Today And Out To Dinner

I learned 3 things on The Today Show this morning. The first is that Natalie Morales is pregnant with her 2nd child. Maybe her baby and little Jade can be friends...

The second had to do with the very affable Lucinda Scala Quinn. I had never heard of her before, but I thought she was really charming. After I read up a bit, I couldn't believe I've never seen her. I am so out of it. She's the host of the PBS series, Everyday Food and was the head food person at Martha Stewart Living.

Anyway, she was asked why we always make meatloaves in loaf pans and without hesitating she said, "Because our mothers did." THAT IS SO TRUE. My mother always made her not-very-appetizing meat loaf in a loaf pan (and she was an excellent cook...usually), and it really wasn't the better for it. Lucinda was making hers free-form, as I always do now. She just seemed full of common sense and I liked her.

This is her excellent recipe. I would add a Silver Palate spin to it. Make the mixture as Lucinda says and then pat it out into a rectangle on wax paper. Place about 8 sundried tomatoes over the meat loaf evenly in rows, do the same with a handful of basil leaves and add some sliced smoked mozzarella, if you like. From the short end, roll it up like a jelly roll (the wax paper will help you) and then bake as in the recipe. Each slice will have some of the pretty tomatoes, basil and cheese.

Lesson Number Three was part of a story on unusual things to learn in the kitchen. I didn't think that steaming vegetables to keep in their nutrients was a terribly revolutionary concept. But I didn't know that you should let your garlic sit for 10 minutes after you've sliced, chopped, or pressed it BEFORE you cook it. Why? Because breaking up garlic triggers an enzymatic reaction that releases a healthy compound called allyl sulfur; waiting to cook garlic allows enough time for the full amount of the compound to form.

Another note, on Tuesday night, the Foodbuzz folks hosted a dinner at the lovely Lupa for some local New York Foodbuzz bloggers. Foodbuzz is working hard to put together a really good networking and searchable food site. It was a lot of fun and the food was great.

These were the blogs I got the names of. (Lunch seems to be a big topic for blogs.) I like bloggers! (The Foodbuzzers were pretty fun too.)

The Feisty Foodie
Cupcakes Take The Cake
Endless Simmer
Midtown Lunch
Miss Ginsu
Kosher Soul Food
What I Made For Dinner