Turkey Meatloaf with Mom

In the snowdrift that is Long Island and taking some time off from private clients this week and next, I decided to cook some turkey meatloaf for my mother in a way she’s never had it before.

In my life and times studying and eating food, I have always loved meatloaf. However, I can’t put meatloaf and healthy in the same sentence. Usually, because the “meat” used for a traditional meatloaf was the cheapest and fattiest cut ground up with whatever leftover vegetables there were and shaped into a loaf. It was gourmet even back when it surfaced in the 1950′s kitchen, but it was cheap and easy to make.

So I bring you a slightly healthier, slightly more elegant version of my mother’s meatloaf, made with her by my side, doing what she always does – direct and nag me that I’ve dropped onions and peppers on the floor. She doesn’t care that Julia Child did as well. I could only imagine how mothers have influenced the great chefs. I wonder if Bobby Flay had the same relationship with his mother when he was inventing things as a kid in her kitchen. Love, take it any way you can!

So, here’s the recipe. I bet your mouth is watering and your heart full, the way you should always approach cooking.

An elegant Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced small

1 shallot, chopped small

3 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped fine

2 carrots, peeled and diced small

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 lbs 97% lean ground turkey

1 28 ounce can of crushed san marino tomatoes (imported from Italy – organic is best)

2 eggs (organic, cage free are best)

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

Herbs de Provence (2 teaspoons)

Fresh rosemary chopped (2 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon paprika (ground)

pepper to taste (there’s enough salt in the tomatoes)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix turkey, tomatoes, bread crumbs, eggs, and chopped rosemary in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon (your hands are better – make sure to clean them thoroughly first!) and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a 12 inch frying pan with high sides and add onion, shallot, garlic, carrots, herbs de Provence and paprika once oil is hot. Saute 10 minutes until carrots are soft.

Add vegetables to the meat mixture. Stir to combine.

Place mixture in 13X9 baking pan and bake at 350 1 hour. Check at 1 hour for doneness with toothpick to see if comes out clean and top is set.

If you like, mom adds ketchup and breadcrumbs on top to form a crust. I would never do this, but sometimes, mom’s way is best and traditional! And traditions are important. I might also add reserve some of the tomatoes and add to the top with additional fresh chopped herbs for the same effect, but mom won this time

Enjoy the snow!

winter wonderland, lamb and a great loss

I write today after being awoken by the distinct sound of a snowblower. Ah, I wonder what we did in the years prior to the invention of the snowblower and the truck plow. I often wonder how much time goes into strategizing how to clean up snow. We’re so inpatient and paranoid that we might miss something, that we might need to spend an extra minute at home with our families (or by ourselves!) reading a book, cooking a meal or just hanging out.

I myself spent yesterday cooking dinner for my mom. It was my holiday present to her. On our menu:

Roast lamb marinated in red wine, shallot, garlic, rosemary and mint served with a mushroom sauce with the reduced marinade

sautéed kale in soy, broth and garlic

Savory buckwheat with lemon zest and walnuts  

We had mint tea for dessert. After the adrenal whirlwind of finals and the need for all of us to take better care of ourselves we forewent dessert.  Though I could have easily made some chocolate pudding or something else. It was a meal at home, the dessert seemed unneccessary.

In reading about things to do for the holiday season in Manhattan online this morning, I was saddened to read about the closing of one of my favorite Manhattan restaurants, Chanterelle.  Chanterelle was one of the first restaurant picks I made for my family for my birthday. I couldn’t have been more than 22, working and living on my own in the west village for less than a year. The restaurant was divine. Tribeca was an odd part of Manhattan back then and not one I ventured to before.  But being that I had only lived a mile or two north (I get lost in lower Manhattan – but it never seemed that far), it was time to explore. My boss at the time, an irreverent foodie, concurred the choice, even though I had made the pick myself.

The space was unusual, simple, unadorned, but truly elegant. Across the street, was a three floor loft with a magnificent staircase…and oddly no window shades. A young man walked up and down the stairs. I eyed him. He waved. My mom’s friend’s husband said, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if he came by with a rose?” Then his girlfriend/wife showed up, dressed and ready to go. The lights went out. We enjoyed the rest of our dinner, each element, each course more divine than the next. I had never experienced synchronized service before. The dinner choices were odd as I remembered. We decided against the tasting menu for some reason I can’t remember. There were four of us. Two shared a monkfish (something neither had tasted or heard of before) the other two chose steak with some sort of tarragon mustard sauce with Gruyère. Three tastes I have used in my cooking ever since. I believe I fell in love with tarragon at that meal and have since not stopped using it.

Chanterelle closed its doors this August for “renovations” and announced a few weeks back that they would be closing permanently. I am sure that there are several New Yorkers that share my pain and feelings of loss as a piece of their life, a truly memorable evening and dining experience died along with Chanterelle. I fondly remember my evening and its possibilities as well as the divine food and truly exceptional service. As a long time Manhattan resident, I have not experienced service on that caliber since. These days, I’d most rather eat in than dine out unless I feel someone can truly treat me better than I could treat myself, isn’t that what dining out is all about?

this week’s greenmarket finds – blue potatoes

I’ve never before seen a blue potato. A few weeks back I saw them at the union square greenmarket. I fell in love with them. First of all they taste nothing like a potato. Not a white potato or a sweet potato. They are unique in flavor, like nothing I can describe. They are also blue. Incredibly blue. I guess I’ve seen blue potato chips, so they can’t be a complete mystery to me, but these potatoes – small in size and decadent to nibble are quite different than even the chips I’ve sampled so many years ago.

In my love affair with color I got some yellow and orange carrots (I was hoping for purple ones, but alas could not find any), burdock root – which is wonderfully cleansing for the liver, salsify (which is black, but white on the inside), celeraic and some chicken pieces. On my stove now simmers: the roots, chicken pieces, some lamb stock from a previous night’s dinner, dried figs and a melange of spices. I can’t wait for it to be done. I’m sure its going to be delish.

Your mouth watering yet? A recipe you demand?

Here’s the best I can do:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 white onion – local if possible, chopped

1 large orange carrot, chopped

2 stalks of local celery (hard to find in these rough NY winters – can skip), chopped

about 1 pound of chicken parts (I used breast and thigh meat, just a personal preference)

1 cup stock (chicken, beef, lamb, whatever tickles your fancy – I used half chicken (boxed) and half lamb – homemade)

1 yellow carrot

2 blue potatoes (small, the size of fingerlings, each quartered)

1 white turnip (quartered)

6-8 Brussels Sprouts, halved – little stem chopped off

2-3 tablespoons of fresh dill

black pepper

curry powder about 1 tsp

lots of love

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a cast iron stock pot. When smoking add mire poix (carrots, onion and celery) and stir 5 minutes until softened. Add chicken and sear on both sides until slightly browned (2-3 minutes). Add stock, root veggies, spices and other ingredients. Cover and cook 45 minutes to one hour until cooked through, roots are soft and your kitchen smells unbelievable. You will just know. I don’t cook with salt, but if you like salt, you can add some when you add the pepper. If you need a bit more spice – add some more curry powder. The dill and the black pepper and the taste of fresh vegetables in the stocks usually do it for me. I also added just a touch of butter when I put the vegetables in before I set the simmer.

Enjoy with someone you love!

visit www.sobelwellness.com to learn how you too could have meals prepared like these in your kitchen!

Advising the great chefs

I went to a fantastic dinner a few nights ago.  However, I was not full. There was no dessert. There was no meat and it was winter. The meal tasted delicious and I knew it was healthy…but I being a type O blood type was missing my protein. As well all the food was from local sustainable sources, but cooked for a long time where frankly much of the nutrition was lost through cutting the food finely and cooking. 

Last night I went to dinner at a regular, non-sustainable or locally sourced restaurant. Missing my protein, I went for the hanger steak. I haven’t had steak in months…the steak I usually have is grass fed and I know where it comes from. But coming from the meatless meal and practically a meatless winter where I’ve actually been craving meat, I wanted the steak. But it was a corn fed, fatty piece of meat. Hanger steak is usually leaner than most other cuts, but it wasn’t. I found myself bloated several hours later. I slept heavy and well, but too well. Something I always advise my clients is not to eat large amounts of protein.

Today I had a wonderful lunch, but no more than 20 minutes later I was hungry again.  Was it the flourless chocolate cake that sent me to the pantry for carbs or was it the miniscle portion of short ribs, even by health counselor standards?

There are many restaurants attempting to provide local, sustainable and organic food. Many do it well, but the plates aren’t necessarily balanced. As humans, in winter especially, we need some protein, not too much. It should be as “raw” as possible (or lightly cooked) and plant protein is effective, but doesn’t always “fill” us up. That’s because we often need fat to fill us up. I find I am most full when the fat, carbohydrates and protein come in a balanced package – usually from the purest ingredients possible.

3 ounces of steak doesn’t seem like a lot – but its pretty much a good portion 4 ounces would be an ideal portion. 6 times a week if you have that little, 3 times a week if you have 6 ounces. 10-12 ounces – 1x a week makes more sense. What do you eat? Vegetables. Its Winter, Meredith, what grows in winter?

Rutabagas, turnips, beets and other roots as well as many green things such as 3 or more varieties of Kale, Collards, bok choi, pak choi and its cousin tak choi. Apples and pears are bountiful at greenmarkets and citrus is in its prime in florida right now, but there are arguments as to whether we, not living in Florida, should be consuming it.

I had some wonderful rutabaga with buckwheat honey glaze, ginger and pak choi. The honey and ginger are bound to help alleviate colds and digestion. There’s much work to be done and great foods at your market. Balance it out!

If you find the job of balancing your plate too daunting, I can do it for you. I am offering a green meal delivery service that is inspired by New York City’s greenmarkets and local farm produce.  At different price points you can enjoy basic vegetarian cuisine that is local, sustainable and organic. For a few more dollars you can enjoy the best meats, cheeses and other delights 100 miles from New York City has to offer. I’ll use a few other health affirming items such as coconut milk and olive oil that might come from a bit further away. Check out my website: www.sobelwellness.com and click on the tab for meal delivery to find out more. I also offer customized chef services and catering in your home or rented studio space. Contact me for more information.

Spa-tinental Food on the Upper West Side

Busters NYC 212-665-5045

892 Amsterdam Avenue (W. 103-W. 104 Sts.)

Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 11am-5pm

New cafe featuring spa-tinental cuisine

Not organic – but lots of fresh vegetables. I don’t know where they get the chicken or the fish – if its wild or farm raised, but they do lots with seven grain bread and whole grain wraps. I’d give them a try. They are definitely headed in the right direction. Perhaps they’ll add some quinoa salad to the menu. I think they’d be open to it

I’m still loving Community Food and Juice Bar on 114th and Broadway. I went there for a second time and had the Berkshire Pork ribs with shredded pulled pork. Delicious!

I tried some grass fed beef this weekend at the Navel Expo provided by US Wellness Meats. It was also delicious and in whole foods today I found Venison from New Zealand. Did you know that venison has only 2 grams of fat and is only raised on pasture (never fed corn or antibiotics for that matter!). A chicken breast has 3 grams of fat and the leanest beef has 4-5 grams and regular steak has more than 20. That’s for a 4 ounce portion and I imagine many of you are having at least 10-12 ounces without even realizing it. Just that is close to 50-60 grams of fat – that is your fat allotment for the day. Actually its lower depending on who you ask. I am looking forward to trying out my venison soon. As well I got some coho salmon (wild) and delicata squash, my favorite sweet vegetable, wonderful for satisfying my cravings for licorice. I snack on sunspire grain sweetened chocolate or Green and Blacks organic 85% cacao content chocolate bars. You just can’t eat that much – its delicious but its serious chocolate. I imagine that would make one heck of a silk pie…