What If You Put a Meatloaf in Your Smoker?

The intersection of America on a plate
Photo Credit: TH

The Recipes First
Smoked Meatloaf
- One (1) lb. 80/20 ground beef
- One (1) chorizo link
- Four (4) garlic cloves
- One (1) egg
- One (1) slice white bread, soaked in whole milk
- One-half (1/2) orange pepper, diced
- Salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste
- hickory wood chips

Place ground beef into bowl. Squeeze chorizo out of the casing into the meat. Add the egg, diced pepper, and saturated bread. Using a garlic press, crush the cloves into the mixture. NOTE, if you don't have a garlic press, chop garlic finely before adding to mixture. Season ingredients and then mix thoroughly with your hands until you no longer see large clumps of chorizo or bread within the mixture. Form the meat into a loaf and place into the smoker, using dry hickory chips as the smoke source. Set temperature no greater than 250°F. Begin checking temperature after two hours. When the internal temperature at the center of the loaf is 165°F, the loaf is finished (165°F is the safe consumption temperature of pork/sausage). Remove from the smoker, and allow to rest for at least five minutes before slicing and serving.

Bleu Cheese Coleslaw, Baby

The goods
Photo Credit: TH

The Recipe First
- One (1) bag of coleslaw mix OR four (4) cups of shredded cabbage and one (1) cup shredded carrot
- One (1) cup mayonnaise
- One (1) tablespoon white vinegar
- One (1) tablespoon lemon juice
- One-half (1/2) teaspoon ground mustard powder
- One-quarter (1/4) teaspoon celery seed
- Two (2) tablespoons white sugar
- Two (2) garlic cloves
- Three-and-a-half (3 1/2) ounces bleu cheese

Combine mayo, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard powder, celery seed, and sugar in bowl and whisk. Press the two cloves into the mixture and whisk again. If you do not have a garlic press, chop finely and fold in. Crumble bleu cheese into the dressing and mix with a wooden spoon. Add dressing mixture to the shredded vegetables and mix with wooden spoon. Let sit for at least one (1) hour before serving.

TH Cooks: Sausage Leek Dressing/Stuffing

Pro-Tip: Don't let the broiler get away from you or else you'll get some black spots on the bread. It's still really good though.
Photo Credit: TH

I posted this recipe back when Holzerman Hungers was on Tumblr, but it's a Thanksgiving staple here at the ol' homestead. Stuffing, or dressing if you're making it separate and not stuffing it in the bird, is a must on any Thanksgiving plate. When I was younger and spent Thanksgiving with my family, we used to have two stuffings/dressings on the table, one with potatoes and one with sausage. In addition to being super-starchy, the potato stuffing was usually bland. The sausage stuffing, however, was the best thing on the table most of the time. However, when I got engaged, I started eating Thanksgiving with Amanda's family. Their stuffing contains livers and giblets and other pieces of offal. I respect the dedication to using all the turkey, but it's just not my bag. So in order to have stuffing on my plate on Thanksgiving, I started making my own when we got married and started hosting it at our house.

TH Cooks: Creamed Chipped Beef

Call it SOS at your own peril; this stuff is GOOD
Photo Credit: TH

Creamed chipped beef is a staple if you're one of two people: military adjacent or a native of Pennsylvania. Its nickname, "shit on a shingle," is far from flattering. I don't know how well it usually gets made in army mess halls to get that name, but it's not a diner staple in the Philadelphia area because it tastes bad. When made right, creamed chipped beef is a hearty, creamy, delicious breakfast. In fact, it's like sawmill or country gravy, only with tangy, salty beef in it. You can also put it on nearly anything: toast, home fries/hash browns, waffles, or my personal favorite, donuts. However, the biscuit is probably the most appropriate means of conveyance.

TH Cooks: Homemade Salsa

SALSA!
Photo Credit: TH

Salsa is one of those foods that has become a staple at parties. A lot of people get it at the supermarket out of jars, or they may splurge and get the fresher-looking pico de gallo that comes in those plastic containers. But honestly, making salsa is one of the easiest things you can do, and the results are almost always better than what you'd get on average, unless you're buying the artisanal stuff or are going to a Mexican restaurant and getting it on the table. Truth be told, most people aren't doing that. I've been making my own for almost a decade now, and unless everyone I know has been lying to me, they all seem to love it.