I'm picking out a Thermos for you...

location: The home office, as usual.

mood: Brrr!

music: Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. purring in my lap.

I've been a few days behind on typing my meals in here, so I though I would type up what I missed from last week's main dishes.

Holiday Meatloaf
-2.5 lbs coarse ground chuck
-1/2 lb. ground pork
-2 c. chopped onion
-1.5 celery stalks, chopped (about 2/3 c.)
-3 Tbs. butter
-2 tsp. salt
-1.5 tsp. black pepper
-1 Tbs. Worcestshire sauce
-1/2 c. tomato ketchup
-1 c. stuffing mix
-2 large eggs, lightly beaten
-1/3 c. fresh minced parsley or 2 Tbs. dried parsley
-Purchased marinara sauce

1. Preheat oven for 350 F. Combine the ground chick and pork in a large bowl; set aside.
2. Microwave the onion and celery with butter for 3 minutes on HIGH (100 % power). Add seasonings and Worcestshire sauce and microwave an additional 30 seconds.
3. Add onion mixture, ketchup, stuffing mix, eggs and parsley to the meat mixture and mix until well combined. Divide between 2 loaf pans or 5 mini loaf pans.
4. Bake large pans for 1 hours, 15 to 20 minutes; mini pans, 1 hour. If frozen, thaw first and bake as directed.
5. Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes, covered, then drain rendered juices and transfer the loaf to a serving platter.
6. Add about 1/4 cup of the meat juices to the marinara sauce, and serve with the meat loaf. 
Makes 10 servings.

*My notes on this recipe: I used Stove Top (herb something or other) for the stuffing mix. I added in an extra 1/2 a celery stick, so it had just a tidbit more than in the recipe. I don't have a loaf or mini loaf pan (YET!!!), so I put these in paper cupcake liners in 2 (12 c.) muffin tins. 1 (12 c.) tin I baked as directed, and the other I froze (removing the cups after freezing and placing in freezer bags) for a later dinner. It might be trashy, but I don't care-I just had a little bit of ketchup on the side and skipped the marinara sauce! 
I thought this recipe was lovely.


Un-Fried Chicken Fingers
-Nonstick cooking spray
-2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-Ice water
-1/2 c. light mayonnaise
-1 tsp. Dijon-style mustard
-1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs
-1 Tbs. Old Bay seasoning
-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
-1/2 tsp. Creole seasoning
-1/8 tsp. black pepper
-Dash of cayenne pepper
-1/2 tsp. dried thyme
-1/2 tsp. dried basil
-1/2 tsp dried oregano

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Set a rack on a foil-lined baking sheet. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Put the chicken in a large bowl of ice water. Mix the mayonnaise and mustard in a small bowl. Set both bowls aside.
3. Put remaining ingredients (bread crumbs through oregano) in a pie plate, and combine well.
4. One at a time, remove the chicken breasts from the ice water and pat dry with paper towels. Trim off fat. Between 2 sheets of wax paper, pound the chicken breast with a mallet or rolling pin until it is about 1/3" thick. Cut the chicken into strips.
5. Brush the mayonnaise-and-mustard mixture on each piece of chicken until coated thoroughly, then transfer the chicken to the pie plate and bread each piece. Put the chicken on the prepared rack and spray each piece lightly with cooking spray. Repeat process with remaining chicken breasts.
6. Place the baking sheet in the bottom shelf of the oven, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the coating crisps and browns.
Serve with barbecue sauce or another dipping sauce. Makes 5 servings.

*My notes on this recipe: I skipped the Old Bay and Creole seasoning (didn't have any and didn't pick up any at the store-oops), and added in a dash of paprika, seasoning salt, and garlic powder. We at this with Hidden Valley spicy ranch-very good! Also-who decided to call them chicken fingers? Chickens don't have fingers.

Stuffed Pork Chops
-3 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
-2 shallots, finely chopped
-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
-8 oz. mustard greens, stems removed, leaves torn into small pieces
-4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, finely diced
-1 c. finely diced cornbread (from purchased cornbread, corn muffin, or toaster corncake)
-1 Tbs. grated Parmesan cheese
-8 boneless pork loin chops (6 oz. each), 1.25" thick
-1/2 tsp. each salt and freshly ground pepper
-1 Tbsp. olive oil

1. Cook bacon slowly in a large saute pan or Dutch oven over low heat, until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp; remove with slotted spoon to paper towel to drain. Discard all but 1.5 Tbs. bacon drippings from skillet.
2. Add shallots and garlic to drippings, cook over medium heat 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add greens, cover pan and cook 7 to 9 minutes, stirring twice, until greens are tender. Cool completely. Stir in cheddar, cornbread, Parmesan, and bacon.
3. Place pork chops on a flat surface; with a sharp paring knife, make a 1" incision on meaty side of each chop. Swipe the blade back and forth inside the chop to make a pocket all the way back to the fat side of the chop, without cutting through the chop. Stuff each chop with a heaping 1/4 c. stuffing. Wrap each chop tightly in plastic wrap and pack in a freezer container; freeze up to 1 month.
4. Thaw chops in refrigerator overnight.
5. Heat oven to 375 F. Season chops with salt and pepper; secure openings with toothpicks when thawed. Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet; add chops and cook 2 minutes per side, until browned. Cover skillet and transfer to oven; bake 15 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 155 F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove chops to a platter; cover with foil and let stand 5 minutes. Remove toothpicks before serving.
Makes 8 servings.

*My notes on this recipe:I made the cornbread myself (from a Jiffy cornbread mix)-ended up only using 1/4 of the pan, so I had leftovers-yay!(I like cornbread). I accidentally didn't get thick enough pork chops, so it was slightly more difficult to create and fill the pockets. They also didn't take quite as much stuffing. I didn't do the make-ahead-and-freeze method as suggested by the recipe-just prepared and cooked them all in one night. I really liked the way this dish turned out, though!