Meal No. 4004: Lamb & Mushroom Meatloaf

Another Williamson Wednesday took place just over a week ago, when dear friend Amy was at the table for dinner and an evening of hanging out. That was a good opportunity for our latest go at lamb and mushroom meatloaf, always a crowd-pleaser with its unique combination of ingredients. It comes from a cookbook from the Asheville-based Tupelo Honey Cafe, and I first made this all the way back in 2013 for Meal No. 801. Standard alongside in my mind is another Tupelo Honey Cafe favorite: smashed sweet potatoes. I turned our recent Texas toast rolls into garlic bread, and roasted whole green beans with a really nice Shenandoah Valley herb mix filled in the rest of our plates.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

Meal No. 3914: Lamb & Mushroom Meatloaf

Last Monday, with high hopes it might be a suitable menu, I offered up another one of the house favorites: lamb and mushroom meatloaf. It always feels like a possible risk to serve this, given that I do not know how new guests might feel about lamb, or about meatloaf. Fortunately, this easy and delightful guest is down with both. With the standard ride-along of smashed sweet potatoes and suitable third item of hoisin roasted green beans, this meal often tips over into feast territory for me.

[If it seems like a numbered meal was skipped over, it's because I added yet another salad meal from the previous night to an earlier blog post.]

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

Meal No. 3739: Lamb & Mushroom Meatloaf

My gosh: when it's been almost 40 years since laying eyes on a dear college friend, the evening of the reunion simply cannot arrive quickly enough. That's what made me so very happy Thursday a week ago to hear the car drive up in the lot and behind its wheel to find the one and only Kelly Clark. The long gap in our UNC-birthed friendship is on my shoulders, thanks to a 14-year delay in responding to an email! Of course, because he moved to New York after graduating from UNC, and then lived overseas some of the intervening years, and now has nestled his family into quaint New England, it's not as though we're going to run into one another at the Harris Teeter.

I'd promised to make dinner and something that captured and spanned the state was the clever idea that drove the menu design. We'll head west for the main meal, borrowing from Asheville's Tupelo Honey Cafe, the source of the recipe for lamb and mushroom meatloaf and smashed sweet potatoes, pictured above. Roasted herbed asparagus joined the plates as well.

Dessert took us to the other end of the state, where might often be found the popular Atlantic Beach pie, our home state riff on key lime pie with lemon as the featured flavor. Tying the menu up into a neat bow is that this wonderful dessert gained national attention thanks to an NPR feature on Chef Bill Smith of Chapel Hill's Crook's Corner bringing it to the fore. It could not have been a finer evening, here in Carolina, and I'm glad we'll have more to look forward to on Kelly's frequent trips to nearby Greensboro.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

"One Phenomenal Pie: Atlantic Beach Pie," from Chef Bill Smith. Published in Our State Magazine, May 2014. Also featured in "Found Recipes" on All Things Considered from National Public Radio, broadcast April 13, 2013. First made in the RoHo: July 2014.

Meal No. 3573: Lamb & Mushroom Meatloaf

A short two-week interval between was enough cushion for bringing back the once-popular-but-now-rare lamb and mushroom meatloaf, along with signature smashed sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli florets. That's what was served up Easter Monday when Kristen and Mookie were here for dinner. It turned out to be pretty darned good, too, inviting seconds of various elements of the menu.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

Meal No. 3564: Multi-Mushroom Lamb Meatloaf

The rare occasion that brings friend and colleague Robb Warfield to the house must be celebrated in style. That's why Tuesday's dinner proved perfect to break out an enduring favorite from the Tupelo Honey Cafe bookbook: lamb and multi-mushroom meatloaf, along with smashed sweet potatoes and hoisin-roasted whole green beans. I'm getting dangerously close to the 20-year mark of knowing Robb, beginning when he helped launch the new Atkins High School magnet programs here in Winston-Salem. We still work together today, although it involves me flying over to Senegal where he is superintendent of Dakar Academies.

Special company called for a special appetizer, and it was easy enough to serve up a fresh dish of warm Swiss, Gruyère, and bacon dip as the evening got underway.

The first time Robb was scheduled to sup here was almost 13 years ago, and it was a bust because my hot water heater had gone on the fritz and I couldn't make dinner as a result! As has dependably been the back-up on similar occasions, that night so many years ago we just dashed around the corner to Foothills for our meal. I'm glad this year everything worked out and we could keep the dinner party here in the glorious confines of the Roediger House.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

"Swiss and Bacon Dip," from Rachael Ray. Available online at the Food Network website.

Meal No. 3426: Lamb and Mushroom Meat Loaf

A dish that was once perhaps too popular and much loved here has been brought back after a two-and-a-half year hiatus: lamb and mushroom meat loaf, based on a recipe from the very popular Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville. [Interestingly, we have just passed the 10th anniversary of the first time I made the THC lamb meat loaf!] Thursday a week ago was the most recent occasion, because dear friends Amy and Gern were over for supper and I do believe this is one of the dishes they are fond of. To me, the natural and best-suited accompaniment is also from Tupelo Honey Cafe: smashed sweet potatoes. And I always am happy to have some roasted broccoli florets. The extra touch on the menu, though, was a pan of maple buttermilk dinner rolls which were pillowy soft and tasty as heck.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

Maple Buttermilk Bread based on "Soft and Sweet Buttermilk Honey Bread," by Beth Kirby of The Local Milk blog. [Published 09 April 2014]

Meal No, 2878: Rosemary Garlic Lamb and Potato Hash

Hacher, from the French: "to chop." Hence, our Americanized or Anglicized word "hash," to generally refer to a dish of chopped meat, onions, and potatoes, plus whatever else might suit your fancy. On the final day of June at the Roediger House, this was a chance to try out a new recipe where ground lamb was the featured meat in a hash dish. I'm so fond of roasted potatoes that I spiced and oven-baked them first, along with spiced cauliflower florets. This was a fine Wednesday evening meal and a good find for a new dish with lamb. (It seems that my most common lamb dish is lamb meatloaf, which of course is made with the ground lamb that I am most likely to buy. But I remember when I used to be more adventurous, and buy lamb chops to grill, or more rarely leg of lamb or rack of lamb...!)

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Based on "Rosemary Garlic Ground Lamb and Potatoes," by Ashley Singh Thomas, founder of the food blog My Heart Beets.

Meal No. 2792: Lamb and Mushroom Meat Loaf

Well, the nice weather was awesome for its three-day run, but last Friday saw a return to temps in the 40s and rain rolled in around mid-day. That's all it took to switch the meal gears over into the comfort realm, so I made lamb and mushroom meat loaf along with roasted broccoli and a choice between the last of a batch of leftover roasted sweet potatoes or a lump of instant potatoes.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf," in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (2011), p. 150.

Meal No. 2756: Lamb and Mushroom Meat Loaf

We were under the impression that the first snow event of this winter was to intrude upon us as last week wrapped up, but Friday was not much of a snow day. Some beautiful big flakes in the morning didn't even stick on the typical surfaces, and when more snow appeared later, it all amounted to a dusting at best. In between the bouts of wintry disappointment, I set to work in the kitchen so as to serve an early afternoon meal featuring lamb and mushroom meat loaf, spiced roasted sweet potatoes, and seasoned green beens. It proved to be a scrumptious filling meal.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf," in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (2011), p. 150.

"Roasted Sweet Potatoes," from Chelsea Lords of ChelseasMessyApron.com. [Published 04 March 2019]

Meal No. 2667: Lamb and Mushroom Meat Loaf

Thursday was a take-it-easy kind of day, after the long weekend of yard work and then a couple of days focused on work tasks and an afternoon virtual teaching session on Wednesday. I kept the laundry going all day and caught up on some kitchen stuff. Hunger hit early, and so the full meal of the day was had around 2 pm...and it was very much deep in the heart of awesome: lamb and mushroom meat loaf, homemade creamy mashed potatoes, and delicious roasted hoisin-glazed whole green beans. I took the extra step of having some brown gravy as well. Lordy, this was a fantastic feast in all regards and respects.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf," in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (2011), p. 150.

Meal No. 2625: Lamb and Mushroom Meat Loaf

I don't know how it works at your house, but I'm of the opinion that it will be the end of the workday, a Friday, or a holiday weekend when one of the two house air conditioning systems decides to go on the blink. It was right at 5 o'clock last Friday when I had come in from working outside and passed through an 82°F kitchen...which led me to investigate the unit down in the cellar hoping it was just frozen up again. Alas, that didn't seem to be the explanation, so leaving it shut off didn't take care of things. I decided not to bring out the on-call guy over the weekend, and all the sleeping was done up in the attic guest nook over the weekend, which made Sumner extremely happy since he can bed down there with human company, instead of crashing in his crate as per usual. Yesterday, my longtime technician John came from Webb Heating & Air Conditioning. It was a relatively quick fix but not without a higher price tag: the motor was blown and had to be replaced. Now things are humming along...pretty cool.

Although the kitchen was 87°F while I was in the midst of making dinner Sunday night, which was even worse than I was expecting it to be, I still pressed forward with my meal plans...with a 450°F oven working hard for about an hour just so we could sit down to delicious Tupelo Honey Cafe-inspired lamb and mushroom meat loaf. With creamy homemade mashed potatoes, overloaded with butter (as they should be), and a homemade brown gravy, it was the kind of meal I worked hard in the yard to earn.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf" (p. 150), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011.

Meal No. 2597: Lamb & Mushroom Meat Loaf

Saturday night at the Roediger House, a pretty awesome dinner of lamb meat loaf with homemade mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. It had the added benefit of making enough that there were tasty leftovers for Sunday evening supper out on the driveway, as a brief interruption to the hard labors of the yard that day.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf" (p. 150), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011.

Meal No. 2576: Lamb, Bacon, & Harissa Flatbread Pizza

It's been a very long time since I made pizza or any variants of it, and that might have upped my enthusiasm for making lamb and bacon flatbreads with sautéed peppers and onions on a crust spread with a harissa sauce cobbled together from some ingredients from a recently preceding meal. Yes, that includes the Michael Symon steak sauce (about a tablespoon) and the homemade beer ketchup, both of which were dipping sauces for the homemade french fries earlier that week.

With a mix of cheddar, mozzarella, and goat cheeses, these flatbreads were quite the treat last Saturday night.

The quarantine task jar drawing both that day and the day before were rather kind to me. Last Friday, the task that was drawn was resetting one of the cement benches, situated in the area we call The Grove, that I'd inherited from my mother. I had placed it between the Bradford pear and the front retaining wall but, over time, one side of it had sunk rather badly into the looser soil where I'd dug up rotting cherry tree roots from a tree long ago removed. (Here is an even earlier post when I just dug up the below-ground stump.)

I thought I had a "before" picture to show its dramatic listing like a tanker taking on ocean water. Instead, you'll have to amuse yourself with this accompanying "after" pic, that veritably drips with precision.

The Saturday task that was drawn left me a bit giddy, because it was for another yard chore but it was one I'd already completed: digging up dead bushes. Last summer's meager landscaping efforts included a mix of shrubs: a replacement azalea, two new rhododendrons, and three Petite Plum Ninebark bushes, among others. Those specifically listed in the preceding sentence are the ones that didn't make it so they were dug up and tossed.

Meal No. 2562: Lamb & Mushroom Meat Loaf

As April began a week ago Wednesday, the evening's dinner consisted of lamb and mushroom meatloaf, smashed sweet potatoes, and seasoned green beans. It was quite a load of food but some of my grocery shopping took place without knowing that the Roediger House would not be hosting any guests at all once the societal shut-down became our new strange reality. In fact, when I was stocking up, I had in mind that others might be partaking as well. These are unprecedented times, no doubt.

It is not lost on me how very serious this current coronavirus pandemic is, nor is it lost on me the tremendously fortunate position I'm in. I live in a home that is paid for. I have no car payments or student loans or credit card debt. I've been able to afford my own health insurance. My professional work might be suspended but there is nothing perilous about my financial situation. Food is plentiful and entertainments are easily indulged in. When I step out into my yard, I can enjoy watching my pup frolic or sit and watch the birds at the regularly-refilled feeders and I feel that I am relatively safe and that one day normalcy will return.

At the start of the city-wide (and then state-wide) stay-at-home order, I decided to create for myself a task jar with random slips of both fun and necessary tasks and chores. On the one hand, I think it's really helpful for self-discipline in the face of days upon days of unstructured time...and my tendency to procrastinate or indulge in simple distractions. On the other hand, I know it seems a bit frivolous and it definitely reminds me that this is a privileged life, heavily dosed with no small measure of unearned advantages. But there it is.

So, I'll report that the fourth day of task jar lottery was much kinder to me than I deserved: "Watch a Movie." So I did, after finding that Hulu was streaming a highly-regarded film that was on my movie-theatre docket for the week that the shut-down began: Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meatloaf" (p. 150) and "Smashed Sweet Potatoes" (p. 128), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing (2011).

Meal No. 2557: Lamb Köfte-Style Quesadillas with Yogurt Tahini Sauce

With a chill rain starting up and continuing all night long on Tuesday a week ago, my late afternoon dinner plan became the warm spiciness of Köfte-inspired lamb quesadillas, with sautéed peppers and onions, goat cheese crumbles, mozzarella cheese, and a lemon tahini yogurt sauce. I was full after three of my four triangles, but what's not to love about having some leftovers for later in the week? Plus: I had to save room for yet another one of those amazing apple crisp cheesecake bars, didn't I?

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Inspired by "Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara," from Bon Appétit, January 2010. [clipping]

Preparation and cooking based on "Quesadillas for a Crowd," by Morgan Bolling. In Cook's Country, August/September 2015, p. 18.

Meal No. 2511: Lamb Köfte-Style Flatbreads with Yogurt Sauce

Saturday afternoon a week ago it was a solid opportunity to overeat and be limited in the accompanying regrets. Basing my concoction on the flavor and ingredient combinations that normally would result in lamb meatballs, I took a taco meat approach and browned the ground lamb, mixed it with spices and onion, added in harissa sauce, and finished it out with soft goat cheese. This served as the base atop flatbreads, and caramelized onions and roasted red pepper strips became the middle layer, and the topping was a tangy tahini yogurt sauce. It all deserved the "wow" utterances that tumbled out at mealtime.

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Inspired by "Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara," from Bon Appétit, January 2010. [clipping]

Meal No. 2483: Lamb & Mushroom Meat Loaf

For four of us on hand Sunday a week ago at dinnertime, I served up some delicious lamb and mushroom meatloaf, along with reheated creamy four-cheese mac-n-cheese and buttered garden peas. This version of meat loaf always comes out tasty and good, so I'm glad I was gifted with the Tupelo Honey Cafe cookbook (from which it came) after a houseguest's visit to Asheville.

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"Lamb and Multi-Mushroom Meat Loaf" (p. 150), in Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, by Elizabeth Sims with Chef Brian Sonoskus. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011.

Meal No. 2471: Lamb Tacos

Thursday's dinner at the Roediger House was lamb tacos, with goat cheese and caramelized onions and roasted red pepper strips, topped with a yogurt tahini sauce. It is a recipe based off of lamb köfte although this time around I managed to forget the excellent addition of harissa, for some reason. Were they still good, though? Indeed.

Meal No. 2448: Spiced Lamb Tacos

The Sunday dinner for four was lamb tacos, topped with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, cheddar cheese, and a lemon tahini yogurt sauce. I take my inspiration from the lamb köfte that has been one of the more interesting and delicious dinner offerings that draws from an international playbook. We seemed to think they were pretty good that night!

Meal No. 2419: Lamb Köfte-Style Flatbreads with Yogurt Sauce

Last Wednesday's main meal of the day was a variation of the Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara that I've made quite a few times over the years. This time, instead of meatballs, I treated it more like I was making South Asian taco meat but with the spices appropriate to the lamb. Served on flatbread, with caramelized onions, it was well-complemented by the yogurt-tahini sauce that I'd made in advance.

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Inspired by "Lamb Köfte with Yogurt Sauce and Muhammara," from Bon Appétit, January 2010. [clipping]