Tag Archives: umami

Umami Meatloaf with Red Pepper-Tomato Sauce

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If the thought of meatloaf has you feeling a little meh, then get this version on your short list. Here’s a juicy and flavorful meatloaf made with a mix of mushrooms, beef, miso, soy and Worcestershire sauces for immensely satisfying umami.

The milk-and-egg-soaked breadcrumbs are key for keeping the meat moist and promote tenderness. A sweet and tangy sauce both glazes the top of the meatloaf and is served alongside it. The glaze on the meatloaf deepens in flavor as it bakes, and the sauce reserved for serving is bright and fresh.

We paired the meatloaf with Go-With-Everything Celery Root Purée. You’ll love the leftovers — try them in a sandwich slathered with sauce. Oh, and we did just that with some leftover slabs, sauce, a slice of provolone on great bread and pan sautéed in a bit of butter. Truly memorable!

Make Ahead: The meatloaf sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. The cooled meatloaf can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Reheat slices in the oven, or gently warm in the microwave.

The recipe was adjusted so that more of the tomato-red pepper sauce was added on top of the loaf before baking. You will need to reheat the remaining sauce in a microwave before serving. And a word to the wise, you will be using a LOT of kitchen equipment, just sayin’…

Umami Meatloaf with Red Pepper-Tomato Sauce

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients

Meatloaf Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large shallots, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  • 2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (about 4 large tomatoes)
  • 1 cup chopped jarred roasted red bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 6 Tbsp. water

Meatloaf

  • 2 lbs. 85% lean ground beef
  • 2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 3 cups thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
  • 1 Fresno chile, seeded and minced (about 1 Tbsp.)
  • 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. shoyu or light soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. white miso
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup day-old fresh breadcrumbs
  • 3/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

The Sauce:

  1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium. Add shallots; cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, peppers, vinegar, sugar, and salt. Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes break up, liquid evaporates, and mixture becomes a deep red paste, 25 to 30 minutes.
  2. Remove 1/2 cup tomato mixture, and set aside. Transfer remaining mixture to a food processor; add water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time and up to 4 to 5 tablespoons total, and pulse to make a thick sauce. (We did not use the entire amount of water.) Transfer sauce to a bowl; if desired, thin further with 1 tablespoon water. Set aside until ready to use.

The Meatloaf:

  1. Place beef in a large bowl, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium. Add oil and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and chile; cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are tender and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, shoyu, miso, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt until well combined. Transfer mixture to a food processor; pulse until finely chopped (not pureed), 8 to 10 pulses.
  3. Whisk together milk and egg in a medium bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs and black pepper. (Mixture will resemble cornbread batter.)
  4. Add parsley, breadcrumb mixture, and mushroom mixture to beef in large bowl. Using your hands or a rubber spatula, work ingredients into beef until combined. Pack beef mixture into an 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Spread reserved 1/2 cup tomato mixture over top of meatloaf.
  5. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest portion of meatloaf registers 160°F, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let meatloaf rest for about 5 minutes; pour off and discard any liquid. Allow meatloaf to cool for 15 minutes. Cut into 1-inch-thick slices; serve with remaining meatloaf sauce.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Recipe by Hugh Acheson for Food & Wine

Chicken and Corn Stir-Fry, Oh My!

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You’ll enjoy this unusual stir-fry combination utilizing fresh corn kernels cut from the cob. The corn, along with rice, does lean toward a carb-heavy meal, but it is so satisfying and full of flavor. Coating the chicken pieces in cornstarch thickens the sauce at the end so that it clings to the meat and veggies.

Rarely overpowering, oyster sauce is packed with umami and adds tons of depth to stir-fries like this one, boosting flavor in marinades, and just being all-around incredibly delicious. No ripe corn at the market? Bon Appétit suggests to swap in peppers, peas, mushrooms, or summer squash.

As with any stir-fry, make sure to chop and prep all of the ingredients ahead of time because once you start cooking, the process goes incredibly fast and you need to keep swinging that metal spatula around.

Chicken and Corn Stir-Fry

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 1 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 lb.), cut into 1” pieces
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 4 Tbsp. peanut oil, divided
  • ½ red onion, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 1” piece ginger, peeled, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp. (or more) Aleppo-style pepper or other mild chile flakes
  • 3 ears of corn, kernels cut from cobs
  • Steamed rice and cilantro leaves with tender stems (for serving)

Directions

  1. Stir together oyster sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and 2 Tbsp. water in a small bowl. Set aside.
  2. Place chicken in a medium bowl. Season with salt and sprinkle with cornstarch; toss lightly to coat.
  3. Heat 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil in a large well-seasoned wok or nonstick skillet over medium-high. Cook chicken, tossing occasionally, until golden brown and nearly cooked through, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
  4. To the wok, add red onion, garlic, ginger, Aleppo-style pepper, and remaining 2 Tbsp. oil. Cook, tossing, until vegetables are softened, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add corn and cook, tossing often, until tender, about 3 minutes.
  6. Return chicken to wok with vegetables.
  7. Stir in reserved oyster sauce mixture and cook, tossing often, until reduced nearly to a glaze, about 2 minutes. Taste and season with salt if needed.
  8. Serve stir-fry with rice, topped with cilantro.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe by Chris Morocco for Bon Appétit

Garlic-Rosemary Burgers with Taleggio Sauce • Mm-mm Good!

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What’s summer without a great burger now and again? And how about an upgrade that puts you in adult territory by incorporating a rich taleggio cheese. When combined with the other ingredients, the ground meat patties become light and airy allowing all of those flavors to dance a jig on your taste buds.

These deeply savory burgers were inspired from a recipe by Ignacio Mattos, chef of Estela in New York and author of a book by the same name. Instead of using fish sauce like Mattos, Courtney Hill from Milk Street opted for similarly salty and umami-rich Worcestershire sauce. It is mixed with rosemary and garlic to create a rich base. These seasonings, combined with a simple, yet sinful, taleggio cheese sauce, make these burgers richer, more elegant and far more flavorful than your average cheeseburger.

Look at that bed of luscious creamy cheese smeared on both halves of the bun!

As far as buns, brioche buns or Kaiser rolls are recommended, as they better resist turning soggy than standard hamburger buns. Keep it simple with toppings using only sliced tomato and/or pickled red onions to balance the burgers’ richness. We used both although I never got around to pickling those onions.

We found that our cheese sauce was silky smooth after simmering with the heavy cream and therefore did not need to be strained. Instead of adding black pepper, we used white to keep that creamy color.

Don’t put the cheese sauce directly onto the cooked patties because it will slide off. A better approach is to spoon the sauce onto the cut sides of each bun and allow the bread to slightly soak it in.

Garlic-Rosemary Burgers with Taleggio Cheese

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 8 oz. taleggio cheese, rind removed, cut into ½-inch chunks
  • ¼ cup worcestershire sauce
  • 4 medium garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 2½ Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
  • 1½ pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral oil
  • 4 buns, split and toasted

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan over medium, heat the cream until just simmering. Stir in the cheese, cover and remove from the heat. Let stand until the cheese is softened and partially melted, about 20 minutes, quickly stirring once halfway through.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the Worcestershire sauce, garlic and rosemary. In a medium bowl, combine the beef with 1 tablespoon of the Worcestershire mixture and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper, then mix gently until the seasonings are evenly incorporated.
  3. Divide the meat into 4 portions and shape each into a patty about 4½ inches in diameter and about ½ inch thick.
  4. In a 12-inch cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until lightly smoking. Add the patties and cook for 3 minutes, spooning 1 teaspoon of the Worcestershire mixture over each.
  5. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the patties and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, again spooning 1 teaspoon of the sauce onto each.
  6. Continue to flip and cook, brushing with the remaining sauce mixture, until the patties are well browned on both sides and the centers reach 125°F for medium-rare or 130°F for medium, another 2 to 4 minutes.
  7. Transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
  8. (This step may not be necessary if your cheese mixture is velvety smooth like ours was.) While the burgers rest, set a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Stir the cream-cheese mixture thoroughly, then pour through the strainer, pressing with a silicone spatula to force the cheese through; the sauce should be smooth and creamy after straining. Stir in ¼ teaspoon pepper.
  9. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of cheese sauce onto the cut sides of both halves of each bun. Place a burger on each bottom bun half, then cover with the toppings.
  10. Serve the remaining cheese sauce on the side.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

By Courtney Hill from Milk Street