Welcome to the What's for Dinner Café, a place to share recipes and culinary traditions and discuss good food with cyber friends on Saturday evening.
Meatloaf. It may not be fancy, but it sure is one of America's ultimate comfort foods. It's had a revival of sorts in the last several years as a staple on many restaurant menus. Chefs and restaurateurs have discovered that adding a few spicy, or crunchy, ingredients to the bland blocks of ground beef many of our mothers served is all it takes to make it a "special meal."
Select ingredients you like and mix them together gently (don't forget a binder such as egg, breadcrumb, or both) and bake. Voila. You have a good meal and a leftover that makes the greatest sandwich of all.
I mix ground pork with ground beef. My preference is chuck for meatloaf. I think you need a little bit of fat for flavor so I avoid the leaner cuts. You might try mixing in some bulk sausage instead. Looking for something a little lighter? Use ground turkey, or chicken, instead of ground pork.
My "secret" ingredient is a few tablespoons of drained salsa. Consider including a finely chopped bell pepper, or carrot, or even a jalapeno for some extra zip and crunch.
And now for the "secret weapon:" bake the meatloaf on a sheet pan instead of inside a loaf pan. The fat will impart flavor to the meat but drain off. If you use a loaf pan for baking, the meat will sit in the fat as it cooks - not a good thing.
Cordelia's Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 ¼ lbs. ground chuck
1 ¼ lbs. ground pork
½ medium onion, chopped finely
4 tbs. salsa, drained
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. panko
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 egg, slightly beaten
For the glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon ground cumin
dash Worcestershire sauce
dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon honey
Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 325°.
2) Add the first group of ingredients except the egg to a bowl and gently mix together with your hands – no packing down, or squishing allowed. Add in the egg and gently mix until just combined.
3) Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan lined with wax paper to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray and remove the wax paper. (You can also set the meatloaf on top of a perforated tray such as the one that comes with a tabletop convection oven.) Insert a temperature probe sideways thru the meatloaf stopping midway. Set the probe for 155 degrees.
4) Combine the ketchup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the top of the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.
I generally serve meatloaf with either garlic mashed potatoes, or baked macaroni and cheese. But of course, it's always best with YOUR favorite sides.
Now it's time to discuss what you're having for dinner tonight. So, go get a beverage, put your feet up and stick around a while. Feel free to ask about cooking and baking problems that might be haunting you. We'll do our best to steer you in the right direction.
Bon Appetit!