How’s that for timing? The recipe is eerily similar to K-Paul meatloaf, using cooked onion and green bell peppers, lots of good spices and ketchup. The very next day the RGJ (Reno Gazette Journal, a pretty good local rag) published “Make It Easy: Meatloaf burgers look ahead to Labor Day”. K-Paul Cajun Meatloaf and Sam Sifton’s Fancy Meatloaf (NYT) that he made for Nora Ephron.

The others are braised, rather than fried or broiled. My recipe files produced only one recipe suitable - Marlena Spieler’s Big Meatballs, but those are kind of boring. Why not do meatballs on the grill? My swell grill pan should make that possible, at least on the no-stick front. I’ve been thinking about meatballs, but that seems like a cool weather thing - not August in the high desert - but loving meatballs as I do, I got some ground beef at the Saturday Farmer’s Market. Continue reading →Įnamored as I am with the ability to walk out onto my terrace and grill, I want to grill EVERYTHING. If you don’t feel like making the dish at home, you can always make reservations at Tipsy Pig. He ended up with a combination of four cheeses that taste so good together they should be married for life. The combination of cheeses came about partly by chance because the white Cheddar was being used for burgers and he needed Shropshire for its bright yellow color. When Tipsy Pig opened, he decided to separate the pasta from the sauce and stir them together at the last minute so the dish would be hot and creamy. Then years later… he concocted a bacon-infused version of macaroni and cheese in individual containers, but it took too long to heat up. He was chastised for the idea and put it away for another day. He remembers making macaroni and cheese in cooking school with a standard bechamel sauce and wondered why he couldn’t substitute bacon fat for butter. When Josi was conceiving the menu, he knew that macaroni and cheese would have to be on the menu, so the chef started playing with the classic recipe. Tipsy Pig, which opened a little more than a year ago in the Marina, serves down-home American food, including first-rate pulled pork sliders and chicken pot pie whose puff pastry dome caps rich gravy filled with chunks of white meat, peas, carrots, turnips and other vegetables. The sauce is simply tossed with the pasta instead of being baked before serving so the dish tastes extra rich and creamy. Timing: It’s important to combine the pasta and sauce just before serving. Parmesan, sprinkled on at the end, adds a distinct nutty, salty quality that rounds out the blend.īacon fat: Many versions garnish with bacon, but using the fat distributes the flavor throughout. The cheeses: White cheddar adds a sharper high note, Dutch Gouda lends exceptional creaminess, and Shropshire blue has an orange gold color and a sharp tang. Make sure the water used to cook the pasta is “salty like the sea,” otherwise the dish may taste flat. Ditalini pasta: These short pasta tubes, often used in soups, capture more of the creamy, cheesy sauce.

Beans rice clean me out