Meatloaf, Tomato Duxelle (stuffed with mushrooms) and Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower

I made tomato duxelle in culinary school and wanted to do it for the flock.

We tossed around a few ideas and came up with meatloaf and mashed cauliflower

(with cheddar & parmesan cheese) to complete the meal.

 Duxelle is a fancy, culinary word for "stuffed with chopped mushrooms and onions".

I started with whole button mushrooms and used the stems too.

You want to get the mushrooms SEVERELY chopped, so

I utilized my pizza slicer to help me chop the mushys small.

How cool is this photo?

This is what I ended up with.

After sauteing the mushys with onion until brown and dry, and

mixing in some parmesan cheese,

I stuffed it into these roma tomatoes.

The meatloaf was ground beef, raw bacon, onions, bread crumbs, tomato paste, 

chili paste, the tops of the roma tomatoes, ketchup,

parsley, an egg and a packet of ranch dressing!

I chose to cook it formed on a baking sheet, instead of in a loaf pan.

I put a little ketchup and parsley on top and baked it in the oven.  

I alternated broil and bake settings to get a better 

crisp on the top.

This is what it looked like after cooking.

Here is the plating!  The duxelle was good, but not as good as

what we cooked in culinary school.  Im not sure if I did anything different.

We still liked it, but I LOVED it in school.

Zachary thought the meatloaf was a bit spicy, the Dutchess mentioned

the spice too.  I loved the spice, but my tolerance is MUCH higher 

than theirs.  The bacon was a gamble, but the smokiness that it

added was phenomenal.

Overall, even though Zach wasn't a big fan, I am 

going to have to say that this was successful.

I LOVED it.

Raw bacon WILL be included in all meatloaf from now on!!!