what do we have here? Savoury Meatloaf
looks interesting.....
grated carrot and zucchini, finely chopped celery, garlic.....
add some minced beef...
and some sausage mince and mix it all thoroughly with clean hands.
Then add two beaten eggs and again mix thoroughly. With your hands.
add some sauces for flavour and moistness, just a dash of the worcestershire...a bit more of the tomato....the amounts are entirely to your taste. Mix well, it should be fairly sloppy at this point.
Now we firm it up by mixing in some packaged stuffing mix. Many people use breadcrumbs here, but I prefer stuffing mix for a little extra flavour. The amount used varies depending on how much mince you've used and how sloppy the mix is and how dry or moist you prefer your meatloaf.
Mostly it's a trial and error thing. Mix in a little at a time until it "feels right".
Pack it firmly into a greased loaf tin, lined with greased alfoil...
..fold the sides of the foil over the top,
bake it in a pre-heated oven at 180*C for an hour.
Prepare your other vegetables at this point and start them cooking just before the next step.
Which is...
.......open the foil to let the top brown.
Once the top is browned, turn it out into a shallow pan, (I do this over the sink because there will be juices that spill out when turning), remove all the foil and if the sides aren't browned enough for you, put the whole thing back in the oven for a few minutes. (Tip out all those excess juices into a bowl).
If you have an electric oven, you can turn it off and the residual heat will brown it enough.
Make your gravy if you are having any.
Some people just squirt tomato sauce instead, but I like gravy on my meatloaf.
Savoury meatloaf.
if you packed it into the loaf pan firmly enough it should slice neatly without crumbling and will slice even better when cold. For sandwiches the next day.
I like mine with mashed potatoes and broccoli.
And the gravy which turned out a little too thick this time.
Which didn't stop me eating it!
Then add two beaten eggs and again mix thoroughly. With your hands.
Mostly it's a trial and error thing. Mix in a little at a time until it "feels right".
Prepare your other vegetables at this point and start them cooking just before the next step.
Which is...
.......open the foil to let the top brown.
Once the top is browned, turn it out into a shallow pan, (I do this over the sink because there will be juices that spill out when turning), remove all the foil and if the sides aren't browned enough for you, put the whole thing back in the oven for a few minutes. (Tip out all those excess juices into a bowl).
If you have an electric oven, you can turn it off and the residual heat will brown it enough.
Make your gravy if you are having any.
Some people just squirt tomato sauce instead, but I like gravy on my meatloaf.
And the gravy which turned out a little too thick this time.
Which didn't stop me eating it!
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When making meat loaf for the skinny one I add vegetables to it as well - onion, peas, corn... because he is a dedicated carnivore and WONT eat extra vegetables with it.
ReplyDeleteI love meatloaf and it's a while since I've made one for myself. I must make one soon now that you've reminded me.
ReplyDeleteEvery time my late brother visited me (which was often) when I was living in North Qld I had to make a couple for him to take back home. He'd have them for his work lunches and freeze off portions. I think I "meatloafed" myself out there for a while!
But that was then and this is now...
Have a lovely Easter, River. :)
Ohhhh. My favorite food is meatloaf. I've been toying with the idea of using Stuffing Mix instead of my usual sleeve of Ritz crackers.
ReplyDeleteDuring years on the fire department, it always surprised people to learn that our meatloaf always had chunks of pickles in it. (as well as onions and red sweet peppers) I used bread and butter pickles. The major used dill pickles, and there's no way of knowing!
But we all used lots, and lots of brown sugar, then spread ketchup thickly on top.
Our meatloaf gravy was always red. (we had our secrets)lol
I envy your clean oven. Envy, envy, envy.
The recipe sounds great but what has left my jaw laying on the floor is how clean and sparkly your oven interior is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Delores I was amazed at the clean oven something I do not have.
ReplyDeleteMerle.............
What does Angel think of the cooking business? We have one cat who demands a serving and another who couldn't care less.
ReplyDeleteThat looks really really really tasty and I'm sittin here with a growling stomach, wondering what to eat for dinner.
ReplyDeleteMeatloaf & gravy--my favorite comfort foods!!
ReplyDeleteNommmie nom nom... so moist... so tender... a pan like that shouldn't last too long!
ReplyDeleteHi human, River,
ReplyDeleteMy human thought that Meatloaf was some loud-mouthed American singer.
I have corrected him and now I shall cook him some meatloaf using local English ingredients.
Pawsitive wishes,
Penny, the friendly host of the Alphabark Challenge! :)
My husband is an absolute meatloaf eater. It give me indigestion, but he could eat the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI will try this recipe. I like how you substituted bread crumbs with stuffing mix.
Elephant's Child; I haven't put peas and corn in since the kids were little, I find them too sweet although I don't mind them as a side dish. It's a great way to get several serves of veggies.
ReplyDeleteLee; I'll be meatloafed out by the end of winter. I always slice what's left of the whole loaf the next day and freeze it in portions, some for dinners, some for sandwiches. when the kids were little I always made two, one to eat and one for freezing.
lotta joy; I've never heard of ritz crackers being used, but I have heard of pickles or peppers being used. I've recently learned of the brown sugar/ketchup topping too, but I won't be trying that, I think it will be too sweet.
I love my shiny clean oven, if I've used it, the cleaning is done that same night as part of the dishwashing routine.
Delores; I do love a sparkly oven, I clean it after every use, when I'm washing the dinner dishes.
Merle; it's easy enough to keep it shiny, unless it has been let go. it only takes a few minutes to wipe it out when doing the dishes.
Joanne; if he smells something he likes angel will hang around my ankles in hopes of a taste, which I will give him only if I think it is suitable. He had a few crumbs of the meatloaf and liked it, also a bit of the raw mince before I mixed the loaf. Last week he had a taste of beef casserole and loved it.
Manzanita; it is really tasty, in the winter I always put in extra garlic. Do you eat meat?
fishducky; I have several comfort foods and I cook all of them in the winter. All of them include gravy.
Christine; I live alone, so a pan lasts me quite a while, I slice and freeze in meal or sandwich portions. When the kids were little I had to make two each time, so there'd be some for school lunch sandwiches.
klahanie; hi Penny. Your human is right, Meatloaf is a loud mouthed singer, one of my favourites. But meatloaf is also a very tasty dinner and I hope Gary enjoys the one you make for him.
Susan Kane; my first husband was too, I'd load up his plate and he'd ask for more, the second hubby liked it but I couldn't add garlic, he didn't like it, so there weren't too many meatloaves for a few years. I've always used stuffing mix, even when making burgers.
I can't remember the last time I made a meat loaf and this recipe sounds delicious. I would perhaps add peas and corn but doubt it needs them.
ReplyDeleteMy oven is dark coloured inside so doesn't sparkle and I must admit I can get down to clean it so things that are left to Phil like that take a long time being done. Poor man, just how much can he be expected to do.
Mimsie; I added peas and corn when the kids were little but as they grew I used them as a side dish instead, they preferred the meatloaf more savoury as I did.
ReplyDeleteMost ovens are dark inside, mine is, but the light is on, it's automatic and goes on when the oven is switched on.
That sounds quite different with the veggies. We have no sausage mince here alas (and sausages only come in hot dog style), otherwise I'd try it out for the one child (plus grandchild) that eats meat.
ReplyDeleteI didn't care for meatloaf as a child, something about the texture, plus when I was young, it was mostly a slab of mince meat with salt, pepper, a little onion, bread, milk and egg thrown in to hold it together and served with tomato sauce. I thought it was incredibly boring.
But my MIL introduced me to a lovely meatloaf and I've made it ever since. Even people who don't like meatloaf ask for the recipe. I haven't made it in a while as we are both vegetarians, but I still do it when others eat here as Swedes are scared of vegetarian meals :-)
This makes a big meatloaf, so feel free to halve it.
1½ kg of mince beef
2 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup of breadcrumbs
one medium onion, diced or coarsely grated, your choice
1-2 cloves of garlic crushed
one yellow, green OR red capsicum, diced (pick the colour you like)
30 green olives stuffed with pimientos, sliced into rings
½ cup of celery, destringed and diced
1 cup of cheese, cubed small or coarsely grated
½ teaspoon of coarse ground pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
a couple of dashes of Tabasco or hot pepper sauce
Heat your oven to 180C. Mix all of the above well and put into a fairly large rectangular casserole dish, forming into a loaf and leaving room around the edges to spoon off any meat grease.
Bake this for about an hour, checking that it is cooked all the way through. Spoon off any grease and pour over the meatloaf about 700 grams (2 370 gram cartons) of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce (I like a lot of sauce) and sprinkle over this a good handful of grated cheese that melts well. Put back in the oven until the sauce is hot and the cheese is melted.
You can leave out or add as you choose. More or less of any of the vegetables or cheese above works well too. It's incredibly versatile. I'm also very fond of the bite that the green olives give so I use a fair amount, but if you don't like olives, fair enough. I've also been known to put in a good pinch of chili powder or some fresh hot green chilis on occasion too. But this is one great meatloaf. TRUST ME, hehehe.
Marie; ooh! olives! I forgot about those. I've made meatloaf with chopped olives but always the black ones, I haven't done that in quite a while. You can make one without sausage mince, just be sure to pack it really firmly before baking.Use as fine a grade of mince as you can find.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe.
Mmmmmmm.... meat loaf....
ReplyDelete