A Drinkable Feast

As a mom with a passion for discovering great food, memorable wines, and cooking delicious meals at home, sometimes my inspiration comes from unexpected places.

This Labor Day Weekend is simply beautiful around the San Francisco Bay Area. We wouldn’t have to drive too far to enjoy the best outdoor activities around the Bay. But, my 9-year-old son’s allergies have been acting up the past couple of days. He tries to not let it stop him from playing. But, something in the air is just making him enjoy being outside less. Allergy medicine helps a little, but not enough - without knocking him out. So, today, we decided it would be an “indoor” day – other than going to church. It turned out to be a great day: A day when I tried (key word!)

to just relax and try a new recipe. Yep – cooking relaxes me, believe it or not!

As I was flipping through recipes of one of my favorite Chefs (Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa), I came across this meatloaf recipe – which is courtesy of the 1770 House Restaurant and Inn (East Hampton, New York). http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/1770-house-meatloaf-recipe.html I’ve had meatloaf before. But, it’s not something that I have made myself. I felt like trying something different today. And, the recipe (after watching the video) sounded interesting.

I already had the fresh herbs from my balcony garden (I absolutely love that I can use fresh herbs whenever I need them – saves $$). I decided to hop on over to the store, and grab the ingredients that I didn’t have (mainly the meat: ground beef, ground veal, and ground pork).

The 3 types of meat are a great combination – they add more flavor than just beef. It also keeps the meatloaf moist and juicy. The celery, onions, garlic (see below), and fresh herbs filled the house with a wonderful aroma.

For the prep, get ready to have a messy hand (it's worth it!).

(Sprig of parsley - added by my daughter, as her special touch.)

I changed up the recipe a bit. I added chopped garlic (2 cloves) to the onion/celery mixture. I also did not do the Garlic Sauce (I opted for a red tomato sauce, since it's something that's more familiar to my kids, and they loved it.)

When I’ve had meatloaf, it’s usually with some type of potatoes. Since my kids love my “Cheesy Bacon Potatoes”, I decided to treat them to a nice side of cheesy potatoes, of which they always ask for seconds. . . . and thirds. . . . With the potatoes, I also flash steamed some green peas (which they had to eat before they ate the potatoes.)

What about the wine?

On my way back from the grocery store, I needed to fill up the car with gas. Across from the gas station was one of my favorite wine shops (“The Wine Mine”) in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland. I wasn’t looking for any particular wine, but I just wanted to pop in, browse, and maybe pick up a couple of bottles of wine that I hadn’t tried before. Noting too expensive, but something that is worth a try. Based on some suggestions they made, I picked up a few. One of them is a wine from Southern Italy (the region of Puglia): 2011 Gran Passione Salice Salentino Riserva. It’s a medium to full-bodied wine, with a dark ruby red color. On the nose, you get a hint of black ripened fruits (cherries and plums), with a touch of violets. On the palate, the wine shows complexity and depth, displaying flavors of oak and spices (like cinnamon and clove). It was light enough to have as a summer red, but balanced enough to enjoy in the winter. It paired beautifully with the meatloaf.

The meatloaf (and the whole meal) turned out really nice. All the kids loved it. (They kept saying it’s like having meatballs and sausage all in one). My 12-year-old daughter couldn’t stop talking about it. She wrote a “review” for me (her "Mummy"):

Mummy's Meatloaf: A Review

OMG THIS DINNER WAS AMAZING SO MANY AWESOME FLAVORS COMBINED INTO ONE PERFECT DINNER (except for the peas :P) AND IT WAS SO DELISH AND I LIKE BACON AND CHEESE AND POTATOES SO IT WORKS PERFECTLY TOGETHER SO YAY CHEESY POTATOES AND THE MEATLOAF WAS DELISH EVEN THOUGH I HAD MY DOUBTS ABOUT MEATLOAF (I mean, it's usually just a bunch of chopped up meat and stuff. I've never had (my mom’s) homemade meatloaf before), BUT IT TASTED LIKE SAUSAGE AND MEATBALLS COMBINED SO IT WAS YUMMY! In conclusion: PERFECTION.

After dinner, I sat on the balcony and soaked in the incredible sunset behind the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, while the kids played and listened to “Kelly Clarkson Radio” on Pandora. It was a GOOD day! Being inside gave my little man a reprieve from his allergies.