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Meatloaf, asparagus, roasted red potatoes, and caramalized pears.

The meatloaf:

1.25 lbs (approx) lean ground beef

Diced scallion

Elephant garlic: minced

about 1/2 onion diced

one large tomato seeded, rough dice

Salt/Pepper

Basil and Oregano

Worcesthire sauce

Hot sauce

2 eggs

Panko bread crumbs

combine together, I generally add the eggs and bread crumbs last, not as messy.

Thoroughly mix, and put into a loaf pan. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven, covered the first 30 minutes. uncover, cook about another 45 minutes or so, don't be concerned too much with over cooking this, as it won't dry out substantially.

Once the meatloaf is in the oven, take the red potatoes, slice off the bottom and the top, peel the skins with a sharp knife, leaving some of the skin on the potato, the easiest way to season them is to take a medium bowl with Olive oil, salt and pepper, and just kind of dress the potatoes in it, place them on a baking sheet standing, place them in the same oven. (watch the potatoes, drizzle with some olive oil about half way through the cooking)

the asparagus, is simple, you can prep (clean and wash it) I trim the ends so they are all about the same size. I steamed the asparagus tonight, just salt and pepper, water, I add some butter to the water, on a steaming stand in a large pot. But you don't need to start this until you are about 15 minutes from serving.

The Pears:

Slice the bottom of the pear(so the pear will stand up on it's own), and cut the pear in half at the stem (leaving the stem on one side). At this point you need to remove the seeds from the pears, a small spoon will make this easy... When I prep fruit in advance I store it in a plastic bowl full of cold water in the fridge (that will prevent any browning). Take a nice 12 inch pan and put about 1/3rd cup of water, bring it to high heat, and add 2/3rd of a cup of sugar slowly to the center of the pan, keep the heat high and stir occassionaly and inward towards the center of the pan, once the sugar and water mixture reaches a full boil, add the pears cut side down, cover, and cut the heat back just a touch. You will need to stir this and watch it it, the sugar/water mixture may boil over if left unattended, you may also want to leave a wooden spoon to keep the lid ajar, if the caramalization process is taking too long. after about 15 minutes, remove the lid turn the pears over.

reduce the heat again and let it simmer about 5 minutes, at this point add about a half cup of heavy cream, let the sauce reduce for another 5 minutes, Take the pear halves (facing away from each other is nicer, or stand one up and have the other cut side up on the plate) out and stand them up on a desert plate (or something similar, this is why we cut the bottoms to begin with). add salt and pepper to the sauce in the pan, be generous with the pepper, actually peppercorns would be nice, but we all don't have those. The sauce should be at a glaze consistency, The recipe I modified this from called for this to be served with cheese, I used a blue cheese, and I liked the flavors, others may not like the cheese, so it is optional. With the pears standing on the serving dish, drizzle the sauce over the pears and serve warm.

The Meatloaf should be done first, take that out of the oven, let it rest a couple of minutes, and carefully drain any excess fat from it, by tilting the loaf pan (with an oven mitt and spatula). Let it rest a few more minutes. The asparagus is steamed by now, very crisp and green, so you just shut the heat off. Take the potatoes out, while they cool, heat up a bit of marinara sauce. Flip the meatloaf onto a serving platter, add the Marinara sauce to the top, serve with the asparagus and potatoes.

WIth any luck, the pears are done by now, and On a plate. just kept warm.