Cajun Style Meatloaf Patties

This recipe is adapted from Rachel Ray's Cajun Style Meatloaf Patties found in her Book Of 10 cookbook.

Cajun Style Meatloaf Patties
Ingredients:

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/8 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt & freshly ground pepper
(I omitted the salt)
3 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
(I omitted this as well. Nutmeg & beef? Not in my book.)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
(I used 1 tablespoon in the non-stick skillet and felt that I would omit it completely the next go round)

Gravy:

2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock
(I used a Knorr beef boullion cube with 1 cup water)
1/4 cup heavy cream
(I substituted 1/2 & 1/2 for the heavy cream)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
(I substituted 1/8 cup dried because it was raining and I didn't feel like venturing out into the garden)

Rachel says to:

"Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and create a well in the center of the meat. Fill the well with the bread crumbs and dampen them with the milk. Pour the egg over the bread crumbs and then add salt, pepper, the Worcestershire, nutmeg, tomato paste, green peppers, garlic, and scallions. Mix together and form into 4 large oval patties, 3/4 inch thick."

Teresa says to:

"Dump all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your clean hands. Form 4 large oval patties, 3/4 inch thick."

Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat with the vegetable oil. Again, I think you can do with out this completely in a nonstick pan. (Avoiding grease splatters that still escape even when using a splatter screen :) Fry the meatloaf patties for 7 minutes on each side. This timing was really accurate so I wouldn't deviate from it.

Remove the meatloaf patties to a platter, tent with foil, and return the pan to the heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, the onions, and the red pepper flakes. Cook for about 2 minutes and then sprinkle the onions with the flour. Cook the flour for 1 minute and then whisk in the stock and the heavy cream. Bring the gravy to a bubble. Taste and season with salt & pepper. Stir in the parsley and remove the gravy from the heat.

We served these Cajun-Style Meatloaf Patties with veggies from our garden and field, corn on-the-cob, steamed green beans and cherry tomatoes.
When David sat down to dinner he said, "What did I do to deserve this?" The gravy is delicious. Really. I'd lick the pan clean if I was by myself in the kitchen! :) This was a 4 spoon recipe for our family.

Smokey Black Bean and Rice Stoup

My son Sam gave me Rachel Ray's Book of 10 as a Christmas gift and every week since December 25, 2009 he has asked this same question, "So, have you tried that new cookbook?" I'm embarrassed to say it has taken me 4 months to settle down and "read" this book to pick out a new recipe. I get stuck on the same "go to" recipes! Don't you?

So Sam, my dear boy, I present Smokey Black Bean and Rice Stoup. No that is not a missspelling it is really called Stoup! Rachel says this is a chop, drop, and open recipe. Place your cutting board next to the stove, heat up the pots, chop everything on the board, drop it into the pan, then open up your cans. As soon as the stoup bubbles, dinner is done.

Black Bean and Rice Stoup

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 3 bacon slices, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 15 oz. cans black beans
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• coarse salt and course pepper
• 1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, such as Muir Glen
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 quart chicken stock (I used 2 knorr chicken bouillon cubes & quart of water)
• 1 cup white rice (I used brown rice)

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, then add the bacon and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to render the fat. Add the bay leaf, celery, onions and garlic and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to soften the veggies. Add the corn and 1 can of black beans and their juice. Drain the other can, then add half the can of beans. Mash the remaining beans in the can with a fork to make a paste out of them, then scrape them into the soup pot - this will make the soup super thick! Season the veggies and beans with the coriander, chili, ground cumin, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock, to boil. Add the rice and cook the stoup over a rolling simmer until the rice is tender but has a little bite left to it, about 15 minutes (double this time if using brown rice). Adjust the seasonings and serve. This recipe provides 4 hearty servings.

I wrote in the margin of this recipe to cut the spices in half. It was way too hot! Our boys couldn't eat it because it was so spicy hot. I also wrote to serve with a dollop of sour cream and fresh chives or scallions. I think the cool of the sour cream would off set the hot spices of the stoup.

If we adjust the spices, our family would give this recipe a 4 spoons. It was yummy, although very spicy, and it certainly was useful on the cold wet day we made it. I'll definately try this recipe again, with the changes I noted, because it was very inexpensive to build and satisfying to eat.

Blessings,