On the Grind

Today was an extremely hectic day at work. I couldn't wait to get home, play with my daughter, and get some grub in my tub. Mel's meals are making me ridiculously hungry all the time so I decided to treat myself to some comfort food since I've been relatively light on my meals lately.

Entree Pan Fried Meatloaf in Bell Peppers (adapted from Sunny Anderson's recipe)

1 bell pepper (any colour), sliced in 1-inch rings

Stick these in the oven at 350F for about 15 minutes while you prepare your meatloaf.

1 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

2 slices of bread, torn into little pieces

Herb du Provence, salt and pepper to your taste

In a mixing bowl, put all the ingredients together and mix well. Take out the bell peppers from the oven and heat up a pan with a nub of butter or oil. Simply stuff the meatloaf into the bell peppers and saute them for about 5-7 minutes on each side until done. Garnish with parsley!

On the side Onion Potato Gratin

4 potatoes, thinly sliced

1 onion, sliced in rings

2 garlic cloves

2 cups cheese (preferably gruyere or parmagiano reggiano)

1-2 cups milk

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp thyme

1 bay leaf

Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare your baking pan by rubbing butter on it to prevent sticking. Thinly slice your potatoes - I used a mandoline. Meanwhile, saute your onions and garlic in 1 tbsp of butter until they have softened. In a separate pot, melt 1 tbsp of butter and add your milk, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf. Let that boil for about 5 minutes. Now layer the potatoes, onions and 2/3 of the cheese. This is what I did:

One layer potatoes... add a bit of salt and pepper

One layer onions

One layer potatoes... add a bit of salt and pepper

One layer cheese

And I kept doing that until I finished using the potatoes. Pour the boiling milk mixture into the potatoes and top off with remaining butter. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Then pull it out, and put the remainder of the cheese and finish in the oven for 15 minutes.

Ta-da! Okay, this does take a bit of work, but boy was it well worth the wait and effort.

Just like Mel, I completely demolished it. Teee heee. Now excuse me while I delve into a new episode of Criminal Minds and unwind :)

♥B