Cocktail size Chicken Pies

Today I started cooking the food for Cannon's birthday party, everything that will either last in the fridge till saturday or that can be frozen I'll make in the next 2 days. I'm baking 100 mini chicken pies and freezing them. I'm using the Chicken Pie recipe in this blog but doubled the dough. These are little bites of heaven , and if you have high cholesterol than you better stay away from them ! Just the thought of 6 sticks of butter for the dough makes me smile!
You can use the same pastry dough for mini quiches!

Just posting pictures and following the Chicken pie recipe. Baking time should be 20 minutes . Don't forget the egg wash to get the nice golden tops.

Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower

I love roasted vegetables ! I'm making these to serve with meatloaf.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower cut into small pieces

8 small red potatoes quartered

Salt and Pepper

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F.

Toss cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place them on a large baking sheet and put it in preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes.

In a saucepan cook the potatoes in salted water for about 10 minutes after boiling point. Drain the water and toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Remove cauliflower from oven and add the potatoes , toss them together and place it back in the oven. Bake for and additional 45 minutes . At this point i usually turn the oven off and turn the boiler on and place veggies under the boiler for some color , it should take a few minutes. Keep an eye so they won't get burned. Serve it hot with your choice of meat or just by itself.

Meatloaf

Today i need some comfort food and also something that will feed the family for at least 2 days since i have a lot of cooking to do for Cannon's Birthday Party. Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower and Buttered Corn, doesn't that just scream comfort?
I grind my meat in a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen-Aid mixer but if you have a food processor will work just as well , or if you prefer to buy ground beef and pork works too. This recipe makes 2 loaves.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb. of sirloin
1 1/2 lb. of pork loin
1 large yellow onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 small pepper(your choice of color) , thinly sliced
4 tablespoons of olive oil divided
64 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of sugar
Fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of oregano
Fresh chopped basil
2 1/2 cups of plain bread crumbs
1 beaten egg
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pan sauté over moderate heat the chopped onion on 2 tablespoons of olive oil ,cook until translucent ,about 5 minutes . Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add Peppers and cook for about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook for about 20 minutes or when the peppers are soft. Add parsley and basil and let it cool down to room temperature .
Preheat oven to 375F.
In a large mixing bowl mix the meat, egg, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 1/2 cup of bread crumbs at a time alternating with a ladle of tomato sauce (save 1 cup of sauce to top meatloaf)  mixing well with your hands and getting all the sauce absorbed by the meat . The mixture should almost feel jello-like.  Place to loaf pans on a cookie sheet and fill them up with meat mixture.

Pour 1/2 cup of sauce on top of each loaf and place it on preheated oven. Bake it for 1 hour. remove from oven and let it rest 10 minutes before serving.