Meat Cutes

I first learned the term “meet cute” from the movie The Holiday, the rom-com where Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz swap Surrey cottage for LA mansion and LA mansion for Surrey cottage and then meet Mr. Right (Jude Law) and Mr. Right (Jack Black) and fall in love, squared. It’s all very cute and symmetrical. There’s this great scene where Kate Winslet’s character returns a disoriented elderly neighbor back to his LA mansion, and he, a retired Oscar winning screenwriter from Hollywood’s Golden Age, explains that a “meet cute” is the scene where two characters who are destined for each other meet for the first time in a movie. It’s really adorable and soooo meta!

So, what do “meet cutes” have to do with “meat cutes” other than being the basis for this witty blog post’s title? Well, as it turns out, more than you think!

Meat and I go way back. I grew up eating meat, but broke up with it in high school. We got back together in my 20s, but then in my early 30s I gave meat up for good . . . or so I thought. I have my fiancé, Phillip (a strength and conditioning coach and owner of Strength Camp Portland) to thank for reacquainting me with my appreciation for meat from the dawn of our relationship. In an attempt to woo me with a memorable first date, Phillip took me to Departure, a swank pan-Asian restaurant with an inspired menu (which stirred me to my Hawaiian roots) and an unforgettable romantic balcony with a gorgeous view of downtown Portland. He DID say he wanted to woo me! Remember now that for years I had been eating a predominantly plant based diet. I even went as far as eating raw and vegan for almost a year before tiring of all the shopping, all the prep, and all the chewing. At the time of our first date, I described my eating habits to Phillip as vegan except for the occasional egg.

And, of course, Departure had lots of delectable vegan options on the menu (they still do), but there was also an incredible selection of sushi, dim sum, and drool-worthy kushiyaki. TRUTH: my whole palate perked up just reading the descriptions! Something was stirring inside me. I decided then and there that it was time for me to loosen the rigid rules I had given myself about eating and enjoying food (and life). I opened myself up to the possibility that I could be a conscious and gracious consumer of high-quality meat on occasion without feeling like I was killing myself or our planet with every bite. One plate after another came to our table and I savored each and every perfectly conceived and executed bite of our meal. Meat and all. The wooing worked! Meat and I see each other every week, and Phillip and I are engaged.

I have no idea how ground meat and cupcake tins first met, but I’m betting meatloaf had something to do with it. I do know that making mini meatloaves in cupcake tins is genius! These Meat Cutes are easy to serve, handy for portion-control, and a meal prepper’s lifesaver. Play around with how you give your Meat Cutes flavor and texture. For this recipe, I experimented by using a rutabaga to add sweetness, fiber and texture to my Cutes. Lucky for me, I happened to have a bottle of Noh’s Hawaiian BBQ Sauce on hand for that island flavah, too! Mmmmm!

Ingredients

2 lbs of grass-fed ground beef

1 large rutabaga, peeled and minced

1 large yellow onion, minced

2 eggs

½ cup of teriyaki or Hawaiian BBQ sauce (I used Noh Hawaiian BBQ sauce)

salt and pepper

optional: sesame seeds

Note: Recipe makes one tray of 12 meat cutes (cupcakes) and one loaf.

Play-by-Play

Preheat oven to 350. Ghee of butter your cupcake tins or loaf pan. Mince onion and rutabaga or chop and pulse them in a food processor until they are the desired texture. Place ground meat in a bowl and add all of the ingredients. I broke my eggs right into the mixture. Add 1-2 healthy pinches of kosher salt and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper. Massage gently with your hands until all ingredients are incorporated. Fill each cupcake tin. Add the remaining mixture to your loaf pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 1 hour. You can add more sauce (BBQ, ketchup, or teriyaki) to your Cutes at 45 minutes before baking for another 15 if you’d like. When done, rest your Cutes and meatloaf for10 minutes before slicing.