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Meatloaf


JLK

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Inspired by Carole Greenwood's version at Buck's, I feel like making meatloaf this weekend. I kind of like the way Chef Greenwood doesn't actually cook it like a loaf and makes it rather freeform instead. Great flavorings to the meat as well as the sauce (not too sweet).

What are your favorite recipes?

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I make meatloaf in lots of varieties. One of my favorites that I switch to when the mood hits is meatloaf stuffed with spinach and provalone.

Basically you season the meat with S&P (and whatever else strikes you) and spread it out onto wax or parchment paper, let's say 8 inches wide by 16 inches long. Then place provolone and spinach on top. Roll it, place onto a pan to bake.

Spoon your favorite tomato sauce on top during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

The presentation of rolled meatloaf is very different and a bit impressive.

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This recipe was published in the hometown newspaper of Lafayette, Louisiana, The Daily Advertiser. Credit to Nettie Lewis in 1995. We like its moistness.

2 pounds ground beef or chuck

1/3 cup onion, chopped

1/3 cup sweet red pepper, chopped

1/3 cup green bell pepper, chopped

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 teaspoons chili powder

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 1/4 teaspoons dry sage

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2/3 cup dry bread crumbs

4 strips bacon

Sauce:

1/4 cup canned tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

In a large bowl, combine first 13 ingredients. Combine milk, eggs and Worcestershire sauce and add to the beef mixture. Add crumbs. Grease a large sheet of foil. Place bacon on foil. Mold meat mixture into a loaf and place over bacon. Wrap and seal foil tightly over loaf. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or more. Overnight preferable. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place wrapped loaf on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour. Open foil. Drain juices. Combine sauce ingredients and spoon over loaf. Bake uncovered for 30 more minutes.

Serves 8

[edited because originally it didn't say when to add the sage, salt and pepper to the loaf]

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I was just thinking that one of the most simple, yet best Chinese dishes that I've had (certainly among the most addictive) was the "Jumbo Shrimp Szechuan Style" from Tony Cheng's Szechuan when it was at 615 I street in the 1980's. I asked him once what was in the sauce and he laughed and said that I wouldn't believe. I said "try me." He answered, "Ketchup."

The sauce-for shrimp or for meatloaf-could be delicious!

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Meatloaf is a veritable tabula rasa. It offers a gamut of possibilities for traditionalism or experimentation, as long as a couple of basics are followed.

Meatloaf, like any type of pate, must contain egg, or it will crumble and fall apart, and a panade or it will be tough, not tender. A panade is a paste of dry bread of some sort (or crackers or matzo) combined with liquid, usually milk or cream. In typical meatloaf recipes this is reflected in the addition of breadcrumbs with or without added liquid. Some recipes just call for egg and breadcrumbs, and the panade has to be constituted from whatever fluid content is in the meat and egg. The recipe above has milk and eggs combined and the breadcrumbs added separately, and a long "resting" time in the fridge, during which the breadcrumbs presumably have time to absorb the liquid and become a panade. My preferred method is to use cracker meal or matzo meal, combine it with an equal measure of milk, stir, and let it sit for a few minutes until it forms a paste, and then mix it into the ground meat. Rolled oats do not make a satisfactory panade, IMO.

Basic flavoring elements that need to be in just about any meatloaf worth eating are garlic and onion and tomato in some form. Instead of tomato sauce on top, I add some ketchup or tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce to the meat mixture. Sometimes I use tomato juice as the liquid for the panade, instead of milk. Garlic can be added either finely minced or squeezed through a press, so that it is evenly distributed through the meat mix--or use garlic powder if you must, though I don't like the aftertaste that leaves. Onion (and any other chopped veggies being added) should be sauteed or sweated before they are added to the meat mixture, otherwise they run the risk of being crunchy in the eventual meatloaf. IMO the meatloaf recipe above (1 1/2 hours in the oven) cooks too long and runs the risk of being dried out. What I sometimes do with onion, is cut small chunks and put them in the garlic press and just add the juice to the meat.

Beyond that, add spices, herbs, vegetables at your whim. Use various ground meats--beef, pork, veal, lamb, turkey or combinations of those.

Cook's Illustrated recommends adding Knox gelatin to an all-beef meatloaf to compensate for the lack of gelatinizing connective tissue that ground veal provides. They say it results in superior mouthfeel. I have not tried this myself, but it does make sense.

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This has made me think back to Mom's meatloaf, which I loved growing up. Neither my father nor I would eat onions (Dad still won't; I do), so she'd cheat and use Lipton onion soup. Yes, alarming. But we liked it. ;)

I think it was all ground beef. Can't recall Mom ever having veal and I don't think it would have occurred to her to use ground pork. Strips were always laid over the top of the loaf after she spooned on a sauce of ketchup (of course), brown sugar and who knows what else.

Traditional accompaniments for the meatloaf were homemade macaroni and cheese (bechemel? oh hell no. Mom has never heard of it.) and pork & beans.

Ah, childhood memories. <_<

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Giant occasionally has a meatloaf package that includes a lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb each of ground pork and veal. It also makes great meatballs.

Yeah, that package is great for when I make rice dressing Cajun style! Brown the meat, add onion, bell pepper and celery, onion tops, parsley, beef stock, seasonings, and roux. Cook down. Add shrimp and cook until tender. Add rice and mix.

Great with fried chicken.

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I make meatloaf in lots of varieties. One of my favorites that I switch to when the mood hits is meatloaf stuffed with spinach and provalone...
With you 100% in terms of variety and the fancy stuffed roll. For the latter, I highly recommend tweaking the Baroque version in Molto Italiano, though you have to retain Mario's excessive amounts of prosciutto and grated cheese.

I mentioned this recipe elsewhere recently. The raw bacon ground up with prunes and added to the mixture really is a terrific touch even when you use ground turkey (NOT breast meat alone). Also appreciated is the cooked mirepoix vs. raw vegetables. Moist. Crust especially good if you slather the gunk that seeps out of the loaf on top during the final 10-15 minutes.

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I made the above linked recipe last weekend, and it is great! It is super moist, subtly flavored and has an excellent crust, whether you baste or leave undisturbed. I like this well enough that it will go in to my regular rotation, along with Chef Paul's cajun meatloaf.

ETA: I fixed the recipe Anna Blume linked to. Sorry for the confusion.

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I made the above linked recipe last weekend, and it is great! It is super moist, subtly flavored and has an excellent crust, whether you baste or leave undisturbed. I like this well enough that it will go in to my regular rotation, along with Chef Paul's cajun meatloaf.

may I ask which "above linked recipe?" MCHoroscopes? or Anna Blume's?

I have Chef Gillian Clark's book which includes a meatloaf recipe featuring prunes; I see Anna Blume's linked recipe does too. I have to admit this had never occurred to me before....

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