BLOGHUNGRY

Pastry Wrapped BBQ Meatloaf Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Spinach

I created this recipe as a Superbowl recipe for a Superbowl recipe contest a few months ago. Saddly I didn't win, but I did get to eat a whole meatloaf in the process. So I made out pretty well afterall. This is really just a different spin on my Italian Spinach Stuffed Pastry Wrapped Meatloaf for people who perfer BBQ sauce and blue cheese. I made my own crust, but you could skip that step and wrap yours in a premade rolled crust from the grocery. Just make sure you let it thaw until it's plyable and you may need to flour and roll it to the right size.

Pastry Wrapped BBQ Meatloaf Stuffed with Blue Cheese and Spinach

Meatloaf:
2 lbs ground turkey or beef
2 eggs
3/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup bbq sauce
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups bread crumbs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. In a small skillet saute onion with a tablespoon of oil or butter until softened. Mix the meat, eggs, bread crumbs, bbq sauce, salt and pepper, and onion together in a large mixing bowl. Line a cookie sheet with a generous amount of foil. Pat out the meatloaf so that it completely covers the cookie sheet evenly. Layer the spinach and blue cheese in a line lengthwise in the center of the meatloaf. Use the foil to help fold the edges over the spinach and cheese, shaping tightly into a loaf. Make sure the loaf is smooth and sealed. Bend the foil over loaf and seal tightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Wrap with pastry and continue to bake as directed below.

Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 sticks butter
1 egg
1/2 c. sour cream

With hands or food processor, combine flour and butter to form a crumbly texture. Add egg and sour cream and combine into dough. Turn dough out onto generously floured surface and roll into a rectangle roughly the size of the cookie sheet. Place the cooked meatloaf in the center of the sheet of dough.  Wrap the dough around the loaf.  Dampen the edges at the seams so they will seal well. Place the pastry-wrapped loaf in a greased shallow pan (you may have yet more fat cook out) with the seam down. Bake at 375 degrees F until the crust is golden brown, usually 25 to 30 min. Serve hot or at room temperature.  Cut slices across the loaf to show the layers. 

Honey Almond Biscuits

I love biscuits and am always looking for the next evolution of a tasty country classic. I made this recipe a couple weekends ago in a rush to get something in my belly and get out of the house. They were quick and easy to throw together and recieved rave reviews from Popmuse.

Honey Almond Biscuits

2 cups self rising flour
or 2 cups all purpose flour and 1 tablespoon baking powder
1 stick butter
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
3 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put flour (or flour and baking soda) in medium bowl. Using a pastry blender cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Toast almond slivers and crumble or crush them roughtly. Combine milk, almonds and honey. Add to butter mixture, mixing just until flour is moistened. Knead dough gently; shape into a ball (if too wet sprinkle with flour until workable). Roll out or pat down dough on a lightly floured surface to 3/4  inch thickness. Using a floured 3 cutter or the rim of a wine glass, cut out the dough, rerolling as needed. Place cut biscut dough close together (about 1/2 inch) on unbuttered baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with butter and honey.

Bloghungry on: "IT" Selling Oatmeal

People always talk about celebrities who have "IT". They're usually not the most talented entertainers or the most intelligent people, but they all have the kind of charisma that makes you need to keep an eye on them. I would like to announce that Wilford Brimley has "IT". From the Ewoks movie to Cocoon to The Firm, he always commands my attention on screen. Even more amazing is his work in oatmeal commercials. Let's face it, oatmeal doesn't sell itself. So, Bloghungry has a fool-proof test for measuring "IT". Ask yourself "Could this person sell me oatmeal"? 

WATCH: WILFORD'S OATMEAL COMMERCIAL
WATCH: WILFORD'S DIABETES DANCE MIX 1

Swedish Turkey Meatballs

Meatballs are very popular in my household. We have them in soup, pasta, or as a stand alone entree about once a week. So when I say that this is an amazing recipe for Swedish meatballs, you should take my word for it. I don't like mushrooms, so I took them out of the recipe, but you could add 10 oz of sliced button mushrooms to the sauce if you wanted. Also, the challah bread really makes a big difference, so you need to make your own challah breadcroumbs.

For the meatballs:
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely food processed
10 ounces challah bread, food processed to crumbs (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
25 grinds freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds ground turkey

For pan sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/3 cup medium-dry sherry
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup flour
1 cup half-and-half
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bag egg noodles (to serve on)

For the meatballs:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions until soft and translucent. Set onions aside to cool and wipe skillet clean. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooled onions with remaining meatball ingredients. Form the mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls.
Heat remaining oil in skillet over high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides.

For the pan sauce:
Set meatballs aside. Add the butter and onion to the pan and saute until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the sherry and chicken stock, to deglaze the pan. Sprinkle in the instant flour and cook until sauce thickens. Add the half-and-half, Worcestershire and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer, whisking often until thickened. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove pan from heat, add meatballs back to the pan. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve over cooked egg noodles.