Meatloaf

[sarah h]

Re: Meatloaf

OK, I have never been a fan of meatloaf, but the only ones I've ever tried are those nasty ketchup ones, so, Frances, I have whipped up your recipe and will get to try it out in an hour or so.
I've just hit the wine & bay leaf stage and, I have to say, it's smelling pretty good ...

Sarah

[Archena]

Re: Meatloaf



Time to form the 'Traditional Meatloaf Anti-Defamation League"...

Or maybe the "Meatloaf Diversity Association"...

Meatloaf everywhere should be able to live in peace without persecution - at least until dinner time....

[sarah h]

Re: Meatloaf

... and it (Frances' recipe) was delicious!

Archena, I guess you can sign me up.

Shortly after reading this thread, I stumbled across another new meatloaf recipe - funny how that happens - that I will now have to try. It's an Argentinian-flavoured meatloaf, made with ground brisket (don't know as I'll go that far though) and chili powder among other things, and has a chimichurri sauce (had that before and it's really good) that goes on top - look what this has started!

[Frances]

Re: Meatloaf

That's so cool, I'm glad you liked it!

So, are you going post the Argentinian recipe, or are you going to try it out for us first?

[BrianShaw]

Re: Meatloaf

Time to form the 'Traditional Meatloaf Anti-Defamation League"...

Or maybe the "Meatloaf Diversity Association"...

I'd join the former, and protest against the latter.

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.

The French call it Pate... and that's fine with me. Let's celebrate the difference!

Minced-meat-with-vegetable loaf is a fine name for a loaf containing minced meat and assorted vegetables.

Argentinian brisket loaf anointed with chimichurri sauce is a fine name... why hide such a fine collection of ingredients behind a generic name like 'meatloaf'?

C'mon folks... meatloaf, in all of it's traditional glory, is supposed to be relatively tasteless and slathered with carmelized tomato catsup. It is practically the Eleventh Comandment. What better meat concoction to accompany relatively bland mashed potatoes????

OK, okay... I must admit that I'm sometimes a bit two-faced... every once-in-a-blue-moon I'll cover my "traditional American meatloaf" with bacon. I propose that this be a special exception to the "catsup rule".


... and I am a bit conflicted about the provision of brown gravy on a plate of meatloaf and mashed that is often seen in diners. If I take my medication I can sometimes eat it without gagging or yelling in multiple languages , "this isn't traditional; stop defaming the meatloaf!"

(Well, maybe not several languages per se... but I am proficient in 'American English' with several different regional dialects so I pretend to be multi-lingual)

[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

[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

... 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

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


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

[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?

[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....

[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.

[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!

[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-

[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