Meatloaf.

I tease my mother sometimes about eating nothing but meatloaf and tuna noodle casserole as a child. This is, of course, not true. My mother made some delicious chicken and pork dishes, but for some reason the meatloaf sticks out in my memory. Maybe because I didn't like it very much. Even as a child, I thought if we were going to eat copious amounts of ground beef baked together, it was better served in burger form.
That said, after making my croquettes I was faced with a pile of ground meat and no clear idea what to do with it. My mother had recently bought me a fun magazine that had a feature on meatloaf. I decided tonight was the night I would revisit the meatloaf, possibly for the first time since I moved out of my parents' home.

The magazine offered guidelines on how to pick and choose ingredients. That in mind, I kind of made up my own recipe. I used onions, garlic, Chinese celery, and shiitake mushrooms for my aromatics, cooked in a little bit of Kirin beer. Then the meat and breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, some fresh chopped parsley, nutmeg, and garam masala. Finally I added some gruyere cheese, because I found a chunk in the back of our fridge that's been frozen for two years and I'm trying to use it up. In retrospect, the gruyere didn't add much to the dish.

This would be my husband's dish.
"It's better than I thought it would be, it's not bad at all," he said, and then he had three helpings, so I think it was pretty good.



I served it with a couscous and quinoa for our grain, and then some cabbage I've been trying to use up, and okra in a ginger-soy sauce. Overall, it was a filling and sort of healthy meal. I do need to work on my presentation. How does one make a "meatloaf" look nice? Even its name is unappealing.
That said, I think this meatloaf redeemed the dish a bit, and I'll try it again in the future at some point. Maybe.

I'm back... and making croquettes.

After a year and a half in Japan for research, I'm finally back home. I learned some good lessons, not only about my work but also I think about myself. I'm so glad to be home, and right now I feel like I'm happier and in a better place than I've been for years.
I don't know how regular I'll be with this blog, but when I'm at home I enjoy cooking for my husband, so I hope to be more regular with it again.

I've started enjoying cooking again as well. One of the things I had in Japan that I loved was a delicious kabocha (pumpkin) croquette. I couldn't resist trying to recreate the dish for my husband. I think I put too much potato in (although maybe the kabocha available in the States just aren't as flavorful as their Japanese counterparts).

Anyway, here's the finished croquette. I had some trouble getting the shape right, but it looked OK:



It was pretty good, despite its appearance. I used kabocha and azuki beans. The pumpkin was harder shape than potato... but it was good.



Since I was making the kabocha croquettes, I figured it would just be mean of me not to make some regular croquettes as well, considering they are my husband's favorite.



I used a mixture of pork, beef, and lamb, which was nice--but then I decided to add just a hint of Gruyere to boost the flavor. That was a smart move--he loved these, and even though I cooked them myself, I have to say they were really great. My flavors were great, now I just need to work on my shapes...