Comfort Foods. Rosie Makes Rice Pudding.

  I've been craving comfort foods lately.  

Usually this comes in the form of meatloaf 

and creamy mashed potatoes with a ridiculous amount of butter.

Since I make the meatloaf,

I lay claim to both end pieces.
Same house rule with bread.
I get the heels.
It's only fair.

I eat the first meatloaf end piece while still hot right out of the oven

with a side of wicked mashed potatoes.

 And that's the only hot meatloaf I eat.

 The rest I eat cold on white bread slathered with butter

then squished hard together and flattened like a panini.

And then I dipped it in my homemade barbecue sauce. 

To me, this is divine.

Now, if you actually want a meatloaf recipe,
here's what I do:

Rosie's Meatloaf

1 lb. meatloaf mixture
1 TB minced onion
1 TB minced bell pepper
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
handful of crumbled Ritz crackers or torn up bread pieces
1 beaten egg
1/2 can Hunt's Meatloaf Sauce

Mix all ingredients by hand.
Your hands are your best kitchen tools.

Press tightly and evenly into loaf pan.

Bake at 350° for about 35-40 minutes,
pouring off grease throughout,
or until internal temperature of 165°.

The last few minutes,
pour a little more of the meatloaf sauce over top.

Rosie's Barbecue Sauce
1/2 cup ketchup (or any leftover meatloaf sauce you might have)
1 TB yellow mustard
1 TB Lea & Perrins
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Mix together.
And if you'd like to put a drop or two
of Mr. Stubb's Hickory Smoke in there,
feel free to.

Now, on to more comfort food.

Youngest Hawthorne has been visiting Middle Hawthorne for a couple of weeks.  He returned home yesterday, and because of his growing dietary restrictions, I was trying to get an idea of what he'd like to eat.  He mentioned the Indian restaurants he'd been to and brought up rice pudding with raisins, nuts, and cinnamon.  I googled a few recipes, picked a few from Column A and a few from Column B and went to work putting together something that might be worthy of his precious palate.

I'm making my version of a rice pudding dish from India called Kheer. 
And I thought it interesting that rice made its way to Europe by way of India.

Rosie's Rice Pudding 
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup skim milk
1 1/4 cups cream

1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped into mixture and pod thrown in for more vanilla flavor  (Remove pods before serving.)
1/4 cup raisins
3 cardamon pods, seeds crushed
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1/4 cup toasted pistachios

To toast nuts, toss them around in a dry skillet until they become fragrant.  Set aside and let cool.  You could put them under a broiler, but I usually burn them whenever I do that.  I prefer a controlled toast.

Mix all ingredients in medium sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

My vanilla pods were a bit dried out and ended up cracking.  I tied 'em up in little bundles and fished them out later before serving.

Yes.  The cardamon is essential.  It's not an overwhelming flavor, but it's something you pick up on and wonder, "Hmmm...  What is that?"
Crack the pods and crush the seeds with a mortar and pestle.

Whisk away.

Nuts in.
And a damn spot on my lens!

Keep cooking and stirring and it gets ricier and puddingier.

Oh my, but this is extraordinary.

It's mushy.  It's squishy. It's warm and steamy.  It's soft.  It makes my tummy happy.

And it was divine the next day at cool to room-temperature.
I scooped little melon balls of the pudding.

I sprinkled more toasted pistachios and almonds on top, gave it a drizzle of pure maple syrup, and sprinkled turbinado sugar for good measure.

Mr. Hawthorne Serves Up A Plate Of Comfort.

Mr. Hawthorne purchased the fixin's for a meatloaf the other day at Food Lion. Whenever I make meatloaf I use hamburger meat and ground pork, but Mr. Hawthorne, apparently looking out for his boyish figure, picked out hamburger and turkey.

He chopped up the last of our peppers we picked before Irene.

I would have given them a finer mince, but that's just me.

Half a chopped onion.

The first egg in.

This is the whole wheat bread I made during Hurricane Irene. That's what I do for my readers. After I battened down the hatches, I MADE BREAD! Just to see if I could. And I could.

Mr. Hawthorne! Are you using my Thai Kiwi knife for cutting bread?????? I love my Thai Kiwi knives. They're cheap and razor-sharp. Thanks again, Zzzadig, for introducing me to them. People, never use your good knives for cutting bread. Bread will dull your knives. Always use a serrated knife for bread. When I make meatloaf, I use Ritz crackers. Different strokes for different folks.

Mr. Hawthorne has his whole wheat bread crumbs ready, the peppers, the onions, one egg, and a can of Hunt's Meatloaf Sauce.

I suggested he add in another egg.

Next, add in about 2/3 can of the Hunt's meatloaf sauce.

Best way to mix the beef and turkey, peppers, onions, and eggs is by hand. Notice, Mr. Hawthorne has de-blinged.

Add in whole wheat crumbs.

Hand mix.

Press mixture into loaf pan. This went into a 350 degree oven. After about 45 minutes, start pouring the grease out. Top with the rest of the Hunt's sauce. Cook until the internal temp reaches 185 degrees.

This is just what I needed. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Imagine a plate with a slice of meatloaf and a plop of mashed potatoes with a big glop of butter and some swirled-in heavy cream and lots of fresh-cracked black peppah. Stay tuned for my favorite- meatloaf sandwich. Yes, Rosie has risen to the heights of the Food Network. She will show you, step by step, how to make a meatloaf sandwich. Look out! Rosie is off the hook.

Rosie's Meatloaf.

I had a leftover pound of ground beef and a leftover pound of ground pork from my Cabbage Rolls. So ... in addition to my Galumpkis, I'm making MEATLOAF tonight. Now, everybody has their own recipe for meatloaf. It's like everybody has their own recipe for potato salad. Or cole slaw. Or deviled eggs. Or mac 'n' cheese. And pretty much all of these would be considered comfort foods. As I've written before, I probably shouldn't even like meatloaf, given my meatloaf history. I refused to eat cafeteria food since the first day in first grade, when I took one smell and taste of the offerings at Forest Hills Elementary School, turned my nose up, and said, "Screw this crap!" From the next day forward, for 12 years, my mother packed me a lunch bag with a meatloaf sandwich on white bread with butter. Five days a week. Did I mention for 12 years? It was heaven to me. And still, to this day, a meatloaf sandwich holds a special place in my heart and in my gastronomic history and future.

Here are my ingredients: leftover 1 pound ground beef leftover 1/2 pound ground pork 2 eggs the last vestige of green pepper onion Lipton Onion Soup Mix Hunt's Seasoned Meatloaf Sauce Yes, I am semi-ho-ing this up with the soup mix and the sauce. salt and pepper

First, I hand mixed the pork and beef.

I added in half the pack of Lipton Onion Soup Mix.

Minced green peppers went in.

Minced onion went in.

And half the can of Hunt's Meatloaf Sauce went in.

Next, two beaten eggs were added.

And I mixed everything by hand.

Finally, I crushed half a packet of Ritz crackers into the meat mixture.

And spread it evenly into a loaf pan.

The meatloaf went into a 350 degree oven for thirty minutes, then I drained the grease out. Twenty more minutes, and I poured more grease out. Another ten minutes and I drained it again. And poured the rest of the Hunt's Sauce over top.

Back into the oven for 10 more minutes and let it set for maybe 20 minutes before slicing.

In the meantime, I made mashed potatoes. I just cooked diced potatoes then added butter, cream, salt and pepper, and more butter. Did I mention buttah?

This was delicio ... very comforting. Creamy, rich chunks of buttery mashed potatoes and the wonderful down-home familiarity of meatloaf. I can't wait until tomorrow, when the meatloaf has been sitting in the fridge overnight. The texture will be totally different. Tight. Condensed. Together. Smooth. Not crumbly like it is now. Pate-ish. I love meatloaf. I think I'll marry it.