Meatloaf

[BrianShaw]

Re: Meatloaf

but in the spirit of the original topic title, may I remind everyone that Sunday is Robbie Burns Day and haggis is a meat loaf, too?

Forgive me, but a mouth full of Haggis would be more than enough to make me want to renounce my Scottish ancestry!

EDIT: even if it were covered with a thick layer of ketchup

[Alfredo]

Re: Meatloaf

It's always fun to see where these threads meander to, but in the spirit of the original topic title, may I remind everyone that Sunday is Robbie Burns Day and haggis is a meat loaf, too? A squeamish cook's guide to haggis - Times Online.

For the determined (or demented) there is a link there to a recipe. For the truly squeamish, I apologize in advance.

[gjbingham]

Re: Meatloaf

Meatloaf made of lamb and Italian sausage is my current fav. I threw in some curry and garam marsala a couple of months ago and the wife pitched a fit! The kids just added more ketchup and didn't complain at all.

Funny, now that you all mention it, I never eat the stuff either. Huh! Who knew?

[Archena]

Re: Meatloaf

Tomato ketchup is good - but if it's not to your taste try one of the others...

Mushroom:

Banana:

Of course, virtually any veggie can be made into ketchup - but you knew that, right?



I admit, banana ketchup isn't high on my 'must try' list, but whatever floats your boat...

Ketchup: it's not just for French fries anymore - not that it ever was...

[BrianShaw]

Re: Meatloaf

Many North Americans have what I consider to be an irrational attachment to ketchup.

"Irrational" is a very adult way of phasing the situation. I prefer to look at the attachment to ketchup as one of the last vestige of childhood comfort that adults are allowed to engage in. Ketchup is 'comforting' in the same way that thumb-sucking once was.

[cynon767]

Re: Meatloaf

We use a mixture of meats....beef, pork and veal.....wonder how a Lamb meatloaf would be?...

It's awesome. We usually use a roughly equal mix of beef, pork, and lamb, and it adds a really nice, sweet earthy flavor. I'm a huge fan of lamb, though. 100% lamb would be fine by me.

As far as the whole ketchup thing goes, we usually use a little sweet chili sauce instead of ketchup... caramelizes just as nicely, but has a little more zing.

I think I will have to recommend that chimichurri variation, though... sounds like a winner!

-Jamie

[Archena]

Re: Meatloaf

Ketchup is tomato paste with some zing to it - and it's good.

Maybe not a whole veggie serving good, but still tasty. And very good on meatloaf.

Egalecki, if you ever again have an over abundance of tomatoes and don't want to ship them to me, use a slow cooker to make ketchup. Four hours on low will stew tomatoes - six and you have paste.


Fried bologna is delicious! Fried bologna on toasted rye with mustard - or ketchup - is awesome!!!!!


-Goes to fry some bologna-

[BrianShaw]

Re: Meatloaf

Still got half of it.

It appears that you might not be getting your Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of fruits. If you need a "Reagan-style" supplement, might I recommend Skittles. I believe that they might be just as much a fruit as Ketchup is!

[Alfredo]

Re: Meatloaf

Possibly the most attention ketchup ever attracted: The Straight Dope: Did the Reagan-era USDA really classify ketchup as a vegetable?.

When I moved into my current place five years ago I bought a big bottle of ketchup because, well, you gotta have ketchup, right? Still got half of it.

[egalecki]

Re: Meatloaf

Many North Americans have what I consider to be an irrational attachment to ketchup. They put it on eggs, fried bologna (a whole other weird thing to me), and many things they might otherwise not wish to eat. It's like the magic cloak of sauces. "Don't like it? Put some ketchup on it and it'll be fine!"

I'm with Sarah. Burgers are the proper place for it. And maybe a little on hot dogs. And you know, thinking about it, I use it for the base for cocktail sauce for shrimp- I just like it better than chili sauce for that. Other than that, I just don't eat it.

I tried making it once, when I had tomatoes covering EVERY SINGLE COUNTER in my quite large kitchen. Afterwards, I decided that Heinz does a better job, and by the time you paid for the electricity to run the stove for hours on end to cook it down, you got off cheaper to buy it. Of course, now I have a wfo I could cook it down in- but I still don't eat enough of it to want to do it!

I'm looking forward to making apple butter and peach butter in the wfo, though. Someday when it's not 20 degrees out....

[Frances]

Re: Meatloaf

That Chimichurri sauce sounds really nice!

I dunno if I can agree than America invented the meatloaf though... its called Hackbraten here (roast minced meat) and while I can't prove it, I'll just go ahead and claim that its been around at least since the middle ages.

Let's face it, its not really a very complicated recipe... Oh dear all this left over meat, what'll I do with it? I know I'll mince it up, add some bread and egg to make it stick together and shove it in the oven... you'd probably start cooking something similar as soon as you invented an oven. Ok, and a mincing machine.

Maybe the North Americans added the ketchup?

[Archena]

Re: Meatloaf

Okay, he's satirical and I'm just dumb... Ah well...


-goes to bed, hopes brain will work in the morning-

[sarah h]

Re: Meatloaf

... and I was just attempting to poke a little humor back across the table - guess it didn't come through.


Frances, here's the Argentinian-style loaf recipe (haven't tried it yet) - fairly basic, but the sauce would add punch. I've had it served with steak (good that way!) and it's really tangy:

Argentinian-style Meat Loaf

t tbsp (25 ml) olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch spinach, stemmed, washed & coarsely chopped (approx. 1 lb/500 g)
2 lbs (1 kg) ground brisket (not too lean, for a beefier flavour)
2/3 cup (150 ml) fresh bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tbsp (15 ml) salt
1 tsp (5 ml) chili powder
ground black pepper to taste

Saute onion in the oil over medium heat till soft (5 min).
Increase heat, add spinach and cook, stirring, till the spinach has wilted and all liquid is gone. When cooled, add all other ingredients & mix well.
Pack into a loaf pan, mounding it in the centre, & bake at 350F (180C) for 55 minutes, or until juices run clear & loaf shrinks from the sides of the pan.
Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing, then serve with chimichurri sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce

3 cups (750 ml) lightly packed flat leaf "Italian" parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch chili powder
2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh oregano leaves (or 1 tsp/5 ml dried)
1 shallot, minced
1/3 (75 ml) cup olive oil
1 tbsp (15 ml) red wine vinegar
1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice
salt & pepper

Place all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed.

[Archena]

Re: Meatloaf

Sarah, he's being satirical.

I like traditional meatloaf - and it's not bland.

Well, as long as it's not made by the school cafeteria. But they ruin everything anyway - remember cafeteria pizza? Mystery meat buried under faux mozzarella, unidentifiable veggies (well, we think that's what that was...) on a cardboard crust and smothered in ketchup that had been left out a week or more....

[sarah h]

Re: Meatloaf

Traditional meatloaf is a uniquely American dish, if I recall my food history correctly. Only meatloaf with Catsup in and/or on it is worthy of being called 'meatloaf'. All else should be given unique names.

By that definition, I'm back to ...

... meatloaf ... blech!!

... Frances' Swiss (?) minced meat-vegetable-bacon loaf soused in wine ... yum!!

... all other variations that do not employ ketchup/catsup ... possibly ...

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate ketchup - it has it's place, and that's on a burger ... sometimes, like when there's no BBQ sauce or chili sauce (and that's the sweet - not hot - red tomato & pickle-spice kind).

Oh, and I suppose I'd modify that to "a uniquely North American dish" (even if I'd rather not admit it's also a part of the Canadian culture too).

Sarah