meat loaf

This is not a GREAT recipe, but it's the one that I use.

Phoenix' No Big Deal Meat Loaf Recipe

1- 1-1/4 lb. 4% ground beef. (Don't get the stuff with a lot of fat. You would just have to pour it off later.)

Onion flakes ( I don't know how much- just throw a little in)

parsley flakes. (Also just a little)

2 eggs, beaten

Small can of tomato sauce.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the eggs.

Mix in the parsley and onion flakes.

Mix in about 2/3 of the can of tomato sauce.

Put in the ground beef, and mix it all together.

Put mixture in small rectangular loaf pan, which has been greased. (I use PAM) Shape like a meat loaf. Put the rest of the tomato sauce on top of the mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

kev, I have a good one, sort of a high-falutin' meatloaf, but not too difficult, and true to the original concept of meatloaf the dish, not the over-produced singer . However, I need to find the book. It was devised by Jamie Kennedy, a very well-respected chef in Toronto who I apprenticed under. I shall return...

JAMIE KENNEDY'S MEATLOAF

3 slices white bread, crusts removed and cut into cubes.
4 tbsp. milk
1 Spanish onion, peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp. butter
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsely
1/4 tsp. fresh-grated nutmeg
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups tomato sauce, pureed, if chunky.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the tomato sauce over medium heat until reduced to a thick consistency, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Set aside to cool.

Put the bread in a mixing bowl and soak in the milk. Saute the onion in the butter until trasluscent and add to the bread mixture. Add the remaining meat loaf ingredients, except for the tomato sauce, mix well with your hands and transfer to a loaf pan.

Spread the reduced tomato sauce over the meatloaf and bake about 40 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.

At the restaurant, this was served with beef jus, sauteed potatoes and a colorful array of fancy vegetables.

This last week I made meatloaf using a recipe in an old clipping of a column by Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey. They gave recipes for Veal Meatballs with Tarragon, Pork Meatballs with Rosemary, and Beef Meatballs with Marjoram.

I had some ground pork, so I used that one - it has a tomato sauce described as well, but I skipped that.

Pork Meatballs (Meatloaf) With Rosemary

3/4 lb ground lean pork
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion - I didn't have an onion, chopped 4 small shallots instead
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic - I added three garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 pound mushrooms, finely chopped - I used button mushrooms this time, one could vary that. I coarsely chopped them.
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary - I took a sprig of rosemary from the garden and cut the leaves up coarsely.
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 cup of fine fresh bread crumbs - I used not very finely torn sourdough hearth bread that I keep for croutons or crumbs in the freezer.
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes. I used a good half teaspoon

Put ground pork in a mixing bowl.
Cook the onions (or shallots) and garlic in the olive oil until wilted. Add mushrooms, cook until they give up their liquid. Add the onion, garlic, mushroom mixture to the bowl, along with red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, bread crumbs, egg. Blend together by hand.

The recipe called for sauteing the meatballs in remaining olive oil and adding the tomato sauce. I put the mixture in a meatloaf pan instead (after adding the other two teaspoons of olive oil), put about 3/4 cup of water and a few tablespoons of marsala over the loaf.

I baked it at 375 til done, probably thirty minutes.

Boy, was that good.

Paul Prudhomme's cajun meat loaf is a great variation, very spicy, and one of the lower in fat recipes the guy ever published. I found it on Recipesource.com, so it should be OK for me to put it out here:

Title: Cajun Meat Loaf
Categories: Cajun, Pork/ham, Ground beef, Meatloaf
Yield: 6 servings

-------------------------------SEASONING MIX-------------------------------
2 ea Whole bay leaves 1/2 ts White pepper
1 ts Salt 1/2 ts Ground cumin
1 ts Ground cayenne pepper 1/2 ts Ground nutmeg
1 ts Black pepper

------------------------------MAIN INGREDIENTS------------------------------
4 tb Unsalted butter 1/2 c Evaporated milk
3/4 c Finely chopped onions 1/2 c Catsup
1/2 c Green bell peppers, chopped 1 1/2 lb Ground beef
1/4 c Green onions, finely chopped 1/2 lb Ground pork
2 ts Minced garlic 2 ea Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tb Tabasco sauce 1 c Very fine bread crumbs
1 tb Worcestershire sauce

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Melt the butter in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions,
celery, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, tabasco, Worcestershire and
seasoning mix. Saute until mixture starts sticking excessively, about 6
minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan bottom well. Stir in
the milk and catsup. Continue cooking for about 2 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to room
temperature.
Place the ground beef and pork in an ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Add
the eggs, the cooked vegetable mixture and the bread crumbs, remove the
bay leaves. Mix by hand until thoroughly combined. In the center of the
pan, shape the mixture into a loaf that is about 1-1/2 inches high, 6
inches wide and 12 inches long. Bake uncovered at 350F for 25 minutes,
then raise heat to 400F and continue cooking until done, about 35 minutes
longer. Serve immediately as is or with Very Hot Cajun Sauce for Beef.
This is best using both ground pork and ground beef, as the pork gives
more flavor diversity. However, you can make it with ground beef only.
From Paul Prudhomme's "Louisiana Kitchen"

Hmm, that didn't paste in there very well, but if you read it carefully, it's all there. Note that the ingredients are often two per line.

Then there's the 72 Market Street meatloaf recipe. I'll see if I can find that on line, it's a long and extra-delicious recipe, including a wonderful gravy. If all else fails, I'll dig out the cookbook...

You might find the information in this article helpful.
http://www.permacult.com.au/kitchen/cooks_illustrated/meat_loaf.htm

The recipe is pretty good too.

Ah, good, I found it here -

http://recipe-cookie.com/54/286471.shtml

The restaurant served it with perfect mashed potatoes and perfectly cooked spinach. A meal to remember, I always had that when I ate there.

72 Market Street Dishes It Out (cookbook link)

Thanks everybody,

plenty for me to try here.

This info should keep me going for months thaks to everyone. regards kev.

You're welcome!

Tried cav's recipe today, I thought it looked the greatest but I'm sorry to report that my wife and I both felt that it was "missing" something.

You know that feeling you get, if say, you forget to put salt in a dish, it was like that. Overall not bad but the "missing something" feeling was unmistakeable.

I'm hoping cav that you forgot an ingredient so I can give it another go.