July 17, 2008
Four Foods on Friday #38
This week Four Foods on Friday is all about smells - the good, the bad and the ugly. If you want to play, go to the link above. Copy the four questions, answer them in a post on your blog, then post a comment to Val letting her know you’ve played. Make sure you give her a link in your post. She’ll return the favor when she does her round-up post on Friday.
#1. Fruits and veggies. Do you prefer them peeled or not?
No choice - I can’t digest peels at all.
#2. What’s your favorite fresh fruit or vegetable smell?
Fruit: fresh, crisp apples! Vegetables: baked potatoes!
#3. What’s the worst food smell you’ve ever smelled?
Without a doubt, noni (picture above.) That stuff is just nasty. A lot of my neighbors grow it. It’s been a staple in many Polynesian diets for centuries and has a lot of medicinal uses. It’s gotten very popular in the health food industry in recent years, primarily as a juice. It’s usually mixed with grape or other strong-tasting and strong-smelling juice to disguise it’s disgusting nature. One of the neighbors gave me some noni paste to use on my foot when I had a bad burn a few years back. It did seem to speed up the healing process, but I was afraid to go around people when I had it smeared on. The smell penetrated multiple layers of bandages and was really nauseating. To make the paste, put some noni fruit in a jar and let it rot. Smash it up and keep in the jar, tightly sealed, in the fridge. Warn everyone before you open the jar - they’ll want to be far, far away! They don’t call it vomit fruit for nothing!
#4. Share the recipe for the dish that you love to smell cooking in your oven.
Tough question! My first thought was the whole Thanksgiving dinner thing. Does anything smell better than the combination of turkey, dressing, fresh veggies, pumpkin and pecan pies? I think not. But since you want a recipe, I’ll share what’s in the oven and smelling pretty good right now. It’s kind of muggy, so I didn’t want to do something that would keep me in the kitchen. I made up a meat loaf recipe that took about five minutes to mix. I’ve got the oven set at 350 degrees and the timer is set for thirty minutes. I’ve never made this before so I don’t know yet how it will taste or if it will be ready when the timer goes off. We’ll see. I think I’ll call it
Quick Italian Meatloaf
In a large mixing bowl combine:
1 &1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
two eggs
1/2 cup of prepared Italian tomato sauce (I’m using Hunt’s)
1 small can of chopped mushroom
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste.
Mush it all up together with your hands until well blended. Shape into a loaf, cover with another half-cup or so of sauce and pop it in the oven. I’ll let you know later how it comes out.
Edit: It was pretty tasty! I’ll use half the oregano and basil next time to let the meat flavor come through better. Cooking time depends on the size of your dish or pan. I used a small, oblong casserole dish, so the loaf was pretty condensed - about three inches thick. I needed a full hour to cook it.
So - not my best creation, but good, moist, flavorful. A few adjustments and it will be better next time.
Technorati Tags: food, meatloaf, meatloaf recipe, noni, recipe
Posted by skeet @ 7:01 pm • Food and beverage, Meme
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July 18th, 2008 at 1:38 am, Anele Says:
Oh man, I love the way my grandma’s house smells on Thanksgiving day. The smell of her overcooked turkey (LOL), her delicious noodles and bake and serve rolls. Okay, now I’m REALLY hungry! Meatloaf is my hubby’s favorite of mine. Since getting the FoodSaver I was able to make batches of it to keep on hand to have whenever we want.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:47 am, Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings Says:
You’re making me hungry!
Ok, spill it sister… what’s that picture of on this post? It’s not something I recognize.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:48 am, Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings Says:
Haha, never mind… I just had to slow down and read the post. LOL yes, I haven’t had my coffee this morning… not fully awake yet apparently.
I’ve never heard of noni fruit.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:28 am, David Epstein Says:
Great post! Very interesting/informative. I’ve never heard of noni fruit either…
July 18th, 2008 at 3:21 pm, Veggie Mom Says:
The Italian Meatloaf is definitely going in my recipe box. It was 98 degrees today, though, so I think I’ll save it for cooler weather!
July 18th, 2008 at 5:02 pm, valmg Says:
We love meatloaf here.
I have to say, that noni fruit doesn’t even look nice. And vomit fruit?! I don’t think I’d eat anything called vomit fruit.
Thanks for playing FFOF.
Stumbled.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:45 pm, Whim Says:
They call it vomit fruit! Seriously?
July 18th, 2008 at 5:58 pm, Fun, Crafts and Recipes | What I learned from Four Foods On Friday 38 Says:
[…] Skeet shared a recipe for Quick Italian Meatloaf and loves the smell of apples. […]
July 18th, 2008 at 10:47 pm, clair Says:
I’ve smelt it in a bottle, not the fresh fruit *gag*.
July 19th, 2008 at 6:41 am, Heather Says:
Okay, the noni sounds really gross! You gave such a vivid description of it!
Have a great weekend!
July 20th, 2008 at 11:37 am, Charla Says:
I’ve heard of Noni before and wanted to try it. Thanks for the info…now I don’t want to try it at all! lol