My beloved Meatloaf

Surprise, I'm back! and with the perfect fall family dinner for this chilly wee

Hi everyone! So I have spent the last 4 months growing my baby named Olivia’s. The business is a weekly meal delivery service that’s helping busy parents solve the sometimes dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?!”. Before you get too excited, we only serve three towns at the moment: Maplewood NJ, South Orange NJ, and West Orange NJ. With those three alone we’re BURSTING at the seams. Please follow us on our Insta there to get even more food inspiration.

Turns out starting your own business from scratch is extremely rewarding, tiring, stressful, fun, and so many more adjectives. I’ve also lost 10 pounds - I believe its a cocktail of nerves and spending two days a week lifting 50 pound boxes of chicken. Oh, and the two feral toddler boys I’m responsible for, there’s that too. Above all I’ve learned over the past few months just how tough I actually am.

I’ve missed writing this newsletter. As of right now, I’m not turning the billing back on because I don’t want to over promise and under deliver. We’re going to keep it free and easy for now. If it’s okay with everyone here, you may be seeing food and recipes coming straight out of my business. What I’m cooking there is the food you’ve all come to expect from me.

Two weeks ago we ran Meatloaf with Potato & Cauliflower Mash and Green Beans with Shallot Butter as a menu item. It was a HIT. I got numerous photos of babies and kids chowing down from proud and thankful moms. Below you’ll find my recipe for my beloved Meatloaf. Plus Potato & Cauliflower Mash and Green Beans with Shallot Butter. Make all 3 or make any part of it and I think you’ll come out a dinnertime hero.

With the holidays approaching and the baking/ cooking ramping up. Here’s a list of some of the kitchen tools I genuinely love and use on the regular. I get asked a ton about what kind of cookware/utensils/equipment I use. So all season long I’ll be sharing some with you.

• My favorite LOAF PAN - It’s the perfect size for meatloaf and any loaf cake. and whatever you bake slides right out.

• The BEST Can Opener of all time- Granted that I cook for hundreds of people weekly and often make 40 quarts of tomato sauce, I open a lot of cans. This is what I use. When I went to copy/paste the link it informed me that I have purchased 3 of these. I’ve given them as gifts!!

The POTATO MASHER I use regularly - first off it’s the perfect size (not giant and not teeny) and works great. But also it has a super simple design and that Scandi light wood I like. It looks like something passed down form Grandma but can be bought on Amazon. Win win. I use it for the potato and cauli mash below but also for breaking up ground meat in a pan or mashing steamed sweet potatoes with butter & miso.

Meatloaf

makes 1 meatloaf that will feed 6 people

• 1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped

• 2 large eggs

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1/3 cup whole milk

• 2 heaping tablespoons parmigiano reggiano

• small handful of Italian parsley

• 2 pounds ground beef (you could also sub some of this for ground pork)

• 3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs (any kind work)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup ketchup

• 1 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

• big pinch of brown sugar (about 2 teaspoons)

Note: if you like slightly spicy, a small scoop of gochujang is also amazing right here in stead of the worcestershire. )

1. Line a 9”x5” loaf pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a blender combine the onion, eggs, garlic, milk, parm and parsley. Blend until smooth.

3. Place the meat into a large bowl and pour over the wet ingredients from the blender. Add the breadcrumbs and season with the salt. Using your hands mix well to combine.

4. Add meat to the loaf pan, gently press meat down and shape evenly and bake meatloaf at 375˚F for 40 minutes.

5. In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients together for the glaze. Spread the sauce over meatloaf then return to oven and bake additional 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature is 160˚F. Rest meatloaf 10 minutes before slicing.

Potato & Cauliflower Mash

makes enough for 4

Note: I alternate between having the energy to peel these potatoes and not having the energy and leaving them on. Thats why I say look for thin skinned yukons. Because you can totally leave the peels on or peel half depending on how your day went.

• 1 pound yukon gold potatoes (look for ones with the thinnest skin, I like baby ones), if using large cut into big chunks

• 1 small head of cauliflower, broken down into florets

• 3-4 loves of garlic

• 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup sour cream, cream cheese or creme fraiche

• kosher salt

1. Set a steamer basket in a large pot filled with a few inches of water. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Place the cauliflower, potatoes and garlic cloves inside the basket, cover, and steam for 10 to 15 minutes, until both the cauliflower and potatoes are very soft. 

2. Place butter and sour cream in a large bowl. Season generously with salt. Dump the hot steamed vegetables on top letting their heat melt the butter. Mash with a potato masher and taste for salt.

Green Beans with Shallot Butter

makes enough for 4 servings

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 1 small shallot, minced

• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

• chopped tarragon (optional, but yummy)

1. Set a steamer basket in a large pot filled with a few inches of water. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Steam the green beans for 5-6 minutes nutil they are tender but not mushy.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter and olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Once melted, turn off the heat and add the minced shallot and plenty of salt. The residual heat from the butter will cook the shallots just slightly. Add in your cooked green beans and toss to coat. Garnish with chopped tarragon and black pepper.