Meat loaf

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 50 minutes Serves 4 to 6

Difficulty: easy

Recipe from "Eat Like a Man: The Only Cookbook a Man Will Ever Need."

From Michael Symon of Lola in Cleveland: "Nobody rolls out a meat loaf to the table for holidays or festive meals. Most feasts are ruled by those huge orbs: turkey and ham. But skip those once in a while. Pound for pound, neither one … can match a good meat loaf in intensity of flavor and crowd-pleasing potential."

INGREDIENTS

Olive or canola oil (or a blend) to coat pan

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 red onion (about 1 cup finely diced)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 pounds coarsely ground beef (preferably with 20 percent fat)

1 1/2 pounds hot Italian pork sausage, casings removed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or a shallow roasting pan with the oil.

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic until translucent. Let cool.

Put all the remaining ingredients and the onion mixture into a large bowl and mix with your hands. Put the mixture in the prepared pan, pressing down and packing medium tight (or mold into a meat-loaf shape and place in a roasting pan). Bake for 40 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees. Remove from the pan, slice and serve.

Per serving based on 6: 710 cal.; 40 g pro.; 14 g carb.; 53 g fat (20 sat., 24 mono., 6 poly., 3 other); 223 mg chol.; 1,127 mg sod.; 1 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 69 percent calories from fat.Chicken tarragon

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves 4

Recipe from Wini Moranville's "The Bonne Femme Cookbook." She says "It's proof that fresh, vivid, beautiful cooking can truly be très, très simple indeed. The key here is that supremely French herb, tarragon – in this case, there is no substitute, and it must be fresh."

INGREDIENTS

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves, about 1 1/4 pounds total

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

3/4 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar or white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons snipped fresh tarragon

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the chicken breasts, one at a time, between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness. (Alternatively, you can halve each breast horizontally, or butterfly them.) Season both sides with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the chicken (in batches, if necessary) and cook, turning once, until no longer pink inside, 6 to 8 minutes (reduce the heat to medium if the meat browns too quickly). Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add the shallot and tomatoes to the skillet and sauté briefly, until the shallot is translucent. Add the wine, stirring with a whisk to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and boil until the wine is reduced by about half – this should take 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the heat and your pan size.

Add the vinegar and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the butter is melted and the sauce is thickened. Season the sauce with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Stir in the tarragon. Arrange the chicken on four dinner plates, spoon the sauce over the chicken, and serve.

Per serving: 292 cal.; 32 g pro.; 5 g carb.; 12 g fat (7 sat., 4 monounsat., 1 polyunsat.); 107 mg chol.; 296 mg sod.; 0 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 42 percent calories from fat.

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