This is the meatloaf recipe in our family.  It was clipped from the New York Times in 1985, and we've been making it ever since, although we generally substitute seasoned breadcrumbs for the cracker crumbs, and I wasn't able to use the bacon last night (forgot to thaw it).  I made a batch last night and I am excited to have a meatloaf sandwich, slathered in ketchup (yes, slathered in ketchup) for dinner tonight!  Enjoy.

The online auction to support the New Amsterdam Market (read more here) ends Tuesday 2/24 at 10 p.m., so get those bids in!  Among some of the fantastic food-related offerings are many I've either experienced myself or for which I can vouch personally: Pickling w/Rick Field, pizza class with Mark Bello, wine and cheese with Anne Saxelby, pig roast with Jake Dickson, and a cocktail party with Allen Katz. 

I wanted to share a few of the slow-cooker recipes I've made recently.  Friday night I made braised lamb shanks from this recipe on Epicurious.  I followed the advice of the commenters and browned the shanks under the broiler, used more red wine and some chicken stock and I cooked them on low for about 6 hours.  Once they were done, I also added about 1/4 cup of tomato paste to the sauce.  I'd say they were very good, but not great (like the Marcella Hazan lamb stew recipe, which is amazing!  Will have to get that up here too).  I also wanted to share my pork chili verde recipe, which I basically made up with suggestions from Tom Mylan at his pig butchering class.  First, I roasted an onion, quartered, a pound of tomatillos, halved, a few cloves of garlic, and one jalepeno, halved.  I then put those in the slow cooker with a hunk of on the bone pork shoulder, a can of tomatillos, a can of green chiles, about a tablespoon each of cumin and chili powder, salt and pepper, and roughly 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro.  Added chicken stock to cover and then cooked on low until the internal temperature of the pork reached 155 (my slow cooker has a temperature probe).  It needed a little extra salt and some good jalepeno hot sauce, but was otherwise quite tasty.

Both the NY Post and the Daily News have articles on slow-cookers (a.k.a. Crock-Pots) today.  Does that make me a "budget minded hipster"?  Regardless, I am still eating my bounty from two of the three dishes I've made in mine so far — a curry lentil soup, and a pork chili verde — having frozen portions at the time I made them.  Next up may be some sort of pot roast, brisket, or beef stew, and I also want to try an Indian chicken or lamb curry.  Or maybe this — sounds tasty!

For whatever reason, everyone seems to be talking about macaroni and cheese these days.  First, the New York Times, which mentions Martha's recipe.  Then Andrea over at the Strong Buzz publishes her mother-in-law's recipe.  I really like Emeril's recipe, which I've adapted slightly each time I've made it.  Macaroni and cheese was one of the first meals I ever learned to make.  I vaguely remember learning how to make it in Girl Scouts — making a bechamel, adding cheese, and adding it to cooked pasta before baking it, but the first recipe I ever followed for mac and cheese was from the Kraft cookbook, which a family friend had given to us as a gift.  I still generally follow it, although I've tweaked it just a tad.

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

2 cups warm milk

8 oz grated cheese (I like a mix of sharp cheddar, gruyere, and parmesan, but really you can experiment here)

dash of cayenne pepper

1/2 t powdered mustard

1/4 t white pepper

salt

approx 2 T breadcrumbs or panko

8 oz pasta, cooked (elbows, rotini, penne, small shells — something that'll hold the sauce)

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter over medium heat; add flour and whisk together.  Gradually add the warm milk, stirring constantly, until all of the milk is incorporated and the sauce has thickened.  Remove from heat and add all but 1/4 cup of the grated cheese.  When cheese has melted, add cayenne, mustard, white pepper, and a dash of salt.  Taste and correct as you see fit. 

Place 1/2 of the pasta in a 9" square pyrex baking dish; top with 1/2 of the cheese sauce.  Follow with remaining pasta, topped by remaining sauce.  Top with the reserved cheese and breadcrumbs.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until top is golden.  Enjoy!

Well, not exactly.  I made another apple pie and remembered to take a picture this time:

I won't get to see how it came out until tomorrow, as I'm bringing it up to the wilds of Connecticut for a long New Year's weekend, full of good company and food.  When I come back, I'll catch up on some of the rest of the pictures that I haven't yet posted!  Happy New Year, all!

Well, they were always pretty decent, but now they are even better thanks to Mark Bello at Pizza A Casa.  I highly recommend his class!