Bill Blass's Meatloaf

I've had this recipe for decades! It's so old probably many of you haven't even heard of it. (But I DO hope everyone knows about designer extraordinaire Bill Blass.) And yes, it really is Bill Blass's recipe! Everywhere we went for dinner in the 70's people were serving it. After all, if Bill Blass served it at HIS dinner parties, why not us?

It was even on the menu at Mortimer's in NYC, owner Glenn Bernbaum's public outpost for the rich and famous that closed in 1998.

"Virtually from the day Mortimer's opened its doors in 1976, the restaurant has been ubiquitous in the social columns, attracting an eclectic crowd ranging from Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger to Mick Jagger and Boy George to Jackie O., Fergie, and Brooke Astor, and even Cal Ripken Jr. Oh, and the parties -- using set designers, Bernbaum could transform his humble saloon, re-creating the Paris Opéra, the Plaza's Palm Court in 1907, or an overgrown wild jungle in the fairly mundane shell of the restaurant."

And when Mortimer's segued into Swifty's, the meatloaf went along; they still serve it, surrounded by mashed potatoes and gravy. 

Have you ever been to Swifty's in NYC? I LOVE going there for lunch. Very European in ambiance. It's small (only 60 covers) and so very intimate and cozy on a cold winter's day. Oh...and the food is dee-vine.

Do you know where the name came from? Swifty was the name of Mortimer owner Bernbaum's dog...and the dog was named after Irving "Swifty" Lazar, the Hollywood deal maker.

Sorry, I DO tend to get sidetracked.
Bill Blass's meatloaf is the subject of this post!
Do you think meatloaf is not grand enough to serve to company? Blass disagreed. He served it often to his guests.

"The man who once wrote that blue jeans were 'the most significant contribution America has made to fashion' had no such pretensions about serving meatloaf. Although the provenance of his recipe is unclear, friends suspect he brought it from hometown Fort Wayne, Ind. He felt that simplicity was real elegance."

In Bare Blass, which was finished just weeks before his death in 2002 and published soon after, he said that, after all, this recipe may be the way people most remember him.

And this recipe is the real McCoy, my dears. I always made it free form in a baking dish...which is what the original recipe suggested, although you certainly could make it in a loaf pan if you are a perfectionist.

BTW: Rumor had it that his banana cream pie was divine, but I've never seen a recipe for it.

Bill Blass's Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 pounds ground sirloin
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 12-ounce bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
4-5 strips uncooked bacon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, beat egg, stir in Worcestershire sauce and reserve.
In a large pan over low heat, melt butter and sauté celery and onions, stirring occasionally, until onions become translucent.
In a large bowl, combine onion-celery mixture with sirloin, pork, veal, parsley, bread crumbs, beaten egg mixture, salt and pepper, thyme, and marjoram.

On a baking sheet, form mixture into an oval loaf shape. Top with chili sauce and bacon strips.
 
Bake 75 minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Serves 6-8.

I served it with roasted sweet potatoes the first night (because I had some left over):

and then, last night, the way meatloaf should be served...with mashed potatoes, peas and yes, gravy on the side.

Here's kind of an interesting article about Mortimer's and Glenn Bernbaum:
http://nymag.com/nymetro/food/industry/features/3157/

Game Day Bites

Whatever sport you're watching on TV, one thing I bet we all have in common is a plate of something delicious to nibble on. Football is our game of choice in the fall and University of Michigan is MY team of choice. (M Go Blue!) Whether college or pro ball, I'm always on the lookout for new game day treats so I thought I'd post a few here and there this fall.

Quite a while back, I came across these spicy little mouthfuls on Big Girls Small Kitchen, a favorite blog of mine. Cara and Phoebe are old high school friends, each living in New York city, which they refer to as "a big city of small kitchens". They have some super recipes and are publishing a cookbook, called Cara and Phoebe's Quarter-Life Kitchen, due out in 2011.

Phoebe's family have been friends with Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) for years and in 2006, in an oft-repeated episode called Good Home Cooking, Cara and Phoebe were guests on Ina’s show, returning from college to a huge platter of gravlox, fresh fruit, and a basket of sour cream blueberry muffins. In 2009, Phoebe actually got to cook a holiday meal with Ina on her show, which I unfortunately haven't seen.

This recipe is Phoebe's. Not only can it be used as a game day bite, it would be a super appetizer for a Mexican or Southwestern themed dinner. Delicious AND healthy. An unbeatable combination.


Black Bean Cakes with Mango-Lime Crema
From Big Girls Small Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the cakes:

2 15oz cans black beans

2 garlic cloves

½ lime, juiced

1 tbsp sour cream

¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (directions follow)

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp cayenne

1 tsp salt

For the crema:

3/4 cup sour cream

½ mango, finely diced

1 tbsp shallot, chopped

1 tbsp lime juice

¼ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp salt

Method:

In a food processor, blend the garlic, 1 can of beans, lime juice, and sour cream until moderately smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the remaining ingredients. Mix until properly combined.

With clean hands, form the bean mixture into 1 inch balls and set aside on a plate. Chill the balls for twenty minutes or so.

For the crema, combine a third of the mango, and all remaining ingredients in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl an fold in the rest of the mango.

NOTE: everything up to this point can be prepared the night before.

Heat a skillet over a medium-high flame, adding a healthy layer of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the bean cakes have cooled, remove from the refrigerator. Pan-fry the bean cakes, making sure to press each down into a round patty as you add them to the pan. Cook until dark brown and crispy on both sides. Reserve on a paper towel until cool enough to handle.

Alternatively, you can bake the cakes on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until they have crisped up (the outside will resemble falafel).

Arrange cakes on a platter, and serve room temperature with a dollop of mango-lime crema on top and some torn cilantro leaves for garnish. Makes about 20 cakes.

Making Fresh Bread Crumbs

You'll get the best results if your bread is slightly stale, although I've done it with fresh; you just have to pulse so it doesn't turn gummy. Remove the crusts and tear the slices into pieces; fill your processor about halfway full. Pulse until you get the size crumb you like.

Make more than you need and store the crumbs in zip-top bags in the freezer; thaw them thoroughly before using. In a pinch, if you don't have a machine, rub slices or chunks of stale bread on a box grater.

Coffee Klatch

My Garden Club came for their first meeting of the fall and here is what I served. Most of the treats will be linked to recipes online but the Sticky Chocolate Loaf recipe from my Ottolenghi book will be included here in full. We had to do a lot of refilling of platters, so I deem this a big success.

1. Peach Shortbread, Smitten Kitchen

2. Creamy Lemon Bars, Martha Stewart
( These were the #1 favorite. We ran out!)

3. Financiers, Adapted from Francois Payard of Payard Patisserie

4. Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies, Smitten Kitchen
(These were my personal favorite!)

5. And last:


Sticky Chocolate/Prune Loaf
From Ottolenghi, The Cookbook

Ingredients:
7-3/4 ounces dried, pitted prunes (Agen prunes are nicest if you can get them)
1/2 cup Armagnac or Cognac
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons treacle (I used Lyle's but you can use Karo syrup)
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
150 g. dark chocolate, chopped

For the syrup:
1/3 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Armagnac or Cognac

Method:
Preheat oven to 340°. Butter two small loaf pans and sprinkle with fine bread crumbs or line with parchment paper.

Place half the prunes in a pan with the Armagnac; warm and then set aside to let the prunes steep.
Put the remaining prunes in a blender or processor along with the buttermilk and sunflower oil. Process until the mixture resembles a thick mayonnaise. Remove to another bowl, add whisk in the egg, both sugars and the treacle.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder and slowly, with a spatula, mix the dry ingredients with the wet.
Fold in the chocolate and divide between the two prepared pans. Level the tops.
Cut the Armagnac-soaked prunes in half and using your fingers, press them below the surface of the cakes.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a cake testor comes out clean.

Prepare the syrup while the cakes are baking: mix the ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool.
As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, pierce them through with a skewer and using a pastry brush, soak them with the syrup.
Allow to cool in the pan before removing.