Missing ingredients

One of the best lessons you learn from cooking a lot is utter loss of fear. Run out of a key ingredient? Too lazy to run to the market (or worse--don't realize it until you're too deep into the prep). Open the cupboard, see what's there, and substitute substitute substitute.

The other thing about cooking a lot, and about cooking SLOW (Seasonal Local Organic Whole) is that there always is something in the cupboard to substitute, and that you tend to have what might be considered unusual ingredients in a more package-oriented kitchen. I have flour made from three different grains. I know how to grind oats, and I've ground rice into powder/flour in a pinch (it makes a great addition to bulk up soup).

We don't consume much meat around here-- a pound or two a week between the two of us, and very very little of that beef, but somehow I count the days until it gets cold enough for meatloaf. And here was this wonderful chilly rainy autumn day. Meatloaf weather.

I know-- what? Cold enough for meatloaf? You never knew it was a seasonal dish, did you.

But somehow, I think of meatloaf as a wintertime meal. I almost never make it in the summer. I'd say it's because it takes a long time to bake and the kitchen gets hot, except that I've happily done canning and baking in the middle of the hottest late summer days.

There's just something about meatloaf that says "short day meal" to me--maybe my mother only made meatloaf in the autumn or something.

So I'm pulling out ingredients and jeez, I have no bread crumbs. I never run out of breadcrumbs, because I always dry out my loaf ends and crumble them up. But somehow--no bread crumbs. Hmmm. How about oats?

Autumn meatloaf
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground lamb or pork
2 small onions, diced very fine
1/2 large appled, peeled and diced very fine
1/2 c steel-cut oats
1 tablespoon honey
optional-1 large egg

Seasoning:
1 T crushed dried orange zest
1-2 teaspoons black pepper (I used an orange-seasoned pepper I found at the spice shop)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
You can figure out your own seasonings, but don't use traditional meatloaf seasonings like oregano, which will overwhelm the apple flavor.

Preheat oven to 375F/190C

Soak the oats for 20 minutes in about 1 cup of boiling water. Drain thoroughly, then mix everything together (yes, with your hands--leave the water running so you can easily rinse them). Because the oats are so moist you don't really need the egg, but it's traditional in meatloaf and won't hurt. I didn't use one, mostly because I just forgot and it was fine. Press into a loaf or meatloaf pan (I just discovered these) and bake at 375/190 for an hour and 15 minutes.

This one of the moistest, tenderest meatloafs (meatloaves? that doesn't sound right) I've ever made, and my meatloaf is legendary.

Serve with apple mashed root vegetables: roughly cut the other half of the apple, plus 3 medium russet potatos, a medium parsnip, and a medium turnip. Boil until all are very soft (the parsnip will take a while), add a tablespoon of butter, a little milk, and a dollop of honey and mash until smooth.

A word about orange (and other citrus) zest-- always zest your oranges and lemons before you eat/use them. It makes them easier to peel, and you'll always have zest.  You can dry it on the counter (it'll take a day or two), or zap it on a paper towel for a few minutes. Store it in a jar with your spices.

Looking at a squash

So that's what I'm doing this morning. I'm waiting for the coffee to brew and looking at a squash.

It's a butternut, locally and organically grown.

I bought it.

Of vegetables that I grow myself, it's the first one I've bought since last June, so it's kind of mythic.

Sadly, I often stare at food. When I first loaded up the freezer with all the preserved food I managed this year, I'd have to stop myself from going down to the basement to look at it. I did occasionally open up the little dorm fridge full of canned goods just to look at all the lovely little rows of jars. Every gardener knows the phenomenon of staring your seedlings into growth. Has anyone managed to make that work yet?

Staring at food is what food and garden porn is all about-- lovely pictures to look at, so you can imagine, "I'd make that/plant that/create that if I had that much time, those tools, that expertise." Apparently, staring at food also helps satisfy your desire for it, causing you to eat less, although I have not personally experienced this phenomenon. Somehow, staring at candy bars makes me buy them. People are trying however.

Meantime, here's this squash. Just between you and me, I think it's staring back.

Hide-the-squash-from-the-kids meatloaf
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground lamb or pork
1 cup diced roasted squash
1/2 cup bread crumbs
small onion, diced

Seasoning:
sea salt
ground green pepper (black is fine if you don't have the green)
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons mint

Peel and seed the squash, then dice enough to yield a cup (quite a small dice, remember, we're hiding it from the kids); lightly toss with olive oil and saute until soft. Roast the rest of the squash in the oven at 400F/200C and save it for baking, risotto, or soup.

My meatloaf, by the way is not for the squeamish. Get out a loaf pan and spray with cooking spray, or lightly coat with olive oil and bread crumbs (this is to aid clean up). Turn on the water in the sink, and let a warm stream run, you're going to need it. Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix them together with your hands until everything is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Form into a loaf and press into the pan. If you need to further disguise this from the kids, put a little ketchup on top as a glaze, but with the squash version, I like to leave this off.

Rinse your hands, then put the loaf in the oven. Roast for about 90 minutes, or until it is completely brown all the way to the center. If you are using cheap meat, you will need to drain the fat about half way through, but please don't use cheap meat. You'll just end up eating more of it and getting just as fat.