy Meatloaf & Buttery Carrot Chips
Ingredients:
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
1/4 cup fresh spinach, chopped
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1-Tbsp horseradish (I replaced with Wasabi ginger sauce, worked just as well)
1-Tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 oz white cheddar cheese, diced
1 1/2 lb ground sirloin
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 -Tbsp butter
2 large carrots cut into 1/8in rounds
Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs, cook 3 minutes until toasted, stirring frequently.
While breadcrumbs cook, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, sauté about 3 minutes. Combine onion mixture, breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup ketchup and next 10 ingredients. Using hands is best tool here to combine everything.
Shape into 10 mini loaves and put on baking sheet. Use remaining ketchup to spoon over the loaves.
Bake for 25 minutes.
While meatloaf is baking, heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and salt and pepper – sauté until caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 10-12 minutes.
And the VERDICT is:
Sadly, Matthew came down with a stomach virus and couldn’t eat dinner so we froze the meatloaves and just had a mini-tasting…. (it was a fun night!)
Dylan: I love them both – Liam, those are my carrots!
Liam: I’m gonna eat it all up.