22 hours ago, Duvel said:I never had meatloaf - what is the problem with homemade versions, that everyone seem to favour the commercial ones ?
I can give you a quick primer:
Equal portions ground beef, pork, veal.
Panade. My preference is four slices white grocery store loaf bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces, put in a bowl and covered with just enough milk you can see it; push bread down into milk and let it sit a bit. Squeeze excess milk out of bread, and add bread to meat in a big bowl.
Two eggs. Just crack them into the bowl.
Seasonings. Here folks differ. I go with a seasoned salt blend, freshly ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika (the Hungarian variety) and a shot of Worcestershire, and a good dose of ketchup. Many people prefer minced garlic, chopped onion, and even the dreaded Green Bell Peppers. I don’t. Add the seasonings you prefer.
Mix. Here, again, people differ. I dive into it with clean hands, sans rings, and massage everything together well, about five minutes’ worth. This will result in a fairly dense loaf, the best kind for sandwiches, which is the highest and best use of meat loaf. Others prefer a looser loaf, so they may just combine ingredients gently with a couple of forks.
Put into a loaf pan — I pack mine in, because again, I want a dense loaf. YMMV. Top with a thin coat of ketchup.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, then crank up to 450 for the final 15 minutes. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.
A variation I like a lot involves going up to the putting in the pan step. Then, on a sheet of parchment paper, line up strips of raw bacon side by side to the length of your loaf pan. Cut the rest of the bacon up and brown and drain it. Dump the ground beef mix onto the bacon, and pat it out into a rectangle the size of the bacon. Coat it thinly with your favorite barbecue sauce, and sprinkle the browned bacon over. Using the parchment, roll it up into a loaf shape and ease it into your pan. Top with more bbq sauce. Either bake as above, or, preferably, chill it for two or three hours and then turn it out onto a foil-lined grate on your grill or smoker. Ahhhh!
The meat loaf sandwich involves a hefty slab or yesterday’s meat loaf, a thick spread of mayo on sturdy bread, and some sort of good melty cheese (Brie is wonderful). Toast the meat and bread on one slice, slather the other slice with more mayo, and gather half a roll of paper towels.
