This week’s recipe is perfect soul food for this wet and icy weather, but it might even be a good one in the US summer on this day of celebration. Lynne found it in an old American cook book many years ago and it is one of our standards. The great thing about meat loaf is that it has two lives. The day you eat it hot and the next day, when you put a generous slice into a sandwich
She
has made one adaptation which makes a lovely difference. Watching Canadian chef
Michael Smith on TV this week, she saw that he included cubed cheese in the
meat loaf and wow, it was superb in this recipe too
500g
Lean Beef Mince - 2 eggs, beaten - ¾ cup of milk - ¾ cup breadcrumbs or cooked bulgar,
or ½ a cup of oats - 1 onion, very finely chopped – 2 or 3 cloves of garlic,
peeled - 2 teaspoons fresh chopped sage - 2 teaspoons marjoram or oregano - 2
teaspoons dried mixed herbs - 1 teaspoon of salt - 1 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
Topping:
70ml tomato ketchup, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon dry mustard,
mixed together
If you are using oats, soak them in the milk for
15 minutes before using. Combine the eggs and milk, stir in the breadcrumbs,
herbs and seasoning. Add to the mince. Grate or put the onion and garlic in a
blender and blitz them till coarsely ground. Add to the mix and put into a
greased pan or oven proof serving dish. Dome the mixture slightly and apply the
topping. Then cover the top with foil, and bake at 180ºC for 45 minutes or until
cooked through. Spoon off any excess fat. Slice and serve with lots of
vegetables. Serves 6
If you want to add cheese, carefully cut the
cheese into 1 cm cubes. Use 50g of cheddar, Edam, mozzarella or any other
melting cheese you like and stir into the mixture before baking. We used a mix
of cheddar and mozzarella
You can leave out the carbs but it will make a
looser meatloaf. They help to hold it together.
All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
