Tag: main course
Baked Whole Rainbow Trout
Serve either whole or remove the fillets from the backbone and cut off the head.
The Breakfast Meatloaf
The Breakfast Meatloaf
I was dreaming of being stoned one day at work and came up with this coronary of an idea: the breakfast meatloaf. (While I don’t really get high anymore, I can still pretend). Let’s turn breakfast sausage into a loaf; mixing in hash browns, French fried onions, English muffin breadcrumbs(biscuits would be even better), and an egg; wrap it in bacon, bake it, then top off with cheese and fried eggs. On this day of January 18th, 2024, I made it happen. This breakfast meatloaf is enough to serve 6; topping each slice with a fried egg and cheese. Wanna have double bypass surgery? Put a slice in between a glazed donut. Quadruple bypass surgery? Cover it in country gravy.
Servings: 6
Equipment
- grater
- food processor
- baking pan
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small potato about 1 cup
- 1 1/2 lbs pork or turkey sage sausage
- 2 English muffins
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup French fried onions
- 6 strips thin cut bacon
Toppings
- cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Add 2 English muffins to a food processor.
- Pulse until breadcrumbs are formed. Set aside.
- Using a grater, grate one small potato.
- Heat up the vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add in the hash browns in an evenly thin layer.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes a side until crispy. Let cool.
- In a large bowl, add in the sage sausage, egg, French fried onions, English muffin breadcrumbs, and the cooled hash browns.
- Form into an oval shaped meatloaf.
- Place the meatloaf on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper. Wrap the meatloaf with the bacon; 4 slices across the top and 2 around the perimeter.
- Bake the meatloaf in a preheated 350° oven for 60 minutes. Let rest.
- In a small skillet, fry up the eggs; sunny side up.
- Top the meatloaf with grated cheddar cheese and 2 sunny side up eggs.
Liver and Onions
Liver and Onions
Liver and onions is a classic southern dish that seems to get less and less popular with time. Deemed “old people food”, this is one of my favorites that doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. This dish is eaten across the world in various forms, typically using beef or veal liver. The liver and onions are sautéed with either butter or bacon grease, then quickly simmered in it’s gravy created by flour and beef stock. While you can most likely still find this on diner menus, it costs a fraction of the price to make at home; about $5 in total for 2 large servings.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 3 strips bacon diced
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 1 lb beef liver cut into strips
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup beef stock + 2 tbsp
Instructions
- Cook the diced bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat until crispy. Remove from the pan, saving the bacon grease.
- Add in the sliced onions. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
- Toss in the beef liver. Season with garlic powder and black pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the liver and onions. Add in 2 tbsp of beef stock until a paste forms. Cook for 1 minute.
- Turn the heat to low. Pour in the beef stock. Cook for 3 minutes until the stock thickens into a gravy.
- Turn the heat off. Add the crumbled bacon to the liver and onions.
You can make liver and onions using chicken liver as well; replacing the beef stock with chicken stock.
Spaghetti Carbonara
Spaghetti Carbonara
Carbonara dates back to Rome right after WW2 when American army soldiers were living in Italy. It was said that bacon and eggs were incorporated to the pasta, calling it “spaghetti breakfast.” The preparation of carbonara consists of spaghetti tossed in the fat of guanciale or pancetta. A mixture of eggs, pecorino romano, and black pepper is tossed with the pasta off the heat to prevent the eggs from curdling. Then the pork is tossed back in with the pasta. Other variations of this dish include using bucatini, fettuccine, linguine, or penne pasta; parmesan cheese instead of pecorino; and adding peas, broccoli, mushrooms, leeks, and onions.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry spaghetti
- 3 tbsp salt
- 8 oz pancetta or guanciale or bacon; diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 4 oz pecorino romano or parmesan; shredded
- 1 tbsp cracked black pepper
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil with the salt. Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions 2 minutes shy of being done; reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta without rinsing.
- In a large sauté pan, brown the pancetta until crispy over medium heat; about 7-8 minutes. Remove from the pan, reserving the fat.
- Toss in the garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the pasta, coating with the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Beat together the eggs, pecorino, and black pepper.
- Turn off the heat and toss in the egg mixture and pasta water; coating the spaghetti.
- Toss the pancetta with the spaghetti.
