Meatloaf and Me Me Me!!!

Well like everything in my life, once I get off the proverbial butt and get started I can't stop, so after a break of 9 months I now have 2 blog posts in 2 days.

I'll start off with THE best meatloaf recipe ever....this recipe changed my life, fail to believe me if you will, but trust me make it and you'll be a convert

Credit to my cooking idol Tessa Kiros, it's from the worlds best cookbook Apples for Jam(excuse the picture, I couldn't find the last picture I took of the meatloaf so I took a photo of the cookbook pic).


Meatloaf with Roasted Vegetables

80g White bread crusts removed
1/2 cup of milk
2 large carrots peeled
1 large potato peeled
1 red capsicum
500g Beef mince (she uses lean, I use pov mince because I think it makes a better tastier meatloaf)
2 tbs of finely chopped parsley(I use basil)
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 heaped tbsp grated parmasan
1 lightly beaten egg
4 tbsp olive oil
100g thinly sliced pancetta
2 sage sprigs(I never have sage so just double the rosemary)
2 rosemary sprigs
2 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 tbsp plain flour
1/2 cup of white wine or stock

Preheat the oven to 180C. Soak the bread in milk for about 15 minutes, squashing it up with your hands so it collapses.
Cut the carrots in half lengthways then into four. Repeat with the Zuccini.Cut the potato into more or less the same size wedges and the capsicum into strips.
Put aside
Put mince into bowl with parsley(or basil),garlic,parmasan,egg and squashed up bread and a flat tsp of salt. Combine until smooth then form a large loaf shaped like a giant egg.
Drizzle half the olive oil into a large flameproof baking dish and put the meatloaf on top.Cover with overlapping slices of pancetta tucking them in at the bottom.
Scatter the veggies around, drizzle them with the rest of the oil and toss with some salt. Tuck the herbs and garlic cloves under the veggies.
Bake for about 1 1/4 hours turning the veggies halfway through. They should be crusty and golden and the pancetta crispy. Turn oven off. Remove the veg and meatloaf to a platter, cover with foil and return to the oven to keep warm.
Put the baking dish on the stovetop over high heat and sprinkle in the flour.
Cook, stirring constantly to scrape up all the bits. Pour in wine/stock and stir until evaporated. Add 250ml of hot water season with salt and cook until smooth and thick.
Serve with thick slices of meatloaf and veggies.

Enjoy!

Now just for some random pictures of my Oh So interesting life.

We've recently had the misfortune( I kid I kid) of having Beau's sister Bree and her husband EJ come visit from the backwater they call Perth. It's lovely seeing the kids, especially Bruno interact with their cousins and I'll be very sad to see them go...well the boys anyway haha



They actually have my big kids and have taken them camping once again proving without doubt to me that they are not the brightest sparks...leaving me with just the unruly child, Miss Teddy. So to take advantage of our new found freedom Beau and I pretended we were a one child family yesterday and took Her Ladyship The Esteemed Theodora to Muddies for some chips and a splash around.
She's obnoxious but rather lovely to look at.









And lastly mucho thanko's to the lovely Tina who reminded me of two precious objects I had "put away somewhere safe" and now have pride of place on the girls bedroom walls.



I don't like to blog about Ava, because I don't believe anything I say can do her justice,I sound too clumsy, too sentimental. But she is still very very much remembered in this household.
XoSuper PrincessoX