Monday, October 15, 2012

Bitchin' in my Kitchen


Over the weekend, I was able to get my hands on Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen Cookin' For Trouble, and let's just say it had me bitchin' in all the wrong ways! I like Nadia and find her outrageous cooking show, "Bitchin' Kitchen," quite entertaining! I even record it! As I sometimes do, I let my kids pick a recipe for me to make them. After all, they put up with a lot of fussy food, and sometimes I just want to make them happy. So, what did they pick? "Meatloaf w/ Awesomesauce." Now, I do make meatloaf from time-to-time, and never realized how fabulous my recipe was until I made Nadia's. For starters, there were absolutely no herbs or seasoning, besides salt and pepper, in her recipe. In addition, I found an ERROR! After watching her show, in which she made this very recipe, it was brought to my attention that her recipe from her cookbook says to add 1 entire cup of water to the "awesomesauce." Guess the result: watered down sauce and mushy meatloaf. Ick! I find it extremely irritating when any cookbook author is not meticulous about the final product. After all, people spend their hard-earned cash on not only the cookbook, but the ingredients as well. So, while I will still enjoy Nadia for her humor, I will not waste my time and money on any of her recipes again, except for her "Thai-Italian Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce." They're really yummy!

After taking a deep breath, I have provided my recipe for "Bitchin' Meatloaf with Awesomesauce." I like to enclose three eggs inside, I think it's a Sicilian thing, but it is optional. Either way, this meatloaf is by far the best meatloaf you've ever tasted!!!



Bitchin' Meatloaf with Awesomesauce

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef chuck
3 slices of bread, soaked in milk just to cover, squeezed dry, and torn into little bits
2 eggs (for the beef mixture)
1 yellow onion, finely minced
1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs such as sage, oregano, and thyme, or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs of choice
4 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 peeled hard-cooked eggs, optional (See Techniques for how to make perfect boiled eggs!)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons plain white or apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly grease the foil.

In a bowl, combine the meat, bread, eggs, onion, herbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. (Gross, but it's the only way!) Form the meat mixture, on the baking sheet, into an oval loaf. If you like, place the eggs in a row down the center of the loaf as you form it. (I like to form 1/2 the beef mixture, then place the eggs, then cover with the remaining beef mixture.)


Mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar. Coat the entire meatloaf with the sauce.


Bake until cooked through, about 1 1/4 hours. Let stand for 15 minutes, then slice and serve. 

2 comments:

  1. I'm guessing that if her sauce is so awesome, then the meatloaf doesn't need a lot of seasoning. You haven't listed Nadia's, but your sauce is looking pretty basic.

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    1. Nadia's meatloaf recipe can be found here: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/nadia-g/meatloaf-with-awesome-sauce.html. Her meatloaf is lacking in seasoning and her sauce only has the addition of mustard. My sauce may seem basic to you, but remember meatloaf is home-style comfort food. According to James Beard's American Cookery, meatloaf didn't became prevalent until the twentieth century, when ground beef became a mainstay of American cooking. After all, meatgrinders weren't invented until 1845 in Germany. Anyway, I hope you give this recipe a try and hopefully you'll enjoy it!

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