Italian Meatloaf

Wow. What a revelation this was after preparing it for the first time this evening. So full of flavor, almost sweet even, which was surprising because the usual meatloaves made with ground turkey just don't have any zing, and for this one I also used bitter greens.

The idea for it started to come to me when I saw the rapini on special today. I remembered how my sister-in-law in New Jersey at one time had served up some hot and sweet Italian sausages the old world way with sauteed rapini, otherwise called broccoli rabe. But instead of sauteing the rapini with the onions and the garlic in the oil, it seemed better to me to skip the saute altogether and incorporate all these raw into the meat mixture. The result was amazing. The boy said, "Dad, you could make some money with this one."

That'll do, for me.

Italian Meatloaf

1 egg, beaten in a large mixing bowl

1 T extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

.5 cup oat bran

1.25 lbs. ground turkey

4 T tomato paste (.25 cup)

.5 cup onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

4 oz. rapini leaves and heads, finely chopped

.25 t black pepper

.5 t fennel seed

.5 t crushed red pepper flakes

1 t salt

1 t sweet Hungarian paprika

1. To the beaten egg, add the oil, cheese, oat bran, tomato paste, and turkey. Gently mash with, you guessed it, ye olde trusty potato masher, until thoroughly mixed.

2. Add the black pepper, fennel seed, crushed red pepper, salt, and paprika to a coffee grinder. Pulse until fine, and add to the meat mixture. Mash in until mixed.

3. Then add the rapini, garlic, and onions. Mash to blend in.

4. Heat the oven on bake to 375 degrees F.

5. Load the mixture into a well-greased glass loaf pan, or into a non-stick loaf pan. I used a non-stick gold finish loaf pan from Williams Sonoma with good results.

6. Bake for about 50 minutes until an instant read thermometer stuck in the middle of the loaf reads 180 degrees F. Use a heat-proof silicone spatula all the way around the loaf to loosen it a little and turn out onto a plate to cool for five minutes. Slice like bread and serve with your favorite tomato sauce on top, or with ketchup dontcha know, and a nice spinach salad on the side. That's livin!

The Bees Knees of Honey

The darker the better, as in buckwheat honey, because the darkest honeys contain the most antioxidants.

We like a brand called Some Honey, which markets raw, natural, unadulterated buckwheat honey in 5 lb. jugs from Wisconsin for about $13 at Fruitful Yield stores in Illinois. The aroma is distinctive, oddly reminiscent of a barn, which is why we jokingly refer to this stuff as Illinois cow shit honey.

Steven Pratt points out that honey "contains at least 181 known substances, and its antioxidant activity stems from the phenolics, peptides, organic acids, and enzymes. Honey also contains salicylic acid, minerals, alpha-tocopherol, and oligosaccharides." The latter "increase the number of 'good' bacteria in the colon, reduce levels of toxic metabolites in the intestine, help prevent constipation, and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure."

Pretty impressive qualities, courtesy of the bees.

Pratt recommends 1 to 2 teaspoons multiple times per week. We like it on toast, in tea, and on baking day in a bread recipe.

Butternut Squash, Sage and Lentil Soup

Family from Provence visited and brought along some lentils du Puy, the world's finest, and Mr. Wenger kindly shared some of his hefty butternut squashes with us . . . time to make some soup with these memorable gifts!

Baking squash is easy. Wash them in cool water. Slice them lengthwise and place them cut side down in a large oiled broiler pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for an hour and twenty minutes, until a knife passes through easily. Let them cool on the counter, scoop out the seeds and strings and discard. Then spoon out the flesh to use and/or store. Bada bing, bada boom. Just like downtown.

Butternut Squash, Sage and Lentil Soup

6 cups chicken stock

2 cups, firmly packed, baked butternut squash

.5 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 dash cayenne pepper (aka 1/8 teaspoon)

.5 t ground sage leaf

1 t salt

.75 cup lentils, washed (if you don't have the French variety, domestic green lentils will work)

1. In a large covered stainless steel pot, simmer the lentils in the broth until tender, about 45 minutes.

2. To the reservoir of a blender, add the garlic cloves, cover and puree. Then add some squash, and broth from the pot, and puree. Add the oil, cayenne, sage and salt and puree some more. Add the rest of the squash, more broth if needed, and puree until combined and smooth.

3. Pour the blended mixture into the soup pot, stir and heat until bubbly. Serve with some nice buttered toast and an apple.

Soup makes me happy. Mm. Mm. Mm.