Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Chicken-Pork Meatloaf with Thyme Rice Pilaf


We had a guest for dinner last night, my father joined us for a meal, conversation, and an introduction to American Idol. For the occasion I decided to set a nice table, using real linens and crystal and even snipping some blooms from our lovely camellia bush. It looked so lovely I have vowed to not wait for another guest to do it again. Now, on to dinner.


Ah, the stately meatloaf. Such an all-American staple, comforting, hearty, and economical, or at least it can be. I once had an amazing meatloaf that was a ground steak and veal concoction topped with an onion demi-glace. It was fabulous. And it was $18.

No, tonight's offering will not run you so much. In fact, I think I can say it was less than $18 for the whole loaf--easily serving 6 people. I haven't ever made meatloaf before, and I was looking forward to creating my own recipe. I ended up with something that was pretty tasty and got rave reviews from both the Mr. and my father.



Chicken-Pork Meatloaf
serves 4-6

The bacon-lattice decoration was inspired by the meatloaf in Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. It's very pretty, but not necessary.

1 small red bell pepper, very finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, very finely chopped
1 medium carrot, very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground chicken
1 pound ground pork
.5 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1.5 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
8 strips of bacon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sautee the vegetables in a medium skillet until soft, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the bacon strips, mix very well. place the mixture in a large baking dish and form into a loaf shape with your hands. Cover with the bacon strips and bake uncovered for 1 hour.

Pour off the fat (there will be some congealed on the pan, just scrape it out), slice and serve. I served this with steamed broccoli and this thyme rice pilaf, one of my favorite simple side dishes. The flavors worked together particularly well.

Thyme Rice Pilaf

2-3 Tbsp of olive oil or butter (a combination is nice)
.5 cup of finely chopped onion
1 cup long grain rice (I use Jasmine rice)
2 cups stock, any variety
.5 tsp dried crushed thyme
.5 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, add onion and sautee for a minute or two, until soft. Add rice and sautee for 2-3 minutes, until glossy and opaque. Add stock and spices and stir well, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.



Lastly, I know I have some new readers and I want to encourage you to leave comments on entries if you please. Whether you have a question, made a recipe and enjoyed it, or just want to say hello--I would love to hear from you!

4 comments:

LE said...

I have been visiting so much, I thought I'd check to see if you had a stat counter before I embarrassed myself. Ooops. Too late. I'm definitely stalking this blog.

Marianne said...

I do have a stat counter set up, but lucky for you I don't know how to really read it. I'm just glad you're enjoying everything! Made anything yet?

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!!! I feel so depressed today. Had a good cry. Decided to look for the Cuban sandwich recipe and came upon your site by accident and with the help of the angel who is looking out for me. I found your website and spent the wholeafternoon to read everything .It made me to decide to try some new recipe. I'm so glad to find out about your website.Look like God is helping me to get over my depressed Sunday afternoon.Thank you .

Anonymous said...

I just made this entire meal for 4 adults and it was delicious.......thanks for the recipe!!!