Last weekend we attended Hanukkah festivities hosted by our good friends Yossi (of Pickling Pre-Interview with Yossi fame) and Shannon. L’chaim! Among the impressive spread—including homemade latkes and donuts!—was a humble platter of fried cauliflower (zahra mekleyah) from Sahadi’s, a place we wish we lived closer to.

Back at Meatloafing HQ, we tried to make our own fried cauliflower, thinking it would be a nice complement to the lunches we’ve been so dutifully preparing each day. Our cauliflower (see photo above) turned out very flavorful, but quite mushy. We fried it in a hot cast-iron skillet with some canola oil and evoo. Meatloafing readers, any tips for keeping your cauliflower firm while still achieving a crispy outside (sans batter)? Is deep-frying the only answer?

We doubled this recipe and ended up swimming in stuffing on Thanksgiving. Yay, leftovers. This recipe—a Meatloafing original—has a lot of warm, comforting flavors and some nice textural highlights. Tip: Construct a celery partition to keep meat and veg stuffings separate (see photo above).

Ingredients

• 1 loaf rustic white bread, cubed, with crusts intact (1-1 1/4 pounds)
• 2 or so cups chicken stock (homemade if possible)
• 1 carrot, cut into several large pieces
• 2 stalks celery, cut into several large pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped into small pieces
• 1/2 can sliced water chestnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 1 teaspooon (more? add this to taste) poultry seasoning
• Black pepper
• Butter
• canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1 roll pork breakfast sausage or 8-10 oz cremini mushrooms, roughly sliced (or use both, but halve the amounts)

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• We spotted this slim, bundled fellow and immediately took several covert subway photos, then realized he probably couldn’t see us anyway. GF/Meatloafing artiste Karolina notes the resemblance to Kenny.
• Winter movie recommendation: Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In). This is a “serious” (not cheesy) vampire movie that we really enjoyed. It’s got kids, kid vampires, dreary blue-inflected vistas, and an amazing cat scene that’s not worth spoiling here. See if you can spot the vintage plastic Smurf collection. It’s only onscreen for a few seconds, but we appreciated the attention to detail. With Swedish subtitles. Currently playing at Angelika Film Center.
  
• For the record: Dumont Burger, you’re no longer our friend. I’m not paying $13 plus an extra dollar for cheese just to sit on a backless stool next to a drafty front door. Perhaps if your burger quality was more consistent, we’d reconsider. FU.
• Meatloafers: what are you bringing to the table this year? Still not sure? We dug up these holidayesque recipes from our archives: Susan’s Cornbread, Festive All-Seasons Punch.
• Winter fashion report: H&M offers its worst collection in years. (Continue reading for a photo)

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A non-traditional M&C, mid-production

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Time to break out your leisure pants and do some extreme overeating. Here, we discuss the menu with good friend/Meatloafing reader Bryan:

Bryan: what are you planning to make
Meatloafing: a sweet thing and a savoury thing, tbd
uhm, maybe a pie
Bryan: what abt M&C
Meatloafing: i mean, sure
i;m thinking we need a good stuffing
none of this stovetop shit
Bryan: probably right
Meatloafing: someone needs to make GBC*
Bryan: but don’t put too much fruit in it
gbc, a t-day classic
i assume you are bringing PTA
Meatloafing: sure
last year i was a little PTA’d out, but we’ll see
i think i’d feel bad if i didn’t watch it
Bryan: it is a tradition

*We prefer the recipe on the back of the Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup can [“Campbell's Kitchen is currently undergoing site maintanence.”] French’s French Fried Onion can, although the other day we were watching Good Eats and Alton Brown made this splendid-looking GBC. Note to self: Try this. Note to Bryan: Meatloafing prefers French-style green beans.

This weekend was a little rough. We rode the Cyclone again and hurt ourselves. Dinner with our good friends at DiFara did little to alleviate the pain.

Meatloafing: i had a bad difara experience
it was sad :/
Slice: wha happen?
Meatloafing: out of cheese
romano or whatever
crumbly
also used sage instead of basil
and the son who sux was working
son w/ really bad posture had night off
and daughter wasn’t there
dom and son got in a tiff
son stormed off, started sweeping
idk

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Dear Meatloafing readers,

Although this website focuses mostly on food, self-empowerment, and breaking Midtown news, sometimes we like to hit the open road and explore new places. Here are journal excerpts from my recent trip to the Yucatan down through Guatemala City. —ML

Saturday, August 2: Cancun & Mérida

Yesterday we flew into Cancun (”Nueva Orlando”) and it was a little weird. Ate some delicious fast food—little soft corn pockets filled with assorted meats, cactus, etc.—and then walked around town. After awhile it was too hot and we boarded a bus to Mérida, an old city with the oldest (?) [maybe not, just read the link I guess] cathedral in Yucatán. [It is also the capital of the state of Yucatan.]

The bus ride was charming. We went through all these little towns where we saw folks enjoying their Friday night. Fond memories of a girl on a tire swing and three dudes just chilling under a stop sign. Each home was full of life, bright and welcoming. Our 2nd-class bus stopped a lot so the ride was long, but we (I) slept so oh well. Todd peed in a soda bottle and partially missed and then washed his clothes and blanket in the hotel bathroom. Our room is simple—three single beds [this was common; I think we only had a room with one regular bed less than half the time. Most rooms had 2 or 3 beds. We almost got a room with 4 beds but decided to look elsewhere.] but there is AC and a speedy fan.

I’m tall.

Sunday, August 3: Mérida

Ate an early lunch at a hole-in-the-wall place [El Cangrejito] where the pope ate during his visit in 1984. We had mini tacos with camarones, langousta y papas y lentils (?) or something brown. Heavily doused with lime, these were beautiful and colourful little pieces of art. So fresh and tasty! Fresca!

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Last weekend marked the unofficial (but basically official—get real) start of summer. We enjoyed a BBQ, a cutthroat game of Apples to Apples, a leisurely bike ride to Rikers Island, and beautiful weather. Meatloafing offers 7 tips for a sensational summer:

• Work on this season’s “it” muscle (according to Maggie, it’s the semitendinosus, the semimembranosus, and the biceps femoris, all of which make up what’s commonly known as the hamstring)
• Bike often and wear a helmet
• Don’t wear leggings as pants
• Make sun tea in your office windowsill if you cannot actually go outdoors
• Mollie’s Famous Lemonade
• Constantly over-meat
• Enjoy this timeless, yet often overlooked vegetable: Radishes!

[A note about our new look: It's actually our old look, and we're working on getting our new look back. Upgrading WordPress without backing up your old files is not recommended. Thank you.]

Continue for a vaguely NSFW video of good friend Pete “holding” an explosive at the BBQ (more…)