Meatloaf

I've had a taste for meatloaf for a while, but it was too hot to cook until yesterday, when it was quite cool in the morning and pleasantly warm, rather than hot, the rest of the day. I made a meatloaf.

My recipe is a simple one: ground beef, a few slices of bread moistened with milk, chopped onion, and egg. I use ground chuck, which is about 85% lean, so I place the loaf on a rack that will allow the fat to drip off. For this particular loaf, I added chopped bell pepper, which one of my aunts always incorporated into her meatloaf recipe. When the loaf was about a half-hour from being done, I slathered ketchup over the top. Delicious! And the leftovers can either be heated or eaten cold in sandwiches.

I don't make meatloaf very often, but when I get a craving for it, I like using this recipe...http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/classic_meatloaf/
The carrots, onions and celery help keep it moist, and Italian sausage adds a lot of flavor.

That recipe for "classic" meatloaf is interesting, because I recently saw an episode of "Lidia's Italy" on which Lidia Bastianich made a polpettone, or meatloaf, that incorporated chopped onion, celery, and carrot. I made a mental note to think "mirepoix" the next time I made a meatloaf. Unfortunately, when the time and temperature were right, I had carrots and onions on hand, but no celery. The bell pepper was the chopped tops and bottoms of peppers that I had cut into strips for a lentil salad (lentils, carrots, Spanish onion, and green bell peppers, all in a viaigrette).

I don't often make meatloaf either but when I do I use my mother's method of half beef/half pork. The only vegetable addition is chopped onions, and an egg and some bread soaked in milk.

I don't have ketchup at home but even if I did I wouldn't put it on the meatloaf.

I use my mother's method of half beef/half pork.

I always liked that combination better than an all-beef meatloaf, but although my mother spoiled us rotten we had to eat meatloaf made the way she liked it,

My aunt in New Jersey used to make meat loaf whenever I stayed there, but from what I can remember there was Campbell's Franco American gravy with it, I just don't know whether she put it in or if it went along side it.

We've covered all-beef meatloaf and blends of beef and pork or the traditional beef-pork-veal blend, but we forgot that there's still another Meat Loaf. Looks like a high-fat version.

My sister tops the meatloaft with bacon strips and a tangy, tomatey sauce. My mom doesn't top it with anything but serves it with gravy.

The only time I cook meatloaf is in the microwave now - so cool/hot weather is no longer a factor for me.

Microwave Meatloaf

Recipe mom got from a co-worker.
Written on a calendar page dated December 15, 1980.

1 ½ lb. ground beef
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 small onion, diced
3 pieces dried bread, crushed into crumbs (I omitted, since I was using 93% lean beef)
10 square soda crackers, crushed
2 Tablespoons catsup
salt
pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika

Mix all of the ingredients and press into a round baking dish. Cover with waxed paper. Microwave on high (or 80% if you have an 1100 W oven) 18 – 20 minutes, turning the dish after 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Top with catsup and parsley flakes.

I still have the cookbook that came with my first microwave oven and it's got a meatloaf recipe. I've always wanted to try it but thought it couldn't possibly work. It's made in a bundt/ring pan. once it's finished you unmold it and put veggies in the center and top with a tomato sauce/brown sugar/vinegar mixture.

Porucipine meatballs is another recipe from the same book I want to try....

Manch, a bundt pan makes sense, because the microwaves heat from the outer edge inward. Sometimes a food is hot around the edges but still not cooked through at the center. The bundt pan eliminates that solid center. Midwesterner', your recipe looks interesting, but the first thing I thought of was the uneven heating in a microwave. Maybe you shape the loaf so it's not too spread out. I think I may try it the next time I want a meatloaf. Right now I have leftovers for at least a few more meals.

Yeah, it was an older model microwave, I don't think it had a turntable....

I put my microwave meatloaf in a 2 quart round casserole dish, and it seems to cook evenly enough. It would be fine in a glass/microwave safe ring mold or bundt dish, or you could create something similar by placing a custard cup or glass in the center of the round casserole dish.

Thanks, Midwesterner. I have at least a couple of microwave-safe casserole dishes of about that size, so I'll try it as a solid mass first.

Typical Polish meatloaf (called 'pasztet') recipes call for chicken or calf or pork liver, and diced bacon, while minced beef or pork are the main ingredients.
Here's a recipe

I'm all for beef/pork or beef/sausage mixture. In a loaf pan, so it stays juicy and a little greasy. I slather my ketchup when the meatloaf is on the plate. Try it with cheese on top during the last 5 minutes in the oven!

Fieldgate -- I would call meatloaf klops+ rather than +pasztet, which is more a pâté.

I was going to suggest a similar recipe, but you took the words right out of my mouth.

I use ground chuck, which is about 85% lean, so I place the loaf on a rack that will allow the fat to drip off.

I rarely make it, NA - but, when I do, I do not use an egg, nor breadcrumbs. I use lots of finely chopped onions and green pepper, grated carrot, some garlic, etc, etc.

If ye mix the, er, mixture thoroughly with yer hands it will bind superbly.

Almost all the fat runs out, and a lot of the flavour, in the absence of an additional binding agent. But the meat loaf is meaty - as distinct from spamy; and flavourful and moist because I add at least double the other ingredients to compensate for a lot of flavour being lost with the fat that runs out.

bjd #18
Pasztet is something between pâté/meatloaf. Klopsy are large meatballs.

You guys made me google Klopsy...

What's this ad saying?

http://pamapol.com.pl/pl/52:Plakaty

I'm guessing it's saying something like "Get out of the Kitchen!"

Manch, I used Google to translate the text on the three photos:

The text on the photo of three old men on a beach says "Meatballs in a summer edition." Doesn't make sense, unless meatballs are served differently in summer than at other times of the year.

On the photo of the young couple, the text says "Cabbage rolls in a box."

On the photo of the soccer players with their hands covering their crotches, the text says "Balls in a jar."

Oh, I just noticed that there's text at the top of that ad: Smak rodzinnej kuchni! Google translates it as "Flavor family kitchen," but Google doesn't take into account the lack of articles in Polish, or the various cases; I'd guess it means "Homemade flavor!"

Edited by NorthAmerican.

Ha! I love the soccer translation.

I knew the text at the top had something to do with kitchen...I have a knack for languages....

Looks like Polish advertising has come a long way from Communist days! Those are obviously plays on words.

This might belong on SiT instead, but my Polish is old-fashioned, so in our family klops+ means meatloaf, not meatballs. Googling, I find +klops is also the German word for meatball.

Manch,.. the advert in your link
Klops can mean a plump or chubby child. Not often referred to an adult, but that's advertising.
Gołąbki means literally little pigeons. It's a name for stuffed cabbage rolls too, but can also mean two people in love - 'they're like two doves'.
And the third one, 'balls' is easy to guess with the suggestive picture.

Since the topic is about meatloaf, 'what a meatloaf' can be used in Polish for an unattractive woman.

I wanted to post an Italian version from Biba Caggiano, cookbook author & restauranteur. It's from an old version of her first book Northern Italian Cooking. But I couldn't find it online. Instead, I found a version from a more recent cookbook that seems to get rave reviews. Polpettone alla Bolognese.

Lemon in a meatloaf sound downright weird, but posters say it makes the dish special. I gotta try it one of these days.

The recipe I have is similar, except a pinch of nutmeg replaces the lemon peel. The cooking method is different. The meatloaf is not browed. Onion, celery & carrot are lightly sautéed in an oven-safe frying pan. The meatloaf is placed on top of that & baked. Halfway through baking, wine & chopped tomatoes are poured around the loaf, to make a sauce.

It's pretty tasty, but I find that the sauce has to be degreased. I strain it into a measuring cup & let it sit while the meatloaf rests, then spoon off as much grease as I can & add the solids back. Leftover meat loaf gets crumbled into the sauce & frozen for later use as a pasta sauce.

I wonder if Pamapol's products are good? I can't imagine buying canned meatballs or cabbage rolls. I've only bought the frozen versions...Stouffers actually makes a good verion of stuffed cabbage, Not as good as homemade of course but pretty damn tasty.

http://www.leancuisine.com/products/details.aspx?ProductID=59

I can't imagine buying canned meatballs or cabbage rolls. I've only bought the frozen versions

Manch, I would expect that you, of all people, might remember the Franco-American brand of canned spaghetti and meatballs. The brand, owned by Campbell's, was discontinued fairly recently but two of its most popular products continue to be sold, but under the Campbell's label: SpaghettiOs and RavioliOs. SpaghettiOs includes meatballs. The Prgresso line of soups includes Italian Style Wedding Soup, with Meatballs. So canned meatballs must be OK with a fair number of Americans. Maybe it's just you who haven't tried them.

I know nothing about canned cabbage rolls.

They still make SpaghetiiO's with meatballs?!

They were tiny meatballs though......

I just realized that almost any thread is capable of metamorphosis, not just those on Your Choice. Here we have a meatloaf thread that has veered into the territory of canned meatballs and cabbage rolls, and now to the question of why there is no spaghetti served with risotto. Sometimes I have to scroll up to see what we were talking about originally.

I was discussing this thread at work and a co-worker mentioned Salisbury Steak. He was like "They're bascially individual meatloaves" but I'm not sure I agree.

Here's a recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/salisbury-steak/

I guess it does have some meatloaf characteristics...

Have you had a haircut, NA? Or have you been abducted and subjected to experiments by aliens?

You would like Big Night, NA.

Have you had a haircut, NA? Or have you been abducted and subjected to experiments by aliens?

I am prohibited from speaking about alien abduction and/or Area 51.

Thanks, VinnyD. I will look for it.

Thanks for the link, NA.

I learn that Area 51 is called, inter alia, Paradise Ranch - it sounds like the sort of place former president Dubya and former prime minister Bliar might hang out.

I was going to suggest a similar recipe, but you took the words right out of my mouth

A spark of genius, billy, on a thread entitled Meatloaf.

I made the meatloaf in #28. I was not impressed. I made one serous goof--I obviously added too much lemon. It overpowered everything. The recipes I looked at all talked about "baste the loaf with the juices," but there was no juice. It was a bit dry & really needed a sauce of some sort. I suppose I'll try it again some day, with less lemon and maybe ground beef that is higher in fat. The pancetta I used was pretty fatty and I figured that would be enough, but it wasn't.

there was no juice. It was a bit dry & really needed a sauce of some sort. I suppose I'll try it again some day, with less lemon and maybe ground beef that is higher in fat

Well on your third attempt, if it works out well, then....

Two out of three ain't bad.

OK, sorry - I'll leave it there.

Salisbury steak, if made well, can be rather tasty, but it too often resembles mystery meat from the school cafeteria.

It was first invented by a 19th C. physician, Dr. James Salisbury. He believed that vegetables and starchy food were the causes of a lot of disease and should be eaten sparingly . and came up with a high protein diet that relied heavily on meat. But the meat had to be ground ot rid it of connective tissue.

The whole reason why the beef is ground is to extract the fiber from the "muscle pulp." This tiber is the very element which causes so much trouble by producing thickenings of various tissues throughout the body; and causing partial and complete paralysis; and ll Is very essential that It should be removed from the beef as far as possible, especially in the cases of those who are very sick

His recipe:

Eat the muscle pulp of lean beef made into cakes and broiled. This pulp should be as free as possible from connective or glue tissue, fat and cartilage. Previous to chopping, the fat, bone, tendons, and fascia should all be cut away, and the clean muscle cut up in pieces an inch or two square. Steaks through the centre of the round [middle-cut] are the richest and best for this purpose. Beef should be used from well-fatted animals that are from 4 to 6 years old. The pulp should not be pressed too firmly together before broiling, or it will taste livery. Simply press it sufficiently, so that it will hold together. Make the cakes from half an inch to an inch thick. Broil slowly and moderately over a fire free from blaze and smoke. When cooked, put it on a hot plate and season to taste with butter, pepper, salt, and mustard. If desired, celery may be moderately used as a relish.

You were to eat this three times a day, with lots of water.

During WWI, when German-sounding things were being renamed in England & the US, the hamburger steak (hamburgers were usually served without a bun at the time) was renamed Salisbury steak.

Two out of three ain't bad

Brilliant!

Obviously Dr Salisbury hadn't studied the causes of bowel cancer.

Donkeystone, they used to think that a high fiber diet would tend to prevent colon cancer, but if I recall corectly mlre recent studies haven't borne that out. Circulatory problems from all the dietary cholesterol might be more likely.

I made a mental note to think "mirepoix" the next time I made a meatloaf

Or, since its an Italian recipe, soffritto.

Circulatory problems from all the dietary cholesterol might be more likely.

Agreed.

*tonyzzz1....

There's a PM wating for you.