Pizza Cutter Freebie!

Do you eat a lot of pizza in your house? We love pizza here. I had one of those wheel type pizza cutters, and it always got a lot of use, but somehow I lost it! I think it got thrown out in a pizza box. When it comes to pizza, regular knives just don't cut it (haha.. cut it - get it?) - that's why I was so excited to see this free offer -

FREE Pizza Knife Sample!

Run and fill out the form and get your free pizza knife. I can't wait to get mine!

Pizza Loaf

Image via Wikipedia

I've been sick, and not feeling up to cooking the last few days. Stupid headcold! But I had some ground beef thawed out and it was getting to the point where I had to use it, or I was gonna lose it.

So, I decided to make a meat loaf. Now, usually, I make 'souper' meatloaf with Lipton Onion soup mix, but I have run out and won't have anymore until January when Mom comes back. I had switched to using Good Season's Italian seasoning mix, but that's all run out too. So, I looked around in the cupboard and fridge, and took stock of what I had on hand, and this is what I came up with.

Pizza Loaf!

1 kg (2lbs) ground beef
1 tbsp Nature's Seasonings
1 packet of saltines, pulverized to powder
1/2 small can of tomato sauce (I used roasted garlic flavor) - save other half for later
1 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
As much mozzarella cheese as you like.

I put all those ingredients except for the cheese together in a bowl and mixed until it was all incorporated.
Transfer half of the mixture to a casserole or baking dish and flatten it out.
Spoon a little of the remaining tomato sauce on and spread it around, like on a pizza dough.
Next, add a layer of mozzarella cheese. I used thin slices, because grating it just seemed like too much work today.
Spread the remainder of the meat mixture on top, flatten it out and press the seams together. This part was a little tricky, the sauce wanted to squirt out the sides. But I was prepared for that, and had made a little 'lip' around the edge of the bottom layer of meat, and flattened out the top layer as much as possible before laying it on top.

Cook it in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes covered, then take the top off for the last 5 minutes. (I covered it with tin foil at the start, because I used a 9x13 pan instead of my regular casserole) Serve topped with the rest of the tomato sauce.

*Note - picture is NOT my pizza loaf - just a generic meatloaf I found on Wiki. We ate ours up faster than I could find the camera!

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A Not-so-auspicious Beginning

Image by jumbledpile via Flickr

Of course, my first day of blogging my food, and it's a day we went to the restaurant. :D However, I also did some shopping, so we'll talk about that a bit, too.

The boys got out of school early today, so we walked to Alex's restaurant together. I actually don't know if this restaurant has a name - there's not one posted. But, the cooks name is Alex, so I'll call it Alex's restaurant - not to be confused with Alice's. ;) Actually, it's a family run business - Alex and the two servers are brothers. They have a lot of kitchen help, and the place is always packed. It's only open for lunch - they open around 11:00, and close when the food is gone, usually around 3pm. I love going there. All the meals include soup or an entrada, and then a main course (segunda). The entrada is often papas a la huancaina or papas ocopa. I'll have more information on these another time, when I either cook them, or have them at the restaurant.

Prices at Alex's are extremely reasonable, even by Peru standards. A full meal of soup/entrada, main course and drink runs from 3.50 soles to 5. soles. Today's exchange is about 3.10 to a dollar, so we get each meal for well under $2USD each.

To start, we all got the soup, which was a chicken soup with semolina (sort of like grits, but made from wheat - like cream of wheat). It's mostly broth, with giblets, neck and feet, and a little bit of celery, carrots and potato. However, we didn't eat it - we had it packaged to bring home. It keeps for a couple days, and I often give it to the boys for their 'lonche' in the evening.

David had pollo frito. This is his favorite meal from this restaurant. It consists of a single piece of chicken (usually a breast or thigh) that is flattened, seasoned and pan fried (frito means fried) - not breaded. The plate includes a good salad (romaine, tomato, beets, carrots, onion, broccoli with a lemon vinaigrette), rice and french fries. He ate every bit of it today.

Franco prefers the suprema de pollo, and that's what he had today. It's the same meal as David, except the chicken is in the form of a breaded cutlet. He didn't eat all of his rice today, but did pretty well with the rest of it. Not bad, considering they had a bunch of junk food today at school - it was a party day.

I opted for the lomo saltado today. 'Lomo' is loin - in this case, beef loin. It's a Peruvian/Chinese fusion dish. (There is a very large Chinese community in Peru, and they've had a big influence on the food) It's basically a stir-fry, with finely chopped beef, potatoes, chopped tomatos and onions quickly sauteed together with soy sauce. Cilantro is added at the last moment. This is one of my favorite Peruvian dishes to eat AND to cook. The next time I cook it at home, I'll take pictures and post the recipe proper.

After we ate, it was time to hit the supermarket. I didn't buy much, just enought to get us through the next few days - about $25 worth. I bought the boys a frozen pizza, and some bacon to put on it. Bacon here is leaner and not as smoky as bacon in the US, but it's still pretty good. I saved some of the bacon to use for the lentil soup I'm making on Friday. I don't usually buy bread at the grocery store because the bakery is cheaper. But today I was tempted by the sight of fresh potato bread. It is a delight - thick crust, and super chewy with a heavy, earthy flavor. Super stuck in the oven for a minute and then served with a little butter. That with some of the soup we brought home is what I had for dinner tonight.

So there it is - a day in the food. ;)

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