Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Gravy

Here's another ultimate comfort food: Meatloaf! This is my Mom's recipe and I just modified it over the years. We usually eat this with Macaroni Salad with Celery and Pineapple (that's another recipe altogether; another blogpost.)

This is just everyday, comfort food for us, but I sometimes serve this at parties, and it's always a hit. My guests really love the moist, flavourful meat and the gravy that comes with it. I think it has something to do with the mix of beef, pork, Vienna sausage and chopped bacon in the mix itself. And of course, there's that glorious bacon wrapped around it.

Chicken & Bacon Puff Pastry Empanada, a Leftover Victory

Does this look like it's made from leftover Jamie Oliver chicken???

I made Roast Chicken in Milk, Sage & Citrus, last Christmas Eve, based on a Jamie Oliver recipe. See my recipe here.

The chicken was so tender and succulent! We still had leftovers a week later and by that time, it had turned to some kind of pasty, disintegrated chicken.

Jamie Oliver chicken does not look appetising as a leftover....

I hate to throw away good food, so I decided to "re-fashion" the chicken into a light lunch of Chicken & Bacon Puff Pastry Empanadas, served with a side salad of spinach, cherry tomatoes and croutons, in a honey balsamico dressing.

The recipe is easy to make, and I relied on my trusted assistant, my teenaged son, to do this. No one will believe that you made these beautiful empanadas from the picture above!