Juicy Meatloaf

I should start with a warning: unlike almost everything else I've posted here, this recipe is not low fat.

I cooked it mostly as a challenge. I've had little experience with beef and I wanted more. Moreover, meatloaf is not common in Mexico, making it a bit exotic (it is a matter of perspective). I was pleased with the result.

I do apologize for the poor quality of the picture. I was already storing it before I thought to take a photo.

I'll post the glaze/sauce first, then the rest. Here we go:

220 gr. tomato puree or tomato sauce
1/4 Cup Ketchup
4-5 Tbsp. mustard
4 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Cup beef broth (or even chicken broth or hot water)
1/2 teaspoon ground or powdered ginger
1.5 Tbsp. Paprika


Mix the ingredients in a big enough bowl and whisk them well. The result should be rather thick, but fluid. Save 3/4 cup of it to mix in with the meatloaf.

Now the meatloaf:

3/4 Cup glaze you saved from the first step
1 Kg. ground beef, preferably lean
1/3 onion finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic finely minced
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped (optional; it tends to wilt a bit)
1 Cup wheat bran or breadcrumbs (by this I mean a coarse powder, like that used for milanesas)

First get a really big mixing bowl, next put the ground beef in it and break it up. Add the beaten eggs and mix them with the beef. Add the onion, garlic and cilantro, and again mix well with the beef.

The next step is important. Add the 3/4 cup of glaze you saved, but don't add it all at once. Add about 1/4, mix well with the beef, then another fourth and mix again, and so on until you've added all. I was advised to do this by someone who does make meatloaf often. The idea is for the beef to gradually absorb the glaze. I don't know if this is so or not, but the results were good.

Next add the wheat bran or breadcrumbs and, again, mix well.

We're done mixing now... Anyway, shape the mixture in a loaf or use a baking mold for bread (grease it first). If you shape it without a mold, as I did, just grease an oven safe baking dish or a roaster and place the loaf in it. Pour the glaze over the meatloaf. Use as much glaze as needed, but don't feel you must use it all. It's ok if some spills over onto the baking dish.

Put it int he oven at 180 C (around 350 F) for one hour. Periodically you'll want to baste it with the beef juices that will come out, and if desired add more glaze. You should also check from 45 minutes onward how things proceed. You want the center to be brown rather than pink in the end, that's when you're done.

I ate it by itself, which was ok, but it would go well with mashed potatoes, or oven roasted potatoes, and perhaps even with sauteed mushrooms.

Enjoy.

Chicken Milanesas with Chipotle Sauce

A little explanation is in order. A milanesa, before cooking, is any kind of meat steak that has been pounded flat. But cooked, it refers mostly to a thin veal steak covered in bread crumbs and fried in oil. In Spanish this kind of preparation is called "empanizado," which roughly translates as "breaded," if that's even a word. Anyway, a milanesa can also be made with flattened chicken breast, which is what I did.

I should mention by "bread crumbs" I mean a variety of options. The most common is simple "pan molido," which is ground up white bread toast. But there are others, like ground corn flakes, ground bran flakes and even, my favorite, ground wheat bran.

While I came up with this recipe by myself, I don't claim it as my own. Why not? because I'm trying to replicate and adapt someone else's recipe, someone I know and whom I miss very much.

This recipe is a bit more complex than my usual preparations. You have to cook the milanesas, make the salsa, then combine them and bake the result. But it's worth it.

Chipote chilies come either dried or canned. The canned version is "en adobo," meaning it's pickled in a thick, red juice. BTW there's no such thing as a fresh or natural chipotle. Chipotles are actually smoked jalapeños

Fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients:

4 Boneless flattened chicken breasts
2 Egg whites
About 2 Cups of bread crumbs (see above for details)
2.5 Teaspoons vegetable oil of your choice, preferably one without much flavor like canola or soy.
3 Red tomatoes
3-5 chipotle chilies and some juice from the can (if you're using smoked chipotles, take note they'll be much bigger)
1/2 onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, quartered
Cilantro to taste (about 3-5 branches, stems and all)
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon oregano (optional)
1/4 cup water.
40 gr. grated white cheese suitable for melting
2 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream (optional)

To make the milanesas:

Take a large, preferably rectangular, serving plate and cover with bread crumbs. Put the egg whites in a bowl. Soak the chicken breasts individually in the egg whites and put it on the bread crumbs, turning it over to cover both sides. If needed, pour additional bread crumbs on top.

In a skillet or frying pan pour one (1) teaspoon of oil, and put it on high heat. When it's hot, cook the chicken breasts. Due to the size, you may have to cook them one by one. You should cook each until you see the top under the crumbs turning white, then flip it over to brown the other side. After cooking two, add another teaspoon of oil if needed, and cook the other two.

Put them on a paper kitchen towel over a large serving plate so the excess oil will be absorbed. In regular cooking, milanesas are nearly deep fried. But this is a low-fat cooking blog, after all. You can press them with paper towels, too, to drain more oil. The cut them into bite-sized pieces or strips.

To make the salsa:

Peel and seed the tomatoes and toss them in the blender with the onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, oregano, vinegar water and chipotles. Liquefy the mixture. as always, this is the time to taste and adjust for spiciness.

Get one onion slice, tending toward thick, and saute it with 1/2 a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan until it's as flexible as cooked spaghetti, or you can do it on the skillet where you made the milanesas. Quarter the bigger rings and leave the smaller ones whole. Either way, pour the salsa from the blender in saucepan. Turn the heat on to low and let the salsa come to a slow boil. Once it boils, let it simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Now, in an oven-safe baking dish lay out a layer of mialnesas in bits and cover them with a layer of salsa. then sprinkle a little cheese and sour cream. Add a second layer of milanesas and, you guessed it, top it off with more salsa. Again sprinkle cheese and sour cream on top.

Put the dish in an oven preheated to 330 F for 30 minutes. All the cheese should melt. Let it cool and serve.

I suggest serving it along with Mexican rice, or any other sort of subtly-flavored rice you like.

Enjoy